Soft Tissue Laser: Right For You?

We weren't born with perfectly shaped teeth? Few of us were. But did you know that there might be an easy fix for that? A treatment with a soft tissue laser can give you the smile of your dreams in one office visit. While it’s more important to have healthy teeth and gums, it’s hard not to want that “perfect” smile as well. Someone with a radiant smile is considered more successful, wealthier and more attractive, and you deserve to be that someone.

Many adults have “short teeth,” sometimes called a “gummy smile,” in need of reshaping. Actually, their teeth are the correct length; it’s just that the gum tissue covers more of the tooth surface than it should. A soft tissue laser uses a high energy beam of light to re-contour your gums. This minimally invasive method simply trims back the excess gum tissue to reveal your hidden smile. Unlike a surgical procedure, a soft tissue laser beam pinpoints just a few cells at a time.

A laser beam is used to remove extra gum cells using a heat method that doesn't “cut” into the gum tissue. This heat method also seals the gum tissue in a similar manner to cauterization. No stitches required! The laser leaves no scarring, is virtually pain- and complication-free, and it speeds up your healing time. In fact, the procedure is so simple and non-invasive that you are ready to continue your busy day when you leave the office.

Don’t wait any longer to get the beautiful smile you have always wanted. Let’s discuss your smile goals and set up a treatment plan.

A "Breath" of Fresh Air

Bad breath isn't only an adult problem. For some of the same reason, kids also develop bad breath issues. So, if your little angel smells like he or she has been ‘licking zombie feet’ look to some of the most common causes. 

Morning breath is caused by slow saliva production during sleep.
Saliva helps to keep the mouth clean, and it provides important chemicals to help deter oral bacterial growth.

Mouth breathing is a major culprit. Some children breathe through their mouths which also causes a decrease in saliva production. To keep saliva moving, it is important for your child to drink plenty of water during the day.

Poor quality brushing and flossing can be another cause. When food particles attract bacteria that are not regularly removed by brushing and flossing from between the teeth or off the tongue, the dining bacteria produce a gas that smells like rotten eggs. The gas is most noticeable at the back of the tongue where food particles get lodged between the papillae (finger-like projections that cover the top side of the tongue).

Sometimes, bad breath is indicative of a more serious condition. Drippy noses and sinuses issues, tonsillitis, tooth decay, GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disease) and diabetes are a few of the common conditions that also produce bad breath.

For most breath issues, the best way to eliminate morning and chronic bad breath is brushing and flossing at least twice each day. For children, use a non-alcohol oral rinse that was designed for younger users. However, for the more serious cases, bad breath is the first indicator of a serious disease. If you suspect something more serious than ‘zombie feet’ may be the cause, we’d need to examine your child to determine the cause of the bad breath. Early disease diagnosis is yet another important reason to schedule those twice yearly dental hygiene exams. 
 

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.

White After Labour Day?

Wear white after Labor Day? Of course! Especially when it comes to your smile. A beautiful white smile can give you confidence and make you more apt to smile. Increase your ‘face value’ with a clinical tooth whitening treatment.

Having a beautiful white smile doesn’t happen on its own. Many factors, including healthy juices and berries, wines and some medications, can stain and darken your teeth. Some not-so-healthy factors such as smoking and using other tobacco products can also make teeth yellow and dingy. Unfortunately, those stains don’t go away when you quit smoking or switch to apple juice. Once those stains creep in, you’ll need a little help to get rid of them.

There are plenty of over-the-counter whitening treatments that can help you brighten your teeth marginally but for serious whitening, we recommend an in-patient whitening*.

A high-concentration whitening can be done in the office, usually in less than an hour. With proper care and avoidance of staining agents, an in-office dental whitening can be easy, inexpensive and long-lasting.

Still have questions about dental whitening? Call us today and we can discuss your options for a brighter smile.

*Note: Children under the age of 16 should avoid whitening in order to protect the developing pulp from being damaged.

Healthy Fat for Healthy Gums

Not all fats are created equally. During the ‘low-fat diet’ craze, the existence of healthy fat has been largely ignored. However, healthy fats are just that….healthy! These “good” fats have many helpful benefits for your body, your well-being and your dental health.

Ongoing research is showing that foods containing polyunsaturated fats may have the ability to not only treat, but also slow periodontitis’ progress. Periodontitis (advanced gum disease) is a chronic, bacterial infection that results in tooth and bone loss as well as inflammation contributing to arterial plaque buildup. Cold Water Fish

How can fat fight gum disease? Polyunsaturated, or “good” fats, fight inflammation. Periodontitis and other conditions associated with inflammation, such as strokes or perhaps even diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis could be slowed, treated and even reversed by these anti-inflammatory foods.

So, which fats are the “good” fats? Polyunsaturated (and monounsaturated) fats are everywhere. Add “good” fat in the form of cold water fish like salmon, trout, mackerel and herring. Include seeds and nuts like flax, sunflower, walnuts and almonds. Also, oils such as olive, coconut, safflower, soy and sunflower oils. Last but not least, don’t forget those strange fruits avocado and olives.

Study participants who had periodontitis and who ate a balanced amount of polyunsaturated fats had significant reductions in periodontitis.

Luckily, you don’t need to eat massive amounts of “good” fat to get the maximum results. While your body needs some fat to maintain its health, eating a balanced diet overall is a health benefit all its own.

If you have periodontitis, continued dental treatment and a balanced diet including “good” fats can help your teeth and gums to be their healthiest.