As a successful author, interior design guru (with 127 makeovers in eight years on The Oprah Winfrey Show), and host of his own television program, The Nate Berkus Show, Nate Berkus understands the important role a beautiful smile plays in one’s life and career. In a recent interview with Dear Doctor magazine, Nate discussed his oral health history. Berkus credits his all natural smile — no cosmetic dentistry here — to the treatments he received as a child from his dentist. “I’m grateful for having been given fluoride treatments and sealants as a child.” He then added that, “healthy habits should start at a young age.”
Dental sealants are important because they help protect developing young teeth until the enamel has matured. Without dental sealants, the newly erupted immature enamel of teeth is more permeable, meaning that the acids produced by bacteria in the mouth can damage these teeth more easily. This makes the teeth less resistant and thus more susceptible to tooth decay.
Regardless of how much your children brush their teeth, the reality is that toothbrush bristles cannot reach down to clean out the crevices found in the deep grooves (“pits and fissures”) of teeth. And if not removed, the bacteria found in these grooves produce decay-causing acids as a byproduct of metabolizing sugar. However, when sealants are used in combination with fluoride, good hygiene and nutrition (including lower sugar consumption), the odds of having tooth decay is dramatically reduced.
We refer to dental sealants as “pit and fissure” sealants because they protect the grooves found in the top of back teeth and the back of front teeth. Sealants also may reduce the need for subsequent treatments as your child grows older — just as it did for Nate Berkus. For these reasons, sealants are definitely something that all parents and caregivers should consider for their young children.
To learn more about dental sealants, contact us at (415) 391-4466 to schedule an appointment so that we can conduct a thorough examination, discuss any questions you have as well as what treatment options will be best for you or your child. Or to learn more about sealants now, you can continue reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Sealants for Children.” And to read the entire interview with Nate Berkus, please see the Dear Doctor magazine article “Nate Berkus.”
Florence Henderson has inspired generations of people through her portrayal of America’s most beloved TV mother, Carol Brady, on one of the longest running situational comedies, The Brady Brunch. Today Florence is still a role model but for a much different audience: senior citizens.
Henderson created the FloH Club as an organization to assist senior citizens with understanding and embracing technology, as she described in an interview with Dear Doctor magazine. “I was inspired to create the FloH Club because of my own fear of technology and because I didn’t want to keep asking my children for help,” she said.
And while Henderson was blessed with naturally straight teeth and has had no cosmetic work done, she is not opposed to it. “I wouldn’t care how old I was, if I had misaligned teeth or felt I needed cosmetic dentistry I would certainly do it!”
One teeth-straightening option many adults consider is clear orthodontic aligners, best know as Invisalign. They are an excellent way for self-conscious adults to align their teeth without feeling that they will appear as an awkward “brace-faced” youth — a look that is commonplace for the teenage years.
But what are clear aligners? They are an alternative system to traditional braces that use a sequence of individual, custom-fitted trays that are clear and removable to gradually straighten teeth. They are usually recommended for correcting mild to moderate spacing problems or crowding of the teeth, and for cases in which there are no major issues with your bite (i.e., your back teeth fit together properly and biting forces are distributed evenly on all of your teeth).
To learn more about this method of aligning teeth, you can continue reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Clear Orthodontic Aligners.” Or you can contact us at (415) 391-4466 to schedule an appointment so that we can conduct a thorough examination and discuss what treatment options will be best for you. And to read the entire interview with Florence Henderson, please see the Dear Doctor article “Florence Henderson.”
Dentistry has ventured into the new area of sleep medicine by helping snorers — and their exasperated sleeping partners — with custom-made anti-snoring devices. These oral appliances, which resemble orthodontic retainers or sports mouthguards, keep the snorer’s airway clear and the bedroom quiet. To see how they work, you have to understand the mechanics of snoring.
Snoring occurs when the upper airway (back of the throat) becomes blocked by the tongue or other soft-tissue structures, such as large tonsils or a long soft palate. The vibrating of these obstacles creates the sound we call snoring.
Snoring is often worse when sleeping on one’s back because that position encourages the lower jaw to fall back and the tongue to close off the airway. This is where Oral Appliance Therapy comes in. These custom-fitted devices are designed to keep the upper airway open during sleep by pulling the lower jaw forward, which in turn brings the tongue away from the throat. Dentists, and our office in particular, are the only source for Oral Appliance Therapy.
People who snore should have a thorough examination to rule out Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), a potentially dangerous condition in which airflow can be cut off completely for 10 or more seconds (“a” – without; “pnea” – breath), reducing blood-oxygen levels. Chronic, loud snoring is a common finding with OSA.
Please remember that sleep is an integral part of health and well-being. In fact, we spend about a third of our lives doing it. If you are snoring or have any sleep-related breathing disorders that are waking you or your bed partner, be sure to tell our office. There are plenty of examples of the havoc wreaked by sleep-deprived individuals. Remember the Exxon Valdez?
If you have any questions about Oral Appliance Therapy, please contact us at (415) 391-4466 or schedule an appointment for a consultation.
To learn more about the topic of oral appliance therapy, please see the Dear Doctor magazine article “Sleep Disorders & Dentistry.”
Supermodel Christie Brinkley has a one-in-a-million smile, but she is just one of millions who have benefited from today’s preferred tooth-replacement technique: the dental implant. In a wide-ranging interview, Brinkley told Dear Doctor magazine about a helicopter accident she suffered while back-country skiing.
“I fractured two molars in the back of my mouth and I had to get two dental implants,” Brinkley told the magazine. “I am grateful for the dental implant technology that feels and looks so natural.”
You might think it serves little purpose to replace a missing back tooth that was barely visible in your smile to begin with — especially if you don’t spend a lot of time posing for magazine covers. But this is actually not the case. Your molars are extremely important for chewing and even for maintaining a more youthful appearance.
Dentists generally agree that losing posterior (back) teeth can have many consequences for the remaining teeth and their surrounding structures, i.e., bone and gums. If back teeth are missing, the front teeth end up bearing more stress than they were built for. And there are certain things that happen when any tooth is lost, whether front or back, that can affect function and appearance.
For one thing, when a tooth is lost the adjacent teeth tend to drift into the empty space or tip towards it. This can adversely affect your bite. Too much shifting can render a tooth basically useless and also leave it more vulnerable to gum disease.
Another complication is the loss of tooth-supporting bone that inevitably occurs when teeth are lost. When a tooth comes out, the bone under it actually begins to melt away. Since back teeth support the vertical dimension of the face, their loss can cause what’s known as “bite collapse” — a reduction in facial height that becomes increasingly noticeable over time and can make you look older.
A dental implant can prevent all of these things, while providing you with a replacement that looks and feels just like the tooth you lost.
We are very excited about a state-of-the-art technology we have been using with great success in our office. It’s known as CAD/CAM, which stands for “computer-aided design/Computer-aided manufacturing,” and it allows us to custom-make dental restorations right here in the office that in the past only a dental laboratory could fabricate. For example, we can make for you, while you wait, a full crown that matches your existing teeth exactly — and install it in your mouth during the same appointment! We realize you may have some questions, so here are some answers:
What does “computer-aided” mean in the case of dental restorations?
The CAD/CAM process has two distinct parts: design and manufacture. Computer software helps a dentist design your new crown by creating a digital model of your mouth (from scanned images) and suggesting a crown design based on that model. The design our office selects is then digitally transmitted to a milling machine that will carve a crown (or veneer, inlay, or onlay) from a block of dental ceramic in about five minutes.
What are the advantages of CAD/CAM?
There’s a tremendous time savings in that you will not have to wait maybe weeks for a dental lab to create the crown. There is also no chance of miscommunication between the lab and our office. And we can make any necessary adjustments to the crown or to your tooth right away to ensure the best fit.
Will it look as good as a crown made the traditional way?
That’s one of the best things about CAD/CAM — how highly realistic the materials are. Some of these ceramic blocks have several colors built in to mimic real teeth, which are not always uniform in shade. Stains and glazes can also be applied when necessary to create the desired effect.
Will it wear as long as a crown made by a lab?
Absolutely. Studies have shown that CAD/CAM restorations are demonstrating success rates similar to restorations fabricated using time tested materials and techniques.
How common is CAD/CAM?
More and more dentists are embracing this technology. About 27,000 CAD/CAM units have been installed in dental offices all over the world, and millions of restorations have been produced with them. We expect this trend to continue, and are glad to be able to bring it to you now.
Please contact us at (415) 391-4466 to discuss how you can benefit from CAD/CAM, or to schedule an appointment for a consultation.
By now you may have heard about a high-tech way of manufacturing crowns, veneers and other dental restorations right here in our dental office. It’s called “computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing,” or CAD/CAM, and it puts a truly amazing array of digital tools into our hands for restoring a tooth in a single visit. Here are some highlights of our CAD/CAM unit called CEREC:
Your Teeth in 3D: As a dental patient, you may at some point have had an impression made of your teeth to help convey information to a dental laboratory that was fabricating something for you — a crown, perhaps. The dentist probably put a clay-like material into your mouth to create a 3D replica. With CAD/CAM, we make that replica in an entirely different way: by scanning your mouth with a small wand and sending images into a computer. What emerges is a highly accurate model of the tooth that we have prepared (drilled) to receive a new crown or other restoration.
A Virtual Design Studio: The design software that comes with the CAD/CAM system contains a database of thousands of tooth shapes that will be “tried on” the virtual model until the best fit, style, and shape are found. The software can even help our office create a mirror-image twin of an existing tooth. That way, if we are capping your right front tooth, for example, we can use the scanned information from the left front tooth to create a perfect match.
High-Tech Materials: Our design will be carried out by a computer-aided milling machine that carves the crown from highly durable and realistic dental ceramic selected because it resembles your own teeth. CAD/CAM materials have improved steadily in terms of strength and appearance since the system was introduced in the mid-1980s. Crowns made from these new materials often don’t need to be stained or glazed to create a good match, though those techniques are also available to us with CAD/CAM.
After your first restoration with CAD/CAM, we’re sure you’ll be as enthusiastic about this advanced technology as we are. Please contact us at (415) 391-4466 to discuss any questions you may have regarding this highly innovative system, or to schedule an appointment for a consultation.
People always wonder when it is appropriate to contact their dentist. To answer this, we have put together the following list to provide some guidelines for you and your family. However, your calls are always welcome! Our goal is simply to give you some clear scenarios that illustrate when you should give us a call or come in to our office.
For Bite Related Problems
Early or late loss of baby teeth.
Difficulty in chewing or biting.
Mouth breathing.
Finger sucking or other oral habits.
Crowding, misplaced, crooked or even missing teeth.
Jaws that shift, jaw joints that “pop” or “click” or are uncomfortable.
Any change causing speech difficulty.
Cheek or tongue biting.
Protruding teeth — large overbite.
Teeth that meet in an abnormal way or don’t meet at all.
Facial imbalance or asymmetry.
Grinding or clenching of teeth.
For Injuries And Immediate Care
Knocked out permanent tooth: Call us immediately. You need to take action within 5 minutes of the injury for best results.
Injuries to lips, cheeks, tongue or gums that appear to require stitches: Call us for instructions as soon as possible.
Tooth injury — if a tooth has shifted from its original position: Call us to tell us you are on your way to our office and see us within 6 hours of the injury.
Chipped or broken tooth that is still in its original position: See us within 12 hours of the injury.
A knocked out baby tooth: Call us as soon as possible.
Bleeding without any significant tears in tissue that could require stitches: Call us for instructions.
What To Do Now
If any of the above describe you or another member of your family, then contact us today at (415) 391-4466 to discuss your questions or to schedule a consultation. You can also learn more about treating dental injuries by reading the Dear Doctor article, “The Field-Side Guide To Dental Injuries.”
For adults with a reasonably well fitting bite, but mild to moderate crowding or spaces between your teeth, clear orthodontic aligners can be an ideal solution for straightening your teeth. This is why we offer this treatment option to our patients experiencing these issues. However, for those of you who are unfamiliar with what they are or how they work, this will give you a brief understanding.
Invisalign clear orthodontic aligners consist of a series of clear “trays” that fit snuggly over all teeth to slowly shift them into alignment. Patients are typically required to wear them 20 hours per day for about 2 weeks before progressing to the next tray. With each new tray, you are one step closer to achieving your goal of perfectly aligned teeth. The entire process usually lasts 6-18 months depending on how much movement is required to achieve the goals.
Each aligner is individually made from very precise molds of the patient’s teeth to ensure proper fit. And we map out the entire alignment process using computer generation from each patient’s initial molds so that we can identify the number of trays required. But best of all, clear orthodontic aligners are perfectly smooth with no rough edges like traditional braces, and you can remove them for eating, brushing, and flossing teeth as well as for brief social events.
To learn more about this topic, read the article “Clear Orthodontic Aligners.” Or you can contact us today at (415) 391-4466 to discuss your questions or to schedule an appointment.
Lost teeth can cause a host of problems, including a loss of your jaw bone and a collapsing appearance of your face, along with difficulty chewing and speaking.
Clearly, it is important to replace missing teeth as soon as possible. Options for replacement include the more traditional methods and the newest technique — dental implants. We believe that implants are your best choice for the following reasons.
Implants prevent bone loss.
Dental implants are substitute tooth roots. Like the roots of your original teeth, they stabilize the bone into which they extend — but in a different way.
The part of the bone that encases the teeth is called alveolar bone, from the word root meaning “sac.” This bone has a special relationship with the teeth it surrounds. It develops as they first erupt into the mouth. If they are lost, the alveolar bone goes, too. It resorbs, or melts away, giving an impression that the bone, gums, and sometimes the lips are collapsing.
Implants are made of titanium, which has the ability to join biochemically to bone. It takes the place of the original tooth root and prevents resorption.
Implants support adjacent teeth.
Your teeth work in harmony, an all for one, one for all relationship with each other. If one is missing, the remaining teeth will slowly move and shift causing them to receive forces that may not be well received. Losing any tooth increases the pressure on the remaining teeth. Losing a back (posterior) tooth can put pressure on the front teeth and they can be forced out of position. All these movements can change a person’s appearance as well as in their ability to speak, bite and chew.
They are easier to clean than “traditional” options.
Fixed bridges are non-removable tooth replacements that attach to adjacent natural teeth. These teeth that are adjacent to the missing tooth have to be cut into small peg shapes on which the bridge is attached. The removal of their enamel may make them more prone to tooth decay and gum disease.
Older replacement methods include removable options such as plastic “flippers” and partial dentures. These replacements rest on the teeth and gums, making the teeth they attach to receive greater pressure causing more mobility. In addition, they exert pressure on the gums, causing additional bone loss and increasing the potential for bone loss on the neighboring teeth.
Full dentures, in cases where all teeth are missing, are kept in place by pressing on the gum tissues. This causes even more pressure on the bone, leading to bone loss and changing facial structures.
They are longer lasting.
Studies have shown that removable partial dentures are replaced about every five years; bridges are only 67% successful at 15 years; and implants are over 95% successful for 20 or more years.
They are cost effective in the long term.
Because implants last longer than other alternative tooth replacements, they may seem more expensive at first; but they will be cost effective over the long term.
Contact us today at (415) 391-4466 to schedule an appointment to discuss your questions about dental implants. You can also learn more by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Dental Implants. Evaluating Your Options.”
Gum disease, also called periodontal disease (from the roots for “around” and “tooth”) starts with redness and inflammation, progresses to infection, and can lead to progressive loss of attachment between the fibers that connect the bone and gum tissues to your teeth, ultimately causing loss of teeth. Here are some ways to assess your risk for gum disease.
Your risk for developing periodontal disease is higher if:
You are over 40.
Studies have shown that periodontal disease and tooth loss correlate with aging. The longer plaque (a film of bacteria that collects on your teeth and gums) is allowed to stay in contact with your gums, the more you are at risk for periodontal disease. This means that brushing and flossing to remove plaque is important throughout your lifetime. To make sure you are removing plaque effectively, come into our office for an evaluation of your brushing and flossing techniques.
You have a family history of gum disease.
If gum disease seems to “run in your family,” you may be genetically predisposed to having this disease. Your vulnerability or resistance to gum disease is influenced by genetics. The problem with this assessment is that if your parents were never treated for gum disease or lacked proper instruction in preventative strategies and care, their susceptibility to the disease is difficult to accurately quantify.
You smoke or chew tobacco.
Here’s more bad news for smokers. If you smoke or chew tobacco you are at much greater risk for the development and progression of periodontal disease. Smokers’ teeth tend to have more plaque and tartar while also having them form more quickly.
You are a woman.
Hormonal fluctuations during a woman’s lifetime tend to make her more susceptible to gum disease than men, even if she takes good care of her teeth.
You have ongoing health conditions such as heart disease, respiratory disease, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, high stress, or diabetes.
Research has shown a connection between these conditions and periodontal disease. The bacteria can pass into the blood stream and move to other parts of the body. Gum disease has also been connected with premature birth and low birth weight in babies.
Your gums bleed when you brush or floss.
Healthy gums do not bleed. If yours do, you may already have the beginnings of gum disease.
You are getting “long in the tooth.”
If your teeth appear longer, you may have advancing gum disease. This means that infection has caused your gum tissue to recede away from your teeth.
Your teeth have been getting loose.
Advancing gum disease results in greater bone loss that is needed to support and hold your teeth in place. Loose teeth are a sign that you have a serious problem with periodontal disease.
Even with indications of serious periodontal disease, it can still be stopped. Call (415) 391-4466 to make an appointment with us today to assess your risks. You can also learn more by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Assessing Risk for Gum Disease.”
As a successful author, interior design guru (with 127 makeovers in eight years on The Oprah Winfrey Show), and host of his own television program, The Nate Berkus Show, Nate Berkus understands the important role a beautiful smile plays in one’s life and career. In a recent interview with Dear Doctor magazine, Nate discussed his oral health history. Berkus credits his all natural smile — no cosmetic dentistry here — to the treatments he received as a child from his dentist. “I’m grateful for having been given fluoride treatments and sealants as a child.” He then added that, “healthy habits should start at a young age.”
Uncategorized | citidentonline January 28, 2012 | 
Comments (0) 
Florence Henderson has inspired generations of people through her portrayal of America’s most beloved TV mother, Carol Brady, on one of the longest running situational comedies, The Brady Brunch. Today Florence is still a role model but for a much different audience: senior citizens.
Dentistry has ventured into the new area of sleep medicine by helping snorers — and their exasperated sleeping partners — with custom-made anti-snoring devices. These oral appliances, which resemble orthodontic retainers or sports mouthguards, keep the snorer’s airway clear and the bedroom quiet. To see how they work, you have to understand the mechanics of snoring.
Supermodel Christie Brinkley has a one-in-a-million smile, but she is just one of millions who have benefited from today’s preferred tooth-replacement technique: the dental implant. In a wide-ranging interview, Brinkley told Dear Doctor magazine about a helicopter accident she suffered while back-country skiing.
We are very excited about a state-of-the-art technology we have been using with great success in our office. It’s known as CAD/CAM, which stands for “computer-aided design/Computer-aided manufacturing,” and it allows us to custom-make dental restorations right here in the office that in the past only a dental laboratory could fabricate. For example, we can make for you, while you wait, a full crown that matches your existing teeth exactly — and install it in your mouth during the same appointment! We realize you may have some questions, so here are some answers:
By now you may have heard about a high-tech way of manufacturing crowns, veneers and other dental restorations right here in our dental office. It’s called “computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing,” or CAD/CAM, and it puts a truly amazing array of digital tools into our hands for restoring a tooth in a single visit. Here are some highlights of our CAD/CAM unit called 
People always wonder when it is appropriate to 
For adults with a reasonably well fitting bite, but mild to moderate crowding or spaces between your teeth, clear orthodontic aligners can be an ideal solution for straightening your teeth. This is why we offer this treatment option to our patients experiencing these issues. However, for those of you who are unfamiliar with what they are or how they work, this will give you a brief understanding.
Lost teeth can cause a host of problems, including a loss of your jaw bone and a collapsing appearance of your face, along with difficulty chewing and speaking.
Gum disease, also called periodontal disease (from the roots for “around” and “tooth”) starts with redness and inflammation, progresses to infection, and can lead to progressive loss of attachment between the fibers that connect the bone and gum tissues to your teeth, ultimately causing loss of teeth. Here are some ways to assess your risk for gum disease.