Dental Blog

For people who are missing teeth, it can be hard to live a normal life. Missing a tooth can affect your appearance, your ability to chew, your confidence, and, ultimately, your health. Unlike crowns, dentures, andbridges, all of which only provide short-term cosmetic solutions, dental implants are designed to not only fix the cosmetic problems but to prevent health problems as well.

Missing a tooth causes bone loss because the jawbone shrinks, which ultimately changes the shape of your face.  Dental implants help to stimulate the jawbone and prevent bone loss, which prevents your face from prematurely aging. Dental implants also do not harm existing teeth. Crowns and bridges not only fail to prevent bone loss, but they also harm existing teeth. The installation of crowns and bridges requires dentists to grind down healthy teeth and puts these teeth at a greater risk for cavities and tooth failure.

Dental implants stimulate the jawbone where the tooth root would normally be located, and they provide support for dental crowns and dentures. BioHorizons dental implants are made from titanium and contain a lifetime warranty. You can receive as many dental implants as needed. Single tooth replacement will not alter any existing teeth. An implant is simply placed in the jawbone, and a crown is made to match your existing teeth. Multiple teeth replacement will either require individual crowns or a multi-unit bridge to be placed in the jawbone. If you are missing all of your upper or lower teeth, your dentist might secure a custom-made removable denture into your mouth using implants.

Dental implants are the most practical and efficient option for people missing teeth. They will better your appearance and health, and the installation process is virtually painless. Dental implants are the only way to completely prevent bone loss and premature aging, making them the best option for tooth replacement.

Searching for the perfect dentist can be much like searching for the perfect car: tedious. You want what’s best for the best price. There are many things to consider when deciding whom to trust with your mouth, and money often plays a major role in this decision. Prices for dental work can vary greatly depending on where you go, and this often confuses and angers patients. Why does one dentist charge $1200 for dental work when another dentist charges $800 for the same procedure? It might seem like the pricier dentist is trying to rip you off, but a recent blog post uncovers the reasoning behind price ambiguity in the dental field.

The price of dental work depends upon many things that (99% of the time) don’t include scamming you out of your money. Much of what you pay goes towards the quality of the work you receive and the upkeep of the dental practice. If your dentist is using the best equipment and has a high-tech lab (which most people would prefer), then you will generally pay more but warrant better results.

Not too many years ago, doctors around the world would have told you that oral cancer was something that only men who spent their nights drowning their sorrows in vodka and smoking cigarettes needed to worry about. However, as Dr. Oz states in his recent show, oral cancer is on the rise. In fact, one person dies from oral cancer every hour. And these aren’t just men that are dying. Now, women are at a greater risk than ever of developing oral cancer. Today, the HPV virus causes most cases of oral cancer – the same virus that causes cervical cancer in women. HPV is transmitted sexually, and 50% of all sexually active people are at risk of obtaining the HPV virus. Scary, right?

Recently Dr. Oz brought to our attention that “indiscriminate” use of X-ray radiation has brought an increase of thyroid cancer. He mentioned the fact that using X-ray for things such as acne and tonsillitis and shoe size measurements are NOT necessary. I agree.

We are keenly aware of the fact that radiation should be minimized at all costs. Our team if anyone could be exposed to dental radiation everyday. There are many measures we use to minimize the exposure to ourselves and our family of patients. Firstly as Dr. Oz mentioned technology has changed and digital X-rays have brought radiation doses down significantly. We have had digital X-ray systems for many years now. We have the most recent release of the industry leading Dexis X-ray sensor. We have a digital panoramic X-ray machine, this beam is less intense over analog systems by far.

Invisalign just released new treatment planning software called G3 (quite appropriate for our wireless world).

This software is more powerful than before and allows cosmetic invisalign certified dentists to interactively treatment plan your orthodontic treatment.

With the digital model of your teeth displayed, I can rotate, zoom, and plan movements for specific areas.  Now external forces can be applied with rubber bands and cause more effect movements never before possible with Invisalign alone. Aligners can be prescribed that have power ridges, a specific thickening of aligners to allow more force application. This all translates into faster more predictable results for our patients.

Finding decay in a tooth is never good news. It is better news when we find decay while it is still small.

I hear many people ask "When do I have to fill it?". My answer..

I am happy to be a dentist in this era. The technology available to dentists today has grown vastly, even in the last 20 years!
If you notice the tooth in the picture here it is indistinguishable from the other teeth. Only in the X-ray can you notice that this tooth is actually a crown.

To be specific this tooth is a Lava crown. It is a strong Zirconia mixture made in various colors by 3M. When we overlay this structure with porcelain it looks, as you can see, like a real tooth.

I have posted this Popular Science article excerpt with a link to the original. The technology is similar to what is used at our Manhattan dental office. I am happy to see that technology is progressing in multiple fields of medicine. I am also very happy that we have already implemented such technology into our routine examinations. If I can stop one person from feeling the damages of Oral Cancer it is all worth it!

As an orthodontic patient I am very appreciative of what my orthodontist did for me.

As an adult I am happy that I had those metal braces when I was in high school. If I were to have braces again however I would never choose metal!

Adults and teens alike have a better option. The photographs you see aside are from a woman who uses the phone for work. She has meetings during the day and did not want to have metal braces altering her appearance. In just 24 weeks her teeth changed from being twisted and spaced to a very pleasing and natural smile!

For most people going to the dentist  is, well, not the most pleasurable experience.  Needles, drills, blood, gagging, who can blame them? But it doesn’t necessarily have to be this way. At least not in our Manhattan dental office. At our Midtown office we stick to three things to ensure that our patients leave with a smile on their face: communication, education and comfort. Since I understand that visiting the dentist (me) is far from a fairytale I always try to find new ways to create a better dental experience and, of course, less painful. Our comfort does not end with sitting on the most comfortable chairs, a simple but important touch, but also includes various ways to make your dental experience...less dreary. I’m talking about: