Root canal treatment – referred to as “endodontic therapy” in dentistry – is one of the safest and most successful dental procedures performed today. According to an article in the European Journal of Dentistry (EJD), this treatment is very predictable, with success rates ranging from 86% to 98%. Even so, many people are frightened by…
Category: Dental Procedures
What Is a Cephalometric X-Ray?
A cephalometric X-ray — sometimes called a ceph X-ray — is one type of X-ray that is used for both diagnostic and treatment planning purposes in both dentistry and medicine. When used properly for evaluating patients, X-rays are considered safe and are often necessary to determine the cause of certain issues. The National Institutes of…
Dental Tourism - A Brief Review
I’ve been aware of the practice of “dental tourism” for some time now. In fact, I had a patient many years ago, who while wintering in in Arizona, made the short trip to Mexico to have a crown made – and at a substantially lower fee than mine. Honestly, I thought it was adequate! A…
Tooth Brushing Mistakes You Make Every Day
You don’t clean at the right time of day If you were to only brush once a day when would be the best time? Night time of course! When you are sleeping is the longest period of the day when you are not eating, and therefore, feeding the bacteria that cause tooth decay and gum…
The Dangers of Do It Yourself Dentistry!
Recently there have been several reports in the news and posts on social media about how to perform “do it yourself” dental procedures. These are, at a minimum, problematic trends which can lead to serious consequences. Among these are: Charcoal Teeth WhiteningI don’t know where this came from, but using charcoal or anything other than…
Root Canal Awareness Week
The Simple Truth About a Root Canal Whoops! I missed it too! Root Canal Awareness Week was March 27 to April 2 and indeed, this week celebrated its 10th anniversary according to the American Association of Endodontists. With all of the days and weeks devoted to the myriad of causes and issues that occupy our…
CariVu - A new view at tooth decay
We are pleased to be introducing CariVu™ to our practice. CariVu is a new fiber optic trans-illumination technology from Dexis that will help us with better and earlier diagnosis of tooth decay (caries), between your teeth. Earlier detection of course, leads to more conservative and less expensive treatment options. The CariVu technology is painless, and…
Onlay vs. Dental Crown: Which is Better for Your Teeth?
Crowns and onlays are laboratory fabricated restorations that are made to restore and protect teeth that can’t be fixed with fillings, either because there was too much decay or there is too much tooth structure missing. Simply put, fillings have limitations. They just “ fill in” that part of the tooth that Is missing, but…
What Exactly is “Occlusal Disease”?
And what does it have to do with tricycles? Dentistry has traditionally diagnosed and treated three basic conditions relating to our teeth and their support systems: Tooth Decay (dental caries), Periodontal disease (diseases affecting the supporting structures of the teeth – the gums and bone) and Occlusal disease – those conditions affecting how the teeth…
Are Dental X-Rays Safe
Most people are familiar with having dentals x-rays taken periodically at dental visits and recognize the benefits of a dental x-ray examination. Occasionally someone still asks me if these X-rays are “safe”. The short answer Is “yes”, but some explanation may be more helpful. First, dental X-rays involve a fraction of the amount of radiation…
