Chipped Tooth Dental Emergency

If you’ve ever chipped a tooth, you know it can be a very startling experience. No matter the circumstance, you should remain calm and act quickly. There are several steps you can take to insure your safety and protect your tooth. 

If you cannot see a dental professional right away, you will want to first take OTC pain relievers to lessen any potential swelling and pain. Be sure to rinse your mouth with salt water, and avoid hot liquids that may cause pain due to sensitivity. You can also indirectly apply an icepack to your chipped tooth to aid in swelling reduction. If you cannot see your dentist for a few days, commit to eating soft foods and liquids, as to not irritate your chipped tooth. 

Upon seeing a dental professional, they may recommend one of the following solutions:

Veneers -thin, porcelain shell that can fix minor cracks and chips
Crowns - a covering that is placed over the entire tooth as a layer of protection
Dental Implants- artificial tooth root that requires removal of the entire tooth 
Dental Bonding- composite material molded over the tooth to restore its natural shape

Call our professionals in dental emergency in Los Angeles for immediate care and guidance.

How are Lumineers Placed on Teeth?

For patients suffering from tooth discoloration, it can be difficult to smile with confidence. Our cosmetic dentist in West Hollywood offers a quick and effective method to provide patients with a ‘Hollywood smile’ by utilizing the latest in dental veneer technology.

Lumineers are an incredibly thin porcelain seal that cover teeth to improve their color and overall condition. Unlike typical dental veneers, they do not require dentists to remove any existing enamel. The porcelain compound used in this procedure reflects light similarly to real teeth, thus improving the existing condition of the mouth with no pain involved. Complete in up to two visits, these veneers can last over twenty years with the proper care. During the first consultation, a custom mold is taken to create the porcelain covering. Our dentist will then pick an appropriate shade for your smile. The molds are sent off, and the veneers are created in approximately two to four weeks. During the following visit, veneers are placed for fit and attached, leaving your teeth permanently white. For patients with chipped, crowed, or misshapen teeth, this thin, protective covering offers the perfect solution.

How to Know if You Have Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea affects millions, both men and women, many of whom don’t know they have it. The condition can’t always be diagnosed at a glance, and if you sleep alone you may be oblivious to the first warning sign. Snoring really can be a tip that you have sleep apnea—usually obstructive sleep apnea, the most common type—but you can firm up your suspicion by consulting the following checklist.

•    Do you wake up multiple times per night to urinate?
•    Do you have morning headaches?
•    Do you feel tired and/or irritable all day?
•    Are you more depressed than usual?
•    Do you have problems focusing or concentrating?
•    Do you fall asleep easily while reading or watching TV?

Any combination of the above symptoms could mean you have sleep apnea. You need to see a Thousand Oaks sleep apnea doctor for a final diagnosis, but sleep apnea can sneak up on the human body. It’s been linked to developing cases of diabetes and increased risk of hypertension, heart attack, and stroke. Diabetics in particular often have sleep apnea as well, since sleep deprivation can cause sugar disruption in the blood.

If you think you may have sleep apnea, make an appointment today.

Common Signs of Gum Disease

Have you ever noticed a small amount of blood in the sink after brushing your teeth? There may be a possibility you are experiencing early signs of gingivitis. The good news is that this mild form of gum disease is reversible. In fact, there are steps you can take right at home to eliminate its progression.

Typical signs associated with gingivitis, or gum inflammation, include swollen or tender gums, bleeding, receding gum line, and formation of pockets between teeth and gums. Gum disease occurs when plaque, which contains a large amount of bacteria, builds up and hardens along the gum line. If you experience any warning signs of gum inflammation, it is time to step up your dental hygiene. You can do so by brushing and flossing daily, eating right, visiting the dentist regularly, and avoiding any tobacco products. Proper brushing and flossing can go a long way in helping patients maintain strong teeth and gums. As always, regularly scheduled teeth cleanings give your dental hygienist the opportunity to evaluate your gum health and remove any excess plaque.

Our periodontists in LA can answer any questions you may have regarding gum disease and help you protect your oral health.

Importance of Root Canal Treatment

Root canal treatments impose safety on a tooth that had become unsafe. This can happen due to advanced decay or, most critically, damage to the dental nerve. When this kind of damage occurs, it’s usually due to one of the following factors:

•    Acute trauma
•    Accumulated trauma from repeated dental work
•    Accumulated trauma from grinding or clenching
•    Increased workload due to a missing tooth nearby

It can also be said that a dental nerve starts to deteriorate naturally from the moment the tooth erupts. Whether or not you need a root canal is often a judgment call by your dentist, because it is often impossible to adequately predict nerve trauma even with proper x-rays. But once inflammation or infection occurs, it can be without warning, and with excruciating pain. Then the recourses are extraction, or root canal. Of these, root canal is preferred by our LA endodontists.

Root canal does not fully restore any damaged tooth structure, and there’s unfortunately no way to repair the access hole required to treat the dental nerve and remove all infected dental pulp. But a root canal will still leave you with more functionality and bite force than an extraction followed by a prosthetic.

For more information, including the cost of root canal in LA, contact our team.

When is a Dental Extraction the Only Option?

There are few things worse than a toothache. In some cases, the pain is so severe it can prevent patients from doing everyday tasks such as chewing. More often than not, dentists attempt to fix damaged or broken teeth with a filling or crown. Unfortunately, if the damage is irreparable, your dentist may resort to pulling the tooth. Our dentist in North Hollywood is expert in taking preventive measures to preserve healthy smiles.

There are many reasons one may require a dental extraction. For example, a patient with extra teeth may experience overcrowding. Younger patient’s baby teeth do not always fall out in time for their permanent teeth to surface. Wisdom teeth are also removed more often than not, as they can be impacted, decayed or infected, causing the gum to swell. Your dentist must pull very loose teeth if they cannot be saved through bone graft replacement surgery. Likewise, patients receiving radiation to the head and neck, or introduced to certain drugs may develop weak and infected teeth that are past the point of salvaging. Some develop a tooth infection after an organ transplant due to the medication taken to suppress the immune system. In the event that you are required to have a tooth pulled, your dentist will provide you with detailed instructions and guidelines regarding care and follow up.

What to Do about Mouth Pain

Tooth-related pain is usually pretty straightforward, but it can occasionally refer to other parts of the mouth, making it hard to pinpoint what is causing it. If you have mouth pain, an accurate diagnosis is essential to getting the right treatment and stopping the pain. Our Huntington Beach cosmetic dentist can help. 

Common causes of mouth pain can include: 

Abscesses, including both tooth and periodontal abscesses, or abscesses in the gums and surrounding structures
Bruxism, or tooth grinding, which can lead to sensitivity, transient pain and damaged teeth
TMJ pain, which can cause discomfort or an aching in the jaw or may radiate throughout the face
Cavities, which can cause deep, aching or throbbing pain in the tooth and jaw
Salivary stones or infections, which can cause swelling, discomfort and throbbing pain especially after meals

Once we are able to identify the cause of your mouth pain, we can recommend a specific course of action. Cavities and decay will generally need fillings while abscesses will typically need to be drained, and abscessed teeth will need root canal therapy. If you have bruxism, we may recommend a night guard. TMJ can be treated with a variety of therapies and approaches depending on your symptoms and needs. Call our office today to learn more about treatments for mouth pain in Huntington Beach or to schedule your appointment.

What Dental Veneers Can Cover

Dental veneers are a convenient and simple way to create the smile of your dreams. Patients with multiple cosmetic dental flaws can easily mask problematic teeth with these thin porcelain coverings. This is often much more preferable for most than correct each of these flaws individually with multiple treatments. Here is a look at everything that dental veneers can cover.

Good candidates for dental veneers are those with only cosmetic issues. These include:

•    Chips
•    Cracks
•    Stains and intrinsic discolorations
•    Crooked teeth
•    Spacing issues (gaps and crowding)
•    Small and misshapen teeth
•    Visible restorations
•    And more

Patients can work with our expert in veneers in Beverly Hills in order to create the smile they want. They can even bring in pictures of smiles they wish to copy as examples. Veneers provide everyone with the confidence to go about their daily lives, smiling, eating, and laughing with confidence. Dental veneers are also hugely realistic, meaning no one has to worry about their new smile not looking authentic.

Process of Getting Dental Implants

Losing a tooth can be a scary thing, especially if you do not know anything about how replacement works. While there are a few options for replacing a missing tooth, many dentists recommend dental implants. Implants offer several benefits for the patient, but do require a lengthy process. Here is a look at how to get a dental implant.

Our dentist will start by drilling a hole into the jaw bone where the missing tooth once was. A screw-like post made of titanium is inserted into the hole. Titanium is used because it can fuse with the human bone without being rejected and causing an infection. The post will be capped with a temporary dental crown.

The post will then need some time to heal and fuse with the jaw bone tissue. This can take between two and nine months. When complete, patients will return to our dentist to complete the implant. The post will be fitted with an abutment and permanent dental crown.

Patients will need to take care of their dental implant just as they do their natural teeth. This includes brushing, flossing, and using mouth wash. Dental implant patients may also need to visit our dentist more often in order to monitor their health.

Root Canal Therapy Process

An infected tooth is considered a dental emergency, as is a severely broken one. In either case, surgery is likely needed. This is because the inside of the tooth, or the pulp, has been affected. The pulp consists of blood vessels, nerves, and connective tissues. Our dentist in Orange County can perform a root canal treatment to will restore the tooth back to health.

Many believe that a root canal therapy is very painful, but this is actually not the case. This treatment is meant to alleviate pain caused by infection and damage. And thanks to local anesthesia, patients do not feel anything at all. Our root canal dentist in Orange County will create a hole in the tooth with a drill. They can then access the pulp in order to remove the decayed tissue. Removing any and all of the decayed tissue is removed, as this is the only way the infection will be completely remedied.

After this is completed, the pulp will be replaced with a packing material called gutta percha. The tooth will then be capped with a dental crown. This will restore strength and protect it from further damage. Sometimes, root canal retreatment is necessary, to remove missed decayed tissue.