Recently a famous celebrity doctor (whose last name sounds like a land where Dorothy from Kansas found a great and powerful wizard) recommended a simple at-home whitening formula. The recipe? Coat your teeth with a mixture of baking soda and lemon juice before brushing.
Does this really work? Well, it certainly may remove some stains. But unfortunately it can also be a recipe for disaster.
Lemon juice is an acid, so even though fruits are generally healthy, large concentrations of the juice can actually wear away enamel, the hard outer layer of your teeth. Once that erodes, not only are teeth quite unattractive – they are incredibly prone to cavities and difficult to repair.
Baking soda is an abrasive material, kind of like sandpaper. So even though in very small amounts it can polish your teeth nicely, use the wrong amount and you may as well be sanding your teeth away!
Our suggestion? Put the lemon in your tea and use baking soda in the kitchen! When it comes to whitening your teeth, your best bet is to ask a dental professional.
Over-the-counter whitening toothpastes and whitening products from the drug store can do a marginal job on lightly stained teeth, especially for those in their late teens and early twenties. But we find that most people who express the desire for whiter teeth need what only a dental office can offer.
So, what’s the way to get the best whitening system for the whitest teeth?
There are many different teeth whitening treatments available. For those wanting better results than what over-the-counter products offer, we have several different products and procedures. The most basic is a little gel that you can paint on your teeth. This is often used as a touch up for one tooth, or to help maintain teeth after professional whitening. We have another product from Whiter Image which is an inexpensive tray system that you fit yourself and use at home. Better than that is the old standby, the custom made, precise-fitting trays and gel for at home use. The most common form of whitening any more has been the in-office whitening systems, like Zoom!, with a very strong gel that can jump your teeth an average of 8 shades in one 1.5 hour appointment. You can use one system or combine them to customize your treatment and results.
At Dillon Family Dentistry, we will be glad to tell you which one is right for you. Or we may even recommend that you keep your teeth as they are!
As far as that TV doctor – we wish him the best and hope he doesn’t grind his teeth away. When it comes to dental advice, please ask a member of the dental profession!
Please remember that at Dillon Family Dentistry, we are here for you! If you have any questions about this or anything else concerning your dental health, please give us a call at 610-525-5497, or visit our website at www.DillonFamilyDentistry.com.
Dillon Family Dentistry
1084 E. Lancaster Ave
Rosemont, PA 19010
Your teeth aren’t in Kansas any more!
Less Taste, More Fillings?
The band Steely Dan once sang about “Gold Teeth” – but more of us probably have silver in our teeth than gold.
Recently many patients have been asking about the difference between traditional “silver” fillings and the more modern tooth colored or “white” fillings. Here is a little history (we will try to make it fun!) and then some answers to the many questions people seem to be having.
Ancient dentists used materials as diverse as cork, turpentine, gum, lead and stone chips to restore decayed teeth. Then in China in 659 AD (long before they were making iPods and Nike tennis shoes) dentists began experimenting with using silver as a material to plug unwanted dental holes.
After experimenting with many formulations over the years, in the early 1800s a French dentist named Louis Regnart added mercury to the mix, creating the first version of the modern day silver filling, known as dental amalgam. The formula was so controversial that when it was first introduced in the United States by two other Frenchman known as The Crawcour Brothers, they were run out of the country!
Eventually the formula was perfected and it became the material still in use today which we typically call “silver fillings.” Most Americans who visit the dentist on a regular basis (especially those of us over thirty or so) have a few of these gems in our mouths.
Lately some groups have pointed out that mercury can be a very unhealthy thing to have in your body, and have actually called for all of these fillings to be removed! While it is true that in large quantities mercury is toxic, after extensive studies the American Dental Association has concluded that there are no significant health risks to using this time-tested material.
However, we feel it is important to point out two major differences between these traditional silver amalgam fillings and the more modern tooth colored materials.
A silver filling does not actually bond to the healthy tooth material; it is kept in place by placing the material using a wedge effect. So while it may do a good job of replacing a decayed area in your tooth, it also weakens the tooth and makes it more susceptible to cracks and fractures, often leading to more extensive treatment such as a crown which covers the tooth completely. For this reason, we are extra careful to check these fillings closely during your examination for any signs of breakdown.
On the other hand, a tooth colored filling (known as a “composite”) actually bonds to the healthy tooth and creates one big strong healthy tooth unit.
The other major difference is obvious – a composite resin filling is a beautiful almost invisible way to treat a decayed tooth while an amalgam filling looks like metal.
That’s right, the same material we use to do cosmetic bonding on your front teeth can be used to replace those large mercury fillings in the back of your mouth.
Do you ever see a famous singer on TV open really wide to reveal a mouth full of silver? We see it all the time. (Of course we are dentally obsessed and may be looking much more closely than you!)
So keep brushing and flossing well, eating a healthy diet and getting regular dental visits, and maybe you will never have to worry about this!
But should you have a “cavity” – we will be glad to discuss all of the options with you and work together to figure out the best way to treat your individual situation. Our goal is to provide treatment which is strong and beautiful too! At Dillon Family Dentistry, we always want to recommend the absolute best options to suit your needs and keep your mouth healthy for the rest of your life.
Should you have any questions, or if you would like to schedule an appointment, please give us a call at 610-525-5497. We are here to help you!
Dillon Family Dentistry
1084 E. Lancaster Ave
Rosemont, PA 19010
610-525-5497
HD Dentistry
4 X’s better Dentistry? Really? Illuminate me!
I can actually argue that it is even way more betterer than 4X’s better!!
When I started doing dentistry at Temple Dental School the only people wearing any magnification were the instructors that seemingly wore them only to hypercritically assess our work. Or at least that’s what we all thought then.
I got my first set of loops, magnifying glasses that I use while working on patients, back in the late 80’s. They magnified teeth 2.6 x’s, allowing me to see more and be more detail oriented. It opened up great possibilities for Cosmetic Dentistry like porcelain veneers and crowns to get them fit more precisely and make the place where they meet the teeth more invisible and hygienic, allowing them to look better and last longer!
Somewhere around the millennium I upgraded to 3.5 x’s magnification. Things got better and better. One of the other places where the magnification helps is when doing Root Canal therapy. Finding the little tiny canals can be a real challenge. Many root canal specialists are using microscopes and even Cone Beam CT scans, really cool radiographic scan that will give 3-D images to help in diagnosis and treatment planning.
I need to mention that the other huge upgrade through all of this is the improved illumination through all of this. The loops all came with a light source on them as well. I’ve always said that the extra light was at least as valuable as the magnification. When I look back at pictures of dental schools back when my dad went to school, I always marveled at how they could work with the poor lighting. I t seemed like an even larger handicap than the old belt-driven handpieces (drills). Our regular lights are 10 times better than the old ones; I have the lights on my glasses and even fiber optics on my drills, flooding the work area with light from every direction.
So, my little gift to myself this year was a pair of 4.0 magnification loops. Finer, more detailed dentistry is here. The optics and frames are so comfortable that I am comfortable wearing them all. One of the biggest advantages of this has been an increased ability to find and diagnose little problems. Little cavities have only compromised a small amount of tooth structure, need small fillings, take a little time, often need no anesthetic and carry small price tags.
I can’t wait to see you when you come in!
Now in HD!
Tooth Decay
Tooth decay is back En Vogue!
Did you know that for the first time in recorded history tooth (hyperlink: http://www.amjdent.com/Archive/2009/Bagramian%20-%20February%202009.pdf)decay is on the rise.
Back in the 60’s the various disciplines of Medicine set goals for the year 2000.
Not only was dentistry one of the few that met their goals, we were the first!
Significant decreases in decay, gum disease and edentulism (not having teeth) were all recorded thanks to the introduction of fluoride into drinking water and education about homecare.
Fast forward to 2011 and there is now an increase in the incidence of decay.
Can you guess why?
I’d say there are several factors, but most notably is the prevalence of bottled and filtered water.
I’ll be you can guess what they’re filtering out.
Yup, our friendly fluoride is no longer along for the ride.
Many municipalities have had groups successfully petition to get it removed. Concerns about a condition, fluorosis,
(insert hyperlink to : http://www.cdc.gov/fluoridation/safety/dental_fluorosis.htm) in areas with extremely high levels of fluoride in the natural drinking water is usually at the heart of the fluoride ban. Oddly enough it is the dentists in most communities that are at the frontlines of trying to get the fluoride put in the municipal water.
Even if you local water supply is not fluoridated that chances are excellent that much of what you eat and drink is made with fluoridated water as an ingredient.
Another factor that could be contributing to the increase in decay is the rising popularity or sports (hyperlink: http://www.ultrafitnessdynamics.com/170/can-sports-drinks-cause-tooth-decay/) drinks that are just as bad for your teeth as soda.
I was shocked as a parent when I went to the pediatrician with my daughters and the Dr. Woehling told us that the girls should just be drinking water and milk. I initially thought the omission of juice was an oversight, but then as a dentist I was very happy to hear that she recommended having the girls limit their juice intake.
On the upside, the girls were happy to hear that chocolate milk was on the list of good drinks.
In fact, chocolate milk might be a better recovery drink after exercise than the sports drinks themselves. http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/healthy-eating/superfoods/chocolate-milk-after-workout/
Just pouring a little drink for thought out there.
Positive Patient Experiences
Ryan was just in to get some work done for the first time in our office. He started relating how much he hated dentistry because of a truly horrific childhood experience. (His might take the cake!)
One of the cool things that we do at our staff meetings is review our ‘Positive Patient Experiences’. Basically, the PPE’s are a chance for us to focus on one of the best aspects of what we do in here. We try to remember that we’re not just working for a paycheck, but have the luxury of helping people improve the quality of their lives and health, which is truly a gift.
It could be Cindee helping someone figure all of the logistics of fitting our schedules together, working out financing or just supporting a patient through the whole process.
For most patients it’s exposing them to whole new way to perceive ‘going to the dentist’.
One of the best things I learned from my dad was how to use humor and having a good time to distract patients from everything that is going on. Especially for those that are pretty anxious about dentistry it’s better than using pharmacologic agents for every reason, but mostly because the patients don’t feel like they’ve used a ‘crutch’, This way they feel empowered that they’ve gotten through the experience themselves, without any perceived help. On top of it they just flat out have a good time while they’re in here.
The end result is that we undo a lot of the scars from previous experiences and often actually have them look forward to coming back in. Sounds crazy, but it’s not uncommon for us.
As much fun as it is to do a total make-over of someone’s smile, or as enjoyable as it is to feel the appreciation of getting someone out of pain they aren’t as challenging as helping someone change their bad perceptions of what it’s like to go to the dentist.
To Drill, Or Not To Drill…
To Drill, Or Not To Drill…
Tough call!
One of my favorite patients was in the other day and we had a little situation come up that prompted some deeper thinking and I thought I’d get it out there.
DD is one of my patients that least comfortably lends himself to being a dental patient.
The joke used to be that we had to have a bucket under the headrest, because as soon as the chair went back he would start sweating profusely.
Where’s the ShamWOW when you need it.
He didn’t need to be a dental phobic for the purpose of the discussion, but it adds an interesting twist.
I have done a fair amount of work on DD over the years (he might say it’s been an unfair) and we needed to touch up a filling that we did several years ago. After I repaired the filling I went to adjust his bite. Once I got the tooth balanced in with the rest of his teeth to where it hit as much as the neighboring teeth without bumping extra when he slid his jaw around I decided to look at his bite in general.
Enter the dilemma of the day.
DD is asymptomatic. No headaches, neck aches, breaking teeth, grinding or gnashing his teeth at night, clicking or popping of his TMJ or jaw locking or not opening too far. None of my most common things that people with bite imbalances frequently report with are present with DD.
However, when I check his bite it’s off by as much as any patient I’ve examined. He’s got a big slide once he hits his teeth in the back left, way before he hits anything else.
Now, we’re all a little more mature than just saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” right?
That is a cowards way of viewing things. Benign neglect, ‘playing ostrich’ is attractive because it doesn’t take any time or cost any money but that’s about it.
The cornerstone of minimally invasive dentistry is trying to prevent problems and fixing them early once they are identified. This situation seems to fit the criteria for going in and equilibrating proactively, before he becomes symptomatic. So, how did we decide to let things go and revisit things in a few months?
You can reference my last blog that states that it’s my job to impart the necessary knowledge upon my patients allowing them to make the informed decision that they feel is right for them. Fairly simple, right? Hell, even the lawyers can’t complain!
Reenter the fact that DD is one my most reluctant dental patients with fairly sensitive teeth in his defense. Maybe this was the tipping item for me. Maybe it was more important for us to let him feel empowered and in control, which are the pillars or overcoming dental phobia for most, than to strongly recommend preventive.
DD and I have been through a lot of dental stuff together. He trusts me fairly implicitly, to the extent that if I told him that we should go ahead with this now he would likely have reluctantly agreed that it was the right thing to do.
I’m curious what outsiders might have to say in this matter. Let’s say it’s for your 21 year old son and you want to respect their ability to make an adult decision, but at the same time you want them to be vaccinated from potential problems down the road. I mean, you did expose them to lots of vaccines as children which was invasive.
I’d love to hear thoughts on this one.
Things like this are why I say communication is the biggest art form in dentistry.
Next time I’ll be back with a nice case of clinical dental arts with some pictures.
Peace,
D
Dillon Family Dentistry, 1084 East Lancaster Ave Rosemont PA 19010, Phone Number: 610-228-0329
Cosmetic Dentistry
So, this is a common one.
A patient comes in and asks what they should have done in a certain situation.
Usually, I’ve always asked what I’d do for my Mom, sister, wife or one of my kids and that would cover it.
Sometimes, that’s not quite enough.
I had a patient ask me a few years ago if the should have some elective, Cosmetic Dentistry procedure done.
Cosmetically for the patient there would have been a clear advantage to the procedure.
But, there is the risk of me projecting my values on them.
My thought process took me to the Rotary 4 Way Test I have hanging in my reception room:
- Is it the TRUTH?
- Is it FAIR to all concerned?
- Will it build GOODWILL and better FRIENDSHIPS?
- Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
This is a litmus test all things we say and do.
But sometimes even this isn’t good enough of a tool to help us.
Flashback to Fr. Jenneman’s Sophomore Philosophy class at St. Joe’s University and I remembered a quote (help me if you know who said this first) “If a man perceives a situation as real, it’s real in its consequences.”
BINGO!
This was the one that helped.
So, I asked the woman if she looked at or focused on the imperfection in the mirror, or in photographs of herself or smiled differently or didn’t smile at all because of the issue-at-hand.
She said, “yes”, I said “YES!” and we happily did some cosmetic bonding and she’s been appreciative of it ever since.
So, I’d like to thank my Mom, Rotary and Fr. Jenneman for helping me be a better dental coach.
Dillon Family Dentistry, 1084 East Lancaster Ave Rosemont PA 19010, Phone Number: 610-228-0329
Kids
So, somebody asked me ‘what is the right age to bring their kid into my office?’
Good question.
I always tell them to just bring the kids in with them whenever they come in after the kid is about 2 years old.
The advantage of having the kid see the parents (and older siblings) have their teeth cleaned and having fun in the office is immeasurable.
It gets to be like a privilege or a right of passage.
This is an advantage that I have as a general dentist is that it’s really easy for the parents to introduce the doctor, office and environment to the child in a very non-threatening manner.
I’ll usually let the child sit on the parent’s lap at the end of the parent’s appointment and do as much as the kid lets me. Typically this might just be to have them open and let me check that their teeth are lining up in a healthy orientation. If I want to check the teeth I can usually get away with having the kid let me ‘count’ their teeth with an explorer and check for cavities at the same time.
As the child gets a little older we just start doing a little more of the actual cleaning and it’s easy because the child already has a little familiarity with the office, the chair and me!
Strangely enough, I’ve found that the kids have the biggest problem with the tastes of things and the light in the operatory. We have a special selection of flavors for kids and dark glasses that make them look like the Terminator!
They actually don’t associate the dentist with pain at all and we work hard to keep it that way.
It’s very rare that I will have a child not be comfortable with actually having their teeth cleaned by the age of 4.
As a cosmetic Dentist that treats the whole family I’ve been lucky with this approach to introducing a child to dentistry.
Dillon Family Dentistry, 1084 East Lancaster Ave Rosemont PA 19010, Phone Number: 610-228-0329
Teeth in a Day
Today is a great day for a few of us.
We are starting treatment for a patient that has had medical issues that have made it difficult for him to keep his teeth in good shape and, alas, we’ve come to the conclusion that it was time to remove his teeth and restore them with dental implants.
What is “Teeth in a Day”?
The phrase ‘Teeth in a Day’ refers to the process of placing Dental Implants and then immediately placing the teeth with some kind of dental prosthetic, usually an Overdenture.
An overdenture is a smaller denture that snaps onto either natural teeth, or most commonly dental implants.
The overdenture doesn’t have to be as large as a regular denture since it is supported and held in place by the implants. Other great benefits include having the overdenture cover and protect the surgical sites to help them heal better, improved esthetics and never having to be without teeth.
How it works:
We spend a lot of time coordinating with the surgeon, the lab and the patient before hand with many different kinds of high tech and hands-on data gathering to make the day go very smoothly.
A surgeon will remove the remaining teeth and place the implants in predetermined spots. These sites are jointly chosen by me and the surgeon using special imaging techniques like a Cone Beam CT Scan. Sometimes we will have our lab make a surgical stent that will have channels built-in to precisely guide the placement of the implants to coincide with an overdenture using CAD CAM (computer-aided-design and computer-aided-manufacturing) technologies.
Once the implants are placed we will usually place bone-grafting material to help the body maximize the bone quality and quantity.
The more common way to fit the overdenture to the implants and the patient’s mouth is to take an impression after the bone-grafting and send it out to the lab. The impression will have metal pieces in them that will let the lab know exactly where the implants are and how they are oriented. They will use models and measurements we gave them to custom-make the outer shell of the overdenture. The lab will then retrofit them into the overdenture and return them to our office later on in the day and we screw them onto the implants.
After checking the fit and the bite the patient is all set to go and use their new teeth and smile.
After the implants are fully accepted by the body which could be 4-6 months we can then make a more precise and stealthy prosthesis. This may be either an overdenture or a more traditional bridge once we know exactly what the gum contours are after all of the healing.
The good news for our patient this week is that he has great bone and never really had any periodontal disease so we can hope for optimal gum contours that will give us the most natural results. We’re expecting that he will be able to eat, smile and talk with the fullest confidence, and, hey, never worry about getting a cavity ever again.
It’s a great option that more and more people are taking advantage of these days.
Dillon Family Dentistry, 1084 East Lancaster Ave Rosemont PA 19010, Phone Number: 610-228-0329
What is an Overdenture?
OK, so things haven’t really gone your way dentally.
Sorry to hear that.
Dillon Family Dentistry, 1084 East Lancaster Ave Rosemont PA 19010, Phone Number: 610-228-0329
You still have options when your own teeth aren’t an option any more.
Once you and your dentist come to the conclusion that you might be better off removing all of your teeth you need to ask yourself the question:
“Am I OK with wearing a full denture that I’ll have to learn to try to limit it’s movements and functional abilities?”
If you are OK with trying that I can take impressions and measurements and I can have the lab make a denture that I can put in the same day that I take the teeth out.
You will be sore and your ability to eat and talk will be pretty compromised for a couple weeks.
It will feel huge and foreign in the beginning.
Many people are OK with these, but as implants get easier and more predictable more people are choosing overdentures and implant supported dentures.
Once you make the decision to get implants as part of your solution you need to get special X-Rays and have a surgeon examine your bone. This will help determine where and how many implants could be placed and if bone grafting is necessary.
After the surgeon and I consult I will have you come in and we can talk about your options.
Your options could go from simple pieces that look like smaller dentures that snap on to abutments on top of the implants that you can take out and clean whenever you want. They are the least complex option and can be completed the quickest and are the least expensive options.
It could look like this:
Some times it is necessary to make a bar that sits on top of, and connects to, all of the implants. Once again a smaller, less obtrusive denture would snap on top of it.
It’s a little more complicated and will cost a little more, but is usually more secure.
Here’s an example:
In many situations the best looking, functioning and feeling solution will be a bridge that is screwed into the implants.
This can be a lot more work, and take longer to complete, however it truly is the most like having your own teeth back, but without the problems that you had with your own teeth.
All of these options usually can start using the implants the day that they are placed.
Examples of these procedures are “Teeth in a Day” and “All on Four”.
They are all great options and each one is the right fit for certain people. We’d just spend some time talking about you and the options and try to help you make the right decision. The cool thing is that even if you make your decision and are unhappy with it, we can usually switch and try on of the other options.
I hope this helps.