Why Do I Need a Deep Cleaning?

A deep cleaning, or scaling and root planning, is needed to remove all hardened bacteria (tarter), from below the gum line.  The goal upon removal is to promote: bacteria reduction, healthy gum attachment to the tooth and stop the progression and spread of periodontal disease.

Periodontal disease is an infection of the gum and bone that holds your teeth in place.  If untreated, it can lead to tooth loss.  Periodontal disease is often painless and you may not even notice a problem until it’s in the advanced stages.   The good news is, when caught early and with scaling and root planning treatment you can stop the disease.

                       Periodontal Disease

• Soft plaque left on your teeth (i.e. not brushing and flossing daily) will calcify and turn hard.
• This hardened plaque is now called tarter or calculus and you can’t brush it off.  You need your dental hygienist to remove it.
• This calculus left on your teeth, causes your body to start the inflammation process.  You will notice: bad breath, bleeding, swollen or puffy gum tissue.
• You now have an infection in your gums.
• This infection will spread, tooth to tooth and infect the bone supporting your teeth.
•  Once the bone is infected you may notice teeth loosening and possibly tooth loss.

What is a deep cleaning or scaling and              root planning?

Scaling and root planning is a method of treating periodontal disease.  Using Novocain to keep you comfortable, your hygienist will remove the hardened bacteria (calculus) from way under your gum tissue.   The tooth’s root surface is the removed of calculus, debris and diseased tissue.  With the root surface now smooth, the gum tissue can heal, gum swelling is reduced and the pocket (space between your tooth and gum) will shrink.  This will make it harder for plaque to settle in under the gum tissue.   Typically scaling and root planning will take 2 visits.

After scaling in root planning is complete and the gums have healed, a re-evaluation appointment will occur.  At that appointment your hygienist will evaluate the health of your gums, home-care, measure pockets and areas of bleeding.  After all information is gathered it is then when, together we will determine how often a dental cleaning is needed.  You are at higher risk and may require closer monitoring to ensure periodontal disease is kept at bay.

You invested time and money in scaling and root planning and we want to make sure periodontal disease doesn’t come back.  Be sure to: floss daily, brush twice a day, quit smoking and maintain regular dental cleanings.

Baby Teeth: Fix or Not?

Baby teeth are very important in your child’s health and development.  They are essential in chewing, speaking and smiling.  They also hold the space for the permanent tooth to come in.  Think of the baby tooth as a puppet string, guiding each adult tooth. 

“My child’s baby tooth has a cavity.  I think I should just leave the cavity alone. Why fill it if he’s just going to lose it?’

A cavity is a hole in a tooth that grows larger over time.  By not fixing your child’s cavity, it will continue to spread throughout the tooth and neighboring teeth.  Once that cavity reaches the center of the tooth, where the nerve is, is when your child will have a toothache.  By then he will need a root canal to repair the tooth.  That cavity has now caused an abscess or infection.  This infection doesn’t know to stop at the baby tooth and continues spreading to the adult tooth forming underneath the gum tissue.  This can result in a malformed permanent tooth.  Baby teeth remain in the mouth until your child is 12 years old.  That tooth, with the cavity, may be in your child’s mouth for years.  It can take weeks to months for a cavity to become an abscess.  This not only will leave your child with a traumatic dental experience, but a painful tooth ache.  Ouch!

“Yikes.  Let’s just pull my child’s decayed tooth then.”

Using x-rays we can determine approximately how long that tooth will be in your child’s mouth.  If the adult tooth is coming in shortly, by all means removing that decayed baby tooth is the best treatment.   More often than not, this is not the case.  If that adult tooth is months to years from coming in, and the baby tooth is extracted, the teeth on either side of that space will move and shift.  Often that moving and shifting will alter the way that adult tooth will come in.  The space reserved for that adult tooth is now compromised and that tooth will now come in crooked, twisted or out of alignment.  This creates a domino effect for other adult teeth to come.  Now they will have to shift and move to come into the mouth.  To correct this crowding, braces will be needed.  Keeping your teeth, whether baby or adult, is always the cheapest and the best option.

 Baby teeth should not be seen as ‘throw away teeth’.  They lay the ground work for adult teeth.  If baby teeth have cavities, adult teeth will come into the mouth in an environment swimming in cavity bacteria. If baby teeth are healthy, adult teeth will have a better chance at remaining healthy throughout adulthood.

Braces Do More Than Just Straighten Teeth.

Braces, no doubt, will provide you with a beautiful straight smile.  But there are many reasons besides cosmetic, that wearing braces is important to your health.

Poorly Aligned Teeth Can Cause:

·         Speech Impediment.  The placement of the tip of your tongue, on your teeth, impacts the proper sounds of “d”, “n” and “t”.  Poor alignment of your teeth will compromise those sounds, making it difficult to articulate certain words.

·         Difficulty Chewing and Tooth Wear.  When teeth do not have a chewing partner that lines up properly, chewing can be a challenge and will result in wear of the teeth.  If a tooth that is meant to rip and tear (i.e. canine or eye tooth) is chewing with a tooth meant to grind (i.e. pre-molar), both of these teeth will wear and flatten in an unnatural way.  Once teeth wear and flatten you can’t get the ‘height’ of the tooth back.  Resulting in more complicated and expensive restorative corrections.

·         Jaw and TMJ Pain.  Like stated above, if the teeth are not lined up properly, it makes it difficult to chew.  In order to chew your jaw and jaw joints (TMJ) have to contort and change to allow for chewing.  Overtime this can cause damage to the joints and result in:  TMJ pain, muscle pain in the jaw and headaches.

·         Gum Disease.  Crowded, rotated and overlapped teeth making brushing and flossing difficult.  Not only in terms of the actual act of getting floss in between tight spaces, but also bacteria is able to ‘hide out’ in more areas.  The more bacteria allowed to stay on your teeth and gums, will create: gingivitis, gum sensitivity and bleeding gum tissue. 

·         Sleep Apnea.  An overbite occurs when the lower jaw and teeth are positioned more towards the back of the mouth.  The upper jaw than appears more forward.  People with an excessive overbite are more at risk for sleep apnea because that lower jaw is pushed so far back that it can pinch the airway.  In fact a lot of many people who snore have an overbite. 

So yes, braces will straighten your teeth, but they also can improve so many other aspects of your dental and physical health.  So if you or your child is experiencing any of the above symptoms of poorly aligned teeth, it may be time to consider braces.  

Ack! My Gums Bleed When I Brush!

In a nut shell bleeding gums are caused by poor plaque removal.  Plaque has germs in it that attack healthy tissue around the teeth.  This causes the gums to become swollen and irritated and thus bleeding is seen when brushing and flossing.  This is the first stage of gum disease.  If you notice any type of bleeding - light or heavy - you have gingivitis. 

If there is a positive thing about gingivitis it is this:  it can be reversed.  Like all germs there is power in numbers.  So if plaque germs sit on your teeth, they reproduce and multiply.  Brushing and flossing disrupts plaque germs from doing just that.  If they can’t reproduce there aren’t enough of them around to break down gum tissue.  Getting rid of plaque germs will reverse bleeding and gingivitis.

Plaque germs can form quickly and they love carbohydrates.  A diet heavy in carbs, is the perfect environment for plaque germs to thrive.  So depending, plaque germs can form anywhere between 5 minutes and 4 hours after brushing.  Which is why brushing at least twice a day is necessary to keep the plaque germs at bay.

Brushing will rid plaque germs from fronts and the backs of your teeth, however brushing will do nothing to the germs between your teeth.  Since gingivitis typically starts between your teeth and spreads from there, it makes it that much more important to floss.   So get those plaque germs out of your mouth everyday!  You’ll notice healthy gums that don’t bleed, better breath and a healthier smile!

What's the Deal With Oil Pulling?

Oil pulling is considered an Ayurvedic technique originating in India.  The claim is that:  “Oil pulling works by cleaning (detoxifying) the oral cavity in a similar way that soap cleans dirty dishes. It literally sucks the dirt (toxins) out of your mouth and creates a clean, antiseptic oral environment that contributes to the proper flow of dental liquid that is needed to prevent cavities and disease.” *

This process is done by swishing with 2 tablespoons of oil (sesame or coconut) for 20 minutes two times a day (40 minutes total). Being careful not to talk or swallow during this time.
Advocates for oil pulling claim it can: reduce gum disease, reduce cavity bacteria, heals bleeding gums, reverses tooth decay, cures bad breath, whitens teeth, reduces inflammation, and eases jaw discomfort.

This would be amazing if it were true!  In fact, every dental professional would be happy to prescribe oil pulling to their patients.  We LOVE to see healthy teeth and gums.  We also love to see science based facts and oil pulling is lacking just that.  The American Dental Association states: “Based on the lack of currently available evidence, oil pulling is not recommended as a supplementary oral hygiene practice, and certainly not as a replacement for standard, time-tested oral health behaviors and modalities.”  The ADA recommends that patients follow a standard oral hygiene regimen that includes twice-daily brushing with fluoride toothpaste and cleaning between teeth once a day with floss. **

We, at Stadsklev Dental, know the importance of the ADA Seal of Approval.  It means that the products that have that seal, have been evaluated by an independent group of experts, the ADA Council on Scientific Affairs, and that the product does what it claims to do.  No such ADA Seal exists on oil pulling.  We don’t recommend oil pulling and side with ADA in recommending brushing and flossing daily.

While each of us is in charge of our own dental health, if oil pulling is part of your daily oral hygiene routine, it is important to be realistic of the expectations.  Clinically, to date, scientific studies have not provided the necessary clinical evidence to demonstrate that oil pulling reduces cavities, whitens teeth or improves oral health.

Additionally, for most time is of the essence.  Flossing takes 15 seconds a day and brushing takes 4 total minutes a day.  Finding 40 minutes a day to swish with oil may be a challenge and am certain there are more fun things to do.

*https://draxe.com/oil-pulling-coconut-oil
**http://www.ada.org/en/science-research/science-in-the-news/the-practice-of-oil-pulling