Pulp Friction

Just as you can’t judge a book by its cover, you can’t judge the health of your roots by the appearance of your teeth. Unbeknownst to you, your roots could be silently, painlessly dissolving under the gum surface. This process is called root resorption.

You may not realize it but you’ve experienced this already once in your development. Root resorption is the process by which the roots of ‘baby’ teeth ‘melt away,’ allowing the tooth to easily fall out. Unfortunately, external and internal pressure on the secondary root system can trigger root resorption in your ‘permanent’ teeth.

There are two kinds of root resorption:

1. Internal: The tooth is destroyed from the inside of the tooth outward. It’s typically caused by infection in the tooth pulp, the soft, spongy portion inside of a tooth that contains blood vessels and nerves. Your body sends bone destroying cells to the infected area. As the tooth is destroyed, the pink pulp is sometimes visible through the thin tooth shell. Early diagnosis is key to saving the tooth in this case.
2. External: External resorption is usually due to a damaged tooth, and it is more difficult to manage. For example, tooth loss caused by a blow to the mouth can cause some of the supporting structures in the tooth area to be irreversibly damaged. When we place the tooth back into its socket, the jawbone and the neighboring teeth can reject the newly transplanted tooth. Your body attacks the “foreign invader.”
   

Your best defense against root resorption is x-rays and regular checkups. Early diagnosis is important for treating most dental conditions. Having regular dental x-rays allows us to see root resorption before it gets out of hand and gives us a better chance of saving your tooth. At your next appointment, let’s make sure your x-rays are up to date and get to the ‘root’ of the matter.

Open Up & Say "Where"

 

Communication is a ‘two-way street'.  As important as it is for us to communicate effectively with you about your treatment, it is just as necessary for you to communicate with us about your symptoms. In fact, the better we are able to communicate with each other about your symptoms, needs and concerns, the better treatment we can provide.

When describing symptoms, it is best to do so in vivid detail. If you’re in pain, use descriptive adjectives. Is it a dull ache or a stabbing, white hot pain? Does it throb? Is the pain acute or chronic? If you place it on a scale of 1–10, we have a better idea of when the pain is changing. Don’t forget the ‘When, Where and Why.’ Tell us where the symptom occurs and how often it occurs, when you experience the symptom, how long it lasts, and what happens during an episode. Does anything help you feel better or worse? .

Some patients keep a “symptom diary.” Writing down your symptoms and observations takes the pressure off of you to remember every detail, and every little detail is important. Since not all pain is chronic, it helps to keep pain statistics. All these little details can help us put you on the road to recovery and not down a dead end street.

Decaying Self-Esteem

Hidden tooth decay is the number one preventable, chronic childhood disease. But unlike most childhood diseases, a cavity-riddled smile can cause embarrassment, chronic discomfort and damaged self-esteem.

Teens or young adults that have decayed teeth, oral infection and foul breath might be ridiculed and shunned by peers at the time in their lives when social acceptance can seem like the most important thing in the world. If nothing else, a teen with an unhealthy mouth is less apt to smile.

 A lack of self-esteem can lead teens to worsen dental issues by eating an unhealthy diet and having poor oral hygiene. Many teen's diets consist mainly of sugary, carbohydrate-rich foods and beverages. Besides unhealthy snacking, some teens drink multiple cans of sodas, sports/energy drinks and/or sugary coffee drinks all day every day. Oral bacteria convert these sugars into acids that leech the calcium and phosphorous out of the teeth and lead to tooth decay.

When the teen’s teeth and mouth show signs of lack of care, such as bad breath and cavities, the teen’s self-esteem sinks even lower. It’s a vicious cycle.

We encourage parents to not only seek help for their struggling teenager, but to step up their teen’s dental visits. We may need to see your teen more than the typical two hygiene exams each year so that we can closely monitor any changes in the teen’s mouth and take immediate preventative measures.

Working together we can give your teenager a healthy, beautiful smile to show off a dynamic, confident new attitude.