Dental Care of Baltimore Blog

Tea Dentists say tea — especially the basic black variety — can cause more stains than coffee. However, recent studies have found that even herbal teas and white teas have the potential to erode enamel and cause tooth staining.

Tomato Sauce They may be delicious, but deeply-colored sauces — like soy sauce, tomato sauce, and curry sauce — are also believed to have significant tooth-staining potential.

Sports Drinks Acidic foods and drinks can also lead to tooth discoloration. Recent research finds that highly acidic drinks — like sports or energy drinks — can erode tooth enamel, setting the stage for staining.

Wine If a food or drink can stain a tablecloth, it has the potential to stain your teeth. Red wine, an acidic drink with intensely pigmented molecules called tannins and chromogens, is notorious for tooth discoloration. White wine is even more acidic and can lead to stains, too.

Soda The acid and chromogens in these drinks can lead to serious staining of your teeth. Even light-colored sodas contain enough acid that they can encourage staining by other foods and drinks. The acidity in carbonated drinks is so intense that it actually compares to the acidity in battery acid. Many of these beverages contain flavored additives that add to their erosive effects.

Candy If your favorite sweet — like hard candy, chewing gum, or popsicles — makes your tongue change colors, it may contain teeth-staining coloring agents. Fortunately, unless you eat those goodies often they probably won’t do much to stain your teeth.

How can you prevent or limit tooth discoloration?

You may not want to cut all teeth-staining food and drinks out of your diet. Many of those foods and beverages — like blueberries, blackberries, and tomato sauce — are rich in antioxidants. You want these beneficial nutrients in your diet. So keep eating them — but in moderation — or substitute other antioxidant sources such as cauliflower, apples, grapefruit, and melon.

Try using a straw to sip your favorite drinks — like sodas, juices, and iced tea. This should keep teeth-staining drinks away from your front teeth and reduce your risk of unsightly stains.

Don’t let stain-causing foods and drinks linger in your mouth for long. Instead, swallow them quickly to help protect your teeth from stains. To avoid choking, it’s still important to chew your food well before swallowing and be sure not to gulp.

Swish your mouth with water right after eating a stain-causing food or drink. For about 30 minutes after you consume something acidic, the enamel on your teeth is especially at risk of abrasion from tooth brushing. So rinse, then brush well after every meal. If you can’t get to your toothbrush, chew a piece of sugarless gum as soon as you’ve eaten.

Dental bonding is a procedure in which a tooth-colored resin material (a durable plastic material) is applied and hardened with a special light, which ultimately “bonds” the material to the tooth to restore or improve person’s smile.

Dental bonding is an option that can be considered:

• To repair decayed teeth (composite resins are used to fill cavities)
• To repair chipped or cracked teeth
• To improve the appearance of discolored teeth
• To close spaces between teeth
• To make teeth look longer
• To change the shape of teeth
• As a cosmetic alternative to amalgam fillings
• To protect a portion of the tooth’s root that has been exposed when gums recede

What’s the Procedure for Having a Tooth Bonded?

Preparation: Little advance preparation is needed for dental bonding. Anesthesia is often not necessary unless the bonding is being used to fill a decayed tooth. Your dentist will use a shade guide to select a composite resin color that will closely match the color of your tooth.

The bonding process: Next, the surface of the tooth will be roughened and a conditioning liquid applied. These procedures help the bonding material adhere to the tooth. The tooth-colored, putty-like resin is then applied, molded, and smoothed to the desired shape. An ultraviolet light or laser is then used to harden the material. After the material is hardened, your dentist will further trim and shape it, and polish it to match the sheen of the rest of the tooth surface.

Time-to-completion: Dental bonding takes about 30 to 60 minutes per tooth to complete.

What Are the Advantages of Dental Bonding?

Dental bonding is among the easiest and least expensive of cosmetic dental procedures. Unlike veneers and crowns, which are customized tooth coverings that must be manufactured in a laboratory, bonding usually can be done in one office visit unless several teeth are involved. Another advantage, compared with veneers and crowns, is that the least amount of tooth enamel is removed. Also, unless dental bonding is being performed to fill a cavity, anesthesia is usually not required.

Because of some of the limitations of dental bonding, some dentists view it as best suited for small cosmetic changes, for temporary correction of cosmetic defects, and for correction of teeth in areas of very low bite pressure (for example, front teeth). Consult with your dentist about the best cosmetic approach for your particular problem.

There’s no reason to put up with gaps in your teeth or with teeth that are stained, badly shaped or crooked. Today a veneer placed on top of your teeth can correct nature’s mistake or the results of an injury and help you have a beautiful smile.

Porcelain veneers are ultra-thin shells of ceramic material, which are bonded to the front of teeth. This procedure requires little or no anesthesia, and can be the ideal choice for improving the appearance of the front teeth.

Benefits of Dental Porcelain Veneers

This procedure has several advantages over other tooth restoration procedures. Porcelain is an extremely durable material with a color, translucence and texture that is similar to tooth enamel. It is not susceptible to decay and resists staining while maintaining a natural appearance.

Veneers can effectively close diastemas (gaps between teeth), lengthen and reshape teeth, repair chipped, broken, or misshapen teeth, and cover stains and discolorations.

After your teeth have been prepared and before your permanent veneers have been applied, appearance should be fairly normal. Some sensitivity may be encountered mainly with cold drinks. Using a straw can alleviate this problem.

During this period, you should brush regularly, as your teeth will be more susceptible to staining. Regular flossing is important, too, since swollen or bleeding gums compromise bonding the veneers on permanently.

Once your veneers are permanently placed, they will feel like a natural part of your teeth, and you can use them just as you would your regular teeth. However, veneers are not indestructible. To protect your veneers from chipping, avoid biting down into hard substances. Slice apples before eating them. Avoid bad habits like chewing on fingernails, pencils, or paperclips and clenching or grinding your teeth.

Facts about Porcelain Veneers

• Since they require approximately .5mm of tooth reduction, porcelain veneers are NOT considered a reversible form of treatment.
• Occasionally the preparation of a Porcelain Laminate Veneer does not necessitate the use of a local anesthetic. However, for those patients that are particularly sensitive or anxious, a local anesthetic is advisable.
• The laboratory time required for the fabrication of a Porcelain Laminate Veneer is approximately one week. Due to the minimal amount of tooth reduction, it is usually not necessary to fabricate any type of temporary restoration. Should a temporary be needed, they can, in most circumstances, be made at the time of treatment.
• Between your preparation visit and the insertion visit, you can expect some sensitivity to hot and cold. This is normal and is due to the removal of a small portion of the enamel covering of the tooth. This sensitivity should disappear after the placement of your Porcelain Laminate Veneer.
• Your second visit, the insertion of your laminate, can be accomplished, once again , with or without local anesthetic. This visit is usually longer in length. The laminates are placed with a light sensitive resin which is hardened by using a white light.
• Once placed your laminates are very strong and will resist most of the forces placed upon them by a normal diet. Porcelain has great crushing strength but poor tensile strength. Therefore, you should avoid anything that will tend to twist the laminate. Opening pistachio nuts with your teeth, chewing on bones or jelly apples is probably not a good idea. As with most things, common sense should prevail.

Porcelain Veneers Cost

Porcelain veneers prices will vary depending on the area you live in and the difficulty of your case. Talk to your dentist at the consultation appointment to get an estimate of the costs. There is a very wide range in cost for veneers, because of the many variables involved with each patient.

Aside from staining, there are other factors that can affect the color of an individual’s teeth. Genetics can play a role. Some people have naturally brighter enamel than others. Disease can also be a factor and certain medications can cause a discoloration of the teeth. If you suspect that there is an underlying medical cause for your teeth discoloration, be sure to inform your cosmetic dentist.

Whitening Toothpaste

Whitening toothpaste does work to a point. However, the toothpaste will only lighten the outer layers of the tooth enamel, leaving the undercoating still discolored. This is why people often visit dentists for tooth bleaching.

Britesmile Teeth Whitening

Using a special light with a whitening gel, this is an in-office bleaching system. It is often followed up with an at-home bleaching kit if needed. The translucent bleaching gel is applied to the teeth and a special activating light source is used to activate the crystals to absorb the energy from the light and penetrate the teeth enamel to increase the lightening effect on the teeth. The length of time in the cosmetic dentist’s chair depends on the degree of discoloration you have, but two hours is common.

Dental insurance benefits differ greatly from general health insurance benefits. In 1971, your dental insurance benefits were approximately $1000 per year. Some 35 years later, you will note that your benefits are still $1000 per year. Figuring a 6% rate of inflation per year, you should be receiving over $5000 per year in dental benefits. Your premiums have increased, but your benefits have not. Therefore, dental insurance is never a pay-all; it is only an aid.

You may receive notification from your insurance company stating that dental fees are “higher than usual and customary”. An insurance company surveys a geographic area, calculates an average fee, takes 80% of that fee and considers it customary. Included in this survey are discount dental clinics and managed care facilities which bring down the average. Any doctor in a high quality private practice will have fees that insurance companies define as higher than “usual and customary”.

Many plans tell their participants that they will be covered “up to 80% or up to 100%” but do not clearly specify plan schedule allowance, annual maximum or limitations. It is more realistic to expect dental insurance to cover 35% to 65% of major services. Remember, the amount a plan pays is determined by how much the employer paid for the plan. You get back only what your employer put in, less the profits of the insurance company.

Healthy food for teeth — Fruits
Different fruits like apples, strawberries, citrus fruits, specially kiwis, contain a lot of vitamin C. It is considered the cement that holds all of your cells together, so just as it’s vital for your skin, it’s important for the health of your gum tissue. If you don’t get enough vitamin C, researches show that the collagen network in your gums can break down, making your gums tender and more susceptible to the bacteria that cause periodontal disease.

Many patients find that these methods help combat dental anxiety

• Sedation dentistry, including oral sedation, and nitrous oxide
• Yoga techniques for breathing and relaxation
• Listening to your iPod® during a visit
• Therapy/hypnotherapy sessions

Remember, dental anxiety is not insurmountable, but communicating with your dentist is important. Having a dentist you feel comfortable with,  one that is gentle, and genuinely concerned with you oral health is key.

What are the harmful effects of NOT Flossing?

If the advantages of flossing are not good enough to encourage you to start flossing, may be knowing the harms of not flossing might be more yielding.

• The main objective of flossing is to remove the plaque lodged between the teeth. When this fails to occur, the plaque hardens in to tartar which can only be removed by an oral hygienist or dentist.

• The bacteria present in the tartar (calculus) produce acids which damage your gums and cause swelling:- a condition known as gingivitis.

• Untreated gingivitis leads to periodontal disease which eventually causes bone resoption and tooth loss.

So, do pickup this good habit which will improve your oral health for the good. Happy Flossing.