If you can not see the embedded video above please use the following link: Six Month Smiles and other orthodontic options

Transcript

Hi, this is Dr. Mark Bohnert with Southeast Family Dental. Today I plan to talk about orthodontics and some options you may have.

Typically, in the past, there has been the orthodontic treatment that everyone knows of, where there are brackets or bands that are placed on the teeth, a wire is placed into those brackets, and then the teeth are straightened over time. For the most part, that is done on younger patients, and the time frame is typically two years, maybe a little bit longer, depending on what is being done.

There has been another option that has come available, mainly for adults, in the last five to seven years, that is called Invisalign, and there are different companies that do similar products. What that is, is some plastic clear retainers, they are called aligners, that fit on the teeth and gradually move the teeth over time. They are about the same time frame length to straighten the teeth, and they typically are used more for adults. There are no brackets. There are no wires. It does take longer and absolutely takes compliance by the patient. If you don’t wear them, they don’t work.

There is a new option called Six Month Smiles, which I like to refer to as adult cosmetic orthodontics. It does not entail a lot of work with the posterior teeth. It’s only really for teeth that have become crowded as we have gotten older, or for whatever reason, have started to move around. Sometimes that’s after conventional orthodontics, and a retainer has not been made. But it works quite well. It is called Six Month Smiles because usually the movement of the teeth is finished in four to eight months, and it works quite well. An advantage to that is that the brackets themselves are clear, and the wire is white. So it is not quite the same as Invisalign. You can see it, but it is very inconspicuous.

So we have three options that work quite well for orthodontics. We have the conventional orthodontics with the wires and the metal brackets, we have the Invisalign type treatment, and we now have the adult cosmetic orthodontics that is optional as well.

If you have any other questions, again it is Dr. Mark Bohnert, Southeast Family Dental.

If you brush and floss on a regular basis but still have bad breath, you may have forgotten that it is important to keep your tongue clean as well.

If bacteria are not removed from the mouth and it begins to secrete toxins, a foul odor will develop. The odor can be masked by using some mouthwashes but if the teeth are not kept clean the problem will return quickly.

Other contributing factors

Other factors can cause bad breath including smoking, alcohol, and some foods (e.g., onions).

Other systemic problems that can cause bad breath can be more difficult to control. Some medications will dry the mouth which makes it more difficult to keep the bacteria levels down. And if someone has stomach problems or a respiratory disease such as bronchitis, these can cause bad breath as well. In this situation, you can brush and floss all day long and the odor will not go away.

Start with your home care

The bottom line is that if you are healthy and you have bad breath the first thing you should consider is the home care you have. Brush, floss, clean your tongue and use a little mouthwash and your bad breath should go away.

If the routine does not help, call your dentist and see what other issues may be the cause.

The following is an excerpt from an article published by the American Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons stressing the importance of athletes wearing mouthguards when playing sports. As a member of both the American Dental Association (ADA) and the Academy for Sports Dentistry (ASD), Dr. Bohnert is a big proponent of mouthguards and is responsible for making the mouthpieces for both Butler athletics and the World Champion Indiana Fever.

SEE ALSO: Why you should wear a sports mouthguard

Rosemont, IL (April 1, 2013)—April is National Facial Protection Month and the Academy for Sports Dentistry (ASD), the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD), the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS), the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO), and the American Dental Association (ADA) are teaming up to remind parents, coaches and athletes to play it safe as they prepare to suit up for recreational and organized sports.

The mouth and face of a child or young adult can be easily injured if the proper precautions are not used while participating in sports or recreational activities. In fact, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than half of the 7 million sports- and recreation-related injuries that occur each year are sustained by children as young as 5 years old. Last year, the National Youth Sports Safety Foundation (NYSSF) forecasted that more than 3 million teeth would be knocked out in youth sporting events. They also reported that athletes who don’t wear mouth guards are 60 times more likely to damage their teeth. Yet, in a survey* commissioned by the AAO, 67% of parents admitted that their children do not wear a mouth guard during organized sports. This raises a question: if mouth guards offer a simple and relatively inexpensive solution to help dramatically decrease the risk of oral injuries, why aren’t more kids wearing them?

The AAO survey* found that 84% of children do not wear mouth guards while playing organized sports because they are not required to wear them, even though they may be required to wear other protective materials, such as helmets and shoulder pads. At a time when a good football helmet or hockey stick may cost $200 each, mouth guards can be one of the least expensive pieces of protective equipment available. Not only do mouth guards save teeth, they help protect jaws.

An effective mouth guard holds teeth in place, resists tearing and allows for normal speech and breathing. It should cover the teeth and, depending on the patient’s bite, also the gums. Your dental professional can recommend the best mouth guard for every sports activity. A properly fitted mouth guard can prevent many accidents and traumatic injuries.

The dental experts at the ASD, AAPD, AAOMS, AAO and ADA urge athletes, parents/caregivers and coaches to be proactive as they head out this spring and stay safe on the field. The ASD, AAPD, AAOMS, AAO, and ADA dental experts offer these important tips:

• Wear a mouth guard when playing contact sports. Mouth guards can help prevent injury to a person’s jaw, mouth and teeth and they are significantly less expensive than the cost to repair an injury. Dentists and dental specialists can make customized mouth guards, which provide the best fit. Other less-expensive options are the boil and bite mouthguards, which are softened in boiling water to fit the mouth, and stock mouth guards, which are ready-to-wear but often don’t fit well.
  
  
• Wear a helmet. Helmets absorb the energy of an impact and help prevent damage to the head.
  
  
• Wear protective eyewear. Eyes are extremely vulnerable to damage, especially when playing sports.
  
  
• Wear a face shield to avoid damage to the delicate bones around the eyes, nose and jaw. Hockey pucks, basketballs and racquetballs can cause severe facial damage at any age.

* The AAO commissioned Impulse Research Corp. to conduct the AAO 2009 Protective Sports Gear Survey. The survey was conducted in February 2009 online with a random sample of 1,022 men and women, ages 18 years old or older, from the U.S. Survey participants were carefully selected to closely match U.S. population demographics and the respondents are representative of American men and women 18 years old or older who have children between the ages of eight and 17, who participate in organized sports. The overall sampling error rate for this survey is +/- 3 percent at the 95 percent level of confidence.

SOURCE: American Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons

If you can not see the embedded video above please use the following link: Why your dentist takes x-rays of your teeth (a visual explanation)

Transcript

Hi, this is Dr. Mark Bohnert from Southeast Family Dental, and we’re going to discuss some of the reasons that we will take x-rays or radiographs of your teeth. On a previous segment we discussed my visual of a piece of tile being enamel and then the next layer, the dentin of the tooth, being my Styrofoam.

Now a lot of times when we take a radiograph or an x-ray, we’re trying to see through the enamel of the tooth down to the dentin layer of the tooth where the decay starts to spread more quickly. So what we will do is take an x-ray or radiograph on the side of the tooth that would show like this. So we have a layer of enamel on either side, and the middle layer is of dentin. So we’ll take that x-ray where we will not be able to see between the teeth, and that will show us that inner layer.

A lot of time what will happen is what you can visually see is the enamel is intact, but then maybe where someone doesn’t floss very well, we will have some areas of decay that starts between the teeth. When we take that x-ray, all of a sudden we can see on the radiograph or the x-ray some area of decay that has started.

If we can catch it at this stage, it’s pretty easy to take care of, and we can put a small filling in. As a matter of fact, if we catch it earlier than this, where it just maybe starts to show, there are some prescription strength fluoride toothpastes, that can be used, that will halt that early, what we call incipient decay.

So we have our reasons for flossing, and we have our reasons for taking the radiographs. We’ll discuss other reasons on another segment.

This is Dr. Mark Bohnert with Southeast Family Dental.

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To begin with, we should consider the research. The truth is, a manual toothbrush can be just as capable of removing plaque as the electric kind if it is used properly. The key word here would be properly. Many people do not use a manual model as they should, and the result is that an electric model would actually be more effective. However, before you rush out and buy an electric toothbrush, keep in mind that it may not do any more to keep your teeth clean if you have already been brushing them properly.

When is an electric toothbrush better?

There are cases when an electric toothbrush is actually the better option for a person. If someone has trouble patiently brushing their teeth for a long enough amount of time, the electric toothbrush could be ideal. These models often include a timer, and research has shown that people using an electric toothbrush are much more likely to brush their teeth longer. In this type of case, the electric model could be more beneficial.

People with gum disease must take special care of their gums to avoid any progression of the disease. This is another case when the electric toothbrush could be ideal. The electric model will do a much better job than a manual model to massage the gums. Massaging gums keeps healthy blood flow and will help to stave off the effects of gum disease.

Individuals with dexterity problems, such as arthritis, carpal tunnel or developmental disabilities, would also benefit greatly from an electric toothbrush. The mechanical action of the tooth brush allows maximum cleaning with limited hand movement. This could be great option for younger children too!

If you can not see the embedded video above please use the following link: Why is my tooth so sensitive? A visual explanation

Transcript

Hi, this is Dr. Mark Bohnert from Southeast Family Dental, and I was going to discuss today tooth sensitivity. We’ve had a lot of questions and concerns about cold sensitivity that comes on spontaneously. So I thought I would come together with this and try to explain visually what can be going on.

I have two things here. One is a piece of tile, and the next is a piece of Styrofoam that would mimic the two layers of the teeth. The tile would be the enamel of the tooth. The Styrofoam would be what’s call the dentin layer of the tooth. The tile, representing the enamel, is hard and impervious to much of anything, whereas the Styrofoam is softer. It has some tubules that will go directly down to the nerve of the tooth.

Let me explain a couple reasons that we may find sensitivity. Let’s pretend we are looking at the side of a tooth, and we have this little black hole. You always wonder why the dentist comes around and starts poking on your teeth. We’re looking for this little, small black hole that we can get that instrument into. The reason that that is important, without an x-ray, we can see that there is some decay that has started.

The issue that most people don’t understand, that small opening allows bacteria to get down into the tooth. Once it gets to the next layer, which is the dentin, all of a sudden that gets to be larger and larger, to where the decay starts to cause sensitivity. So just remember, a small cavity, that you can see or the dentist can see, gets to be a larger area once it penetrates through the enamel.

All right. Let’s look at another example of where may find some sensitivity in a tooth. Here is an example. We’ve got the enamel that is butted up against the gum tissue, which is the pink. Now as we get older or we do not brush properly, we start to get some recession of the gum, where the enamel becomes exposed to the very root surface. Next thing you know, we’re down to the dentin layer of the tooth, which then again has those tubules that go directly to the nerve of the tooth. With more and more recession, it’s more and more likely that we will get that sensitivity that is directly related to the cold sensitivity you may find.

Two examples of where we would find some sensitivity. If you have questions, give us a call. Again, this is Dr. Mark Bohnert with Southeast Family Dental.

A custom snore guard is different from anything that you could buy at the store. Those over the counter products may not fit well. They could be painful and uncomfortable, and they may not even solve the problem. This custom guard is different. How does it work?

When you visit the dentist, a special impression of your teeth will be taken. This allows the dentist to look at your tooth and jaw alignment and then create a guard that will fit your teeth perfectly. Not only will this adjust your jaw so that it keeps you from snoring at night, but also it will fit your mouth comfortably. You won’t have to deal with another moment of discomfort. After the impression molds are taken, you can expect to get your customer snore guard in about a week.

Take care of your custom guard!

You will need to take care of your custom guard just as you would your teeth. That means brushing it carefully in the morning after wearing it and brushing again before you wear it at night. You will want to make sure your custom guard stays clean and hygienic so that you will never mind putting it in at night. Other than that, it does not require any other special care. You can wear it every single night for a peaceful, snore free sleep.

If you wear any other dental appliance, like braces or a retainer, then you will need to talk to the dentist about your options. You may not be able to use a custom snore guard while you still have dental appliance in place.

Talk to your dentist

It is important to discuss with your dentist the possibility of your snoring actually being a condition called sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a more serious condition that will require different means of treatment.

If you are tired of snoring (or if your significant other is tired of missing sleep), then it is time to consider the custom snore guard. The custom guard will ensure that you and the others in your household will be able to get a restful night’s sleep.

What is Gum Disease?

Often also referred to as periodontal disease, it is a condition when infection chronically builds in pockets between the gums and the teeth. When not prevented or treated, the disease can cause tooth loss, pain while eating, and bleeding gums. In addition, that infection that builds up below the gum line is full of bacteria. While it is not common, there is a chance that the bacteria could enter the blood stream. If this were to happen, it could make you very sick.

How is Gum Disease a Big Problem?

There are two trains of thought with gum disease and more serious medical conditions. One is that the periodontal disease is an indicator of serious issues elsewhere in the body. The other train of thought is that gum disease actually causes more serious issues in the body. In either case, periodontal disease has been linked to such problems as:

• Diabetes
• Stroke
• Heart Disease and Heart Attack

As you can see, gum disease is something to be concerned about, and it is a very common condition among adults.

Prevention is Key

As with so many other different conditions, gum disease is easily preventable. Most importantly, you need to do is get your teeth regularly cleaned at the dentist’s office. That means going in for a cleaning appointment twice a year. Additionally, it means taking proper care of your teeth at home, including regular brushing and flossing and maintaining healthy diet and habits. When you take proper care of your teeth, you will not have to worry about periodontal disease.

The most important thing to remember is that your smile is like a mirror. It reflects what is going on in the rest of your body. If you have something like gum disease, it could be an indicator of other health problems. So visit your dentist regularly to check and maintain your gum health.