James G. Agnew, DMD
| Visit Our Site | Appointments | Subscribe | Unsubscribe | February 2012 |
Office News
Our goal is to develop a strong partnership with every patient. When you understand the importance of your dental health, we can help you maintain a healthy mouth, as well as treat the causes and symptoms of any dental condition.
We invite you to read our new SmileLink newsletter and to check out our website often for new information, or contact our office with any questions or concerns. Working together, we can help you achieve a lifetime of healthy and attractive teeth and gums.
Also we want to introduce our new Facebook page. We will have promotions and other interesting stuff going on between newsletters. Click the link:
http://www.facebook.com/the.smile.builders
Featured Article |
SmileLink Articles |
Those Stubborn Stains
Staining may be wonderful for wood surfaces but can be troublesome for your pearly white teeth. Chromogenic agents are those often delicious foods and drinks that have a nasty habit of staining your teeth. The staining effect is caused by pigments from the foods becoming trapped in your enamel layer and building up with continued exposure. Pretty much any foods that would stain your tablecloth will stain your teeth.
Keeping your teeth clean and white is a daily process but you can make it easier by avoiding the top culprits of staining. One type of staining is a yellowing or browning process that is created by continuous exposure to foods and consumables like:
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Create a Lasting Bond
Very few people have naturally perfect smiles. The rest of us need a little help. If your smile complaints are minor but bothersome, a technique called bonding could be just what you need to polish that smile.
Bonding uses a strong color-matched material made from silicon and resin that can be used to restore or enhance imperfect teeth. Unlike a major restoration like a crown, bonding is best for small imperfections such as gaps, chips, spots and cracks.
To prepare the tooth for bonding, we must roughen the surface so that the adhesive can get a good grip and then, add a conditioning agent. We apply the bonding material one layer at a time and use a special light to harden each layer. Once the resin is the correct thickness, we sculpt the material to the shape we need. The final step is to buff and polish the tooth.
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How Sweet It Is
You know that Xylitol is good for keeping oral bacteria at bay but did you know that it may also decrease the occurrence of ear infections and asthma attacks!
Xylitol is a natural sugar alcohol sweetener that is produced by many plants including strawberries, corn, wheat and rice. It interrupts an oral bacterium’s ability to digest sugar. Without their main food source, the bacteria die; this helps to prevent tooth decay. One research shows there is another important benefit of xylitol. Kids who chew xylitol gum or drank xylitol syrup not only had healthier teeth, but they experience fewer ear infections. Now, some dental professionals claim to have also seen a decrease in asthma problems as well.
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What a Pain
Migraine headaches can be utterly debilitating. There are so many sources of migraines that most people just skip straight to the treatment without considering the cause. One common but usually overlooked cause of migraines is the constant tension of a misaligned jaw known as Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMD).
Chronic and increasing strain on the large nerve clusters surrounding the jaw can cause a multitude of problems including headaches and migraines. This constant compression can make the nerves become painfully inflamed. This inflammation can manifest as migraine headaches.
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Pulp Friction
Just as you can’t judge a book by its cover, you can’t judge the health of your roots by the appearance of your teeth. Unbeknownst to you, your roots could be silently, painlessly dissolving under the gum surface. This process is called root resorption.
You may not realize it but you’ve experienced this already once in your development. Root resorption is the process by which the roots of ‘baby’ teeth ‘melt away,’ allowing the tooth to easily fall out. Unfortunately, external and internal pressure on the secondary root system can trigger root resorption in your ‘permanent’ teeth.
There are two kinds of root resorption. Internal: The tooth is destroyed from the inside of the tooth outward. It’s typically caused by infection in the tooth pulp, the soft, spongy portion inside of a tooth that contains blood vessels and nerves. Your body sends bone destroying cells to the infected area. As the tooth is destroyed, the pink pulp is sometimes visible through the thin tooth shell. Early diagnosis is key to saving the tooth in this case.
External: External resorption is usually due to a damaged tooth, and it is more difficult to manage. For example, tooth loss caused by a blow to the mouth can cause some of the supporting structures in the tooth area to be irreversibly damaged. When we place the tooth back into its socket, the jawbone and the neighboring teeth can reject the newly transplanted too...