Everything You Need to Know About Sedation Dentistry

sedation-dentistry

Sedation DentistrySedation dentistry is a field of dentistry that allows you to undergo even the most complex and painful dental procedure without any experiencing any pain.

Dental phobia is one of the most common phobias with both children and adults being afraid of undergoing a dental procedure due to the pain involved.

This used to be a problem years ago, but now thanks to sedation dentistry, dentists can do their job more efficiently, and patients can feel relaxed while being treated.

What is Sedation Dentistry?

Sedation dentistry refers to a technique that is used to relax and calm a person undergoing any kind of dental procedure. This technique is suitable for individuals having dental anxiety issues.

When you look at it, sedation dentistry is for everyone who is afraid of pain or is anxious. It’s okay to sedate both adults and children.

Common Types of Sedation Dentistry

Oral sedation via pills is the most common type of sedation to be performed by dental specialists and is typically for those patients who do not like needles.

Normally, one pill is taken an hour before the dental treatment. During this type of sedation, the person is typically awake but doesn’t feel pain.

Nitrous oxide is a second option for sedation dentistry. In this type of sedation technique, the patient is made to breathe in nitrous oxide. The gas sedates the person, putting them into a state of mild sleep.

A final option is deep sedation and general anesthesia. This is used when a very painful procedure is to be performed, such as a root canal. Only some dentists are allowed to use this form of sedation, as it puts the person into deep sleep from which they must be woken at the end of the procedure.

Benefits of Dental Sedation

Dental sedation benefits both the dentist and the patient. On the one hand, it enables you to stay calm while on the other hand, the dentist is able to perform his or her job without the worry of a nervous or anxious patient.

Sedation dentistry not only take the pain away, but it also allows the dentist to be precise and complete the job in a quicker manner too.

How Long Do The Effects of Sedation Dentistry Last?

For the most part, a patient may remain somewhat drained and drowsy for the entire day after being sedated. However, this largely depends on the type of sedation used.

Nonetheless, most dentists will suggest that you have someone else drive you home after the treatment in case sedation was used.

Do All Dentists Use Sedation?

While sedation is a commonly used technique in dentistry, still not all dentists use it. It’s recommended that you speak to your dentist first before you undergo a procedure to learn about the types of sedation that are offered, if any.

It should also be noted that not all dental procedures require sedation, and it typically depends on each individual case. If you have anxiety about having a dental procedure done, speak to your dentist about sedation dentistry.

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Signs, Symptoms, and Treatments for TMJ

tmj-disorder-solution

tmj disorder solutionIt’s important to pay attention to the signs your jaw gives you. Jaw aches and discomforts can be a sign of something major, including temporomandibular joint disorder, more commonly known as TMJ disorder.

Jaw aches coupled with frequent clicking and popping is a sign of TMJ syndrome. The issue is caused due to flawed alignment of the jaw and can be extremely painful.

The TMJ is a hinge that connects your lower jaw to the skull’s temporal bones that are positioned in front of each ear. It lets you move your jaw vertically as well as horizontally, so that you can speak, bite, chew, and yawn without any trouble.

Any problem with the TMJ can cause extreme pain in doing even the simplest jaw-related movements.

Signs and Symptoms of TMJ Disorder

There are several symptoms of TMJ disorder that need to be kept in mind. Sadly, a lot of these symptoms are often neglected due to a lack of knowledge. These symptoms include:

  • Any pain in the jaw that radiates to the neck and/or shoulders. The presence of muscle spasms around the area is also a sign of the disorder.
  • TMJ disorder causes you to feel pain around the ear as well, especially when you talk, eat or yawn. You’ll notice a ringing sound in your ear, which most people believe is a sign of a problem with the ear, when it is due to TMJ disorder. The pain is often presented with other problems such as nausea, headache, dizziness and vomiting.
  • Swelling of the face and mouth is also a sign of the disorder. This swelling makes it difficult to move your jaw and there may even be a clicking sound when you do so.
  • If you feel your jaw isn’t aligned properly, you should turn to a doctor and get checked for the presence of the TMJ disorder.

Treatment Options

Experts recommend using treatment methods which are conservative because safety is the top-most priority when it comes to treatment of jaw joints and muscles.

Adaptable steps that could help in reducing TMJ pain include:

  • Avoiding foods that are hard to chew.
  • Icing the affected area.
  • Avoiding jaw movements like wide yawning, chewing gum or sticky substances.
  • Adapting to muscle-relaxing and stress-reducing techniques.
  • Taking pain medications such as Ibuprofen may provide relief from jaw discomfort.
  • A bite guard helps in reducing pain. It is a plastic stabilizing splint that is fixed over your upper and lower jaw that prevents excessive movement of the jaw.

Your best option, however, is to visit your dental health care specialists and practice methods that he/she recommends according to your condition.

These solutions will help control pain, but they’re not a permanent solution as they revolve around changing your lifestyle rather than finding a permanent fix to your problem.

Irreversible Treatment Options (Surgery)

If your condition is serious, you must visit a doctor and get treated.

Leaving the condition unchecked can cause problems such as arthritis, and even tissue diseases. In severe cases your dentist may perform surgery to treat the problem.

If you have noticed any such signs, waste no time and get in touch with TMJ doctors today.

What Cosmetic Dentistry Procedures Can Give Me a Great Smile?

cosmetic-dentistry

cosmetic-dentistryThanks to some pretty amazing breakthrough technologies in the world of cosmetic dentistry, it’s easier today than ever before to completely upgrade your smile – often in less than one hour!

Working with top cosmetic dentists like Dr. Delwin Hemingway, a dentist in Salinas, CA gives you every opportunity to dramatically improve your smile in a hurry, giving you that brilliantly white and perfectly straight smile that all of us dream about. Of course, you’ll need to make sure that you choose the right cosmetic dentistry procedures to give you the smile of your dreams – and that’s what we hope to help you out with below.

Teeth whitening solutions are the quickest cosmetic dentistry procedure you can take advantage of today

It doesn’t get much easier, or much faster, to completely upgrade your smile than teeth whitening solutions provided by experienced cosmetic dentists.

The teeth whitening solutions available to professional dental experts are significantly more powerful and tremendously more reliable than the kind of over-the-counter solutions sold by toothpaste companies. A quick visit to your dentist for legitimate teeth whitening procedures can brighten your smile by two or three shades by the time you walk out of that office – and two or three visits is usually all it takes to give you a blindingly white smile at a fraction of the cost of most other cosmetic dentist procedures.

Porcelain and composite veneers

Originally intended as a substitute for tooth enamel that had been lost, veneers are simply hard, thin shells of teeth-colored material that can hide a tremendous amount of dental imperfections and give you a beautiful and brilliant smile in just one office visit.

These are a little bit more expensive than most other options in the cosmetic dentistry world (aside from bridges and dental implants), but they are almost always lifelong solutions that make your teeth look better than brand-new.

Dental bridges and dental implants

Today’s dental bridges and dental implants are designed to be much more effective, much more permanent, and significantly less invasive than the solutions available just a few short years ago – but they are still pretty expensive (comparatively, anyway).

Even still, there is absolutely no way to better prepare a smile that is missing teeth than with dental bridges and dental implants. Both of these solutions provide you with “new” permanent teeth, and they can be designed to upgrade your smile at the same time as they replace the teeth that have gone missing.

4 Situations When You Should Floss

Floss

FlossIf you are wondering when is the right time to floss, let me tell you, whenever you can find time to floss, make sure you do! Similar goes for brushing your teeth – if you can find the time to brush your teeth, make sure you do so. However, you should also pay attention to brushing technique, as aggressive brushing can also be damaging on your teeth and damage your teeth enamel.

In addition to that, here are four situations in which you can also floss, no matter where you are.

  1. When You Are Brushing Teeth

The ideal time for flossing is when you are already brushing your teeth. Therefore, if you are already brushing your teeth you can make the time for flossing as well. In addition to that, the more frequently you floss, the less time you will have to floss and it will be easier to floss between your teeth. Also, I would recommend that you floss before you brush your teeth, so that you can remove any of the food that has been left with your toothbrush. If you brush your teeth before you floss, not only that you will not brush and clean your teeth properly, but you will also damage your toothbrush if you try to get out the food with it, rather than floss it out.

  1. After Meals

Even if you are not at home but let’s say work, you can still floss after a meal. Floss can definitely fit in your bag, and it will make your teeth so much healthier. If you can just find a couple of moments to go to the toilet and floss, you will see that your teeth will be a lot prettier and healthier. In addition to that, it will prevent you going around with a piece of salad stuck in between your teeth, which can be rather embarrassing, especially if you have to continue your work day or have an important meeting.

  1. Whenever Something Gets Stuck In Between Your Teeth

In addition to that, if you have the feeling that something is such in between your teeth, you should not wait a moment longer, but try to get it out with floss right away. In addition to the fact that it can be rather embarrassing, going around with food in between your teeth can actually have a negative impact on your dental health and affect your teeth in a bad way. The longer the food molecules are stuck to your teeth, the likelier it is that it will start damaging your teeth enamel and soon you may have to deal with caries and other dental issues.  If you do start to experience any dental issues then you need to contact your local dentist.  We have recommendation for dentists in Spartanburg SC.

  1. In The Evening

If during the day you cannot seem to find the time to floss, at least try to make some time for flossing later on in the evening before you go to bed. This will prevent you to go to bed with pieces of food in between your teeth, and as it has been previously mentioned, the longer the fragments of food are stuck to your teeth enamel the likelier it is that it will cause damage to your teeth and decay them pretty soon.

The truth about smile care

The-truth-about-smile-care

The-truth-about-smile-careFor one reason or another, good oral hygiene habits aren’t quite as common place in the US as they probably should be – and certainly not as commonplace as they could be.

Sure, every now and again you’ll come across someone that is almost fanatical about taking care of their smile, making sure that it is Hollywood white and perfectly aligned, but the overwhelming majority of people out there are just going through the motions of brushing their teeth once a day bright and early in the morning and then calling it good.

This is a major mistake, and one that you simply cannot afford to make any longer if you want your smile to really sparkle.

Thankfully, it’s a lot easier to triage your smile care and get back on track the right way so that you too have a brilliant white smile in no time at all – one free of gum disease, cavities, and all kinds of other dental health issues.

Shall we jump right in?

Take the time to brush your teeth right twice a day

It’s going to be absolutely impossible to maintain a brilliant white smile if you aren’t brushing your teeth the right way at least twice a day.

Most people simply stuff their toothbrush with a little bit of toothpaste in their mouth and give it the old “once over” in the morning (and maybe once again at night if they aren’t too tired), but not you. No, you know that you need to spend at least two minutes brushing your teeth with a soft bristles and a quality toothpaste at least twice a day – but never closer than 30 minutes away from the last time that you ate.

This alone will definitely upgrade your smile faster than you ever thought possible.

Fall in love with fluoride infused toothpaste

Even though there was some pretty bad press in the early 2000’s in regards to fluoride, more and more dentists have come around to the fact that it is a critical component of modern dental care, and a big piece of the puzzle when it comes to keeping your smile happy and healthy.

You’re going to want to think about going with a fluoride infused toothpaste if you’d like to boost the strength of your tooth enamel and dramatically reduce the rate of decay that you may be dealing with.

Poke around with floss

Some people absolutely love flossing their teeth, while others cannot be bothered – but you’re going to want to fall squarely in that first group if you want your smile to stay beautiful.

If you aren’t crazy about the idea of stuffing a little piece of string between each and every one of your teeth with nothing more than your fingers every morning (and especially every night), you might want to get your hands on floss sticks.

These tiny little sticks make the job a lot more palatable foremost, and a lot more convenient!

Kick acid to the curb

Acidic foods and drinks wreak absolute havoc on your teeth, and do their very best to melt away to have enamel until you have cavities that compromise the very structure of your smile.

The best way to limit the damage that acidic foods and drinks are going to be able to do to your smile is to cut back on them as much as you can. Eliminating them entirely probably isn’t all that reasonable (who could go without juice for the rest of their days?), but you’re going to want to do your best to try and really cut down on your acidic intake.

Try not to tax your teeth too much

For a bunch of different reasons, people like to use their teeth for pretty much anything and everything they can think of – instead of just using their teeth to chew!

You’ll want to do whatever you can to cut back on using your teeth like a caveman bottle opener, if for no other reason than to simply avoid the kind of accidental damage that using your teeth as a multi tool can cause. Even though teeth feel pretty rock solid, they are actually quite soft, and once you crack them there a real nightmare to repair.

Schedule dental checkups at least once a year

At the end of the day, you’re going to want to try and schedule dental checkups with a dentist that you trust at least once a year – and maybe even once every six months if you’re really hoping to keep your smile on track.

Most people aren’t all that crazy about visiting the dentist in the first place, but these professionals are going to be able to make sure that you are doing everything in your power to enjoy a brilliant white smile, and only they’ll be able to point you in the right direction if you need to head off a serious dental issue before it becomes a nightmare situation.