If I don't have pain... Why should I visit the dentist?

Here's why... if you already have pain, than in most cases, it's too late!

Just imagine your gums, teeth and the rest of your oral cavity were actually your heart, kidneys or liver. If they started hurting or started bleeding with a touch, would you panic?

You have to realize your oral cavity is a vital part of your body. It is not normal for your gums to bleed when you brush or floss. And no... it shouldn't be common to have a visible cavity in a tooth where it already created a hole.

Our body is a whole. Everything functions as one. This is the mentality you should adapt to in order to live a healthier lifestyle. If one organ in our body is not maintained, every other organ in that body is therefore under stress.

Normal dental visits should be mainly for maintenance. Regular dental maintenance are done in 6 months recall such that for example a car that should receive regular service to avoid further problems that are more costly in the future.

Regular dental recalls include few X-rays to detect cavities that are between the back teeth, a cleaning and examination. If everything seems to be good, next visit is in 6 months for the next recall.

So, if it hurts... most likely the cavity is too big and the tooth will most likely need a larger restoration. Teeth requiring large fillings are prone to breakage and possibility of ending up with a root canal. In most cases where a patient comes in with pain, the tooth will require a root canal, meaning the cavity has infected the pulp area where the nerve lies. After a root canal, the tooth most likely will require a post and a

crown as a restoration since to access the roots to do the root canal, too much tooth structure will be lost for a simple filling restoration.

Sometimes, the tooth will have too much decay where saving it would be impossible. In this case the tooth will need to be extracted. Since the tooth is gone, you will require a bridge or an implant to fill up the space. That could be expensive!

And periodontal disease is so much like high blood pressure... the silent killer! What I mean by this is that it may do so much damage to the bone and gums without the patient even detecting it. In most cases with sever periodontal disease, even the teeth that are strong and have no cavities will be lost because the bone that holds their roots are slowly wearing away. Yes.. this will lead to tooth loss, forcing the patient to wear dentures.

So... there you have it... when we ask you to visit us at Adult and Kid's Dental Care on a regular basis... it is for your best interest.. both economically and healt

h wise.

If it has been more than 6 months from your last dental visit.. call (818)881-6761 to make an appointment.

What are Dental Implants?

Dental Implants in simple terms is when a tooth is lost, an artifical root, which is made out of titanium screw, is surgically placed inside the bone. An abutment with its crown is what you see above the gum when an implant is restored. It is best to leave the implant inside the bone to heal for about 5-6 moths before restoring it with an abutment - crown. This is done mainly to insure the implant is going to be stable after the patient starts using the tooth to eat.

If an implant starts to move after the patient starts using it, that means the implant has failed and needs to be removed. After several months of healing the bone or even adding bone graft to the area, a new implant may be placed into that area again.

Implant surgery is not painful at all mainly because the bone has no nerve. Since an implant is screwed inside the bone, the patient shouldn't feel too uncomfortable since what we sense as pain is transmitted only through nerves.

Since implants are placed inside the bone, they tend to stay in even after the patient looses the rest of his/her natural teeth. Therefore, if you have the choice to choose between a bridge, which are prosthetic crowns fused together to close a gap, and an implant, you should always choose the implant since the bridge is cemented on your natural teeth which sooner or later will fail or will fall out because of gum disease. Since implants are placed inside the bone and not around tissue, they will never be prone to get loose because of periodontal disease. Our natural teeth have periodontal ligaments lining all around their roots whereas an implant does not have any contact with periodontal ligaments and it is only associated with bone.

Before placing implants, a CT scan is a good indicator of where nerves are located as well as estimating how much bone the dentist has to work with in order to place the implant. According to the CT scan, Dr. Ohanian is able to choose the right size, length, as well as the positioning of the implant in order to avoid any complications.

If the implants are to be place on the bottom jaw for example, the inferior alveolar nerve as well as the mental nerve are to be payed extra attention since they tend to run along the jaw from the back to the premolar areas.

On the back side of the maxilla(upper) for example, the sinuses need to be payed attention mainly to avoid the implant from penetrating inside.

Implants may also be placed on edentulous (no teeth present) areas and an overdenture or a bridge placed on top to provide better security than conventional dentures.

If you are a new patient or an existing patient, call our office for a FREE dental implant consultation. Dr. Ohanian does implant placement surgery and restoration in our office. Consultation will only take few minutes as she examines your mouth and palpates the gums to check for bone mass. In some cases, one X-Ray may be required for better diagnosis.

Call Adult and Kid's Dental Care to schedule in your free consultation (818)881-6761.