Palm beach cosmetic dentist blog » Bruxism

Symptoms of a cracked tooth

admin — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:31:34 +0000

Symptoms of a cracked tooth. You may experience pain in the tooth when you bite or chew. However, it probably will not happen all the time. The tooth may be painful only when you eat certain foods or when you bite in a specific way. You will not feel a constant ache, as you would if you had a cavity or abscess, but the tooth may be more sensitive to cold temperatures. If the crack worsens, the tooth may become loose. Many people with cracked tooth syndrome have symptoms for months, but it’s often difficult to diagnose because the symptoms are not consistent. If you are experiencing these symptoms let either the doctor or hygienists know. Ultimately the need to restore the tooth with a crown or other restorative option may be necessary.

The Importance of a Night Guard for Bruxism

admin — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:59:10 +0000

You cannot down play the importance of wearing a night guard if you are a person who grinds or clenches their teeth known as bruxism. We also recommend night guards on smile makeover patients to protect their investment in a new smile. Today we saw two different patients who were instructed to use their night guard to protect their teeth. In one case the night guard was not being worn and the grinding habit was so profound that it was causing her front teeth to become loose. Also, the trauma was so severe that it may have contributed to the need for a root canal on one of the front teeth. In the other case the patient altered the night guard shape to make it fit better so she thought. Unfortunately this created a misalignment in her bite. Over time her teeth shifted to take on the new altered position created by the misshapen night guard. This lead to having to replace existing crowns to re-align her bite and bring the teeth back into the correct position. In our office our doctors stress the importance of wearing a night guard to help protect our patients from avoidable problems and keeping your teeth healthy.

“I don’t grind my teeth”

admin — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 13:34:04 +0000

“I don’t grind my teeth” As a dentist do you know how often we hear this statement? Research suggests that 100% of people grind their teeth sometime in their lives. Most of us regularly grind our teeth at night during sleep, called Bruxism. Only a small population does this rarely. For many, Bruxism is connected with stress in our lives and expressed as night time grinding of teeth during sleep. For others Bruxism is like a program in our Central Nervous System that runs every night. The problem is this occurs during sleep so most people are unaware that they possess this habit. Unfortunately for your teeth Bruxism is very destructive. Minimal tooth wear occurs from chewing and eating over the course of a life time but Bruxism can cause significant tooth wear in a short time destroying your teeth and breaking any existing dental work. The most apparent place for you to see wear from Brusism is on your front teeth. If your teeth are getting shorter and becoming almost see through or constantly chipping along the edges you are grinding your teeth. This can lead to other problems such as TMJ or occlusion problems. Fortunately there are preventative and restorative options to correct wear from Bruxism and give you a beautiful smile.

Comprehensive Dentistry

admin — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:39:03 +0000

Comprehensive Dentistry. We often use the term comprehensive dentistry but what does this mean? Today we treated a seasonal patient from Canada in the office referred by a patient in the practice. She was concerned about a fractured back tooth. Often the patient sees the perceived problem of a broken tooth having a simple solution. Just fix the tooth with a crown. On the surface this may seem to be the simple solution but this does not take into account the overall health of the patient’s mouth and how the one broken tooth relates to all the other teeth in the mouth. With the philosophy of comprehensive treatment we see the big picture. We often see the one broken tooth as part of a bigger problem. One broken tooth can be a symptom of overall breakdown in the system. Let’s use the analogy of a car. Often we see worn tires on the front of the car and we think all we need is new tires. Just fix the tires, right! Sometimes this is the case but if we think comprehensively we look beyond the worn tires considering alignment, proper inflation and other related parts of the car and how that affects the wear of the tires. As anyone who has worn out their tires without addressing these other things knows, replacing just the tires will lead to tire failure all over again because the bigger problem and the big picture was not considered. If we consider and repair the other parts of the system often those tires will last for many more miles. Well teeth are the same way. We often need to consider the whole system. As we age so do our teeth but so does the alignment and structural integrity change as well. The quick fix might be to just treat the broken tooth but if we don’t consider treatment of the other issues as well fixing the tooth will not fix the problem for long.

Patient to restore worn teeth

admin — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 16:33:58 +0000

Today we consulted a new patient from Illinois on how to restore his severely worn teeth. The patient has a history of grinding his teeth (Bruxism). He has never worn a night guard or other orthotic devise to protect his teeth from his destructive grinding. Many times patients with significant grinding habits can also affect the health of the TMJ. Fortunately we presented a number of solutions including new crowns and bridges to restore his teeth and a night guard to protect and provide a new beautiful youthful smile. It is fulfilling realizing how much dentistry has to offer to improve a person’s health, quickly and comfortably.