My child's tooth is dark...

Mothers often ask why their childs tooth goes dark or grey in colour.  Dark teeth in baby teeth is often a result of previous trama.  If you have ever watched a youngster take their first step or learn to walk you know they often fall down.  And once they get on their feet it's usually to run and not walk.  So kids fall down and knock their front teeth.  Often no treatment is needed.  But inside  of the tooth is bruised- and bleeds a bit.  Some blood cells get absorbed into the tooth itself. To carry oxygen, blood cells contain hemoglobin- which contains iron. The iron oxidizes as it is released by the trama and the tooth goes dark.  Just like a bruise you might see on your skin.  The darkness does not go away like a bruise on your skin because the iron is locked into the hard tooth structure called "dentin". 

So, whenever a mom ( or dad) comes it with a youngster right after a blow the mouth I warn them this may occur.  The parent just needs to watch for any "blister" or "pimple" appearing on the gums near the tooth. That would indicate an infection has started.

CSI Dentistry...

People often come in to my office and tell me they have  a problem and want me to take an X-Ray to see what's wrong.  Then they ask one of the most frequent questions a patient asks any dentist: "What's the X-Ray say doc?"  While there is lots of information on an X-Ray, often it tells me nothing about the problem a patient wants me to help them with.  I need to be a detective! CSI Dentistry... And like any TV detective I need to ask a lot of questions and really listen to what patients say.  It's amazing how much you can learn about a dental problem by asking questions.  Often I can figure out the problem from just the answers I hear. BUT I cannot diagnose without evidence ( just like CSI if they want to make an arrest) and that is where a thorough examination comes in.  One of the tools I may use is a dental X-Ray image of the problem area, IF,  I think it will add useful information.  It is only one tool and by itself it ususally does not provide enough evidence to diagnose the problem. 

Once I have evidence I can make a diagnosis and only then can I offer treatment to resolve the problem.

So when a patient comes in, points to a tooth and says it hurts and needs a filling, I say "tell me more!"

Gum disease, pyorrhea, periodontitis, a rose by any other name....

So what exactly is gum disease and can I explain it easily enough for anyone to understand?  I think so.

I'm sure you have heard of plaque and tartar.  It's mentioned in all the toothpaste ads.  Plaque is the soft stuff on your teeth that can come off with a toothbrush.  Tartar ( or what we dentists call "calculus"- not the math by the way) is the hard stuff you cannot brush off.  It's found above the gum line where you can see it and below where you cannot.  Tartar...to put it indelicately... has to be scrapped off.  We dentists call this "scaling".   Now bacteria live in the plaque and tartar.  They produce among other things toxins that break down the gum tissue attachment to the teeth and cause the bone that holds the teeth to shrink away.  As it becomes more severe, your teeth become loose and you if left untreated the affected teeth will be lost.  That in a nut shell is gum disease.  It is generally painless.  Bleeding swollen red gums are often seen.  Some times you cannot tell you suffer from it to look at your gums.

gum disease © Dr Steven Rosenblat

So how do we dentists know it's there? 

Click to read more ...

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays 2011...

Well it's that time of year again.  The holidays are upon us and everyone here at Oakdale Dental in beautiful Oakville Ontario, want to wish you all Happy Holidays and a healthy New Year! 

I want to say thank you to may patients for trusting us with their dental health this past year and for referring friends and family for their dental care.  And I'd also like to say thank you to you, my blog readers for spending a bit of your valuable time reading my posts. 

We look forward to seeing all your familiar smiling faces again in 2012!

Dr Steven Rosenblat & Team.

Staff xmas party with with the Oakville dentist

How long will a (dental) bridge last?

I was at a great lecture last week at the Toronto Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry.  The speaker was one of the gurus we all line up to hear; Dr Carl Misch.  He was talking about dental implants. 

Before we could replace missing teeth with dental implants, the most lifelike way to replace missing teeth was to make a "bridge".  Now you can only have a bridge if there are teeth on either side of the space where the lost teeth were.  These teeth have to anchor the replacement faux teeth and to do that we have to shape them as if they were to be crowned.  Now this isn't without risks - see below.   Dr Steven Rosenblat Oakville Dentst This is not to say you should avoid a crown or bridge but if you have an alternative treatment option that will give you a better result than a bridge, why involve the teeth adjacent to space from missing teeth?

So why do non removable dental bridges fail? 

Click to read more ...