Tag: dentist
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What to do Before a Patient Starts Cancer Treatments
This guide can be useful for patients who will be undergoing radiation to the head/neck area, beginning to take myelosuppresive drugs, or going to begin chemotherapy. Step one involves getting the patient in for examination at least a month before treatment begins. Coordination with the Oncologist is helpful here to determine where the proposed radiation…
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What Are These White Spots On My Child’s Teeth?
Those are white spot lesions! Let’s talk a bit about why they happen and what we can do about them. What Are White Spot Lesions (WSLs)? White spot lesions are simply areas of decalcification of our enamel. Before we have a true cavity (a cavity results from decay entering the inner layer of our tooth,…
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So You Lost Your Tooth
You’re putting up the Christmas tree after Thanksgiving (hopefully) and, while carefully placing ornaments, you turn around to be greeted by your kid swinging a branch. You look down to reveal your front tooth in your hand and you’ve quickly realized what has happened – you just lost your tooth! Quick – let’s review what…
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Let’s Talk Fluoride
I have a patient at least once a week tell me they don’t use fluoridated toothpaste, and I promptly ask them to divulge why. Let’s talk about why dentists recommend the use of fluoride and why I believe you should use it, too. What Is Fluoride? The CDC states the following about fluoride – ‘Fluoride…
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Sensitive After a Filling?
‘Well it didn’t start hurting until you started messing with it!’ We get this as dental professionals a lot. And we understand. Let’s talk about why post-operative sensitivity can happen and why it (usually) isn’t something to worry about. What Is Post-Operative Sensitivity? A study in 2013 decided to determine what different types of variables…
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What Is Oil Pulling?
Charcoal toothpaste, sucking on lemons, placing aspirin in your mouth – there’s never a shortage of new tips and tricks in dentistry. There’s always going to be changes and claims in medicine as well as new methods to treating disease. It’s our job as practitioners to question these ideas and find research that supports or…
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What Are Dry Sockets?
If you’ve ever had a tooth taken out, your dentist has more than likely discussed with you the possibility of dry sockets. Dry sockets are nothing to mess around with, and we are going to talk about just what they are and things we can do to avoid them – as well as discuss risk…
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Tobacco And Its Effects On Oral Health
Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the United States. CDC, 2021 For most of us, we’ve been told about the dangers of tobacco and its detrimental effects on our health since we were children. The cat’s been out of the bag on tobacco for a while now –…
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Understanding Tooth Pain: When Do I Need To Make An Appointment?
The correct answer is every 6 months – prevention is key to identifying disease and making sure gum disease, caries progression, and cancer are caught early. With this in mind, it’s important to understand tooth pain and why it is beneficial to catch it early, rather than later. In future topics, gum disease and oral…
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The Lingual Nerve
The lingual nerve is a part of the mandibular branch of the trigeminal nerve (V3). The lingual nerve provides general sensory information to the floor of the mouth, the lingual mucosa, as well as the anterior 2/3rds of the tongue. What makes the lingual nerve so special? The lingual nerve has two ‘special’ roles –…
Teeth & Chiefs 