Sometimes getting braces is not the first step in your orthodontic treatment. It's possible that during your consultation at your orthodontic center, your orthodontist will advise you to have certain teeth extracted before he or she can properly treat you with braces. It may seem scary to have your permanent teeth pulled; However, tooth extraction is sometimes absolutely necessary for successful braces treatment. There are a few cases where tooth extraction is necessary before braces treatment:

• Overcrowding- when there is significant crowding of the teeth, extraction may be necessary to make space for proper alignment of the teeth. This is the most common reason for extraction and is usually done in 2s or 4s (taking the same teeth from the bottom as the top) in order to keep your smile symmetrical.
• Protrusion- when the top teeth stick out too much or the bottom teeth do not extend far enough forward, tooth extraction can create the necessary space to move the front teeth backwards in the mouth and stop the lips and teeth from sticking out.
• Overbite / underbite – when the upper jaw extends far beyond the lower jaw (overbite) or the lower jaw extends beyond the upper jaw (underbite), extracting certain teeth and using braces to move the remaining teeth and compensate for the jaw misalignment is a great alternative to using surgery to correct the problem.

Your orthodontic specialist will not perform the extraction; usually he or she will refer you to an oral surgeon who will perform the extraction at relatively low pain and hassle to you. It's true that you need to watch your diet after the extraction and you may feel a little soreness, but overall, the procedure is routine and easy. You will be able to return to your normal activities the next day and in some cases the same day as the extraction. It's important to be conscious of your chewing and take extra time to clean your teeth to avoid getting any food caught in the gaps, but tooth extraction should not cause you much anxiety. Shortly after the extraction, you will return to your orthodontic center to begin your treatment with braces. The braces will close the gaps left behind by your teeth, usually within four months to one year. By the end of your treatment, you will not be able to notice from the look of your mouth that you had teeth extracted.

It is important to go over all of your options with your orthodontic specialist and pick a treatment plan that both you and your doctor feel most comfortable with.

Find The Best Dental Plans in Your Area, Top Companies

Full Name*

Phone*

Email*

GET INFO

It is no secret that healthy teeth and optimal oral care contribute significantly to having a good overall health. This makes it important to go for preventive dental check ups regularly; however, serious dental conditions requiring complicated procedures require you to urgently visit your dentist. Whether going for a cosmetic dentistry routine to fix your smile or undergoing a more complicated root canal treatment (RCT), following are the five things you must expect from your dental care provider:

Experienced Team of Dental Care Practitioners

The most important thing for a reliable dental practice is to have an experienced team of dentists, dental hygienists, and dental assistants. Quality dental clinics have multispecialty experts who excel in their respective fields ranging from cosmetic dentistry (smile designing, teeth whitening, laser bleaching) and orthodontics (brace procedures, serial extractions, myofunctional appliance control), to endodontics (root canal, pulpotomy, tooth coloured fillings) and prosthetics (implants, partial dentures, crowns/bridges).

Ease and Convenience of Access to Care

Getting convenient access to care without long waiting period is an essential factor that contributes to patient satisfaction. Whether you need a cosmetic dental procedure or require a follow up on your root canal treatment, every patient expects to be granted an appointment as soon as possible.

Round-the-Clock Services

While dental clinics should be open during peak visiting hours, 24×7 emergency services also constitutes an integral part of their operation. There are several times when patients experience unbearable pain or inconvenience during non-practice hours, such as during the middle of the night or holidays. Considering this, mobile dental vans have gained much appreciation from the patients and the dental fraternity alike. Not only do these 24 hour dental care services spare you the inconvenience of commuting, they deliver state-of-the art treatment at your doorstep.

Top-Notch Hygiene Standards

Patients should pay close attention to the standards of cleanliness followed by dental practices. This not only involves highest standards of sterilization with regards to dental treatments and procedures but also general hygiene of the reception and patient waiting areas.

Approachable Staff Reflecting Quality Care

Having a team of warm and friendly patient-facing professionals, dentists, dental hygienists and dental assistants is an invaluable asset to the patients. Patients should expect a pleasant experience right from when the appointment is fixed over the phone to when the procedure is complete at the clinic. This is an important factor that converts first-time patients to regular ones. More importantly, all dental care practitioners should reflect highest standards of oral health in their own mouths.

Find The Best Dental Plans in Your Area, Top Companies

Full Name*

Phone*

Email*

GET INFO

If you are on the market looking for the perfect dental plan to suit you or you and your family's needs, then have a quick look at this Safeguard Dental plans article as they seem to get the best cover for their members and try to save them as much as they possibly can. This company offers plans that save members money without cutting down on standards and these plans aim to cover all that you or your family might want when it comes to looking after your dental health and one of those plans just might be the right one for you.

With the plans from Safeguard Dental plans, the benefits provided are significant and it will appeal to anyone who is in the market looking for a dental plan. They offer 2 plans, called the Premier Plan and the Classic Plan. These plans are available in the state of California, Texas and Florida. With these plans, they aim to give their members comprehensive coverage with discounts that save members a lot of money.

The savings members are expected to get with the Premier Choice plan include saving $ 95 on a procedure like Resin-based (white) filling, $ 1,045 on Complete upper denture, S155 on Root planning and scaling, $ 57 on Sealant per tooth, $ 710 on Crown ( porcelain to base metal) and $ 168 on a Extraction or erupted tooth amongst making savings on many other dental procedures that is covered by the Premier Choice plan.

The savings members are expected to get with the Classic Choice plan include saving $ 95 on a procedure like Resin-based (white) filling, $ 845 on Complete upper denture, $ 130 on Root planning and scaling, $ 37 on Sealant per tooth, $ 605 on Crown ( porcelain to base metal) and $ 153 on a Extraction or erupted tooth amongst making savings on many other dental procedures that is covered by the Classic Choice plan.

Preventive services which would normally cost quite a bit can cost members on these plans almost nothing or less than a fraction of the typical price.

Members on the Premier Choice plan pay nothing for procedures like Comprehensive oral exam (normally costs $ 89), 2 bite-wing X-rays (normally costs $ 45) and Teeth Cleaning for adults (this normally costs $ 219) and a member's total out-of -pocket cost and office visit co-pay can come up to only $ 5 which is saving a lot as typical out-of-pocket costs can be around $ 219.

Members on the Classic Choice plan pay nothing for procedures like Comprehensive oral exam (normally costs $ 89) and 2 bite-wing X-rays (normally costs $ 45). And for procedures like teeth cleaning for adults, which normally cost around $ 219, members only pay $ 20, for office visits co-pay, members pay $ 10 and a member's total out-of-pocket cost can come up to around $ 30 which is saving a lot as typical out-of-pocket costs can be around $ 219.

Find The Best Dental Plans in Your Area, Top Companies

Full Name*

Phone*

Email*

GET INFO

For many years, serious periodontal problems were treated with conventional or traditional surgery (cutting, sutures, flaps) which were often painful, time-consuming, and presented problems for patients on certain medications. About 10 years ago, the FDA approved a laser treatment called LANAP or Laser-Assisted New Attachment Procedure, which revolutionized periodontal care. Since then, approximately 300-400 periodontists have begun using the procedure, and have administered care to a very large patient population around the United States and Canada.

There are several advantages to an FDA cleared laser protocol. Laser surgery typically results in a more predictable clinical response than traditional surgery. The healing response is several weeks ahead of traditional surgery, with minimal post-operative discomfort. Also, in many clinical situations, many questionable teeth have been retained that might have been extracted using just traditional techniques. Even if extractions have to be performed, the laser treatment enhances a clinically faster healing response than traditional extractions.

Laser treatment does not require patients to stop using prescribed blood thinners, cardiac medications, and other systemic medications. Using traditional surgical techniques, these medications often had to be stopped for several days before and after the surgery. This elevated the health risk to patients. The laser approach makes the process quicker, safer, and easier from a medical point of view.

Unlike traditional periodontal surgery, laser periodontal surgery cases often require only one visit. In many clinical settings, this laser periodontal surgery produces better clinical results than traditional surgery done in multiple visits. Periodontal disease is often treated in patients prior to cardiac bypass surgery, stent procedures, prosthetic replacements (hips and knees, for example), chemotherapy, radiation treatments, and many other medical conditions. Laser treatment can be done with a minimum amount of trauma and inconvenience prior to these other medical procedures.

In conclusion, in the practices in which it is used, an FDA-cleared laser protocol has become the treatment of choice for approximately 80% of periodontal disease cases, with great benefit to patients.

Find The Best Dental Plans in Your Area, Top Companies

Full Name*

Phone*

Email*

GET INFO

Are you a candidate for TMJ surgery? You could be, depending on the cause and severity of your symptoms. Surgery, though, is usually the option of last resort, when all other treatments have failed.

Dentists are one of the primary types of TMJ specialists, and they may offer you some form of corrective dental treatment as a first alternative treatment. For example, the biting surfaces of your teeth may need balancing, or it may be that you need to replace missing teeth to correct your bite. The treatment may even be as simple as getting a crown or a filling replaced, which can reduce the stress in your jaw. However, you should know that any or all of these treatments may have the chance of worsening your TMJ pain. Make sure you and your dentist are agreed on the course of action.

What are the options?

Arthrocentesis. This is a simple procedure that involves the extraction of fluid from the joint. The dentist injects a needle into the joint then irrigates the area in an attempt to remove debris and other inflammatory byproducts. Once it has been sufficiently cleared, he may then inject either a lubricant into the space to help the joint move more normally, or a steroid to help healing. The procedure is minimally invasive, and recovery time is short – at most, individuals need two days to recover from it. This procedure doesn’t work for every patient, though; some patients who receive it say it did nothing to relieve their pain. If your dentist recommends this approach you need to consider it very carefully, as it is still surgery, and as the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research believes it to be somewhat controversial.

Arthroscopy. This is a slightly more invasive treatment than arthrocentesis, although it is somewhat similar in procedure. In these cases, the surgeon uses a small camera to examine the interior of your jaw joint. Depending on what he finds, he may perform other procedures while he’s there, such as stitching your discs in place if they have moved out of alignment, or removing excess or loose scar tissue. Performed on an outpatient basis, recovery time is longer than for arthrocentesis. Most people require at least a week before they can return to work. This type of surgery leaves little in the way of scarring; in fact, in most instances, there is none at all. The required incision is typically less than five millimeters long, requiring only a very few stitches to close. If you notice any type of lingering marks, they most likely will be in the form of some temporary bruising in the area.

Arthroplasty. If your TMJ symptoms can’t be resolved using the least invasive forms of surgery, you may find yourself a candidate for arthroplasty, also known as open joint surgery. Not only does this treatment give your surgeon the best possible view of your jaw, it’s the method of choice for the repair, removal, or replacement of the articular disc, as well as general surgery to the bone. Performed under either local or general anesthesia it, like the less invasive surgeries we’ve discussed, involves making a small cut over the jaw, directly in front of the ear. This exposes the joint space, allowing the surgeon room to repair the damage.

Osseous Surgery. This treatment refers to a procedure for re-structuring or re-shaping the disc. TMJ pain can occur due to poorly formed bones in the joint area. This surgery attempts to remodel the bone to alleviate the problem.

Menictomy. If your surgeon recommends this procedure, he’s talking about either the total or partial removal of the disc. It may be that this cartilage is so badly damaged that it just can’t be saved, and he must perform either a partial or a total removal of the articular disc and consequently replace it with an implant. The implant consists of a synesthetic material which performs the same function as the disc, preventing the joint bones from rubbing against each other.

As you can see, all of these procedures are invasive, and they should not be taken lightly. Talk with your TMJ specialist to ensure that TMJ surgery is really the right treatment for your symptoms. By trying less drastic measures first, you can save yourself a lot of additional pain.

Find The Best Dental Plans in Your Area, Top Companies

Full Name*

Phone*

Email*

GET INFO