Archives for August 2023

Review of Premium Home Whitening Tooth Products

Posted on August 31, 2023 by writeradmin.

I received an advert for a something called Premium Home Whitening Tooth Products. It’s cheaper than what my dentist charges. Do you know anything about this product? If so, will it actually work?

Trish

Dear Trish,

Invisalign Aligner

I did a little investigating into this product. First, the good news. Its teeth whitening ingredient is 35% carbamide peroxide. This will whiten teeth. The light they offer seems to be bogus to me, which does give me pause about the integrity of the company. If you get it, don’t expect the light to do anything.

There are two big differences here, though, about what you get with Premium and what you’d get with your dentist. Obviously, you wouldn’t be doing this under the supervision of a dentist so you’d have no way of knowing if something hinky was going on until it was too late. This leads me to the second issue, their whitening trays. This can lead to problems.

When your dentist provides teeth whitening trays for you, he makes them custom fit to your bite. This keeps the whitening gel on your teeth and away from your gums and saliva. Why is this important? Premium Home Whitening is different. Their’s are not professionally fit and will have serious leakage issues.

When you have leakage there is a three fold problem. First, the gel can reach your gums, which will be an irritant. If you have any exposed areas from your gums wearing down, it can lead to more serious issues. Second, any leaked gel means your teeth are not getting whitened by it. This is a waste of the gel. Thirdly, if gel is leaking out that means your saliva is leaking in, which dilutes the gel making it significantly less effective.

If cost is the only issue keeping you from doing this with your dentist, my recommendation is that you talk to him about it. Most dentists are willing to work with their patients as long as they are upfront about what is going on.

This blog is brought to you by Kalmazoo Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.

Sedation for Wisdom Teeth?

Posted on August 29, 2023 by writeradmin.

My daughter is twenty and has two impacted wisdom teeth. I don’t know how her pediatric dentist missed this but she’s going to our dentist now. We need to get them extracted. I don’t want her in any unnecessary pain, but I also don’t want to use general anesthesia unless it is absolutely necessary. Is sedation dentistry an option or will she need anestheia?

Claudia

Dear Claudia,

You haven’t mentioned any complicating factors in your daughter’s particular case. If that is so and it is simply a matter of your run of the mill impacted wisdom teeth, then using a type of dental sedation known as oral conscious sedation will be more than sufficient.

At your daughter’s age, the bone is still pliable and there hasn’t been enough time for cementum to really gather at the roots of her teeth. Complications at her age are very rare for wisdom tooth extractions.

What Do You Need to Know About Oral Conscious Sedation?

With oral conscious sedation, they will provide her with a pill that she will take before her appointment. It will make her very groggy and unsteady on her feet. Some people call it sleep dentistry because most patients sleep through the entirety of their procedure. She will need you or some other trusted person to drive her to and from her appointment. They’ll also need to stay with her for a few hours after her appointment until she is lucid and steady on her feet.

You can set her up a little area on the couch and let her binge her favorite shows for a while. She’ll mostly need you to help her to the bathroom and make sure everything goes smoothly if she needs any packing changed. Her dentist will provide you with specific instructions for helping with that.

I hope this helps and puts your mind at ease.
This blog is brought to you by Portage, MI Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.

Porcelain Veneer Turning Blue

Posted on August 19, 2023 by writeradmin.

My daughter had porcelain veneers done a few months ago. Not too long after that, she fell and chipped one of the teeth. It was a tiny chip. The dentist’s solution was to sand it just a bit to even the tooth out. Then, he had to sand the adjacent tooth so that they would be the same size. Now, one of those teeth is turning blue. She is already at college and we are panicked that this is a dental emergency. What do we do?

Penny

Dear Penny,

The good news is that I don’t think the repair your dentist did was the cause of what is happening now. The bond between the porcelain veneer and your daughter’s natural tooth should be very strong. Vibrations should not be an issue. I also do not think it is a dental emergency. That being said, there is a problem here. Bear in mind that I have not examined your daughter, but based on your description it sounds like she may have one leaky veneer.

Does She Have a Leaky Veneer?

A leaky porcealin veneer is when the bond between that and the tooth is failing, or wasn’t good to begin with. This is an example of leaky porcelain veneers in their early stages. The coloring comes from substances getting caught between the tooth and the veneer.

This will need to be repaired because decay can develop between the veneer and her tooth. It isn’t a dental emergency necessarily, but she will need to be seen. If she can’t get home anytime soon, she can try to wait. There is a chance that it will fall off. This is actually a good thing, even though it doesn’t sound like it, because it is relatively simple to bond the veneer back on properly if she saves it.

If it doesn’t fall off but begins to turn unsightly and dark, that means a lot more debris has gotten between the two and it will be time to have the veneer removed and replaced. If she is still away at college I would make sure it is an expert cosmetic dentist. Your dentist is ethically bound to provide all his notes and diagnostics to the new dentist which will aide in the procedure. Also, tell your daughter they should do a temporary try in of the tooth and if she isn’t happy with how it matches the other teeth then she needs to tell them to send it back to the lab to get a better match. That is within her rights.

This blog is brought to you by Kalamazoo Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.

Am I Too Old for Invisalign?

Posted on August 7, 2023 by writeradmin.

I was talking to this lovely teenager I ran into the other day. I told her she had a beautiful smile. We got to chatting and I mentioned I have always been embarrassed by my smile and I’m glad she has such a gorgeous one. She told me she didn’t have a pretty smile, but she’d been doing Invisalign. In fact, she took them out so I could see them. I couldn’t believe it! She was wearing braces and I didn’t even know. What a clever design. I am wondering if it is something only for teenagers or if an old biddy such as myself could get them. I’m 72.

Bridgette

Dear Bridgette,

Invisalign Aligner

I am so glad you ran into this young woman. You are definitely not too old for Invisalign. While they are very popular with the teenagers, they were originally designed for the older set. Adults generally have professional jobs where appearance is important. They often wanted to improve their smile but did not feel they would be taken seriously at work with a mouth full of metal. Hence, Invisalign. Eventually, Invisalign Teen came out but that was well after the orignial version.

I would simply go to your dentist and tell him you are interested in Invisalign. If he doesn’t offer it, don’t despair. You just need to do an internet search for “Invisalign Dentist” plus your specific city. A list of dentists will come up that offer it. Many patients go to one dentist for their general work and another for any cosmetic or specialty work they need.

There is a secondary benefit to Invisalign. The aligners can double as teeth whitening trays. This means the dentist can provide you with a special whitening gel that you can wear with your aligners allowing you to straighten and whiten your teeth at a fraction of the cost it would take to do them separately. The teeth whitening is in no way required, but I thought I’d mention the possibility of saving money to you on the off chance it was something you were interested in.

This blog is brought to you by Kalamazoo Cosmetic Dentist Dr. Susan Dennis.