Bleeding gums is usually caused by a bacterial infection and could be the first sign you have early gum disease or a more advanced case. Smoking reduces the amount of bleeding but doesn’t mean you don’t have a problem. If you wake up in the morning with blood on you pillow you should be examined to determine the cause. If your gums bleed while brushing or flossing you should also come in for a check up.

Don’t wait until it hurts. Most problems can be easily treated and stabilized before it becomes a major issue. Call the Levittown office at (516) 796-6600 to set up an appointment for a regular cleaning and exam.

Popcorn and sunflower seeds may be considered a diet food but the shell of both often gets stuck behind the third molars or underneath the gum leading to a gum abscess. When treated early the infection will quickly go away and no real harm is done. If left untreated it can lead to severe pain and irreversible bone loss. If you suspect something is caught in or around your tooth call the Levittown office and we will see you quickly and treat the problem before it becomes a major emergency.

The active ingredients are: allantoin, benzocaine, camphor and white petrolatum. The two main products, camphor and benzocaine are numbing and anesthetic agents. Orajel - Anbesol contains 20% benzocaine and if used improperly has many dangerous side effects. The FDA recommends against its use as an oral medication yet it is still sold over the counter and often abused. Often times these products will cause a chemical burn making it more difficult for the dentist to find your problem.

Since cold sores are caused by a virus and generally brought on by stress or exposure to the sun: rest and time may be the best remedy. If you have sores inside your mouth the dentist may be able to treat the sore with a laser or topical medication to reduce your pain and speed up the healing process.

If the pain is so bad that you are thinking of applying any of these products to your tooth or the surrounding gum area call the dentist. You can always call the Levittown office and we will make sure to see you as soon as possible to make you comfortable.

I've been practicing in Levittown for over 30 years and have treated over 8,000 patients and can't recall a single patient with a meningioma. The actual study questioned 1,433 patients with the tumor to a control group of 1,350. The tumor group participants ranged in age from 20-79 and had to recall the time in their life when the X-rays were taken and how many. 

Sometimes conclusions in life are very obvious. If you jump out of an airplane with a parachute you live and without one you don't. This study concluded that patients who had 2 or 4 bitewing X-rays had a 50 to 100 percent higher risk of developing a meningioma compared to patients who received a full mouth series of X-Rays or a Panorex film. The problem is that a full mouth series of X-rays contains 2-4 bite wings and then 16 additional X-rays as well. A Panorex film exposes the entire mouth. The conclusion defies all logic and science. The energy from a dental X-ray travels in a straight line and most of it is absorbed by the lead backing on the film. Little if any energy ever reaches the brain.

Today dental care and dental X-rays are much safer. The amount of electronic radiation is limited and confined to the small area examined. The American Dental Association (ADA) has established guidelines to follow for radiation safety and many times the X-ray is limited to your toothache or specific problem. If you have any concerns about dental X-rays play it safe and ask the dentist. You can always call the Levittown dental office at 516-796-6600 to discuss you concerns.

A significant number of patients grind in their sleep. Over years or decades of grinding the teeth will flatten out and become smaller. Your bite will collapse and the face starts to appear older. Occasionally a tooth will fracture or crack and depending on how deep the break may need to be extracted.
To build the bite back up can be very expensive and require crowing all your teeth. Prevention is really the best medicine. The first step is to become more aware of the problem and catch yourself during the day and stop. There is no down side to wearing a night guard that covers all your teeth. It's a lot cheaper to wear out the plastic nightguard than to build up you natural teeth. You can purchase a generic nightguard at your local pharmacy or have the dentist take an impression and make you a custom piece.

If you would like additional information regarding grinding or cracked teeth contact me through this web site or call the Levittown dental office.

You may notice your gums are bleeding, red in color or have some tenderness. Bad breath is another sign of periodontal disease. If you notice pus between your teeth and gums you have a problem and should be evaluated by the dentist.

Smoking can mask many of the signs and symptoms of periodontal disease until it's too late. I would encourage all patients to come in for a brief examination for any dental problem. Your dental problems are a lot easier to treat early when it starts than to wait until it's too late. The mouth is a window into the health of your body so make a New Years resolution to call the Levittown Dental Office and take care of your teeth and gums.

You can try salt water rinses, mouthwash or any other over the counter or home remedies and they go away in seven to ten days. In our Levittown office I place a drop of debactrol on the sore and within a minute the pain is gone and you can return to your normal activity. I've been told that you can obtain the same relief with a diode laser. In any case if you get one now and then try to reduce the stress in your life. If you are constantly suffering from canker sores make an immediate appointment to rule out serious systemic problems.

When your dentist has eliminated other dental issues that may cause discomfort, the sensitivity could be from worn tooth enamel or an exposed tooth root. Enamel and cementum are the protective layers of your teeth. Enamel is the strongest substance in your body and protects healthy teeth above the gum line while cementum protects your teeth under the gum line. Underneath these layers is a less dense part of the tooth called dentin. When the dentin is not protected, the many microscopic tubules (small hollow tubes) are exposed to heat, cold, and foods that stimulated the nerves causing sensitivity and discomfort. This does not cause permanent damage to your teeth.

Treatment

Sensitivity can be treated by using different methods such as desensitizing toothpaste, fluoride gel, or sealing agents. Desensitizing toothpaste helps block sensations from transmitting from the tooth surface to the nerve. Fluoride gels strengthen tooth enamel, sealing agents, usually composed of plastic material, can be bonded to the tooth to protect the dentin.

Hypnosis is a focused form of concentration that can mimic sleep but the subjct is not sleeping. They also will only listen and do what is safe and does not contradict their beliefs. With that said how does a dentist use hypnosis. Hypnosis is a form of basic communication. With the use of calming words the dentist will help the patient start to relax. This first step is know as progressive relaxation. Once relaxed the dentist will often have the patient imagine a different place other than the office, He or she then explains that many of the sounds you hear allow you to relax even more and go deeper into a state of complete relaxation. Very often the dentist will transfer the association of the sound of the drill to become a soothing sound. You can create a feeling of numbness by suggesting your fingers are falling asleep and going numb. You then transfer that numb or sleeping feeling to the lip or the area to be treated.

Many patients practice self hypnosis so a dentist trained in hypnosis can easily work with this patient to control pain and other sensations. It takes practice and the more often a patient is hypnotized for anything the easier and faster it is to go under. I have formal training in hypnosis and use it daily as an adjunct to my local anesthetics, sedatives and pain medications.

More dentists need to be trained to use this valuable tool. If you would like additional information simply contact me using the contact form or call the office in Levittown. The phone number is 516-796-6600.

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After reviewing the American Dental Associations Evidence Based Dental site, http://ebd.ada.org/,and PubMed I located an article "Dental amalgam and multiple sclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis" by Aminzadeh and Etminan. They found a slight, nonstatistically significant  increase between amalgam use and risk of MS. The conclusion of the study was that future studies need to be performed taking into account the size of the sllver filling, the surface area and duration of exposure.

As a conservative practitioner I cannot recommend prophylatic removal of amalgam fillings. When a silver filling fails, a tooth cracks or a cavity needs to be filled then a Resin Bonded Ceramic( white) filling is a reasonable option.

Plavix, aspirin, Coumadin or any other blood thinners are prescribed for patients to treat or prevent very serious medical conditions. Your medical problems are more important that a toothache. In my 29 years of practice I have never stopped, decreased or changed the medications a patient was taking prior to treatment. 

Depending on the dental treatment required you may have more bleeding and bruising afterwards. For simple fillings expect some minor swelling at the injection site. If you are having your teeth cleaned the gums will bleed a little more but is very manageable with direct pressure. Just because you are on a blood thinner that does not mean you can't have your teeth cleaned. You must take care of your gums otherwise the heavy buildup of plaque and calculus will result in more bleeding and bone loss around the teeth. Many patients over the course of their lifetime will require a root canal therapy.  Root Canal therapy is a very controlled procedure and I have performed many in one or multiple visits without any complications. I always tell the patient to expect a little more soreness - bruising in the area of the injection site. When I'm extracting one or more teeth on a patient taking blood thinners I expect a little more bleeding and they look black and blue in the area of the injections and on the outside of their face around the area of surgery.

 All of these medications have therapeutic levels and I always call the patients physician to confirm their blood levels are in the therapeutic range prior to treatment. My advice is to continue taking your medication and always advise your dentist prior to treatment.

When a tooth is filled with Amalgam ( silver ) the sensitivity to hot and cold is from the rapid conduction of the temperature change through the metal. This usually resolves within two to four weeks once the filling starts to corrode and the tooth calcifies internally. If a white tooth colored filling was placed in the tooth and it's sensitive to hot, cold or chewing it may take as long as six months to improve. White fillings are set and hardened before you leave the office. Many patients leave the office numb and it's hard to tell if the bite is right. If the discomfort occurs while chewing then your bite could be off and will require a minor adjustment. There are many theories why a small but significant percentage of white fillings are sensitive to hot and or cold. We try to minimize this problem by applying desensitizing agents and sealers to the tooth before they are filled. Unfortunately there will always be a small number of patients who will experience hot and cold sensitivity after a white tooth colored filling is placed. As a rule if your tooth is  sensitive determine if your bite is correct. If not have it adjusted. If the sensitivity lasts more that four weeks call the dental office. (516)-796-6600.

It’s very normal for a tooth that just had root canal to be tender or uncomfortable. This usually lasts about 3 days and occurs when chewing on it. I have seen patients that have had pain for up to two weeks.

Make sure the tooth is not touching (high) when you close your teeth together and take advil or other medications as prescribed. If you are still concerned call us at the Levittown office. The phone number is (516)-796-6660.

The early materials would yellow and stain over time. The photo’s shown above are before and after pictures taken of a patient who came to me with stained older bonded lateral incisors. I simply removed the old bonding and replaced it with newer modern materials that will last a lot longer and is completely reversible.

If you would like additional information simply contact me using the contact form or call the office in Levittown. The phone number is 516-796-6600.

The X-ray shows a dental implant replacing an upper bicuspid that had to be extracted because it fractured eating a hard nut. The dental implant is made of titanium and is shaped like a root with threads on the outside to anchor it in the jaw bone. A part is then screwed into the implant sticking out above the gum line and a cap or crown glued on top on that to look like a natural tool.

For additional information on dental implants or to determine if you are a candidate for dental implants just give the office a call at 516-796-6600 for a no obligation consultation.