Have questions about your dental care? You’re not alone—and we’re here to help. Whether you’re wondering about something you’ve noticed in your mouth or have questions about amalgam (silver) fillings, we’ve answered some of the most common questions our patients ask. If you don’t see what you’re looking for, give us a call—we’re always happy to help.
There are two types of staining: intrinsic and extrinsic.
Extrinsic stains are stains on the outer surface of the tooth. Extrinsic staining can be removed relatively easily, with the help of brushing and flossing, polishing, and bleaching trays to remove the stains.
Intrinsic staining is staining on the inside of the tooth. It is much more difficult to remove and may require a tooth to be covered with a veneer or a crown. One of the main causes of intrinsic stains is tetracycline use during pregnancy.
At Advanced Dental Arts, we’re dedicated to improving our patients’ quality of life. When the appearance of your teeth isn’t what you want to show the world, it affects your confidence and ability to relax around others.
Through a variety of cosmetic procedures, our team can help restore your smile and your confidence!
Dental floss can reach where the toothbrush can’t. Pockets exist naturally between the teeth and the gums. These pockets become full of bacteria that eat away at the bone. Flossing is the most effective way of cleaning out these bacteria and preventing gingivitis, periodontitis, and decay.
The leading indicator of gingivitis is bleeding gums. If your gums bleed when you brush or floss, you have gingivitis (mild, moderate, or severe).
When gingivitis is left untreated, it progresses to periodontitis, which affects the bone that holds the teeth in place. When this bone is affected, the teeth may become loose and, if the loss is severe enough, have to be extracted.
Measuring pocket depths helps us determine whether or not a patient has gingivitis and periodontitis.
It depends on your dental history.
If you’ve never had a cavity and have good home hygiene habits, we recommend annual visits.
If you’ve had a few cavities and have moderate to good home hygiene habits, you should visit every six months.
If you have a history of severe dental decay or gum disease, or if you have poor home hygiene practices, you should be seen every three months.
Yes, amalgam fillings are entirely safe. Despite the frequently repeated urban legends about amalgam fillings and mercury toxicity, this issue has been largely settled by medical scientists.
Numerous qualified institutions and individuals have conducted extensive research on the issue of mercury toxicity in dental fillings. These studies have found no major side effects or harm from amalgam fillings, and there has never been a reported case of illness linked to them.
Amalgam fillings are becoming less common in dentistry, but that decline is due to the poor aesthetics of amalgam fillings and the improved appearance and durability of composite fillings. It has nothing to do with the safety of dental amalgam.
For aesthetic reasons, we do not use amalgam fillings at Advanced Dental Arts. However, if you have one or more amalgam fillings, there is no reason to have them replaced if they are still well-seated and the aesthetics don’t concern you.
It is recommended that you brush twice a day (once in the morning and once immediately before going to bed) and floss once a day (before going to bed).
If you’re experiencing bad breath, try brushing and flossing twice daily as recommended. If that doesn’t resolve the issue, you may need to start brushing the surface of your tongue. Odor-causing bacteria can colonize the tongue’s rough surface. Pay special attention to the back of the tongue, towards the throat.
If that still hasn’t resolved your bad breath, there may be a digestive issue at play. Diet and esophageal or stomach problems like GERD can cause bad breath. If you think this might be the issue, consult a gastroenterologist for guidance and possible treatment.
If a cavity or broken tooth is left untreated for long enough, bacteria will eventually begin to infect the pulp. The pulp is a collection of nerves, blood vessels, and other soft tissues inside each tooth. If the bacteria are allowed to continue eating away at the tooth, the pulp will become infected and die, resulting in an abscess. Abscesses are the cause of most toothaches.
Abscessed tissue doesn’t just cause pain at the site – the necrotic (dead) tissue continues to leach toxins and bacteria into the bloodstream. The necrosis can quickly spread throughout the body, causing systemic sepsis and eventual tissue and organ failure. Untreated dental abscesses are responsible for multiple deaths in the US each year.
A root canal removes the abscessed, dead tissue from the inside of the tooth. The space is then filled with a filler material, commonly gutta-percha.
When you think of dental anesthesia, you probably think of Novocain. While procaine (the generic name for Novocain) served dentists and patients well for almost eighty years, its use was phased out in the early 1980s in favor of other, safer alternatives.
At Advanced Dental Arts, we rely on advanced anesthetics such as lidocaine, Carbocaine, and Septicaine to provide the most comfortable dental care possible.
Several easy daily practices will help keep your dentures looking good and working well. Visit our Dentures page for more details.
We’ve created a document that provides in-depth information about what to expect after your extraction and what you should do to have the smoothest recovery possible.
Inside everyone’s mouth is a bacterium, Streptococcus mutans. This bacterium metabolizes sugar and converts it into lactic acid. This acid then eats away at the enamel and dentin in your teeth, leaving voids in the surface of the tooth. These bacteria-filled voids are cavities.
For more information on dental services for seniors, please visit caring.com.
