When it comes to dental care, new technology can often translate into better options and treatment for patients. Given the often squeamish nature of patients stuck in the dental chair, the fact that so many dental procedures have become less invasive and unpleasant means that more people are able to get the oral care that they need without letting fear or discomfort get in the way. As a cosmetic dentist who is constantly keeping tabs on the latest advances in oral technology, Dr. Jack Elder of Benicia, California often finds himself singing the praises of the digital developments in his field.

So how is technology working to improve dental care? For starters, it’s making things go a whole lot faster. Instead of sending materials off to laboratories and waiting for a courier system or mail service to get them there, dentists can now email x-rays and photographs and communicate with laboratories at a much more rapid pace. For patients, this can translate into less waiting time for corrective dental devices and fewer lags in multi-step treatment programs.

On the aesthetic end of things, advances in technology have made the world of cosmetic dentistry a lot more high tech. From specialized cameras to instruments that can record and analyze tooth shading, technology is taking some of the guess work out of cosmetic dentistry and allowing dentists to provide patients with accurate, top-notch services. Technology is also driving more and more people to seek out cosmetic dental procedures. Whereas patients might have shied away from formerly-unpleasant treatments considered to be simply elective, nowadays, they’re more likely to view cosmetic dental work as a relatively painless means to an end. Even the simply “irritating” aspects of cosmetic dentistry are, as a whole, quickly becoming a non-issue. For example, technology now enables dentists to create virtual models of patients’ teeth instead of subjecting them to those gunk-filled mouth impression plates; a vast improvement in the minds of those who don’t enjoy the sensation of gagging intermittently while their dentists take a mold. Finally, technology in the world of oral care is allowing dentists to perform procedures more effectively. From clearer x-rays to 3D imaging, techniques such as implant placement and tooth extraction are becoming easier and safer for dentists to perform.

While some people seem to simply repel technology, a good dentist should be willing and able to embrace technology in order to use it to better serve his patients. After all, we live in a digital age, with cell phones and email and web access on the go. We might as well use whatever we can to our teeth’s advantage.

The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.

Related Articles

• Your Complete Guide to Dentistry (1)
• Which Method of Teeth Whitening is Best? (0)
• What Technology Makes Up a 21st-century Dental Office (0)
• What is a Mercury-Free Dentist? (0)
• Understanding Dental Bridges (0)

When it comes to dental matters, the ideal smile can be truly difficult to come by via natural methods, but thanks to the variety of cosmetic dental techniques available today, it is possible to achieve the look of shiny, flawless teeth. On the other hand, such tooth-related perfection often requires a hefty monetary and time commitment, one that many people are either hesitant or financially unable to make. Dr. Jack Elder is a cosmetic dentist based out of Benicia, California, and he understands the importance of a confidence-boosting, healthy smile.

For this reason, he has dedicated his professional life to exploring the advances in the world of cosmetic dentistry and providing patients with the most effective treatments on the market. While Dr. Elder will be the first to admit that some cosmetic dental issues require fairly intricate solutions, certain problems are actually a lot more fixable than one might think. In fact, the following three cosmetic dental issues can be easily tackled without forcing the patient to sacrifice too much time, money, or comfort:

Tooth discoloration
Tooth discoloration is one of the easiest cosmetic dental issues to treat. A single visit to the dentist’s office for a tooth bleaching session can result in a white, glistening smile in a little more than an hour’s time. Since tooth bleaching is not a risky or complex procedure, it is, without a doubt, one of the more affordable cosmetic treatments out there, making it a viable option for those with limited budgets.

Crooked teeth
People with moderately overlapping or misaligned teeth can benefit from invisible braces, an effective solution that is not invasive and offers little to no discomfort. While the cost of braces is higher than that of a simple tooth bleaching procedure, braces today are constantly being touted for the ease and convenience involved in making teeth straighter. Best of all, braces today are designed to be highly efficient in yielding successful results, making crooked teeth one of the most easily-fixable issues in the world of cosmetic dentistry.

Misshapen teeth
Recontouring is a fast, painless method of fixing misshapen teeth. Imperfections such as tooth chips and unevenness can be easily reshaped in one simple visit to the dentist’s office. Since recontouring does not affect the pulp of the tooth, an anesthetic is not usually needed. And because the procedure is not invasive, follow-up treatments or appointments are generally not required.

If you’ve been walking around feeling bad about your smile, then talk to a cosmetic dentist before you truly give up hope. You might be pleasantly surprised to learn that certain dental issues can easily be resolved witha relatively quick and inexpensive fix. Of course, no matter how much time, money, and effort you put into your appearance, you may never feel completely satisfied. But try to remind yourself that it’s those physical flaws and quirks that actually give us character.

The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.

Related Articles

• Your Complete Guide to Dentistry (1)
• What is Teeth Bonding? (0)
• What are Inlays and Onlays? (1)
• Three Benefits of Teeth Bonding (2)
• I Love Your Smile: The Importance of Having Good Teeth for Dating (0)

Bruxism is grinding of the teeth and/or clenching of the teeth that can injure them, wear them down, and also cause damage to the TMJ, or temporal mandibular joints. In some cases, it may not require treatment. But usually if it is not treated, it can cause a host of conditions, ranging from jaw disorders to headaches and damaged teeth.

Gender Differences

Teeth grinidng can produce some severe conditions, especially in women because the average woman’s jaw is weaker. The average man who clenches or grinds his teeth at night, called sleep bruxism, or clenches them in the day, destroys his teeth and wearing them down.

Usually, however, women who grind their teeth end up with more than just destroyed teeth. They get migraine headaches, pain in the jaw, lockjaw, grating or grinding sounds when opening or closing their mouths. That can lead to an entire imbalance of the neurology of the brain, which can affect many parts of a person’s life and their ability to function.

Why People Grind Their Teeth

It’s not known why people grind their teeth. On the East coast, it is claimed there is less problem with it than on the West coast. That is my observation. I was a dentist in New York for 20 years, and observed that during my time there and on the West coast where I am now.

We don’t know why exactly but I know for sure my patients in New York experienced one-tenth of the effects of teeth grinding than my patients here in California. It could have to do with lifestyle, or with irritants in the air. Any irritant can cause a person to clench or grind his teeth, as can and sleep emotional problems. Children who grind their teeth may do so in response to earache or because of the growth and development of their jaws and teeth.

Treatment for teeth grinding may require surgery. But usually all that is needed is that an individual wear a night guard to stop it from occurring. If you or someone you know suffers from teeth grinding, see your dentist as soon as possible to discuss what to do about it.

The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.

Related Articles

• Your Complete Guide to Dentistry (1)
• What to Look For in a Dental Practice (2)
• What is Teeth Bonding? (0)
• What are Inlays and Onlays? (1)
• How to Find the Right Dentist for Your Family (0)

Halitosis can come from many sources. It is important that a patient does see a dentist if he has bad breath to find the exact cause of the problem, and to eliminate possible oral sources. After that, if it is determined that the source of the odor is coming from the lungs or from the stomach, which is the most likely, then the patient will be referred to the appropriate specialist.

Causes of Halitosis

However, most of the time, halitosis emanates from the structures in the mouth, usually due to a periodontal problem, or gum disease, and/or a problem with the irregularities of the surface of the tongue that trap and harbor bacteria and trap food. In fact, the bad odor could be coming from the tongue itself.

Treatment always depends on where and why this is happening. Once you know that, you can let the dentist take care of individual problems. If the problem is a periodontal one where odor is coming from bacteria harbored below the gum line, it is cleansed initially with deep cleaning. Then the patient must continue to practice good oral hygiene at home.

This type of hygiene differs from normal hygiene in preventing decay as it focuses more on the cleansing of the area of the mouth below the gum line. Then it is beneficial to use a water irrigating device, to apply germ killers, and to flush out bacteria below the gum line. Several irrigating devices are on the market that you can try.

Don’t Be Shy

People always are embarrassed about seeing a specialist about halitosis. But they have to realize that a doctor is there for that precise purpose. If you have an emotional problem, visit a psychiatrist; a genital problem go to the appropriate physician; and if you have  a dental problem see a dentist, who is a doctor or physician of the oral cavity.

The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.

Related Articles

• I Love Your Smile: The Importance of Having Good Teeth for Dating (0)
• Gum Disease: Everything You Need to Know about Prevention and Treatment (0)
• Your Complete Guide to Dentistry (1)
• What is Teeth Bonding? (0)
• What are Inlays and Onlays? (1)

Dental pain relief relates to a variety of situations, such as relief of a toothache or relief of chronic pain that may come from bruxism, or teeth grinding. The type of relief that a dentist and patient will choose all depend upon where the pain is coming from.

Primarily, as most patients realize, it’s a matter of a local anesthetic to reduce or mask pain. A large number of anaesthetics are available to dentists. Often dentists use the generic term ”novocaine” to refer to all the different types of local injectable anesthetics, so many fall under this heading.

Refractory Condition

Some people, however, are refractory, which means they do not get numb with those injectable anesthetics. That is usually either due to the thickness of bone if we need to infiltrate it, or because a patient has a tooth that is very inflamed, which means there is a higher acidity balance in the tooth. So the anesthetic has less of a chance of working. Another scenario is that the nerve can be inflamed, and blood supply and nerves are more sensitive to become anesthetized.

Other techniques to minimize dental pain include:

• Inter-ligamentary injections: That means there is perforation through the bone to deposit the anesthetic right where the nerve enters. These procedures are generally painless: Superficial structures cannot become numb to deliver other forms of anesthesia, so it hits right where the actual nerve is.
• Laughing gas, or nitrous oxide. That has the effect of making the person feel more relaxed, and it also has an amnesiac effect. People do not remember all the details of the procedure and often that makes it easier for them.
• Oral conscious sedation, or OCS. That is where we use a medication given during the procedure and before it to produce what we call a “twilight state” in the patient. The patient is awake but he feels relaxed, reducing the feeling of pain and the anxiety that can accompany dental work.

Sedation is endorsed by the American Dental Association and is an effective way to make many patients comfortable during their dental visit. Patients with dental phobia, low pain tolerance, major dental treatment, physical disabilities or strong gag reflexes may require sedation. Procedures like fillings, crowns, bridges, root canals, extractions, cosmetic procedures and periodontal treatments often require sedation as well.

The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.

Related Articles

• Your Complete Guide to Dentistry (1)
• Your Baby’s First Dental Appointment (2)
• When to See a Periodontist (2)
• What is Teeth Bonding? (0)
• What is a Mercury-Free Dentist? (0)

What is Laser Dentistry?

By introducing the use of lasers into his dentistry practice, he has been able to eliminate the need for drills and anesthesia in many of our common procedures.

Understanding CEREC Restoration

CEREC technology has changed the way we do crowns. Rather than taking weeks to complete, our patients can now be in and out of the office in a matter of hours.

What is TMJ?

When a patient is suffering from head, neck, or jaw pain, there is a good chance that TMJ is causing that.

Treatments for TMJ

A number of therapeutic treatment options can treat TMJ so you don’t have to undergo an invasive surgery.

Help for Nighttime Grinders

By visiting a dentist to determine the cause of your nighttime grinder, you have a better chance of saving your teeth and solving your issues without undergoing any unneccesary and invasive procedures.

Taking Control of Your Snoring Disorder

If sleep apnea is what is causing your snoring disorder, then there is a good chance that problem can be cured using in-office technology.

X-Ray Diagnosis of Dental Problems

By using state of the art digital imaging to treat our patients, dentist can get extremely clear images without nearly the amount of dangerous radiation.

What is Root Canal Therapy?

Root canal therapy can sound scary, but with the laser technologies available today, the process is actually quite simply and painless.

Recovering From Root Canal Therapy

With the use of lasers, the amount of downtime patients experiencing after undergoing root canal therapy has been significantly reduced.

Preparing for Your Dental Exam

Keeping your teeth cleaning by brushing and floss year-around is really the best way to prepare for a dental exam.

High-Tech Dentistry

Lasers, CEREC, and 3D CT scanning technology are three of the most innovative new techniques being used with patients right now.

Are Veneers Right For Me?

Veneers are considered a conservative restoration option used when correcting uneven, worn, discolored, or chipped teeth for many types of patients.

What is Teeth Bonding?

Dental bonding is an innovative treatment method that changes the look of a patient’s teeth without the use of metal or other foreign substances.

Is an Inlay or Onlay Right for Me?

Inlays and onlays are two of the ways to restore the cusp of decayed or fractured.

When to See a Periodontist

Gum disease and gingivitis are two conditions that can be diagnosed by a general dentist, but may also warrant a trip to the periodontist.

Understanding Dental Bridges

Bridges are a great treatment for patients who may have one or more missing teeth.

Women and Dental Health

Women, and especially those who are pregnant, are at an increased risk for gum issues such as gingivitis. Because of this, they should be especially vigilant about seeing their dentist for regular cleanings and check ups.

Can Certain Foods Impact the Whiteness of Your Teeth?

The rumors are true, and there are certainly foods that you should eat more of—or avoid altogether—for the best chances of having a pearly white smile.

Related Articles

• Your Complete Guide to Dentistry (1)
• What is Teeth Bonding? (0)
• What are Inlays and Onlays? (1)
• Three Benefits of Teeth Bonding (2)
• I Love Your Smile: The Importance of Having Good Teeth for Dating (0)

Many people use teeth whitening treatments to help increase the brightness of their smiles. But what they might not realize is that they could actually be eating foods and drinking certain liquids that are working against them in that process.

The most obvious of these foods and drinks are things like coffees, teas, and dark wines—and most people understand that by now. All these liquids can stain teeth if you drink too much of them on a frequent basis. Another thing that is a little less known, however, is that berries can stain your teeth as well. This is a tough pill to swallow for some people, mainly because a lot of my patients who are interested in diet and health are eating a lot of berries in an effort to stay healthy. They think berries are healthy, so they should be eating a lot of them. And that is true.

I never try to discourage patients from eating healthy foods, even if they might slightly work against them in terms of staining the teeth. I would never advocate that people stop eating foods like berries. Instead, what I do recommend is that these patients who enjoy foods like that make sure they get into the office twice a year for cleanings. In fact, they might want to come in even more frequently depending on their specific situation for addition cleanings.

Any foods that are healthy will help perpetuate a healthy lifestyle. So even if a food can stain the teeth, if it is eaten in large quantities, it is still better for a patient’s oral health than something that is bad for them—like anything that is high in high fructose corn syrup. We try to discourage patients from eating anything that has a lot of corn syrup or sugar.

Sodas are bad for the whiteness and overall health of a patient’s teeth as well. One thing that a lot of people don’t realize, however, is that diet soda is just as bad for the teeth as regular soda. I have many patients who come up to me and say, “Well I drink diet soda, so I am being healthy.” These people do not understand why they are getting cavities in their mouth, since they only drink diet soda. They believe that because diet soda does not have sugar like regular soda, they won’t get all the bad effects of sugar on their teeth. Well the truth is, it is not just sugar that is bad for your teeth. It is carbonation, too.

Carbonation of any kind is bad for the health of the teeth. Even someone who drinks excessive amounts of Perrier water—and this person probably believes they are drinking Perrier to have a healthier lifestyle—is putting their teeth at risk. Cavities can be a big result of too much carbonation in a diet. Ingesting too much carbonation in beverages over a long period of time can cause root cavities and root decay, in fact, which are not what you want to be experiencing. So it is important that people remember that carbonation is bad—just like sugar.

When patients are purely thinking about the whiteness or their smiles, they need to remember that eating healthy is always the way to go. Even if eating healthy means drinking a little more tea or eating a few more berries, just make sure to brush frequently, floss once every 24 hours, and check in with your dentist at least twice a year for cleanings. If a patient does that, then he is already ahead of the game.

The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.

Related Articles

• Your Complete Guide to Dentistry (1)
• What is Teeth Bonding? (0)
• What are Inlays and Onlays? (1)
• Gum Grafting: Reversing the Effects of Gum Recession (0)
• All About Teeth Grinding (1)

Veneers are a conservative restoration option that we can use to correct uneven, worn, discolored, or chipped teeth in a variety of patients. They can also be used as an option to fix irregular spacing issues that many people suffer from.

When someone gets veneers, what happens is that some—but not all—of that person’s tooth has to be filed down. The veneer itself is a small laminate that is bonded to the surface of the tooth. What that means, is that patients are able to have veneers done without the removal of any teeth in many cases. Instead, what we will do is simply file down just one side of the tooth rather than extract any teeth as a whole. So getting veneers means minimal removal of the teeth in the mouth, or no removal at all.

We see the removal of teeth as an extravagant option, which is why veneers—which do not require that—are a preferable treatment method for a lot of people. In most cases, we view veneers as a conservative restoration option. Since veneers are just a small laminate piece that is bonded to the surface of the tooth, I like to tell people it’s somewhat like those press-on fingernails that women use. That is just another way of describing what they are that a lot of people understand.

We can do veneers on men and women of all ages. An example of a good candidate would probably be anyone who comes into the dentist’s office and just wants to freshen up their smile. Many people might feel like they haven’t achieved their goal of a bright white smile with teeth whitening treatments alone, you see. So if whitening treatments aren’t enough—because really, none of these treatments can help 100%—then we would typically suggest veneers for that patient.

The younger patients who come in to my office are definitely usually focused on getting veneers as a way to make their entire overall look just that much better. A lot of our younger patients are in the “scene” and want to look like their favorite movie star, let’s say. So veneers are a common treatment for people who want a smile that they consider a movie-star smile.

If older patients come into our practice, meanwhile, and are asking for veneers it is usually because they want to look better for their age. They typically want to refresh their smile by making it whiter, and they are considering veneers because, like I said, maybe the whitening treatment they tried didn’t work enough.

Another reason I see a lot of older patients coming in is because they want their smile to match the rest of their outward appearance. Many of these older patients may have already had plastic surgery on their faces, but having teeth that look aged can easily give away how old they really are.

The overall cost of veneers can range depending on the material used and how much work the patient needs done overall. However, a ballpark figure I give out is that veneers can cost $500 to $2,000 a tooth, with porcelain veneers being the most expensive option when it comes to the type of veneer someone is having put in.

So, by performing this conservative cosmetic procedure called veneering, we are able to get immediate improvement in the look, shape, and color of the teeth with minimal pain or discomfort on the part of the patient.

The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.

Related Articles

• Your Complete Guide to Dentistry (1)
• What is Teeth Bonding? (0)
• What are Inlays and Onlays? (1)
• Treatment for Halitosis (0)
• Sedation Dentistry (6)

Right now is an exciting time to be working in the dental field. I would say that one of the most exciting things we are doing right now for patients is laser dentistry, along with the CEREC dental restorations, and 3D CT Scans. Each of these is really innovative in its own way, and we are using all three of these technologies to give patients great results that they may not have been able to get a few years back.

Laser Dentistry

Laser dentistry is really, really an exciting thing right now. With the use of lasers, we are able to do a lot of the general dentistry work for patients without nearly the amount of pain or discomfort. In fact, we have essentially eliminated the use of the drill for many patients and no longer need to even use anesthesia unless a patient specifically requests that he or she would like it. The reason we are able to do all this is because of this laser technology.

We live in a time-starved world these days, so laser dentistry offers patients a great solution. It is pain-free, takes less time, and is much more technologically efficient than products we were using in the past. All of this together allows us to work quickly and seamlessly for patients, and to give them some fantastic results.

CEREC Restoration

CEREC is another really cool thing we have got going on right now. CEREC, which stands for Chairside Economical Restorations of Esthetic Ceramic, is a new technology or technique that has really changed the way we are fitting our patients for things like crowns now. Rather than taking weeks to complete the process, we are finishing it in just a matter of one or two hours, all right here in the office.

The company that makes CEREC is known as CAD/CAM, and they have developed a technology that gives me the ability to entirely create the crowns that go inside a patient’s mouth right here in the office. From start to finish, we go from an image all the way to the finished product.

3D CT Scans

Finally, another thing we have got right now that I like is the use of the 3D CT scans for our patients. By using this new 3D technology, I am able to handle the entire reconstruction process for a patient when we are doing surgeries here or handling implants for cosmetic dental work. We can get a much more custom fit by using this 3D scanning technology that we ever could with previous methods, and that helps give our patients a much more custom look in terms of the quality and beauty of their smile.

When a patient comes into our office and says that he or she is interested in having one of these procedures done, we offer a number of payment options in order for that to happen. Obviously, if a patient has dental insurance than that is a first bet. But aside from that, we offer a number of options. When it comes to standard payment methods, we obviously accept credit cards and checks, things like that. But what makes the Arizona Center for Laser Dentistry unique to a degree is that we also offer patients the chance to obtain financing from a health financing company.

I would encourage anyone who is interested in laser dentistry work to come in and find out more. If a patient mentions that financing might be needed when he books the appointment, then we definitely have people available in the office who can help talk to them about that. What is most important, though, is that patients get the work done if they need dental work to be performed. And with the help of a lot of the new technologies that we offer here in my office, we are giving patients the chance to have these dental procedures done in less time, and often with less discomfort, than ever before.

The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.

Related Articles

• Your Complete Guide to Dentistry (1)
• What is Teeth Bonding? (0)
• What are Inlays and Onlays? (1)
• Treatment for Halitosis (0)
• Sedation Dentistry (6)

Many methods are used to restore the cusp of decayed or fractured teeth, and dental inlays and onlays are two ways that we can treat those problems.

As a general distinction, inlays are used more when we are making minor repairs to a person’s teeth, while onlays are reserved for the times when we are covering a greater area and have more work to be done.  So, the main determination between an inlay and an onlay has to do with how big or deep a person’s cavities are. Or, in cases where the tooth has broken off, that determination has to do with how much of the actual tooth is missing.

Another way that I describe inlays and onlays to patients is to explain that they are essentially smaller versions of dental crowns. However, these devices are placed on the inside of the teeth rather than on the outside. Or, in some other cases, they can also be used to cover the top of the tooth. Traditionally, when we have made an inlay or an onlay for a patient, we usually worked with materials such as gold or porcelain.

Thanks to the new technologies we have here at the Arizona Center for Laser Dentistry, however, we have actually made huge strides in making the inlay or onlay process easier for patients. By using the same CEREC technology that gives us the ability to make crowns for patients within a matter of hours—as opposed to waiting weeks—we are able to make our patients’ inlays and onlays right here in the office, as well. That means that we can handle a patient’s entire inlay/onlay restoration process with just one appointment, rather than making patients schedule multiple appointments over a period of weeks.

And like I said, with the use of this CEREC technology, we are able to now make our inlays and onlays out of porcelain rather than gold. Not only does the porcelain material minimize the chances of the inlay’s decay over time, but it also can be better suited for matching the teeth that are currently inside a patient’s mouth.

Overall, we are able to use inlays and onlays these days to restore a patient’s teeth in an efficient, cost-effective way. Rather than forcing patients to come in for multiple appointments, we are able to handle the entire process in just a matter of hours, which has a great impact for many of our patients.

The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.

Related Articles

• Your Complete Guide to Dentistry (1)
• Which Method of Teeth Whitening is Best? (0)
• Preparing for Your Dental Exam (0)
• Benefits of Minor Cosmetic Dental Procedures (0)
• What You Need to Know About Dentures (0)