It’s easy to keep your teeth and gums in good health. A simple routine of cleaning your teeth daily, establishing good eating habits and having regular dental visits can help prevent tooth decay and periodontal (gum) disease.

What causes tooth decay and periodontal disease?

Your teeth are covered with a sticky film of bacterial called plaque. Following a meal or snack, the bacteria convert the sugar and starch in the food into acids that attach tooth enamel. Repeated attacks can cause enamel to break down, eventually resulting in cavities.

Plaque that is not removed with thorough daily brushing and cleaning between teeth can eventually harden into calculus, or tartar. Brushing and cleaning between teeth become more difficult when tartar collects along or near the gumline. Plaque that is not remove can cause the gum tissue to become irritated and inflamed, making the gums swollen or causing them to bleed. This is called gingivitis, the early stage of periodontal disease. The good news is gingivitis is reversible with professional teeth cleaning in the dental office and good oral hygiene at home.

Twice daily brushing and cleaning between the teeth daily with floss help remove food particles and plaque from the mouth and are essential in preventing both decay and periodontal disease.

When do I need to clean between my teeth?

Even if you brush twice a day, decay causing bacteria still lingers between teeth where toothbrush bristles can’t reach. Cleaning between your teeth with floss removes plaque and food particles from between teeth and under the gumline.

Maintaining a healthy smile

Healthy smiles make great impressions! To keep your mouth in good condition,

• Brush twice a day
• Cleaning between your teeth daily
• Eat a balanced diet and limit snacks
• Visit your dentist regularly for a dental exam and teeth cleaning

Herring Family Dentistry
2929 W. 17th Avenue
Longmont, CO 80503
303-772-7622
www.herringfamilydentistry.com

If you think you are considering dental implants to improve your chewing/eating ability, and for appearance and smile improvement, call Herring Family Dentistry, a Longmont Dentist specializing in Dental Implants Longmont and Oral Surgery.

Herring Family Dentistry
2929 W. 17th Avenue
Longmont, CO 80503
303-772-7622
www.herringfamilydentistry.com

Chewing an dipping may seem the way to go to “be one of the crowd.” But it really isn’t. It can damage your gums and teeth.

What Happens When You Use Chewing Tobacco Regularly

Teeth get stained brown, gums pull away from teeth.

First, when a plug of chewing tobacco or a pinch of snuff is put next to the mucous lining of your mouth, cancer-causing chemicals in the tobacco and snuff mix with the saliva in your mouth. Some of the dangerous chemicals are absorbed by your tender mucous lining and pass directly into your blood stream.

Second, your blood carries chemicals such as nicotine to your brain and heart. The nicotine may make you feel a little dizzy and nauseous the first few times, and it gives you a sort of a Buzz.

After awhile, however, the more you use smokeless tobacco the more it takes for you to get your BUZZ. Smokeless tobacco acts just like any other drug. You crave a chew or pinch because your body can’t seem to get along without the nicotine. You may gradually become addicted to chewing tobacco – and you help contribute billions of dollars to the cigarette companies pockets!

Third, constant day in and day out use of smokeless tobacco, more or less placed in the same location in the mouth by an addicted person irritates the mucous linings. The lining can become very red and sometimes a white, firm growth develops. Such growths are thought by some doctors to have the potential to become cancerous.

Fourth, if doctors discover oral cancer in the mouth, the cancer victim may lose part of the jawbone, even the whole side of the face.

Don’t let this happen to you!

If you think you may have signs of oral cancer to due chewing tobacco, call Herring Family Dentistry, a Longmont Dentist specializing in Oral Cancer Dentistry and Oral Surgery.

Herring Family Dentistry
2929 W. 17th Avenue
Longmont, CO 80503
303-772-7622
www.herringfamilydentistry.com

If there’s any one dental topic that is misunderstood, it’s root canals. Maybe it’s because of the name. If you think about it, almost every other dental treatment term sounds fairly harmless (filling, cap, crown, bridge, implant, etc). Heck, they even sound somewhat pleasant. But “root canal” sounds downright hideous (and painful), doesn’t it?

Then there’s the “legend” of the root canal. Everyone knows someone who “had a root canal, and it was horrible! In fact, it was the worst five hours of my life!!!” (Note: they must have had a really slooow dentist. Root canal therapy does not take five hours.) I guess this is where the expression “I’d rather have a root canal” to describe something really unpleasant comes from.

Need a dental check up or treatment? Visit Herring Family Dentistry, Dentist Longmont today.

Ok, so let’s spend this post talking about root canal therapy, and why it’s nowhere near as bad as you think.

Let’s start with the term itself. If you notice, I’ve already used the term “root canal” to describe the treatment, but, truthfully, that’s not accurate. The “root canal” is the center of the tooth where the circulatory system and nerves are located. In other words, we ALL have “root canals.” And when we need our root canals worked on, it’s called “root canal therapy” or “root canal treatment,” or the technical term, “endodontic therapy.” But I’m splitting hairs here — if you want to call the treatment a “root canal,” that’s fine — everyone (even me) will know exactly what you are talking about.

Now that we have the name cleared up, let’s discuss why one would need root canal therapy. The most common “obvious” cause is an infection/abscess at the bottom of the tooth. Once a tooth has gotten to a point where it’s infected, root canal therapy is usually the only hope of “saving” the tooth. Untreated cavities can lead to this type of infection, as can cracking/fracturing. Many times, the reasons for infection can go unnoticed until it’s too late. A dentist may also recommend a root canal if he or she feels future infection is inevitable.

In fact, I personally feel it’s the infection/abscess factor that leads to most of the “root canal dread” people experience. See, an infected tooth is often very painful — if you’ve had a swollen face/abscessed tooth, you know exactly what I am talking about. Bite on an infected tooth and prepare to cry out. So yes, if we’re going to dive in there and fix it, it’s going to be deemed unpleasant, even if the pain is actually coming from the affliction, not the treatment. Couple this “painful infection” factor with the fact that, until recently, root canal treatments usually took multiple visits, and you have the makings of a horror story worthy of telling around the campfire.

However, in my long career as a Cosmetic Dentist I can tell you that in almost every case, my patient has been relieved to have had the root canal therapy, because I made the constant pain go away. And to be honest, infections are usually handled with antibiotics before we start and Novocain generally ensures a pain-free procedure. So don’t be afraid if you need root canal therapy — the good it will do will outweigh the bad by a considerable amount.

Moving along, let’s talk about the treatment itself. In a nutshell, root canal therapy involves drilling into the tooth and removing the infected pulp, then drilling the nerves out of the root canals (hence the assumed name of the procedure). The dentist will also usually irrigate the area to remove anything else present, and then the root canals are filled with a latex-based material (usually gutta-percha). Admittedly, this is the quick and dirty version — some root canal therapies can differ based on individual circumstances. Sometimes, more than one visit will still be necessary for the root canal treatment itself, depending on the level of and location of the infection, the tooth structure or a myriad of other factors.

As you can likely guess, the root canal therapy will “kill” the tooth, as almost all the nerves and blood vessels are removed. This is why, in most cases, a crown is almost always recommended after a root canal. In most cases, the tooth would not have a chance of lasting without one. Hence, root canal therapy can be expensive — you have the cost of the procedure, and then the added expense of a crown (which I’ve discussed in a previous post). And yes, crowns dictate a return visit.

In the end, root canal therapy is generally very effective in saving the tooth, with Delta Dental reporting an eight-year success rate of 97 percent. I personally like them as well. However, there are plenty of naysayers, and even some who say root canal therapy can be harmful. We’ll likely look at that side in a future post.

But until then, keep smiling!

Herring Family Dentistry
(303) 772-7622 (Phone)
(303) 485-2719 (Fax)
2929 W. 17th Ave.
Longmont, CO 80503
Email | Map & Directions

Herring Family Dentistry
(303) 772-7622 (Phone)
(303) 485-2719 (Fax)
2929 W. 17th Ave.
Longmont, CO 80503
Email | Map & Directions