Many people who are committed to preventing tooth decay make mistakes in their oral care routine that end up hurting them. Someone who is confident that they maintain healthy teeth can learn that they have one cavity, or even several, during a dental exam! This can be a consequence of more than just infrequent brushing. Aggressive brushing, a rushed routine, and other issues can affect the quality of your oral hygiene efforts. At our Gary, IN dentist’s office, we can talk with you about maintaining a successful approach to cavity prevention during exams. By making positive changes, you can reduce your risk for problems that will require restorative dental work. (more…)
Keeping Your Smile Healthy With Preventive Care
It’s always worth taking basic precautions that can prevent you from becoming sick. The same is true of your oral health. By taking basic steps on a daily or regular basis, you can prevent gum disease and tooth decay. Preventing these problems will not only spare you discomfort, but it will also spare you the cost of restorative dentistry. Preventive care is the best way to keep your smith healthy. If you’re not already taking advantage of these simple preventive care methods, then now is the time to start. (more…)
How Does a Cavity Lead to Root Canal Treatment?
When a cavity first develops, it often causes your tooth to become more sensitive as the decay behind it erodes your tooth structure. This is one reason why cavities are often treated before they become more serious, and before the discomfort they cause can become more intense. However, when a cavity isn’t addressed promptly, the tooth decay that caused it can continue to grow worse, affecting even more of your tooth’s structure. In severe cases, it can also infect the tissues and nerves inside the pulp of the tooth, which also travel through the tooth’s inner root canal. (more…)
Does a Toothache Mean You Need a Tooth Filling?
When you develop a toothache, the most important thing to do first is to determine its cause. Trying out numerous home remedies instead of visiting your dentist could cost valuable time, and in the meantime, your toothache (and the cause behind it) will likely get worse. One of the more common causes behind chronic toothaches is the development of decay in the tooth, which leads to a cavity, or hole, forming in the tooth’s structure. If your toothache is an indication of a cavity, then it could mean that the only way to relieve the chronic pain is to have a tooth-colored filling placed in the tooth. (more…)
What Unchecked Bruxism Does to Your Teeth
You use your teeth and jaws more often every day than you do any other part of your body, and the action of biting and chewing involves immense pressure from your bite. If you suffer from bruxism, or subconscious teeth-grinding, then you can be exposing your healthy tooth structure to that same level of pressure, but without any food between to buffer it. Bruxism can develop a variety of different potential factors, which means you may be at risk for it without even knowing. Today, we examine what can happen when bruxism is left unchecked, including the damage that your teeth will do to themselves over time. (more…)
What Problems Can TMJ Disorder Lead To?
The problem with many oral health concerns is that, given enough time, they grow worse and cause several other concerns with your oral health. This is especially true with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder, which impacts your jaw joints’ and muscles’ ability to function properly. TMJ disorder and its impact on your jaw function can grow worse over time, but also, it can lead to the development of one or more other concerns that will also increase in severity the longer they’re left untreated. (more…)
Why Veneers Might Be the Right Choice for Your Smile
With most modern cosmetic dental treatments, achieving the smile that you’ve always wanted is often simpler and more efficient than you might expect. For example, if your teeth are significantly impacted by stains and discoloration, you might be surprised at how effective professional teeth-whitening can be at erasing them and brightening your teeth. For more extensive cosmetic concerns with one or more of your teeth, porcelain veneers might also provide a highly convenient solution for improving most or all of them at once. (more…)
3 Reasons Gum Contouring Might Be a Good Idea
Of the different conditions that could potentially impact your oral health, a gummy smile doesn’t always seem like a serious one. Aside from the appearance of an uneven gum line, there may not be any other symptoms to worry about – at least, not at first. Cosmetic gum contouring is a conservative procedure that’s designed to straighten and improve your gum line when your gum tissues have become uneven. The benefits of improving your gum line’s symmetry, however, goes beyond improving your smile’s appearance, and in many cases, it can have several important advantages for your long-term oral health, as well. (more…)
How Tooth Bonding Can Do More than You Realize
Improving your smile with cosmetic dental treatment is often about more than just making your smile more attractive. The different types of blemishes that can affect the appearance of your teeth can sometimes impact their health and integrity, as well. Because of this, the most effective cosmetic dental treatments are those that not only improve your teeth’s appearance, but also help bolster their overall strength and integrity. Cosmetic tooth bonding is often an ideal solution because of its ability to accomplish both goals, all while keeping your treatment as minimally invasive as possible. (more…)
Problems that May Be Associated with Crooked Teeth
Crooked teeth, or tooth misalignment, is a big enough problem on its own to make addressing it important. When your teeth aren’t aligned properly, everything from your smile’s appearance to your bite function, and much more, can feel the effects of it. In addition, ignoring crooked teeth and allowing them to remain out of alignment can also lead to several additional problems with your oral health. Today, we examine just a few of these problems, and why straightening your crooked teeth with orthodontic treatment is important in helping you avoid them. (more…)