Tooronga Family Dentistry in Glen Iris

Archives for August 2014

Nutrition is a vital part of your oral health

Recently a 16 year old young man came to see me since his gums are constantly bleeding. After I have examined him I could see no reason to his severe gum condition, but when I inquired about his diet the answer emerged. He was not having any fruit and vegetables which among other things leads to a lack of vitamin c resulting in scurvy.

Eating fresh fruit, vegetables and dairy food like milk, cheese and yogurt is important since they contain vitamins and minerals that are required for the daily our daily life. The milk products help reduce cavities because they add calcium which reaches the saliva and repairs the damage caused by the bacteria.

For more advice about how your diet affects your mouth come and see us.

What is tooth sensitivity

Does eating ice cream make you teeth hurt or do you find yourself wincing when you brush or floss? The cause can be tooth sensitivity. The reason is that, the dentin part of your tooth is exposed and the cells attached to it perceive the cold change or the contact of the brush as a harmful event. There are 10 possible reasons for it and how you can avoid it:

  • Your diet has acidic food or beverage.  If the dentin is exposed, acidic foods such as beer, wine, fruit or vegetable juice can cause pain. Use common sense: have food and drink that have no acids and won’t cause you pain.
  • You’re a tooth-grinder. Grinding your teeth can wear down the enamel, even though it’s the strongest substance in your body. By doing so, you expose the dentin, which grinds easily and is sensitive. Dr. Kaufman can make a mouth guard that can stop you from wearing you teeth down.
  • You use too much force when brushing. Sometimes tooth sensitivity comes from brushing with too much force or with a hard brush. Over time, you wear down the protective layers of your teeth and expose the microscopic hollow canals in the dentin that lead to your dental nerves. When these canals are exposed to hot or cold or to acidic or sticky foods, tooth sensitivity and discomfort can be the result. The simplest solution is to be gentle when you brush with a soft tooth brush.
  • You choose tooth-whitening toothpaste. Many manufacturers add tooth-whitening chemicals or particles that wear your teeth to their toothpaste formulas, and some people are more sensitive to them. If your sensitivity started after you switched to this toothpaste, consider switching your toothpaste.
  • Your mouthwash causes sensitivity. Like whitening toothpaste, some over-the-counter mouthwashes and rinses contain alcohol and other chemicals that can make your teeth more sensitive. Consider if you need the mouth wash and use neutral fluoride rinses which are better.
  • You’ve got gum disease. Receding gums expose the dentin and can lead to tooth sensitivity. If you suffer from gum disease or gingivitis Dr. Kaufman has much experience in treating the gum disease. Once the gums are healed there are procedures to seal the dentin and prevent the snesitivty.
  • You plaque causes decay and sensitivity.  An excessive build-up of plaque can cause your enamel protection to wear away and expose the dentin. The solution is to practice good daily dental care and come and see us  every six months — or more frequently if necessary for cleaning your teeth.
  • Your tooth is recovering from a dental procedure. It’s common to have some sensitivity after a root canal, an extraction, or the placement of a filling. If your sensitivity doesn’t disappear after a  few weeks come and see us since there may the need for more treatment.
  • Your tooth is cracked. A chipped or cracked tooth can cause pain that goes beyond tooth sensitivity. Dr. Kaufman can evaluate if your tooth is cracked and decide the right course of treatment.
  • There is decay at the edges of fillings. Over time fillings can wear and fracture or leak around the edges. It’s easy for bacteria to accumulate in these tiny crevices, which causes tooth breakdown. This type of sensitivity is the most important kind since it is a warning sign of real damage to the tooth and requires immediate attention.

If your sensitivity is extreme and persists no matter what you do, come and see Dr. Kaufman for a comprehensive examination. This is a warning sign contact us to make an appointment.

You may not need to have a Root Canal Treatment.

Root canal treatment is needed when a tooth has a damaged or infected pulp. The causes leading a pulp to become damaged are cavity forming bacteria. When bacteria assault the tooth they use readily available sugar to secrete acids which allow them to penetrate first the enamel  then the dentin, till they reach the tooth pulp. Many times this is the point when the tooth becomes sensitive to hot and cold and the person realises that, there is something wrong and comes to see us. When confronted with this condition Dr. Kaufman cleans the diseased decay and bacteria and assesses the condition. In many cases the dental pulp is exposed or visible under a thin layer of dentin.  Previously published professional literature showed that, if the pulp becomes exposed while removing soft infected dentine, the chances are that the pulp will be infected also, and a pulp capping will fail, and recommended to perform a root canal treatment.

Recently, research funded by ClinicalTrials.gov a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health to find better ways to support the infected pulp and allow it to regenerate showed that treatment with a diode laser like we have at our practice provided healing of the pulp and prevented the need to perform a root canal treatment. In the study the researcher compared the conventional way of capping the pulp and the diode 808 nm laser-assisted techniques in direct pulp capping in permanent teeth .This present study was based on a series of ten clinical studies with pulp exposure caused by carious lesions. Since the diode laser has proven effectiveness by its capacity to stimulate reparative dentine formation by pulp cells, de-contamination ability of irradiated areas, its ability in the fast and better haemostatic, and pain reduction it was tried on inflamed teeth and pulps.

The results have shown the success rate was significantly different between the conventional method of  (60 %) and the diode 808-nm, laser-assisted (100 %) groups after one year.  The conclusion was that laser-assisted procedure proved to be more effective than the conventional technique in enhancing the outcomes of pulp-capping therapy in carious exposures.

The significance of the recent discovery is that teeth which previously were destined to need a root canal treatment, a treatment which is more costly and destructive to the tooth, can be treated with the laser.

To benefit from this novel treatment please call us to make an appointment or contact us for more information

Should I be worried if my gums bleed?

Gum bleeding is very common when you brush, floss or bite in to an apple, but it should not be ignored. It is a warning sing that you may have gingivitis, an infection of the gums, or periodontitis, a gum disease.  In a recent article in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine some of the more important health aspects and solutions are detailed.

They link 5 health conditions to gum disease:

To read of the solutions click here and to get your oral health check contact us.