Combating Severe Fear of the Dentist

According to a study by the British Dental Journal, just a single session of cognitive behavioral therapy can dramatically help people with severe anxiety about going to the dentist. For more on the story, see http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/233700.php. 


For information about the Ferber Dental Group, dental implants, dentures or periodontal concerns, call 561-439-8888 or visit www.ferberdental.com.

Dental Emergency Checklist

As in any emergency with your health, the faster professional treatment is received, generally the more successful the recovery, and the same goes for dental emergencies. But unless you happen to be at the dentist office when a dental emergency strikes, there will be some lag time before treatment. Following are two tips to help you help yourself before emergency treatment.

The two most common dental emergencies are biting the tongue hard enough that stitches or surgery are necessary and knocking out a tooth.

If you are treating a bitten or bleeding tongue, gently wipe with a cloth and add pressure down on the tongue to stop the swelling. It may work better if the cloth is cold. If the bleeding doesn’t stop and is heavy, a hospital emergency room visit is probably the better way to go than seeing your dentist.

If a tooth is knocked out, hold it by the crown and rinse it off with water. Do not scrub it or remove any visible tissue fragments. If the tooth is not possible to reinsert into the socket, store in a small container of milk and see your dentist immediately.

For information about the Ferber Dental Group, dental implants, dentures or periodontal concerns, call 561-439-8888 or visit www.ferberdental.com.

Fluoride: Not Just for Kids

Many adults are under the impression that fluoride helps protect only the teeth of children. But this is a misconception likely born out of early efforts to add fluoride to water where children were the main focus.

The regular use of fluoride—both in additive form and when directly applied to teeth—helps to protect the permanent teeth of adults from decay and sensitivity as well.

Fluoride treatment is available in a number of forms including: mouth rinses, which deliver about 250 parts per million of fluoride; toothpaste, which delivers about 1,000 parts per million; and direct application in a dentist office, which can pack a punch of 9,000 to 20,000 parts per million of the cavity-fighting supplement. Similar direct applications of fluoride are available by prescription for home use as well, although these supplements deliver less than their professionally applied counterparts—from about 1,000 to 5,000 parts per million.

Fluoride supplementation should be a regular part of everyone’s oral hygiene program. Ask your dentist if you are particularly susceptible to decay and would benefit from a prescription product or office application. 

For information about the Ferber Dental Group, dental implants, dentures or periodontal concerns, call 561-439-8888 or visit www.ferberdental.com.

Grinding Your Teeth

Teeth are built to chew and grind food. But unconscious chronic grinding or clenching of teeth—Bruxism—can damage the chewing surfaces over time. Bruxism can cause micro-cracks in the enamel, making teeth more susceptible to decay, and even wear down the pointed surfaces of molars.

Tooth grinding can also cause headaches, muscle pain, and jaw injury. In many cases, people with bruxism don't realize they have a problem until a dentist notices the tell-tale signs on their tooth surfaces. That's one more good reason to get regular dental check-ups.

Researchers suspect that stress or anger may lead to tooth grinding. A 2010 study found that people with sleep bruxism were more likely than people who don't grind their teeth to report trouble at work, daily problems, and physical problems.

So, what can be done? Stress management techniques for one. Take walks, meditate, avoid stressful situations if possible, all of which not only help reduce bruxism, but are conducive to overall good health. In severe situations, a dentist may prescribe a mouth guard or splint that fits over the upper or lower teeth, protecting them from becoming damaged.

For information about the Ferber Dental Group, dental implants, dentures or periodontal concerns, call 561-439-8888 or visit www.ferberdental.com.

Oral Cancer Screening

Detecting oral cancer early enough for successful treatment is now easier than ever, and everyone should have regular screenings. The exam usually will include looking for lesions, including areas of leukoplakia (an abnormal white patch of cells) and erythroplakia (an abnormal red patch of cells). Leukoplakia and erythroplakia lesions on the mucous membranes may become cancerous. Higher-risk areas of the mouth that are checked for cancer include:

·                 Floor of the mouth

·                 Front and sides of the tongue

·                 Soft palate

If lesions are seen in the mouth, the following procedures may be used to find abnormal tissue that might develop into oral cancer:

·                 Toluidine blue stain: A procedure in which lesions in the mouth are coated with a blue dye. Areas that stain darker are more likely to be cancer or become cancer.

·                 Fluorescence staining: The patient uses a fluorescent mouth rinse and then the mouth is viewed under a special fluorescent light that highlights irregular tissue.

·                 Exfoliative cytology: A procedure to collect cells from the lip or oral cavity. A piece of cotton, a brush, or a small wooden stick is used to gently scrape cells from the lips, tongue, mouth, or throat. The cells are viewed under a microscope to find out if they are abnormal.

·                 Brush biopsy: The removal of cells using a brush that is designed to collect cells from all layers of a lesion. The cells are viewed under a microscope to find out if they are abnormal.

Be sure to ask your dentist about screening for oral cancer. The exam is painless and integral to a complete program of oral hygiene.

For information about the Ferber Dental Group, dental implants, dentures or periodontal concerns, call 561-439-8888 or visit www.ferberdental.com.

Periodontics

Periodontics is the area of dentistry involving treatment of the gums and other tissue that surround and support the teeth called the periodontium. And while dentists have long known that maintaining the health of this tissue is of paramount importance to keeping your teeth healthy, recent research indicates that it may also help stave off a number of chronic conditions throughout the body.

Periodontal disease—a set of inflammatory diseases of the periodontium—has been linked to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease and more. In cases where simple cleanings, root planing and scaling are not enough to effectively treat inflamed gums, surgery may be necessary. Surgical treatments include:

Flap Surgery/Pocket Reduction Surgery

During this procedure, the gums are lifted, tarter is removed from under the tissue and, when warranted, irregular surfaces under the gums are smoothed to limit areas where disease-causing bacteria can hide. The gum is then fitted snugly back over the tooth to keep bacteria-causing food particles from slipping under the gum line.

Bone Grafts

Bone grafts involve replacing bone destroyed by gum disease with fragments of your own bone, synthetic bone or donated bone. The graft then serves as a platform for bone regeneration.

Guided Tissue Regeneration

In cases where the bone supporting the teeth has been destroyed, special mesh fabric is inserted between the gum and the area where the destroyed bone once was. The mesh keeps the gum tissue from growing into the empty space and inhibiting bone regeneration, and new bone is encouraged to grow.

Bone Surgery

Shallow craters in the bone supporting the teeth are smoothed to inhibit bacteria growth.

For information about dentures, dental implants and gum disease, call the Ferber Dental Group at 561-439-8888 or visit www.ferberdental.com.

Differences Between Single-Tooth Dental Implants and Bridges

When considering replacement options for a single missing tooth, there are two main options. First is a single-tooth dental implant, which looks and functions almost exactly like a natural tooth and has no negative effects on the surrounding teeth. Second is a tooth-supported fixed bridge, which requires that adjacent teeth be ground down to support the cemented bridge.

Because a dental implant replaces the natural tooth root, the bone is preserved. Dental implants integrate with the jawbone, helping to keep it healthy and intact. With a bridge, some of the bone that previously surrounded the tooth can deteriorate over a very long period of time, but generally this does not cause problems for typical patients.

A single implant can be easier to keep clean than a bridge, but with a little practice and regular maintenance, the cost savings of a bridge versus an implant make it a viable option.

For information about dentures, dental implants and gum disease, call the Ferber Dental Group at 561-439-8888 or visit www.ferberdental.com.