West Branch Family Dentistry, P.L.L.C.
| Visit Our Site | Subscribe | Unsubscribe | September 2008 |
Office News
Our goal is to develop a strong partnership with every patient. When you understand the importance of your dental health, we can help you maintain a healthy mouth, as well as treat the causes and symptoms of any dental condition.
We invite you to read our latest SmileLink newsletter and to check out our website often for new information, or contact our office with any questions or concerns. Working together, we can help you achieve a lifetime of healthy and attractive teeth and gums.
Featured Article |
SmileLink Articles |
Can Your Teeth Take the Pressure?
You may not know it, but your teeth are like a ruler that is bent back and forth until it breaks. Constant pressure on your teeth can cause them to crack, splinter and break. This condition is called "abfraction." An abfraction looks like a notch in the top of a tooth. Your teeth are amazingly strong; however, if you put incorrect pressure on them, over time they may reward you by causing you problems.
The neck of a tooth, which typically is hidden by your gums, flexes when you brux (clench and grind your teeth), or you have a misaligned bite (malocclusion). Flexing weakens the tooth and the enamel breaks.
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Smile, Smile, Smile
This is the year you are determined to achieve some important personal goals. You want to lose your love handles and to fix your crooked smile. We can't help with the love handles, but we can help with your smile.
A smile seems so simple, but it is a complex science that uses interactions between seventeen facial muscles, your dental structure and genetics to produce. It is no wonder so many smiles are less than perfect. Using modern science, new procedures and materials, we have many options to change an undesirable smile into a WOW smile.
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Osteoporosis Affects Your Dental Health
A current complex dental issue is the concern about osteoporosis medications causing healthy bone to die.
There are studies indicating the bisphosphonates in osteoporosis medications can cause a serious dental condition called "osteonecrosis," a rare condition in which healthy jawbone dies. Early research shows that certain cancer patients who take an intravenous bisphosphonate are more likely to develop osteonecrosis than other patients. Here is what is important for you to know if you are taking a bisphosphonate.
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Perio...the Choice is Yours
It's wonderful to have choices, like paper or plastic and beginning or advanced aerobics. When it comes to your dental health, beginning and advanced take on new meaning and here's why. If you don't maintain a daily brushing and flossing routine, or you use an incorrect brushing and flossing technique, you could be at risk for periodontal disease. Periodontal disease (also called "perio") is a serious infection that is the result of bacteria living under your gumline. Your body tries to get rid of the infection by destroying the bone around your tooth and creating a "pocket."
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Dry Socket is Common
"How Dry I Am" is a fun song to sing around a campfire, but it's not fun if you are referring to a dry socket in your mouth. A dry socket is the most common complication following a tooth extraction.
We think a dry socket may be caused when the clot is lost too early. It is important that the clot that formed in the extraction site is not damaged or dislodged. The clot protects the bone and the nerve endings while the new tissue and bone grow and the wound heals. Following our homecare instructions is critical.
Signs and symptoms of a dry socket:
- severe pain 2-3 days after the extraction
- pain radiates up and down your neck and into your ear
- over-the-counter pain relievers don't stop the pain
- bad breath
- bad taste in mouth
- spasms in the jaw muscles
- loss of the clot in the extraction site
- swollen lymph nodes
If you do get a dry socket, we have a few options to treat it.
Our strongest advice is, if you notice anything that seems to be out of the ordinary, whether it is a dry socket or any other dental condition, call us immediately. Do not put it off. The earlier we intervene, the quicker we can return you to good health...