Failing Root Canals Once upon a time you had a toothache. You were told that the nerve was dead or dying and, in order to save the tooth, you would need to have a root canal. This procedure removes the nerve that had lived inside your tooth, cleans the space out well, and places…
DetailsTooth Grinding is the Culprit A male patient in his late 60s came in earlier this week with three things that he wanted me to look at. The first was an odd feeling on one of his upper canines. This turned out to be an area where he has…
Details“I HAVE TROUBLE GETTING NUMB AT THE DENTIST” Some people have an easy time getting numb, and some don’t. On the easy end of the spectrum, I have one patient who is extremely sensitive to drugs. I give her half a carpule of an anesthetic without epinephrine (a vasoconstrictor which helps to keep the anesthetic…
DetailsPorcelain chipping on crowns One of the frustrating parts of dentistry is when a patient reports that their crown has chipped. For most cases it’s the porcelain that is chipping on a porcelain fused to zirconium or metal crown, or it could be an all porcelain crown. In any case, it’s frustrating to spend the…
DetailsDENTAL ACCIDENT ON THE GOLF COURSE- AN INTERESTING CASE A few years ago I received a call from one of my patients who is a golfer. He reported that he had been playing golf about an hour away from Atlanta. While driving his cart, a golf ball came sailing through the air and hit him…
DetailsThe Most Challenging Cosmetic Problem in Dentistry There are many challenges in cosmetic dentistry. One might think that getting 6 or 8 crowns or veneers would be challenging. But, the lab can make everything the same size and use the same shades of porcelain in each part of the tooth, and achieving this…
DetailsYour Dental Bridge is Failing What is a Bridge A dental bridge, or a fixed dental bridge, is a method to replace a missing tooth by putting a dental crown on each tooth on either side of a space, and then connecting a missing tooth to the crown on each side. The bridge is then…
DetailsTooth Size Discrepancy What makes a beautiful smile? Pearly white teeth comes to mind first. When teeth are dark or yellow, they don’t look so pretty and it’s an indicator of aging or habits like smoking and drinking a lot of coffee. Location of the teeth is another consideration. But if the front teeth…
DetailsAn Interesting Case with Isolated Extreme Bone Loss One of my senior citizen patients came into my office recently with some interesting developments. He has been a patient for 6 years and has had a lot of dental work including crowns, root canals and dental implants. He was complaining of soreness on his lower…
DetailsTools for Diagnosing Decay Back in the day, the dentist would look at your x-rays and inspect your mouth along with a dental mirror and a dental explorer (an instrument that used to pick at your teeth looking for soft spots). Later studies have shown that the dental explorer is not a very accurate…
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