Toothlessness is also known by its medical term, edentulism. The main reason for tooth loss is periodontal disease. Researchers from Kuwait found that risk factors for periodontal disease are age, gender, smoking, lack of professional attention, inadequateoral hygiene, diabetes, hypertension, arthritis and anterior tooth type. Tooth loss was due mainly to periodontal disease, especially in patients over 35. Men, diabetics and smokers were more likely to have tooth loss. As expected, those who never had dental prophylaxis and seldom brushed their teeth have a greater lisk of tooth loss than those who brushed their teeth at least twice a day.
Olympic swimmer Inge de Bruijn has all-ceramic veneers
Missing a tooth can cause your teeth to move, your jawbone to shrink, make you look older and affect your self-confidence. NobelSmile offers teeth enhancement and replacement with the use of an all-ceramic dental crown or bridge, going beyond porcelain fused to metal (PFM) and saying goodbye to gray lines because of metal. Procera all-ceramic solutions are bio-compatible and do not cause allergic reactions. Because there is no metal, no temperature sensitivity or metal taste is experienced. Implant crowns and bridges, and dental veneers and dental crowns can be made of Procera. They can be made to perfectly match the color of your teeth, making it impossible to tell your Procera and real teeth apart.
Image from www.nobelsmile.us
Leong’s premolar (www.toothclub.gov.hk)
Dens evaginatus is the dental term for the condition where the surface of the teeth has a protruding bump or cusp. It is said that this is more common in Asians and occurs more frequently on premolars than on any other types of teeth. On premolars, it is also known as Leong’s premolar. In some cases, it also happens to anterior teeth and is known as a talon cusp or eagle’s talon. The outcropping can break and might lead to infection and abscess. To prevent this, two things may be done: either the cusp can is reinforced with composite or removed and then restored using composite.
Grinding, gnashing or clenching your teeth is called bruxism. It can lead to headaches, teeth damage and jaw disorders. Some people with sleep bruxism aren’t aware of it. Symptoms include worn down or chipped teeth, tooth sensitivity, jaw or jaw muscle pain, earache, facial pain. The causes of bruxism are not always clear. In adults, anxiety, stress or anger may be some factors; for children, it may be the growth of the teeth and jaws. Some cases are caused by Huntington’s disease or Parkinson’s disease, or a side effect of drugs such as antidepressants. In severe cases, bruxism could damage to the jaw, teeth, restorations and crowns, and cause temporomandibular disorders in the joints in front of your ears. Treatment for this may be in the form of stress management, behavior therapy, medications like botox, and dental approaches like a mouth guards. Crowns or overlays may be needed to reshape chewing surfaces.
The Hong Kong SAR Department of Health educates on the structure of the tooth as part of their effort to increase awareness about oral health care.
We have 20 deciduous or milk teeth and 32 permanent teeth. Each tooth is made up of hard tissues and soft tissues. Enamel, dentine and cementum make up the hard tissues. The enamel is the outer layer made up of minurals and is the hardest tissue of the body. Dentine is the next layer and is where the teeth get its yellowish color. Permanent teeth are more yellowish than deciduous teeth and become even more yellowish as we grow older. Cementum covers the root surface and connects the dentine and periodontal membrance.
The soft tissues are found inside and outside the tooth. Inside the tooth is the pulp, which has blood vessels and nerves. Periodontal tissues are outside the tooth. These include gingivae, which we call the gum, the punk tissue covering the alveolar bone. The periodontal membrance is the fibrous tissue that absorbs shocks to the teeth.
Image from www.toothclub.gov.hk
These materials have been mentioned as alternatives to amalgam. We’ll look deeper into the pros and cons of each type of filling used to restore decayed teet.
Composite, made of acrylic resin with glass or quartz additives, has been in use for decades. It is used to restore decayed teeth and to improved appearance in terms of tooth shape, size and color. It is prone to staining in the long term.
Glass Ionomer Cement consists of aluminosilicate glass powder and polyacrylic acid. It releases fluoride and prevents dental caries. It restores abraded teeth only temporarily because of its low durability.
Compomer was developed more recently from a combination of composite and glass ionomer cement, and therefore has the qualities of both materials–easier to manipulate like glass ionomer cement but not as resistant to wear as composite.
Last year, research teams from different parts of the world made the news when they expressed hope in the use of stem cells to grow new teeth. Separate groups of researchers from the Tokyo University of Science in Japan and King’s College London in the United Kingdom have successfully grown teeth from mouse stem cells and transplanted them into mice, while another team from the University of Southern California has grown teeth from human stem cells and transplanted them into pigs. It appears that the challenge is getting the teeth to form roots, without which the tooth would be rendered useless. Another question is where the stem cells will be taken from, whether they will be obtained from embryos, bone marrow, gums or teeth.
Perhaps when a blogger named dental spas as “the hottest trend” early last year, the declaration was premature. There still aren’t many places where you can have your nails done with your crown. But more and more dental spas are cropping up in cities all over America. Massage, pedicures and aromatherapy: they’re the perfect antithesis to nerve-wracking surgeries and procedures. Certainly not a few have installed zen-themed waterfalls and lighting. Dental clinics have distanced themselves from the scary dentists’ offices of the past with their strong chemical smell and have morphed into pleasant places, and all for the better.
by: Christine Zafra
If you lack a couple of teeth or maybe more, and would not want to settle for the inconvenient dentures, you might as well consider having dental implants. Though it costs higher than the usual dentures, these implants work like the original teeth: you don’t need to be cautious about eating corn on cobs or gnawing your favorite spare ribs with extra thick barbeque sauce. But of course, this doesn’t mean that you’re not going to take care of them just like your old natural teeth (assuming you lost it because of bad hygiene). You still have to make dentist appointments to make sure you’re maintaining your implants well so it’ll last longer (it costs much higher than dentures, mind you!).
by: Christine Zafra
If you look in front of a mirror while smiling, and you see your gums saying hi back at you, there must be something wrong. Your gums should not be seen when you are smiling (not unless you find it cute). Some clinics however, offer this service that you would need: gum lift.
You can have your gum line sculptured to a desired look. Dentists can make an incision on your gums and make it look thinner or make it disappear when smiling. This gum lift is also being used by a lot of dentists to treat certain gum diseases.