Lasers are common in many areas of medicine today. They are widely used in surgery where they are used to reshape, remove, cut or repair diseased areas of the body. The laser is a high intensity focus beam of light, which causes a reaction in the cells of the body that allows in many cases a bloodless incision. In dentistry there are two types of lasers: hard tissue lasers and soft tissue lasers. Hard tissue lasers can actually remove tooth structure. This has a nice advantage in that there is no real “drilling” and thus can often be done without…

Getting a dental implant is like getting younger. Sadly you have lost a tooth to disease or trauma. The good news is that you can get your tooth back. A dental implant is a man-made root, made of titanium (the same as in artificial joints so the patient does not have to be worried about being allergic to it. And, no, you will not set off the metal detectors at the airport). This titanium root is cone shaped and has threads on it like a screw. It is placed into the bone underneath the gums. The procedure is not necessarily…

There is a common expression in the dental field- you only have to clean the teeth you want to keep. Let me begin to describe what happens if one does not clean one’s teeth regularly. First, you will not have many friends. But to the point, all of us have “germs” or bacteria that live in our mouths. This is natural and not all bad. There are many kinds of bacteria- some that live on the surfaces of our teeth others that live deep under our gums near the teeth. Some bacteria when given carbohydrates to feed on (left-overs from…

A crown, also known as a cap, is a dental restoration that covers all or most of a particular tooth. Why are crowns sometimes necessary? There are several reasons crowns are recommended. A crown is commonly necessary when natural tooth material (enamel and dentin- the inner layer) has been damaged by decay. A second reason why crowns are fabricated is when a tooth as been fractured by trauma. Sometimes a tooth that has a large filling and it has occurred that the large filling has decay- it can be impractical or impossible to restore this tooth with a still larger…

Bruxism is defined as grinding one’s teeth usually accompanied by clenching of the jaws. In some cases observable symptoms may be present such as headaches, facial muscle pain or soreness, chronic discomfort of a tooth or group of teeth and pain or soreness in the joints of the jaws. This grinding of the teeth can be very powerful and destructive. The teeth can be worn down significantly with the natural surfaces polished flat and the tooth diminished greatly in size. Existing fillings can be fractured and the porcelain of crowns damaged beyond simple repair. Another finding believed to be caused…