Preventive Dentistry

Hello everyone. A busy summer for me and hot also. I recently have had a lot of patients come into the office with sores in their mouths. I want to give you a Preventive tip. Believe it or not these are quite common and I wanted to inform you that they are called "apthous ulcers". They are self limiting, but they do hurt. They go away in about 14 days with out treatment. We do not know the cause for this, but have found a bacteria more prevalent in the mouth called "L Streptococcus" when you get these. This can be from stress, drinking to much acidic drinks like orange juice, etc. The important thing is I am going to teach you a trick to easy the pain and make them go away faster. Take a Q tip with some topical anesthetic on it that you buy from a pharmacy and place it on the ulcer. After it is numb you swirl it in a circle. This removes the necrotic plug. This allows it to heal in less than half the time. Then at the same pharmacy you buy a product called Peroxyl mouth rinse. Rinse with that twice a day and it will stop the spread of these and make them go away a lot faster. I hope this helps and finds you all well.

Dental implants & Grafting

Hello folks,
Just returned from a continuing education course in Parsippany, New Jersey.
It was an advanced surgical course giving me the latest in implants, bone grafting for implants, with their latest products. We also got the latest with soft tissue grafting. As a Dentist you have to stay up on the latest techniques and materials.
There are new exciting materials that will then allow a patient who couldn't have implants now able to get them. Now we have the bone for it. This course was given at Zimmer dental company and they have a state of the art facility that us doctors used simulation laboratories one day and worked on cadaver patients the next to get us use to these new techniques.
Some of the new bone grafting techniques allow us to put bone right in extraction sites with bone putty, do gingival grafting with no second surgical site by using "dermis" by Zimmer. We also have block bone grafts that we can carve and place in a deficient area also without a second surgical site. If you thought you never could get implants due to bone loss , not anymore. You can give us a call if you have any questions.

New Year New Insurance Benifits

All you patients out there with calender year insurance benifits can now get back to the dentist. Usually most insurances are calender year benifits. You amounts on your plan usually start over again and you get your 1000 dollar or 1500 dollars for the year again. Some may even have more benifits. The dental office of your choice with your insurance information can check for you and give you the breakdowns. Now is the time to get back in, and get your work done; to get you in maintenance phase. This means you will be all caught up dentally, and just have to come in for your cleanings. This is everyone's goal. You need to attain this level to keep yourself from needing rootcanals and crowns and those expensive things. You want to catch it early and it will be less costly for all of you.
Hope to see you all for your cleanings and periodic maintenance.

Amalgam Fillings

In recent weeks there has been more articles in papers and in headlines about amalgam(silver) fillings than usual. Silver fillings have been used for years and is a mixture of different metals and mercury. Many studies have been conducted and amalgam has been found to be save and a good filling material. Recently even the FDA published a article going over all the pros and cons. Most of my patients prefer the white fillings for their aesthetic value, and not because of the mercury. In my practice I have to admit we do not do the silver fillings. My patients prefer the white fillings and now that the white(composite) materials are getting better that's all I use. The strength of the white is now close to silver and white fillings bond to the teeth making them stronger. More regulations might be coming down about silver fillings and I will keep you posted. Us dentists might even have to put in our offices special filter like devices for when we take out the silver fillings. For now rest assure if you have silver fillings you are OK. So as a patient you can ask your dentist what he thinks is best for you and you can decide if you want a amalgam filling or a composite(white) filling.

Mouth Rinses

There are a lot of new products on the market now to help people with gingivitis and periodontal disease. People with these conditions in the mouth should be using a daily rinse really morning and night. You should brush with your favorite toothpaste and then floss and then rinse. Children should use the new blue disclosing rinse made by listerine before they brush. This tells the child where the plaque is and helps so you do not miss when brushing. After the child is done with the brushing they can use "smart rinse" which contains flouride .
Adults should use the new total Care by listerine which helps with the flouride and the anti-gingivitis rinse. They come in many flavors now that help with the process. So incorporate a rinse to help with your gingivitis and dental health.
I am always trying to look out for you folks and keep you up to date with the latest.