You should never feel twinges of shock-like pain in your teeth and when you do, you should bring it to our attention immediately. This is a sign that you have tooth sensitivity – something that can be caused by hot or cold food hitting your dentin, which is the layer of your tooth that’s located under its hard, white enamel. When this happens, your nerves become exposed.

Determining the Cause of Tooth Sensitivity

Regardless of your age, you may experience tooth sensitivity. There are many reasons why this may occur. One of the leading causes is that you’ve accidentally cracked your tooth. This means that a piece of your tooth’s chewing surface has broken off. Usually this happens in the area around a filling.

Fortunately, this will rarely damage the pulp of your tooth and it typically won’t cause you much pain either. This is something that we can easily fix either by adding a new filling in the area or placing a crown over the top of the tooth to protect it.

This isn’t the only reason that your tooth might be sensitive though. The reasons range from your diet to your health. For instance, the food you eat can be too acidic and contribute to this sensitivity. Additionally, if you chew on things like ice, you can easily crack your enamel. If your diet seems fine, you may want to make sure you aren’t using too hard of a toothbrush.

Sometimes you may not even know the real reason behind why your tooth is feeling sensitive until you come into our office for a visit. This is why when you’re experiencing tooth sensitivity you should bring it to our attention as soon as possible.

Give our office a call and schedule an appointment. We want you to feel as good as possible, as soon as possible, which is why you shouldn’t delay in calling us.

No one wants to find out that they have a cavity and need to get a filling. While that is upsetting, it is important to get over that and start to make some choices. There are actually different types of fillings to choose from.

Many may assume that the only type of filling is the silver ones, but the reality is that there are other options. There are also times when a glass filling is the right option. To know when that it, you have to learn what a glass filling is and how it can help the health of your teeth.

What are They

Glass ionomer fillings actually create a bond with the tooth. They are a resin filling that offers a few benefits. They can release fluoride that helps protect and strengthen the tooth. While these teeth do offer the benefits of the fluoride, it does have drawbacks. It is not as strong as composite resins and is more susceptible to cracking and erosion. Glass fillings typically last 5 years or less.

When they Work

Despite their short life, there are many times when the glass fillings are the right options. In young children, the glass fillings can help, especially with their molars and back teeth. The ability to prevent additional tooth decay helps restore the health of the teeth and the surrounding teeth. They are also very effective for fillings below the gum line.

The ability of the glass fillings to bond with the teeth reduces some of the preparation for a filling and makes it easier to use. Although they still require drilling, the amount of drilling is less and take less time to put in, which is great when working with young children.

For more information about this or any other oral health issue, contact our office to schedule an appointment.

Acids can damage your teeth and not only make them look bad, but hurt you too. This is why you need to know as much as you can about acid damage, or erosion, and how to avoid it. We can help you as well if you need a dentist.

If your teeth are suffering from acid damage, here are some things you can do to help with this problem. You can also call us for the help you need with this.

What Causes Acid Damage to Your Teeth?

Your diet can cause acid damage to your teeth and cause them to suffer, in return, causing you to suffer as well. Acid decalcifies your teeth and can be painful. Because of this, you need to change your diet.

The foods to avoid include anything with citrus in it and foods that are acidity. Another culprit for acid damage is soda. They contain phosphoric acid. If you already have acid damage to your teeth, call us for an appointment right away so we can help you.

Health Conditions Can Cause Problems with Acid Damage

If you have certain health conditions, believe it or not, they can cause you to suffer from acid damage to your teeth. Those who suffer from gastroesophageal acid reflux disease, or GERD, can have problems with enamel erosion. This is because this is a health condition that causes you to belch up acid from your stomach.

Things You Can do To Prevent Enamel Erosion

You will want to cut back on soda and citrus. Anything with citrus in it can cause acid to form on your teeth, eroding the enamel and causing tooth sensitivity. Drinking more water, and less of everything else you usually drink can help you too. Seeing us for help with your acid damage, or enamel erosion problems can help you too.

Learning everything you can about acid damage or enamel erosion can help your tooth sensitivity and reduce your pain. Call us and make an appointment right away as well so we can help you too.

This post is the start of something I’ve been thinking about for a long time. Putting up photos of my work up on a regular basis. Showing off some of my dental art work and showing some of the less desirable dentistry that comes into my office and how we get our patients smiles back.

These first photos are of a molar tooth that had root canal treatment. I decided to keep most of the existing tooth structure by doing a ceramic onlay. The onlay is fused to the tooth and creates a very durable tooth.

Lots of dentists would crown this tooth, a crown covers all the tooth above the gum line. An onlay is my preferred way to restore a tooth like this. I feel it is more conservative and gives the patient a less invasive restoration. I believe these onlays allow me to be the best dentist I can be.

Tooth shaped for porcelain onlay

The ceramic restoration before bonding to the tooth

The final seamless restoration

These ceramic restorations are made through CAD CAM technology.

The onlays are cut out of a block of very hard ceramic material which has the ability to bond to tooth structure. I have been successfully using this technique of restoring teeth for the last 25 years. Dental materials have evolved during that time. I feel that these current materials may have the ability to last my patients a lifetime.

Keep Smiling LI