It’s never too late! Did you know that Oral cancer is the 6th most common cancer globally and 650,000+ new oral cancer cases are found each year worldwide. More than 300,000 people will die because of oral cancer each year, according to the WHO. Are you at risk? Signs and symptoms to look for – A sore, or soreness or irritation that doesn’t go away. Red or white patches or pain tenderness or numbness in mouth or lips. Lumps thickening tissues, rough spots, crusty or eroded areas. Difficulty chewing, swallowing, speaking or moving your jaw or tongue. Change in the way your teeth fit together when you close your mouth. Catch it early with Self-examination and have regular dental visits.
Step 1 – press along the sides and front of your neck and face to feel for any tenderness, swelling or lumps.
Step 2 – Pull back your lips and look for sores and color changes on your lip and gums.
Step 3 – Use your fingers to pull out your cheeks, look for any colour changes like red, white, or dark patches. With your index fingers and thumb, check the outside of your cheeks to feel for any lumps.
Step 4 – tilt your head back and open your mouth wide to look for lumps or colour changes.
Step 5 – Examine the top, back, and sides of your tongue for swellings or colour changes.
Step 6 – Touch the roof of your mouth with your tongue and look at the underside and floor of your mouth for colour changes and lumps. Using one finger inside your mouth and one finger on the outside fell for any unusual bumps, swelling or tenderness. It’s not too late to quit your bad habits for your loved ones. Let’s beat oral cancer today.
In just a few seconds we are going to meet Doctor Christina Doe. Hello everyone welcome to Doc Talks, today we have a special get. Dr. Christina Do, I don’t know if you guys can hear that – but right outside my window there was a car accident. Well that is not the way we normally want to start a talk but today we are going to listen to Tips and preventative health concepts with one of my favorite specialists. I always use her as my 911 when I need a second opinion about a dental question. Her name is Dr. Christina Do, and we are live so welcome any questions you might have. I am going to give you guys a little background on Dr. Do and ask for questions as we go through 7 highlighted topics that come to me quite often when I see patients in my office. You will see them as streaming though the bottom of the screen, actually I am going to open this up so you can see us, I am using a very new platform so I apologize if this is a little bit held up.
So here we are – this is Doctor Christina Do, she is a graduate of Llama Linda University of dentistry. She is a master of laser dental surgery in dentistry, the technology that she uses she lectures on worldwide and people often refer to her when they are looking at new applications of their lasers. She is on an executive board for the Coleman research group. She has created her own animated children’s educational DVD called tooth tales, she has been featured numerous times on the show called doctors, and she has performed various dental procedures for them, she has published in PBS, American Health Journal, Educational Health videos and multiple dental magazines. For Dr. Do I know that dentistry is truly a passion of hers and it started in her college days at UCSD. She was inspired by a homeless women who had no access to dental care and from there that point forward Dr. Do knew that she had a calling to perform dentistry to the under privileged in her community and towards the citizens in other countries. Since 2000 she has served in various countried including Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Guatemala, Honduras, Papua New Guinea and Haiti. I have o say since I have known her, before the pandemic she was often travelling on medical mission trips, and I appreciated learning so much about her through our new friendship. Our friendship began I actually had a colleague and friend who was friends with Dr. Do and as I found myself referring more and more patients to her I found that the most true sincere appreciation from feedback that she was someone to trust so I have sent her plenty of preneoectonomies, She did my own daughters, sorry I am getting myself caught in finding my own camera, so I have asked her to be a resource for us today to talk about some of the common questions that I get in my office. Doc Talks is focused on bringing you preventative health tips that you can apply in your home, I have at least an hour with my patients because I am a concierge pediatrician but most people are not afforded that luxury with their doctor so I am trying to bring my favorite specialist to you – so Dr. Do we are going to start with if you want, do you want to share waiting about you I know that people can find you at Smiles for OC and I will list that at the end, she practices in Costa Mayas. Is there anything I missed? She is also the mom of a beautiful 2 year old boy and her husband happens to be a dentist so I am curious if you guys have a lot of dental discussions at home. No we don’t talk about dentistry at home our main goal in dentistry is to brush and floss our own teeth and make it enjoyable for our 2 year old son, but we don’t really talk about dentistry but yeah its ok. But I am honored to be here today and I definitely hop that everyone learns lot toady and dentistry is a passion of mine and preventative dentistry is also a great passion of mine, it’s great that today Dr. BB and I can share what we love the best – which is taking care of our patients, our pediatric patients, my specialty as she spoke is laser dentistry but you know I am pretty much a family dentist so you know I love treating kids from when they were born all the way to treating their great grandparents so we are just so happy to be here today to share everything that we know together. Right. So let start with some of the most difficult but mundane of topics, how do we get our kids to floss and brush their teeth? Anyone who has a toddler in the house know that it is one of the most unwanted chores and takes morning and night.
So I wanted Dr. Do to give us any tips that she knows of, and I want to share a few picks, so I am going to pull those up right now. Yeah so I have been practicing dentistry for over a decade now and you know before we would do a consultation with parents and then see their little kids and talk about brushing an flossing and you know very matter of factly, and then 2 years ago I had my own child, and it just opened a whole new world for me. Now on top of being the clinician who advises parents on how to take care o their kids, I was thrown into the throngs of it. So I have picked up a lot of different tips, but mainly our goal for taking care of our kids teeth, is just to set them for the precedence of great oral health for their entire lives. Making sure that when we introduced the tooth brush and we really really want to introduce that tooth brush the minute you see a tooth pop up. So there are multiple tooth brushes that you can use to make this tooth brushing time very enjoyable. There is no one tooth brush that is the best for you child. It is whichever one they like, and I would start with one utilize that until they are not really interested in brushing anymore and move on to another one. You know when you first seethe first tooth that pops up usually at the bottom in the front you use like a small little tooth brush one that your child can hold. They have these banana brushes they have the infant brushes, they have the finger brushes. The minute you see a tooth you start brushing those teeth, and if you are an even more motivated parent and you want to start introducing items into their mouth early they have gauze spiffy wipes, that you can wipe down their gum tissue. So the sooner or earlier you introduce anything to yoru child’s mouth, they will start to accept tooth brushing time as something enjoyable and a part of the routine, of course as a parent we know that does not always – every night is not always going to be wonderful but you have different things that you can introduce. For example changing the tooth brush making it a part of a nightly routine, net to something that they enjoy such as bath time, or having a toy that they really like, definitely is positive reinforcement – something that you really really want to introduce to them. Everything we do should be positively reinforced. Brushing you r teeth should be very well rewarded for it. Introducing tooth paste before the age of 2, we have non fluoridated tooth paste; with you know great flavors that they can try out, so you know it becomes a part of something that they love to do.
Also kids love their stuffed animals or they love their siblings, with their stuffed animals you can brush their stuffed animal’s teeth, with their siblings and with mom and dad you can have them mimic mom and dad brush their teeth, or do it as a whole team with their siblings, and brush together as family time. SO there are a lot of different ways that of course there are day when you kid doesn’t want to brush their teeth is you have to do different tactics. My child’s creams, my child cries but honestly I still brush his teeth – we sing songs, we count down and I know that he is not in pain, I just know that today is not one of the days he wants to do it. But unfortunately if you don’t make it a part of their routine they may get cavities, and cavities are a whole new gamut of problems, so you know every day – kids all the time do not want to do anything. We can impart to make it a really fun experience for the, on the days that you don’t want to you lie them down and you just brush and they cry and that opens up their mouth and there you go but you get all the food out and you know – you feel good about putting them to sleep without food and milk and bacteria inside their mouth. So I just want to emphasize that we need to start this process when the first tooth erupts if not before. Yes – yeah, I know the first three months are very difficult for moms and parents and so you get a little window of a break but if you can’t start imparting like wipes or little hand clothes just to wipe the gums down, you get extra credit. It does make your life easier. Anything you do earlier in life makes it that much easier later in life. I am going to take off the Philips Sonic care but I want to mention that because I know the difference between using electric I am starting to figure out where I am in my camera, electric vs. the regular standard tooth brush this is something I introduced very early on and children do complain, adults do complain of sore gums that last about a week once you start these tooth brushes. So you want to start them mild and then it continues and then we do rotate tooth brushes, but this one happen to do the best job at keeping their teeth clean so we went through phases where we loved grabbing the tooth brush when she saw her big brother doing it but then now I actually have to wait for her to cry so I can get her teeth done, so it is a fake cry. Some days are much better than others, of most things. They see other kids brushing their teeth, how fun it is and the songs. It is just about the distraction and getting it done, and flossing is too very important right Dr. Do? Flossing is really important because unfortunately we cannot take x-ray until about 4 years and so you will get cavities in-between the teeth and no one will be able to see it. I am ok if you don’t introduce flossing till around age 2 when their back molars start to touch because you don’t get your true 2nd molars until you are about 2 and a half years but if you start flossing earlier and you get to floss the front teeth it is so much easier than wait for the back ones. They have flossers for kids, you can introduce that it is fun for them, and much easier the sooner you get that in, as both parents Dr. Vivi and I know how busy we can get but if you just introduce that earlier, then eventually you move that floser to the back less resistance you will get. Yeah it is about introducing them – the Crayola ones have a nice flavor the berry flavor – the kids love that I am not sure at what point you can use the sharp one as well – I am getting some comments that you are not on the screen again but I do see you – I see myself, I took you off just to highlight the tooth brush the Sonic Care which I will take off, there we go – but they can still hear me? Yeah and if you are on, I am showing it live on my fb page – and looks like you are on there. I took you off for 2 mins. Real quick one thing I do want to add is that you do want to switch your tooth brush every 3 months, and then also if you child is sick then throw away the tooth brushes you have been using. Toothbrushes are big bacteria harboring. We see that with strep throat. You can’t really see with some other things, but strep throat will come back 24 hours after you have been on Amoxyllin you got to toss that tooth brush. Yeah you have to. Then there is a new tooth brush called the auto buddy or auto brush, it is like a tray that you put in your mouth and turn it on, it is pretty expensive like a 100 dollars, but it does not show the true effect of brushing teeth one by one, so I have a lot of parents ask about that it is s newer shark tank type of item that is out on the market – I have seen it advertised actually I remember that. Yeah so I would be pretty hesitant about utilizing that because you might cripple your child from brushing correctly as they age. I will put that in the comments when I finish the talk so we can get back to it. Okay and then someone has also asked for the links to the flossers, I’ll put those in. i like the Crayola ones you can find those on amazon. Yeah the Crayola ones are the best, because the picks at the end are not sharp the way the adult ones are. Correct, then they have reach flossers which have long handle for parents to hold on to, okay, so they can get to the back. So I’ll just put a little – Crayola and Reach flossers. And then one thing that I noticed when we used those type of flosses when you floss from tooth to tooth, you have to wipe off or rinse, before you move to the ex-tooth, otherwise you are moving bacteria from one tooth to another and I think a lot of people forget that. I don’t know why but my husband started and I wish he would watch this. He is reusing the flossing sticks, that just – does he clean them? He doesn’t! That is really not a good idea at all right, he will rinse it and leave it on the side of the sink – but just from everything that I know about bacteria and tooth decay it would just be a potential for bringing bacteria in between the teeth. Yes so ideally you can use one floser, per day but rinsing it in between each – he probably learned that from Dr. Woo because he would not do that on his own, so he would probably use one in the morning and one in the evening after he rinses it. Oh okay and then toss – because they are not meant to be reused per se. thank you for clarifying that I am glad it came up. Ok. We got through 3 of those questions; let’s move on to the next topic. So the fluoride now – there is nothing that we love more as doctors and dentist that the realization of fluoride will prevent cavities. So I am wondering if you hear the something as I do and then some about peoples fear that fluoride is dangerous or damaging – can you speak to what the positives or the negatives – so definitely you know if you think about it, we give our children and ourselves vitamins. So if you think about it – how can you not get cavities? So the only thing honestly that we can potentially protect ourselves is through fluoride, and not a lot of fluoride right. Everything in moderation. We brush our teeth 2 times a day with floured tooth paste – really no one drinks tap water anymore and that does have fluoride so you know the communities are hoping we would drink tap water and have some form of protection for your teeth. Honestly I would say 90 percent of our world does not do that or our community does do that. So really the only protection we have is the fluoride from our toothpaste and maybe fluoride from when you visit the dentist. So think of fluoride it is not an evil thing quite honestly. People think it is a medication people think it is a toxin, but at the end of the day fluoride is a mineral that is naturally occluding and it is virtually the only vitamin you can give to your teeth. So of course if you inject a whole tube of tooth paste in one sitting, you will probably get a tummy ache right. It is not meant to be eaten in the regard, but if you give some to your child a little smear of it onto the tooth brush not a pea size until they are able to spit out then that is enough to help prevent decay in the mouth. Anytime you eat food, food turns into plaque. Plaque is very acidic and it adheres to your teeth like barnacles and now it is slowly starting to secrete acid onto your teeth. Now if your child doesn’t let you brush properly, you are never going to get that white fluffy stuff off your child’s teeth and then that acid is going to start burning into your child’s tooth. So if you cannot brush it off then the only other thing you can do is if you can introduce fluoride from a prior tooth brushing time or the fact that it has like properties from when you introduced it, the acid gets neutralized by the fluoride which means that now the acid that is burning into your teeth is blocked from maybe the night before where you were able to brush your child’s teeth properly. So what you can do if you know for sure that you are an amazing brusher and you can get every single piece of plaque off your child’s teeth then that reduced acid and maybe you can get away with not giving any fluoride to your child. I am not saying that you need to give fluoride supplements, I don’t recommend fluoride supplements by any means fluoride rinse is ok once your kid can spit, but at least for me and my husband we want to give our son protection because there are days when he eats sticky stuff and we just can’t get in there as best as can, even though we are fighting him to brush well, at least we know we have dispelled a little bit of smear layer on to his tooth paste to help him combat the acidity that gets introduced from all the food that he eats, and so the process of fluoridation is called demineralization to get the teeth enamel stronger so plaque cannot eat as easily or demineralization when the tooth turns white because of the acidity that burns into the teeth that turns it white. So we see a lot of white spots on children that is because unfortunately acid burns holes into the teeth and the fluoride tooth paste that you have introduced can redirect that and harden the enamel again, so honestly if you use fluoride in moderation you are going to get great health for your teeth that will keep them healthy for the rest of your life because you have not introduced it backed to those bacteria that causes cavities into your saliva. Thank you so much for that explanation and I will tell everyone out there that there is always been a push in the pediatric office for dental health and fluoride treatments for the underserved communities. I have always recommend using a perio filter because of the minerals that are in water that you can be providing yourself if you drink tap water that is somewhat assured from impurities but fluoride like many things that people fear are going to be found in soy, almond milk, everything else that you eat so there shouldn’t be a fear when it comes for a recommendation at the dentist and the dental office. Yeah it is just preparing your child’s teeth for a better future, and we only utilize a small amount that is completely safe so you know kids will always eat things that we don’t want them to eat and foods always turn into carbohydrates into sugars, and sugars into acid so you really need some form of protection for your teeth and I want to mention that for kids who have reflux there is an issue with the acid that does destroy the teeth especially when they grow up having the reflux and it is not ideal correct to be brushing it after you have a reflux effect that can be damaging to the teeth is that right? That is correct so unfortunately the acidity is very detrimental to our teeth so you do want some time for your basic saliva because the PH is so acidic from the acid that comes from your gut, you want the salivary flow from the base of your mouth to kind of start coating over your teeth so they do say wait half an hour before you start brushing. That would be true for someone who is vomiting? Who is sick? Yes maybe rinse your mouth with some water wait a bit and then brush. But you still definitely have to brush after otherwise you are leaving so much acid in your salivary flora that now you are going to start having a lot of teeth problems. Got it yeah, ok I don’t see any other questions let me see if here is a way to go, I need this I am going to see what happens, alright so the end topic that we have is, cavities in primary teeth and why even care – this didn’t even cross my mind as a question until a parent said they are going to lose them anyways right they have a few cavities or you know why am I going ti brush, spend all this time fighting to brush and I have to say the coincidence the health awareness and the dental pediatric dental health awareness re in the same month and is so imprint to me in that question we know that seeding effect peers into our blood stream from our mouth and the cavities are a source of that – studies have shown, so specially someone who has any type of abnormal heart valve or holes in the heart is between the ventricles these are a source of clots that can seep through the body back to the clots so I would love for you to speak – here let me show –speak to brushing and caring and taking care of cavities in our primary teeth. Ok, so think about it like this when your child is born everyone starts with a clean slate, you don’t have diseases you don’t have bacteria you don’t have little viruses in your system per se, now when you start introducing foods and things like that, you start to get cavities and so then the cavities are caused by different types of bacteria called Structo – Structo and there is a whole slew of them, if you think about it, when you start with 0 bacteria inside your mouth and now you are introducing all these bacterial flora and then first you start with one cavity then you start with two and so now you eave those cavities inside your mouth you don’t treat them, bacteria what it does it proliferates once it proliferates now you are introducing more bacteria into your saliva – now when your 10 or 11 year old now you have way more bacteria that causes cavities in your system when you are born now you have adult teeth – now all this new bacteria that you introduced into your salivary flora starts eating away your adult teeth – so your baby teeth gives you a precedence and give you a precursor to what your adult teeth would look like if you have 3 cavities in your baby teeth which out of 20 – think of it, multiply it infinitely to having more cavities in your adult teeth and you are right you are not going to lose your adult teeth and then you are going to be filing them basically for the rest of your life and then also small cavities lead to large cavities and large cavities leads to root canons, baby root canals lead to crowns, crowns lead to extractions. Now you need to keep your baby teeth at least till1 2 years of age – now you have all these baby teeth that have been extracted prematurely you have no landscape for you jaw to form anymore, as you are losing teeth and then adult teeth to come in, they cannot figure out where to go. You lose a tooth the adult tooth is below it. It is supposed to come up straight but if you have all these missing teeth when adult teeth come up, they will come up wherever they feel like it. They don’t have the proper placement of following the eruption pattern of where the baby teeth are and your jaw does start to shrink your lattet and your lower jaw shrinks because those teeth are no longer place holders those baby teeth that you pulled out because of all the cavities, so you know cavities at 3 years old are going to be extractions by probably 6 years old or 7 years old, and so then when your adult teeth come in it is going to come in wherever it feels like and then your jaw is going to shrink and now you are going to be left with a very shrunken palatal arch and a shrunken arch on the bottom so then it is going to change your whole entire landscape of how your face is.
Now if you are going to have a nice rounded arch then your face is going to have a nice rounded – now it is going to be shrunken in with teeth that are mismatched and crooked and now you are going to be in orthodontics, you are going to have expansion, you might have to do jaw surgery it is a whole domino effect quite honestly so important to here you say this. I know it is important to brush the teeth, and I know it is important to see the dentist to take care of cavities but especially during the pandemic it has been so easy to say – well we’re brushing why go to the dentist but wow so interesting, thank you – you explained it perfectly. It Is very important, I mean it build landscape for your entire adult hood so it is so much easier to fix a small tiny cavity than waiting for it to fall out, because honestly your child will probably be in too much pain to wait until it falls out – so those premature thing that you do, do cost them into their adult hood. Ok, so really quick some question that have popped up – one is and we can, I don’t think I am looking at our other so I think we will just talk about it now, under bite in a 5 year old, whenever she is smiling her bottom teeth are always in front – do you want to talk about this, we can talk about pacifiers and bottles or?
No we can talk about it now – so the great news is her daughter is only 5 – at 5 it is beautiful because 5 means she is groin still. Usually we do start seeing an orthodontist these days around ages 6 to 8. 8 years is usually for those who have nice spacing of their teeth not a lot of crowding, but 6 is a great time to start in the sense when we start seeing an under bite, so we start seeing too much gum tissue or the bite is too deep – anything that looks like where a collusion is going to be a problem, where your top teeth is coming together to your bottom teeth that is a problem we start with orthodontics early because we can do expanders, we can do so basically an expander will expand your lower jaw, expand your upper jaw and correct your bite without waiting until it is too late where you have to do jaw surgery. Can I interrupt you – orthodontist visits will use, will start around a float 6 or 7 years of age? Mhmm, and then someone like this may need to go early before then? So early would be 6 years because you do want the 6 year molars to have erupted and then if you have an under bite you would go after you see those 6 year molars come through. Because that is when the orthodontist can do something. So I think the point is, the question is – her dentist would guide her but she should not expect to go before 6 years. if there is something going on with the bite we still wait till 6? Yes because we do need the molars. There are other appliances that you can use before age 6 but they are harder to sue because they deal with patient compliance so you can put mouth guards and mouth pieces into a child’s mouth earlier than 6 but they can reach in and pull it out. When you are 6 the orthodontist can place permanent expanders, inside the mouth and the child can’t take it out – so unless you know your child will be completely complaint with these mouth pieces, then yes you can have intervention earlier but honesty the compliance on that I like 5 percent. It is very low, and it is an appliance that is on the top and the bottom that they hold inside their mouth while they sleep. Is there a way that a parent can prevent such an under bite or overbite if they were not doing anything but pacifier? I know mouth breathing at night – I am very proactive asking my patients if their children breathe with their mouth open at night, because of tonsils and adenoids and how that can shape the mouth differently. What would you say about prevention, what are some sign that someone can pick up on that this might happen? well you know certainly – things like pacifying thumb sucking, putting fists objects indie the mouth, lounge thrusting, lip ties, so a lot of those things should be checked when they’re younger and then if all those things have reached normal limits, then potentially the under bite if it is a skeletal concern that is when the orthodontics will come in. so some kids could have prevented it but some children – it is genetic. So if both parents have under bites and their grandparents have under bites, the most likely early intervention would be awesome for the child, but yes those other factors if she was lounge thrusting and pacifying, thumb sucking – would probably make it worse. Ok, and we will talk about pacifiers because I have some questions about that.
Ok. Awesome learning for me from you. Ok this is my favorite question – so how often or ever have you ever seen someone come to you with pediatric I think it happens more with big procedures but how many times would you say that someone has recommended cavities or fillings or some sort of orthodontic procedure I am not sure of your comment of orthodontics when they come see you, but would you say a 2nd opinion if it is something invasive is worthwhile in the pediatric population – in Orange county we are not like a community but do we just assume you are giving a good opinion if they are well versed in pediatric dental care or is it worth getting a second opinion sometimes. So I would say whoever your clinician is in all regards, dermatology, concierge pediatrician, dentistry, physical therapy – if you go somewhere and you are not comfortable then a 2nd opinion is something substantial because you want to trust who your clinician is, you want to make sure you have a good working relationship with who is treating your health so honestly I like the way my officer runs things – we do a consultation and we give our concerns and our opinions and our advice, and then the parent for patient goes home and thinks about it – we never do treatments that day – because I think it is important, it’s like an interview. The parent or child interviews us and we review the patient, and it should be a relationship where you start somewhere you are comfortable there and you trust them, then you continue forth. I do see second opinions in the pediatric word, because a lot of it comes up with ‘oh your child has a couple of cavities, they need to be general anesthesia sedated’ and that is a big thing for apparent to swallow becaue number 1 they didn’t think that having a cavity was that big of a deal per se and then all of a sudden someone is recommending let’s put your child to sleep and fix everything, so I think that its valid because putting a child to sleep is scary. Putting anyone to sleep is scary and we are lucky that we do have amazing anesthesiologists who can safety take care of us, but if it brings up warning signs and make you and your family uncomfortable I think about getting a second opinion and then also dentist do practice differently, some are more preventative and some are more aggressive and some take a more conservative route – so you know if you are a friend who is conservative with decision making, sometimes you get along better with someone who makes more conservative decisions vs. someone who might just hop on a plane that goes somewhere so quickly so you might develop a better relationship with someone else, and there is never any hard feelings because at the end of the day every clinician is trying to take the best are of the patient before them, and it is still very imprint that the parent or the patient gets the best results and they are comfortable with it. So I think we are always asking for second opinions from friends and family about everything and so, I don’t think it is a big deal if a parent feels uncomfortable or just curious to get a second onion. Honestly I have had a lot of parents who have come in to see me for 2nd opinions about sedation and you know luckily and rightfully I have dental laser where I can do no shot, no anesthesia one by one and fillings for children but it is going to take longer and I only do one cavity at a time for a child vs. if you sedate your child you can get all ten done but I mean we have been, parents have been very patient, they bring their kids one by one but in the end they don’t have to have them sedated, so it is a matter of preference what the parent is most comfortable with. So in surgical procedures, medical surgical procedures – It is no different. We do want people to feel comfortable with the decision to go forward and want them to get the 2nd opinion. A good surgeon would always ask that they get a second opinion to go ahead and share that with them and come back if they are comfortable so it sounds like it is exactly the same with cavities if they have to be sedated. Ok good, I did know that t I just assumed if they have cavity it should be filed and then once I hear these stories where it was rely questionable where they had to fill 6 or 7 cavities but it is really how the parent feels about their relationship with the doctor. True and then also in dentistry a tooth has 3 parts the enamel, the dentin and the pulp. So cavities – if a cavity is in the enamel but some dentists will do a filling if it in the enamel and if it is not in the dentin yet. Some dentists will do a filling if it it’s in the enamel but penetrate it into the dentin. So that might be a difference in 5 cavities vs. 2 and then it might become an issue when you – when is this tooth going to come out when you are 6 or 7 and you are going to lose the tooth, right got it. Yesterday I gave an opinion to a patient. She has a cavity touching another baby tooth but it was going to come out in a year – I gave her the option of extraction or a filling and if you do a filling a lot of the tooth was already missing, so there is really nothing below but you don’t really want to leave the cavity because it will spread to other areas and introduce more bacteria that causes cavities into the flora, so that could be a different in opinion and unfortunately sometimes money plays a factor you know like an extraction is cheaper than a filling – different things like that. That’s why if you are uncomfortable a second opinion or if you are just curious for a second onion, there is no downside per se – good. Alright so that brings us to our next topic that I am trying to pull up some of the images, but let me get back to – the new topic is now on I think we are about to do Lip and Lounge tie and let me share my screen – you are going to jump off so that I can get the image on the screen I believe. We are going to show this just to make it bigger I am going to take you off – I will hide you and bring into view this. I believe we can still hear you go ahead – oh shoot I think people could not hear you so let’s recap – lets summarize a bit you could do a quick summary for us. So what we are showing here is basically the 4 different classification of lip tie and what I said before is basically I didn’t realize how important lip ties and tongue ties are and so I started delving deep into understanding this area because 2 years ago when I delivered I realized breast feeding, feeding my son was a huge factor in just his growth and development and we were very much stifled by the fact that he was tongue tied. Now constantly as infants and new burns come in we constantly look for this – because if a child has classification 2 3 or 4 of a lip or lounge tie unfortunately there is going to be some future problems and for the current problems, the child is not going to get proper nutrition, the child is going to have to work harder to drink milk whether it is from the breast or from the bottle, if you really do want to breast feed which is you know my own prerogative – which was painful and pain leads to chapping, bleeding, sadness, depression, going in and out of lactation offices, you know also trying to get laser procedures trying to help on the maternal side because we are always trying to fix the things on our side but if a child is lip ties, if a child is tongue ties, you can correct that problem you know within 5mintues and that will lead them to better eating, better feeding a whole gamut of great advantages for their future so currently it is basically no more pain for the mom, no more problems with the latching for the child, no more problems with gassiness for the child, no more problems with milk coming out the sides of their mouth, no more issues with digestion, especially like the burping issues. Yeah it is just- so many advantages if you can find someone can diagnose these lip ties or lounge ties. In the early stages, so there is no downside to doing it too early because it is just going to help you as the parent whether it is bottle feeding or breast feeding and the child does not have to work five times as hard, because my son was breast feeding for 5 mins and falling asleep and I – after I clipped his tongue, released his tongue, he could breast feed for 45 minutes and be full and satiated and then fall asleep. You know he was not struggling with his weight back then, and so you just have to make sure if you start to have any signs of gas, or milk spillage or pain to breast feeding or not pursing and getting a vacuumed seal over the bottle or the breast you should have someone start to look into that. Then with the tongue tie you really need to make sure that is not a problem because that when they drink milk from a bottle or a breast they need their tongue for that movement of capturing the milk, and you know a lot of kids they are all survivors, what will happen is they will work around the problem of being lip or tongue tied but it just means that they have to work that much harder when it could be so much simpler for them. Then if you leave lip and tongue ties it leads to a whole other gamut of problems later in life. I did a tongue tie release yesterday on a 4 year old because no one had caught his problems before and he had speech impediments. He could barely formulate words because he could barely use his tongue for certain letters, and within 5 minutes his tongue he could touch the roof of his mouth, he just had so much mobility to his tongue and his mom she cried in my chair because she could not believe how much mobility he could have and then he started talking more, and it was phenomenal to see quite honestly and we might not see that immediately for some infants but just to see a lot of moms being able to breast feed painlessly is just a life changer and so I think these lip and tongue tie are very important to attach and quite honestly Dr. Vivi is one of the few who really do that thorough examination because my pediatrician honestly didn’t say a word to me and even when I told her I released my sons tongue she was kind o like oh okay, like it didn’t even require a conversation for her. So a couple of comments – we have about 12 minutes remaining but this is such a great topic because until I was doing concierge well I have always spent a lot of tie with my patients, but parents know – the reason I am doing these shows is to correct misinformation but there is something about the internet that has brought to light this growing group of infants and newborns who have tongue tie and honestly I think a lot of pediatricians think that this is from a mom blog this is bogus, there is just too much of it, so I have delved deep into it, and I was able to work with a lactation consultant in my office for many years and then I started giving her lectures when I was sick and then I started looking at latching and because I do the concierge practice I spent an hour to 2 hours on average in my office especially with new borns and infants so the latch is so important because like Dr. Do said growth in the first year of life is so paramount as an indicator for good health and I can’t believe how many times I am seeing some strange ear gaps or things that cued me that something was not right and then I look and then there is a huge tie right here, just so tight, and at that point I look and I think oh Gosh and Dr. Do also has had the unique experience of working with me in there since she does the laser surgery without needing any sedation and is local and is available to consult without a beep and so I have been you know I stalked myself after a year, and so many of my patients were going – and I thought even my daughter thought I have gone to a couple of laser dental surgeons and they have explained to me yes that this is actually 40 to 50 percent of the population with ties, and one thing we know is, the human body is not perfect there are plenty of people black footed at a certain age so we put an orthodontic in so that they don’t have hip problem and other functional anatomical issues, so cutting the lip is not that invasive if you are using a laser and heels so I was one of those hesitant parents. My daughter was always at the 100 percentile – was there really a reasons to do anything and I pressed Dr. Do and she said you can wait because a procedure is a procedure and in medicine we don’t want to do anything harmful but on year, a little over one year we did it we were in and out and the holding was painful but yes she is also moving her lips she did look a little different, I have heard from patients, but we probably waited too long because she had a big space between her teeth. So I am going to show the next image and you can see how if you leave it how sometimes you do get these other issues right. You do and I did see a question there – so you can pick a question while I pull up however you want to manage it. So it is true at some point if you don’t sever the lip or a tongue tie maybe it won’t cause a problem, however if it is a lip tie and is left until they are older and is suggested to release it upward is for the fact that helping the 2 front middle teeth. So it si called that space it is called a Diastema, so when a tie is too low, to the teeth when you speak you start to see everything pull upward. When everything pulls upward the 2 teeth in the middle they separate. With orthodontics you move it back together but if you don’t release that tie it opens up again. So it is constantly going to be fighting back and forth, and so that lip whenever you talk is going to pulling up and down and is going to give you gum tissue recession. Where the papillae that nicely protects your teeth now gets pulled upwards, with ageing our gums always gets pulled upwards but now it is getting puled upward at an expediential rate. So it depends on why the clinician suggested the lip release at age 14, as to the question but there are reason s as to why you would do it later in life if it was not caught earlier and so unless maybe a child does like a gap in-between the teeth but now they are going to get recessional and recession leads to basically bone loss because if you gum recedes the bone recedes too. So if the bone recedes the gum recedes. Eventually your bone is protected by 3 walls of bone and when you are older your tooth just falls right out in front and so recession is very bad because it make you get bone loss and you know as dentist we are definitely trained frenectomy. A lot of dentists do not because when we were trained we were trained on the scalpel technique which is a lot of what medical doctors do and nobody really wanted to because it is not a really fun procedure when there are sutures and cloths and bleeding but the reasons why I do them is because I use my dental laser where I don’t have to give a shot I just use topical and there is no sutures involved and then when using a scalpel you can’t get a chance of reattachment with the laser you don’t have that because if you are using scissors or a scalpel your body think you have got hurt. When using a laser is cauterizes it and it does not allow it to reattach the way a scalpel or a scior would. Maybe now we are noticing a lot of lip ties and tongue ties because we are looking for them more before I mean one of my colleagues who are older said I don’t know how to do them so I don’t even bother. Yeah there is actually a comment here that, one of the listeners had to go to a special doctor and was not allowed into the room during the procedure and that is really traumatic. Not all dentists do them, some pediatricians are trained to do them actually, but I have seen them bleed so massively that I don’t want to take on that responsibility. If you use a scalpel or scissors it is like getting hurt at home so you have, I am sure a lot of people don’t want ot do that because it is not very pretty but luckily I am covered. We had a patient, unfortunately when we find out first time that there is a bleeding disorder, we don’t want to – I don’t want to do it in my office. Yeah exactly luckily the laser can cauterize and with a normal patient, we cauterize any bleeding if bleeding becomes a concern. We don’t have to use sutures, I have all my mom’s breast feed immediately in the room as part of the procedure just so they can el the difference in the initial breast feeding or after the released ties. And I can actually attest oth the fact that she cried her head off, my one year old she got out of there was playing, she ate on the way home yeah, I got her to stretch the upper lip and we were doing it and Dr. Do is asking how is the stretching and I’m not sure people even do it, I have seen people who don’t do it and it re-at attaches so we were doing aggressive stretching over the week and there was no downtime she ate normal everything was great, it was phenomenal, so I do recommend – I had a baby do it really early because they needed it and it really attached but you just said that and there are those rare cases where they go and do it again. Correct? Yeah so for babies if you can do the stretching obviously that is an added bonus, for babies they are constantly using their lips to fed and cry and so that in itself is great stretching so a lot of times that – you actually have to stretch if you are doing it the traditional way with the scalpel and the scissors. Otherwise it will just reattach and some that are thicker than the average may reattach. So sometimes you have to do revision later in life. And sometimes the motivation I had was you said that tooth brushing is going to be a pain, she is not going to like a tooth brush up there and that’s when her teeth cam e and I thought ok it time. So if you look here in this picture up here in the top left – she was eating and growing just fine, breast feeding, she had a little bit of a type of different breast feed where she would jump off a little bit but it was time when she as ready to brush her teeth. We think as pediatricians, that earlier you do things the pain receptors perhaps are not as fully developed so it is better to get in early or they will remember. Yeah if you do it early too they don’t have to retrain the way they drink so that s easy. So everyone they have habits from before because they have to work around this, and so if you do it earlier you are not going to have as much retraining or they are not going to have to retrain themselves as much and then earlier you definitely want to get it done before those two front teeth come in, because a lot of kids if they have a low front they don’t want you brushing their teeth because a lot of times you front their frenulum too an it hurts. So we have a few quick, we will make these 2 points quick. X-rays I personally wanted to avoid them, it was a little bit of silliness thank goodness I am friends with Dr. Do so she could talk me back to reason. Can you explain what the reasoning is and at what age would you recommend them? And of course it is going to be dependent on the patient, but I would love to hear reason to do them and can you ever decline them? So the best, the first thing you have to know you make sure your dentist has digital radiographs, digital x-rays – that is the only way you should take x-rays – digitally, because that takes down the rads which is the radiation around a 100 folds. Usually – I don’t know the numbers any more but basically say it was like 800 rads per x-ray now it is only 8, so taking digital x-rays honestly with the recommendations you don’t even need to wear the lead shields if you are taking digital x-rays, but we definitely still use it. We start with a panoramic x-ray at age 4 as long as the patient is able to stand and take it if no tit is no big deal, we want the experience to be positive and easy for the patient so then we just push it for the next year. So that shows growth and development it checks for pathologies it checks the sinuses it check the condyles it checks all things we cannot see clinically and visually, but we don’t push x-rays for kids if they are not comfortable with them. You talk the parents through it if they don’t want them? Or if the child is having a hard time? If the child is having a hard time – now if the parent doesn’t want them, basically we do ask the reasons behind it. So say the child comes in at age 7 and the parent doesn’t want x-rays so I do my clinical casual exam but by now the child has adult teeth, teeth that touch each other when I do my clinical casual exam I can’t see in between the teeth and so if I can catch those cavities early then it is just a tiny little filling. By the time we can clinically see a tooth infected it is near the nerve so it will basically be a root canal so I don’t know if a parent really wants to put their child through a baby root canal and then a crown after it. Earlier in this commentary we discussed all that follows after a baby root canal. The Sequence of changing in the mouth, well early in the show you already outlined all the negative effects and the cascade of events that happens if you do have just one baby root canal. Yes, by the way you are getting a lot of thank you’s in the commentary. Yeah so I mean we definitely try to be respectful of the x-rays but at some point we just, you just can’t handicaps up from doing work correctly. If you ended up having an ulcer or a stomach ache there is only so much someone can see clinically and visually. Right so at some point we just cannot treat our kids correctly anymore if it is consistency being declined so I understand like when they are younger in the beginning, but if you have a problem, there is no way to catch it just clinically and visually. We are now at 3’oclock, do you need to leave, and no I’m fine! Ok then on to when to discontinue pacifiers and bottles – ok so honestly that is a big one because parents need those pacifiers they need those bottles but it is very detrimental to our kids, so I am fine if a child wants to use it till 2, but it is a hard cut off after 2. If you want your child to grow correctly the way your child is supposed to – around age one and a half, I start telling parents maybe you should start like doing positive reinforcements on switching out these pacifiers and bottles because you are changing the whole entire landscape once again if you use these pacifiers and bottles beyond age 2, the worst part is – and Like we see it all the time, basically the tongue thrusts forward into the space that the child has created with the pacifier or the bottle and then the tongue grows and it gets bigger, and nobody really wants or need a big tongue and then they start getting something called the open bite, but you know when we bite down we want our top teeth to go perfectly on the bottom but we don’t want this big hole, and that is unfortunately what a pacifier and a bottle does to our patients. I have a screen of that do you want me to share that? Yes that would be awesome. Let’s see if I can find the right one, there were 2 – yeah the first one was just what it shows for baby teeth, the 2nd shows how it follows into adulthood so you are creating a poor landscape for your adult teeth. This is called an open bite, look at the gap it has formed for the adult teeth, and your tongue need to fill the void and when you speak you start thrusting your tongue forward because it does not have a blockage because there is an open gap there.
Eventually you are going to start spitting more your tongue is going to come through that open bite and then your orthodontist is going to do a lot of correction to realign your palette and your lower jaw correctly so all this can be prevented as long as you stop the pacifier early. Now you can see the spacing issue – yeah, actually this is different. This is- if you were good about stopping the pacifier early. SO that is how you want your teeth to look? That’s the more ideal picture, there is one more with like baby teeth but that’s fine. I mean everything is correctible but how much do you want to correct? So if you nip things early in life, it is going to be so much easier. This is a lot of orthodontics – this is patients who say I was in orthodontics for 8 years, I have braces for 10 years, and this I s like head gear and – this reminds me of 16 candles right now. Oh boy – I always thought that we shod move right to the orthodontic pacifiers that have a thin center where the bite comes and like a nubbin on the inside but still I am – we tend to be happy if a baby can take a pacifier but usually by 6months I am trying to get them to wean to a blanket that is soaky something to suck on yes that is better but what will happen is eventually they will figure out oh I have t=my thumb and thumb is bad too. Mhmm, yeah so as much as you can stop it – kids start putting things in their mouth and then start taking it our early – yeah so you can replace it, substitute it with food – it just baffle me because in pediatric they won’t say anything you know they are happy, they throw that in the- when the baby is born they give you a pacifier and I have always been baffled by that, and it has never made any sense. It is nice for babies to self soothe but you know they should be able to do it without the pacifier. What I realized though is that pacifier does play a pretty good role in the beginning of their early life, because it helps them with sensory that tactile sensation of having things in their mouth and chewing on this – so I still support pacifiers but unfortunately not past 2, and actually even one and half is a good wait. I usually wait to stop them at one and a half because they don’t stop at 2 if they really need it. So you start to wean them off around 15 but I still do believe it is an important tool to have for some children to help with the tactile sensory portion. So up to 6 months if you can wean them off after that it is perfect. Ok! And then our last and final and I have tried to make any comments that were useful, I’ve put them under comments and you are welcome to comment more over there later – any tricks I’m putting that on just because it is a common question and speaking to people who think their babies teething at 4 months, that is so rare they are very oral at that stage so they have- correct me if I am wrong quite of a lower jaw incompetency where they are closing their mouth when everything is happening. Like the sense you said that their environment is their mouth so they are not necessarily teething and at that – only once you actually I feel the tooth at the edge you really need to worry about align the gum and soothing that correct? Yeah there are a lot of teething toys and tools out there that you can use that are all very good – if you want to add more teething and soothing options basically you can take those teething tools and put them in the freezer. Or if you don’t want to buy any we’re all plastic free now and they have silicone straws you can put in the freezer and have the babies’ naw on them too. Oh so that is a great idea – the more you can make popsicles out of breast milk that the kids can, that the infact can teeth on and get nutrition, but you can definitely give them things to get through that teething stage, and the only time I would really give, like our suggestion in terms of medication is that if they develop a fever but beyond that or if you think that – if parents think they are pretty uncomfortable but usually you just give them a teething tool and add some frozen options to it, it should be pretty fine for the child but you are right very child is different and maybe they need a little bit extra. So I just put some extra comments in there about my teething tricks – for people to read them but it is usually something cold, like cold corn on the cob even when they are really little – cold carrots frozen whole grain waffle bagel, a frozen wash rag, celery teething rings, and when they are older water melon and things that they can bite off that are soothing or cool on the gums, an if you do the popsicle I like to wrap it with a paper towel and a rubber band so that when the baby is holding it they won’t get frost bite. There is something called Popsicle peninulitis where they do get these rash on their chees when they start loving the popsicles. OH I see – and it happens commonly when they are sucking up a popsicle for too long and take some time but I love your suggestion on the silicone straw, and there I something called sensory chew toys that you can look up on amazon they are for kids who like to do their nails that are dirty so you can get these fun they are like plastic little pieces that are probably silicon and shark tooth and other cool things and the kids can rip it off easy to it is not checkable and kids can put it in their mouth. Yeah – so! Is there anything you want to close with I want to make sure everyone knows where they can find you at Smiles for OC. Yeah so I mean I thank you for inviting me today and these are all things I am passionate about and will love for people to understand and share with their own children and I mean as a mom now I get it, it is awesome to be able to see it form the clarions side and the parents side, so I am super blessed that we have had that opportunity. I would take as many questions as anyone wasn’t to email me or text me or if they want a consultation, you know – do you mind I don’t want oth bother you for too much of your free time but if you have a chance maybe later today check the comments here if you can see any new comments that would be great or you can let me know, I would probably reach out to you actually so I won’t bother you so this is Dr. Christina Do – this is the 2nd of what I hope will be a long term speaking event where we get to share our time with the public to correct misinformation that is always circulated in logs that aren’t verified and trusted resources. We are lucky to have plenty of ties with our patients, but we know not everyone gets that. So we’re glad to share what we can in this live team, so thank you every one for this – thank you Dr. Do I am so lucky to know you and the patients are so grateful when I send them your way they feel so lucky to have you! Thank you for everything and thank you too! Thanks everyone for coming in and bye.
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The maintenance of clean teeth and gums revolves around brushing and flossing. Place the toothbrush bristles next to the gum line, on the outer surfaces of the teeth. Brush gently using back and forth technique with the toothbrush. For the inner surface of the teeth place the bristles next to the gum line and brush in a circular motion. The inside of the mouth is where the most plaque accumulates. Brush the surface of the teeth where the chewing of food takes place, in the same circular motion. To clean those places between the teeth where a toothbrush can’t reach. floss once a day to remove food and plaque before it can cause gum disease. So, eat a well-balanced diet, brush twice daily, and schedule regular checkups with the dentist.
Do you snore excessively? Do you suffer from daytime fatigue? Do you awake during the night with shortness of breath? You may suffer from the life-threatening sleep disorder known as sleep apnea. About 1 in every 15 Americans suffer from sleep apnea and it is a problem that many don’t even realize they might have. But what does this have to do with dentistry? Because sleep apnea is caused by an airway obstruction, the disorder can be treated through the mouth. The Thorton adjustable positioner, or Tap appliance is one of the more popular ways to treat sleep apnea. When the jawbone yes lax, the tongue and soft tissue obstruct the airway. The tap appliance advances the jaw bone, allowing the air to flow freely and making sleep more restful throughout the night. If you think you might suffer from sleep apnea, talk to your dentist today about possible treatment options.
At a young age our teeth are healthy white. But overtime the enamel coating the tooth is so slowly worn down. Causing our teeth to become stained and yellow, which is why teeth whitening is become increasingly popular today. There are a few methods for whitening. They include at home and in office. With in office treatments, you will see faster results, receive the safest treatment for bleaching the teeth, and yield the whitest smile. So, don’t settle for teeth that have become stained from years of coffee drinking, tobacco use, or just aging. Ask your dentist about whitening options that may be right you.
Veneers are thin handcrafted porcelain shields worn on the front of the tooth which improve the appearance of teeth that are chipped, cracked, stained or worn. Veneers are thin as contact lenses, and are an aesthetically pleasing option of closing gaps, lengthening teeth, and providing symmetry to make your smile more natural. Veneers are intended to last for many years without changing color. They are one of the most popular cosmetic procedures in dentistry. Ask your dentist if veneers may be right for you.
Fact or myth? Expensive toothpastes are always better than cheaper ones. Myth. Different toothpastes are better for different teeth in situations. Sometimes moderately priced toothpaste can be more effective. Ask the dentist about what might be best for your teeth. And always look for the ADA seal of approval. Fact or myth? If a tooth is white, it must be healthy. Myth. Under the surface there may be cavities, problems with the root or other abnormalities. Fact or Myth? Teeth whitening is harmful because it damages enamel. Myth. There are many modern teeth whitening processes that have minimal harmful effects. Teeth whitening isn’t for every mouth or person though. Consult the dentist before you proceed with whitening treatments. Fact or myth? Dentists should be feared. Myth. With today’s advancements in technology and safety practices there is nothing to worry about. Procedures are as quick and painless as ever. Fact or myth? You should visit your dentists at least twice a year. FACT.
Fact or myth? If you have a cavity, you will know it. Myth, Mild tooth decay has no symptoms. Sensitivity begins to occur when the tooth decay is already causing damage to the nerve. Today’s dentistry prevents tooth decay with sealants and other conservative methods. Fact or myth? Sugar is the prime cause of cavities. A fact and also a myth. Acid is the main trigger in producing the bacteria that causes cavities. The bacteria is then fueled by the consumption of carbohydrates. Sugar is a trigger in cavities, but carbs as a whole are the main cause. Fact or myth? Cavities are the prime reason for root canals. Myth. Root canals are a result of nerve damage. And untreated cavity could lead to nerve damage, but root canals are on set by number of different factors. Facts on myth? Brushing and flossing are the best way to prevent cavities. Fact. Fact or myth? Expensive toothpastes are always better than cheaper ones. Myth. Different toothpastes are better for different teeth in situations. Sometimes moderately priced toothpaste can be more effective. Ask the dentist about what might be best for your teeth. And always look for the ADA seal of approval. Fact or myth? If a tooth is white, it must be healthy. Myth. Under the surface there may be cavities, problems with the root or other abnormalities. Fact or Myth? Teeth whitening is harmful because it damages enamel. Myth. There are many modern teeth whitening processes that have minimal harmful effects. Teeth whitening isn’t for every mouth or person though. Consult the dentist before you proceed with whitening treatments. Fact or myth? Dentists should be feared. Myth. With today’s advancements in technology and safety practices there is nothing to worry about. Procedures are as quick and painless as ever. Fact or myth? You should visit your dentists at least twice a year. FACT.
Dental implants are titanium roots, that are replaced with in the jawbone to resemble a tooth or group of teeth. A screw is inserted through the gums and into the jawbone. A porcelain crown is then attached to the screw to become the new tooth or teeth. They can be used to support dental prosthesis including crowns, dentures, and bridges. Today’s treatments are so natural looking, no one will know you had surgery. There’s approximately a 95% success rate for all implants. With modern advances in dentistry, some implants can be restored immediately with life like all porcelain crowns. For more details ask your dentist.
Root canal therapy is a very common procedure. It has a reputation of being undesirable and painful. But when done properly it is actually painless. Every tooth in your mouth is composed of a crown and a root. When a cavity or bacteria penetrates the tooth, the root and its nerves become irritated. As a result, the bacteria within the pulp cavity needs to be removed and cleaned in order to restore the tooth to its healthy state. Following the procedure, the tooth is fragile and consequently is restored with the natural crown for a lifetime of durability. Root canals have a success rate of 95% or greater. Most root canal are diagnosed by patients’ sensitivities to a specific tooth. Be sure to consult your dentist any symptoms or discomfort occur.
A bridge is a non-surgical way to replace one or many teeth. A bridge uses the adjacent teeth as anchors to support the missing tooth or teeth. With today’s dental advancements, a bridge can be fabricated in a fairly short period of time, using a metal or nonmetal foundation. Don’t let that missing tooth affect the way you speak, eat, and smile. Bridges yield immediate results that last a lifetime. Ask your dentist what type of bridge may be right for you.
The 3 stages of gum disease are gingivitis, periodontitis, and advanced periodontitis. Gingivitis is caused by toxins irritating the gum line as a result of plaque buildup. Signs and symptoms of gingivitis includes swelling, sensitivity, and bleeding of the gums during brushing and flossing. Gingivitis can be easily reversed through professional care and good home oral hygiene. Periodontitis is categorized by irreversible bone loss that results from untreated gingivitis. The gums may begin to form a pocket below the gum line which traps food and plaque. Dental treatment and home care can help prevent from further damage, but at this stage, the results are not reversible. Advanced periodontitis is when the fibers and bones supporting the teeth destroyed. This may cause teeth to shift or loosen. Teeth may have to be removed depending on how advanced the disease has become and if treatments are not effective. You can begin by preventing gum disease with good oral health. Pick up a brochure or ask your dentist today.
