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Newsletter
The Long and Short of It
Long, dark teeth used to be synonymous with age; hence the expression “Long in the tooth.” It comes from a time when people didn’t, or were unable, to take proper care of their teeth. Damages from gum disease will take away the bone that supports the teeth and make them look very long and dark because the roots show; not very pleasant to look at. But today, with the preventive care that we have, and the many methods of whitening, we have significantly cut down the problem. People who have included flossing, brushing, and regular “periodontal maintenance” visits with their hygienist, are not faced with this unpleasant phenomena of poor dental care. Ironically, what I now see more of might be called “Short in the tooth”. Your upper front tooth when you were around age 16 was about 12 mm. long. As part of our exam we measure the front tooth; I am finding people with front teeth 7mm. and shorter. This means that
over the years our patient’s tooth has lost almost half of its length.
Any shorter than this and it can become quite difficult to restore. You may ask, what caused this loss? Well, 95% of the time we find it is because the patient has a tendency to grind his or her teeth at night. This grinding is typically caused by STRESS. Now if you wonder what can be done for the patient with 5mm. long teeth to bring back that youthful look, I have to restore all of the teeth. We do this all the time, with beautiful results. So remember, if the front teeth are either too long, or too short, the interpretation is, that person is old. My advice to those with gum problems, is to keep up with the “periodontal maintenance” appointments. If you have a lot of wear on the teeth, have an appliance made to protect your teeth and avoid losing more length; it is like a retainer only in covers the biting part of teeth. I’d rather see you wear down the plastic than wear down your teeth to 5 mm. By the way, for those of you who have had appliances made in the past, you should know that today’s
are much stronger, and more comfortable. In summary, if your teeth are too long or too short, that means there is a problem and also that your smile will make you look older. My job is to make sure you don’t have problems and to create a beautiful smile. Come on in and get your teeth measured.
Go Ahead, Make Our Day
We have a new office brochure that is packed full of information about our office and testimonials from many of our patients. If you have a friend who is looking for a warm, friendly atmosphere and excellent dental treatment, please call us and we will send you one or more of these. I think most of our patients know how hard we strive to provide the absolutely best service and dentistry possible, and when a patient refers a friend to us, it makes our day.
The Sterile Truth
Our office has always met or exceeded OSHA standards for sterilization. I frankly have assumed that most other dentists do also. However, recently when I was out of town, one my assistants substituted for some other offices. At our weekly staff meeting she reported the very negative news that many of the dentists she worked for do not follow these important guidelines. We talked about how unfair this is to the patient and the dental staff; it is our job as health professionals to protect their health. So I decided to create a list of things that one could easily observe about a dentist, to see if he or she is in running a good sterilization program. This could be beneficial if you have a son, daughter, mother or father who lives elsewhere or if you receive dental treatment in another office.
1. Does the doctor change gloves between every patient?
2. Are all the instruments in sterile packs, including the ones kept in drawers next to the doctor?
3. Is there a sign visibly posted stating that the sterlizer is
monitored every week?
4. Is the room clean and is there some type of wrap around the things that the doctor and his assistants touch.
5. If you ask about sterilization, does the doctor and staff willingly answer your questions or do you get a defensive response?
In our office we encourage you to ask about sterilization and to check out any concerns you might have.
The Proper Paste
Toothpaste is often over rated. Many of the ingredients found in today’s pastes can cause irritation to the gums rather than help. When purchasing a toothpaste keep these points in mind.
1. The paste doesn’t clean the teeth, the brush does.
2. You don’t need the amount of paste shown on commercials; a strip-and-a-half across the brush is not necessary, a small amount will do fine, unless you just happen to like the taste and feel of the paste.
3. Some people are sensitive to the sodium lauryl sulfate found in some tooth care products; it is often the source of canker sores.
4. Over the counter whitening toothpastes often cause irritation to gum tissues.
5. Consider changing your toothpaste if you are feeling some odd sensations on the inner part of your lips, tongue and cheeks; one without many ingredients and especially without sodium lauryl sulfate.
6.
Patients with a tendency towards gum line decay can drastically cut the rate down with “Prevident” toothpaste.
7. If you would like a toothpaste
without sodium lauryl sulfate, fresher breath, and whiter teeth, try “Retardent” toothpaste.
8. Adolescents with a high rate of decay may use “Phos-Flur” toothpaste and “ACT” mouth rinse.
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