Due to the longer lifespan and a more stressful lives, we are exposing our teeth to many more years of “crack inducing” habits, such as chewing on hard objects, clenching and grinding.  Our habits are making our teeth more susceptible to cracks?

Ever wondered, if your tooth is cracked?

What are the symptoms of a cracked tooth?  There are a variety of symptoms such as excruciating pain when chewing, possibly with release of biting pressure.  Pain everytime your tooth is exposed to temperature extremes, such as cold or hot.  Most of the time the pain usually come and go.  That is why dentist may have difficulty locating which tooth is causing the patient discomfort.

There are various types of cracked tooth.  The outcome of the treatment of your cracked tooth depends on the type, location and the extent of the crack.  The various types are:

• Craze Lines
• Fractured Cusp
• Cracked Tooth
• Split Tooth
• Vertical Root Fracture

Cracked tooth is not the same as a broken tooth.  The fracture is a cracked tooth will not heal.  Despite treatment, some cracks may continue to progress and separate.  This will result in loss of the tooth.  Your dentist will most probably recommend placement of a crown on a cracked tooth.  This will help in maximum protection but does not guarantee success in all cases.

Please bear in mind that the treatment you receive for your cracked tooth is very important.  It will relieve pain and reduce the worsening of your cracked tooth.  Once treated, most cracked tooth will continue to function and provide you years of comfortable chewing.

That’s why, it is recomended you visit an endodontist specialist instead of a general practitioner about your particular diagnosis and treatment recommendation.  The endodontist will be the best person to advise your on how to keep your natural teeth and achieve optimum dental health.

You can go to Dental Tips at My Toothcare Tips to contact an Endodontist.

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In any dental care need, saving your natural tooth must alway be everyone’s first choice.  Natural can never ever be replaced, not even the most advanced bridges or implants. 

• If your dentist recommends extracting your tooth, always check and ask if it can be saved with an endodontic procedure, also known as root canal treatment. Endodontic treatment removes the injured pulp (soft inner tissue) of your tooth and fills and seals the space.
• Your tooth is then restored and can function just like any other tooth for the rest of your life, ensuring comfortable chewing and a natural appearance.
• Endodontists can often save the most severely injured teeth.
• If your tooth cannot be saved — and some cannot — you may consider replacements such as a bridge or dental implant. Your options may depend upon the condition of surrounding teeth and bone structure.
• Dental implant procedures can be complex, costly and they often require several visits and several month’s healing time before the procedure can be completed.

Do everything possible to save your teeth before considering extraction. Nothing is as good as your natural tooth!

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Mouth and dental hygiene are vital for more than just your teeth. Indeed your total health is a reflection of how well you look after yourself orally.

Using a toothbrush frequently and with good technique is a start and one which challenges many people in itself. For those who have accomplished a steady and adequate brushing technique, there is another step.

To get really clean between your teeth - those places where you just know you haven’t cleaned everything properly - you must use a dental floss technique to make sure that you are fully protected.

Dental floss will remove food particles lodged in between your teeth in those areas that, for one reason or another are just inaccessible to your brush. It may not be your fault, more a layout error at design stage in your mouth! Still, it’s no excuse to let your dental health suffer in this way.

After all, you now have a great solution!

Did you know that all the bits of food that get lodged between your teeth, start to rot in only a few hours. This will almost certainly be one of the causes of bad breath, if you suffer from that.

So if you want to enjoy the best of dental health, it’s always best to make sure that you get rid of these food particles as soon as you can after eating. And as we now know, just brushing on it’s own, simply cannot get to all the hard-to-reach (bits of stuck food rich) places, which is precisely where plaque builds up.

And that’s where a good dental floss can help you.

There are quite a lot of different sorts of dental floss now on the market, each of them, according to their manufacturers, providing you with the perfect solution to meet and exceed your dental health needs

“With it’s light wax coating and it’s shred-resistant texture, it slides easily between your teeth and below the gumline”, is one manufacturer’s claim for it’s number one dental floss.

Whatever product, within whatever brand you choose, the technique is the same. Here it is, step by step:-

1) Take a big enough piece of floss to wrap around a finger on each hand, which keeps it tight

2) Manipulate the floss down through the gaps between each pair of teeth and letting one of the fingers slip, pull the floss all the way through

3) Avoid, where possible, pulling the floss back up from between the teeth as this can damage any dental work you may have had done - pull through the gap horizontally, rather than upwards

4) Some teeth gaps, especially at the back of the mouth, might be quite difficult to get at and this is where your dental health can slip. So do your best and if you really can’t reach, there are some specialized products that come with a ready stretched piece of floss on an implement, which will really help you.

5) Deal with every gap, every time you floss if you want the best dental health

6) After you floss, brush your teeth in the way your dentist or oral hygienist has advised

7) Ideally, floss twice a day, when you brush (you do brush twice a day - right?)

What sort of dental floss to buy? Well, to benefit your overall dental health, it doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that you need to buy something that you are comfortable enough with that you will use it regularly.

Some dental floss shreds a bit, so some people prefer a more plastic tape type. For others, they will enjoy using a floss with a flavor, so mint versions are available.

Whichever dental floss type you use, get one you like, even if it is a bit more expensive than the budget brand. Then you will not only enjoy using it regularly, but you will also benefit your own dental health every day.

(c) 2007 http://www.BestDentalHealthGuide.com If you want to find the best information and product ideas to keep your teeth healthy and bright. You can, right here, on Martin Haworth’s fascinating website at http://www.BestDentalHealthGuide.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Martin_Haworth

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Managing a dental emergency can be complicated when you or a loved one is in pain, but a speedy and proper reaction can help save a tooth in danger.

In case a tooth is accidentally partially knocked out, you must not try and pull it out harshly if the tooth has not fully come out. The tooth must be gently inserted and held in its socket until you see a dentist. On the other hand, if the tooth does come out fully, you must rinse it well and keep it safe until you meet with your dentist. In the event that you bite your tongue, you must apply pressure directly to the bleeding area with a clean cloth, and if the lip is swollen, you can apply cold compresses to reduce the swelling. If bleeding does not stop, you must get to a dental hospital emergency room, as soon as possible.

Another emergency situation centers on braces and retainers. If a wire is causing soreness and irritation, cover the end of the wire with a small cotton ball until you can get to the dentist. If a wire gets stuck in your cheek, tongue or gum tissue, do not try to remove it on your own but go to your dentist immediately. If a part of the brace breaks off, take the appliance and the piece along with you to the dentist. If you have a nasty fall and suspect a broken jaw, secure the jaw in place by trying a cloth around the jaw and over the head. If you see swelling, apply cold compresses and go immediately to a hospital emergency room.

You must always keep your dentist’s numbers within reach so that, in case of any emergency, you can avail of them as soon as possible.

Dental provides detailed information on Dental Insurance, Dental Plans, Dental Implants, Dental Health and more. Dental is affiliated with Dental Health Care. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Damian_Sofsian

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Dentures or prosthetic teeth are commonly referred to as false teeth. They are specially designed to replace an individual’s missing or diseased teeth. Made to order exclusively for each patient, the dentures fit snugly in the mouth cavity, well supported by the soft and hard tissues that surround them.

Need for dentures

People who have lost their teeth or have been suffering for some years from the ill effects of decayed teeth caused by periodontal disease, Dentinogenesis imperfecta, etc., are often advised by their dentist to have their teeth replaced either partially or fully by a set of dentures, after having ruled out all other treatment options like cleaning, medication, gum flap surgery or a combination of these.

The teeth, whether natural or artificial, provide a support to the lips and cheeks, and lend to their owner a more ‘youthful’ look than if the person were to be completely devoid of teeth. Thus, having a set of dentures will not only allow the patient to chew or masticate his food well, but will also serve to improve the facial appearance to a significant extent.

Types of dentures

Dentures can be either partial or complete. The type of dentures used will depend essentially on the specific needs of the individual.

Partial dentures

Partial dentures are used in cases where the patient has only a few missing teeth. They may be of either the removable or the fixed variety, and the patient is generally asked to choose between the two. If a patient has lost only one or two teeth either from an accident or by way of extraction of decayed teeth, the dentist would in all likelihood suggest a fixed partial denture in the form of a ‘crown & bridge’ arrangement. Here, the bridging tooth fits into the gap left by the missing tooth, while the attached crowns sit firmly on the tops of the adjoining teeth on either side. The appliance is cemented in place.

Removable partial dentures are similar to this, but do not have the crowns. They are held in place by means of clips. It is easy to see that these are less stable than the fixed partial dentures, and are correspondingly less expensive than the latter.

Complete dentures

When the entire set of teeth on either the lower jaw (mandibular arch) or on the upper jaw (maxillary arch) have to be replaced, complete dentures are used.

There are 4 kinds of complete dentures.They are standard dentures, immediate dentures, implant retained dentures, and Cu-Sil dentures.

Standard dentures are made for people who have already lost their entire set of teeth. The back of a standard denture ends just behind the hard bone in the roof of the mouth, in order to maximise the surface area for achieving the best possible retention and stability. Retention of the top denture is achieved by suction, while stability is dependant upon the hardness of the underlying tissues.It takes about 4 appointments to have a set of standard dentures fitted comfortably.

Immediate dentures

These are often referred to as temporary dentures, and are actually constructed before the extraction of the natural teeth.The prefabricated denture is inserted immediately after extraction, right over the bleeding sockets. The denture serves to numb the pain, and most patients do quite well with these. It takes one or two appointments with the dentist to have the immediate dentures ready for fitting.

Cu-Sil dentures

Having even a single healthy, natural tooth aids the stability of the denture to a significant degree. The Cu-Sil denture has holes in it which are surrounded by a gasket of stable silicone rubber which adheres to the natural teeth thereby allowing the rest of the denture to rest on the gums. This provides good stability by improving suction in addition to the mechanical stability offered by the immobility of the natural teeth. Cu-Sil dentures thus help stabilise loose teeth and extend the life of the teeth.

Implant retained dentures

Dental implants involve having a titanium ’screw’ fitted into a hole drilled into the underlying bone, to secure the position of the tooth. The procedure can be quite expensive (about 1000 Pounds or more), but retention is much enhanced.The insertion of implants into the bone below the dentures can help to mitigate the problem of wearing of the bone. The implants are placed in a way that they take the pressure applied when the denture is used for chewing, and thus keep the bone from eroding. Over a period of time, the titanium gets integrated into the bone, and the implant is then exposed, at which point a post which thrusts through the gums into the mouth is attached to the implant.

Plastic or porcelain dentures

Denture teeth can be made of plastic as well as of porcelain, and the latter are a better match with natural teeth. Also, porcelain teeth last much longer than do the plastic counterparts.However, dentists tend to advise patients to go for plastic teeth, and have some very valid reasons for doing so:

Although porcelain teeth are relatively much hardier, they are set on a plastic base which suffers wear and tear. Also, given the mechanical means that are used in fixing the tooth to the base, called the ‘diatoric’ method, the porcelain teeth will begin to fall off the base over a period of time. Another argument against using porcelain dentures, especially if some of the natural teeth are being retained, is that the porcelain dentures will begin to wear down the natural teeth to a considerable extent, leaving them misshapen and weak over the years.

Common problems associated with complete dentures

The human body is well accustomed to consider anything that is placed in the mouth, as foodstuff. Accordingly, when a new set of braces or dentures are inserted in the mouth, the brain recognises this as food, and signals for increased salivary secretions. It takes some time for the body to get adjusted to this. New dentures are also apt to rub or scrape against the delicate epithelium lining the mouth cavity, giving rise to mouth sores in the process. This can be corrected by the dentist in a few weeks, by making the necessary adjustments. Some patients may also experience gagging on dentures, which may be either to an ill-fitting appliance or stem from psychological reasons.

Important factors to consider

Three important factors have a bearing on the denture wearing experience: support, stability and retention.

Support: It is the underlying tissues and gums, collectively termed the oral mucosa, that support the dentures by preventing them from moving vertically and deeper into the respective arches. In the case of the upper teeth, the gums and the buccal shelf play a major role here, while the palate helps support the denture of the lower jaw. Typically, dentures having larger flanges offer better support, so the denture supplier must use the border molding process to make sure that the denture flanges are extended to the right degree.

Stability: This has to do with keeping the denture base from moving in the horizontal plane, either sideways or forwards and backwards. The more the denture base stays in continuous contact with the edentulous ridge; the better will be the stability. A higher and broader ridge, will also afford better stability.

Retention: This relates to prevention of the denture movements in a direction opposite to that of insertion. The inner surface of the denture base must match exactly well with the surface of the underlying mucosa, in order to achieve the best possible retention.

Replacing a set of dentures

Dentures are not expected to last a lifetime, and they have to be replaced when the time is ripe. The bone that supports the dentures is gradually eroded over a period of time, causing the denture of the upper jaw to rise higher and higher under the upper lip, with corresponding downward movements of the lower set. While this is happening, the distance between the nose and the tip of the chin gets reduced, and changes in the shape of the face set in, which may become irreversible. With such changes in muscle length and bulk, it would become virtually impossible for the dentist to make a new set of dentures that are satisfactory to the patient if the old dentures are used beyond a reasonable length of time. It is therefore recommended to have a new set of dentures made once every 5 to 7 years.

To find out more please visit RevaHealth.com.

Copyright 2007 RevaHealth.com Caelen King is founder and CEO of RevaHealth.com http://www.revahealth.com/ is a medical tourism search engine allowing customers to search and compare treatments and prices around the world and to arrange a no commitment direct consultation with their chosen clinic. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Caelen_King

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