Have you ever heard of dental sealants? These are protective coverings mainly made of plastic that are used to cover the chewing surface of teeth, especially the pre-molars and molars. The main purpose is to prevent tooth decay.

Sealants are simple to apply. A dentist will simply spread the sealant over the chewing surface of your tooth and he will allow it to harden. As it hardens, it will seal all the gaps and depressions on the surface of the tooth. This gives a smooth refined surface which is easy to brush and is protected from decay. They last several years, but still need re-application from time to time.

There are advantages and disadvantages of having dental sealants:

1. ADVANTAGES

• Sealants are very useful in children, they prevent the decaying of their teeth since they don’t know how to brush their teeth thoroughly yet. This reduces the pain of having constant cavities.
• The teeth are easier to clean after the procedure, because it gives a smoother surface. Children will especially enjoy brushing their teeth because the grooves and roughness on the chewing surface will no longer be there.
• The process is simple and pain-free. People are generally afraid of visiting the dentist, so it’s encouraging for them to know that putting sealants is a pain-free process, and can be done quickly.
• The risk of having grooves and depressions in the teeth are minimized. There are also less tooth decays and less pain in the long run.
• There is a big saving of money in the long run. This is in term of making less trips to the dentist in future years, and also there is a saving where perhaps a more expensive procedure like a root canal would have been needed later if the child had not had a sealant put in.

2. DISADVANTAGES

• The initial payment can be expensive because the insurance companies do not easily justify the cost of putting sealants. As much as it is cheaper in the long-run, the initial payment is difficult to justify as some people see it as an unnecessary.
• Unfortunately sealants don’t last a life time; they need to be re-done after every ten years. Also constant review needs to be done regularly.
• In cases where decay had already started when a sealant was put, the decay will be well hidden and it will continue to destroy the tooth, leading to worse damage. Sealants cannot be put on teeth which have fillings.
• People generally hate visiting the dentist; therefore it’s difficult to convince them to go to the dentist for a preventive procedure like this one. They would rather go when they have an urgent dental problem.

You can now make an informed decision as to whether you should get sealants applied on your teeth or those of your children. Whatever decision you make, you can still have good dental health.

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Anyone who has read Mary Shelly’s fictional novel, “Frankenstein,” or has seen any of the myriad of Hollywood horror films beginning with Boris Karloff’s portrayal of the tragic monster, are aware that Victor Frankenstein, the doctor responsible for it’s creation, was a physician who had higher purpose on his mind and a mad scientist’s ego as his driving force.

I am surprised however, that given our profession’s negative and painful image, the title character wasn’t a dentist. After all, though we are quite respected within our communities and do possess the technology to create nearly painless dental experiences, dentistry has been, and still remains, among the most feared and hated of all health professions. Over the years I’ve heard more than a few women comment at social gatherings, “I’d rather have a baby than a root canal.” Dental treatment can make the strongest man in the world sweaty and weak at the knees. The fact that Frankenstein was an MD and not a DDS or a DMD is of some, but frankly, very little comfort.

Even though the dental profession has taken many positive steps towards making dental treatment more comfortable for the public, the negative image of uncaring dentists and painful dentistry has been drilled into the minds of the public for years, not only through negative personal experiences and dental “horror” stories, but also through books, cartoons, TV shows and films. Sadly, that representation continues today through the same channels as well through the Internet, websites, blogging, and YouTube movies.

Unfair and negative depictions of dentists as comic relief or as aloof, uncaring and sadistic, and negatively slanted depictions of dental treatment by the arts and media have scared the psyche of the public and created unnecessary fear. The saddest point is that even in 2010, there are still few if any positive dental characters or memorable passages from books or scenes from movies to counterbalance that negative image. Unfortunately, there are no friendly and affable neighborhood dentists, like Dr. Marcus Welby, MD.

Popular culture has not been kind to dentists. It began with classic paintings of barber who were the dentists of that era, standing on top of horrified, screaming patients with some kind of medieval tool in hand.

As a child, I remember characters in old black-and-white cartoons that devised contraptions of ropes, pulleys and doorknobs to remove a tooth rather than go to the dentist. These images continue to the present in many cartoon series.

In films by the classic comedy duo, Laurel and Hardy, or on episodes in the 1950’s Abbott and Costello TV show, I remember the pained expression on Oliver Hardy’s or Lou Costello’s handkerchief-wrapped face. A string was tied to his tooth and then tied to a doorknob on the other end. Then the other partner slams the door and the tooth goes flying. Funny Huh?

The number one phobia producing film is the 1976 film version of William Goldman’s book, The Marathon Man. In it, there are scenes in which a former Nazi dentist, played insidiously by Lawrence Olivier, attempts to torture and “extract” information from an unwitting college graduate student, played by Dustin Hoffman, by removing his teeth without anesthesia. Ouch!!

In some of the funniest scenes in Hollywood history, yet equally as damaging to the dental phobic, is another well known play and 1986 dark comedy film, The Little Shop of Horrors. In it, Steve Martin stars as the sadistic, nitrous oxide sniffing dentist, treating the equally masochistic, pain-loving patient, played by Bill Murray. This film, though hilarious at times, has kept many a patient away from the dental office.

In the 1970’s comedy film, The In-Laws, Alan Arkin portrayed a dentist who was unknowingly dragged along on a CIA mission with future in-law, CIA agent, Peter Falk. Unfortunately, he left a patient with an impression in his mouth, unable to talk or to call for help. We never do find out what happened to that poor fellow.

In the 1985 film, Compromising Positions, a philandering Long Island dentist is found murdered. His neighbor, played by Susan Sarandon, a former journalist who is now an upper middle-class housewife and a patient of his, decides to try to uncover the real killer. As it turns out, this dentist, with enough mistresses to fill an appointment book, is no Father Knows Best character.

Captain Walter Koskiusko “Painless Pole” Waldowski, DDS was a character in Richard Hooker’s 1968 novel and in the 1970 film, MASH. John Schuck played Waldowski in the film. The character’s name and situation form a series of plays-on-words. Being Polish, a sexually well-endowed man, and being a presumably “painless” dentist, “Painless Pole” is an appropriate nickname. In the film, he fails in bed and wants to commit suicide. His colleagues pretend to help him by giving him a placebo that they tell him will eventually end his life. Then the character Lieutenant Dish, played by Jo Ann Pflug, finds Waldowski lying in his coffin, waiting for what he thinks is his own death. The next morning, having had a successful sexual encounter with Lt. Dish, he arrives for breakfast, calm and completely free of anxiety. This incident is the source of the MASH theme song, “Suicide Is Painless”, which refers to both the technique of suicide and to the dentist’s nickname. This would be funny if not for the fact that dentists have such a high suicide rate.

In the 2000 comedy film, The Whole Nine Yards, and its’ sequel, The Whole Ten Yards, Mathew Perry, of Friends fame, plays an unhappily married dentist in Montreal, Canada named Oz. His new next-door neighbor, played by Bruce Willis, is a former Chicago mob hit man-turned-informant. When Oz tells his greedy wife, she forces him to go to Chicago and try to sell the hitman’s location to the mobsters he betrayed. To get his wife off his back, he goes. Meanwhile, Oz’s wife rats on Oz to Jimmy, hoping Jimmy will kill Oz so she can cash in on Oz’s life insurance. Pretty soon everybody wants to kill everyone else, but, especially our unhappy, unfulfilled, dentist.

Novocaine is a 2001 film starring Steve Martin as the dentist, Laura Dern as his hygenist-fianceé and Helena Bonham Carter as Susan, a patient with more on her mind than relief from an uncomfortable tooth, and getting a prescription for Demerol. She makes an appointment, and she seduces the dentist into getting drunk and having sex with her. She then steals all his narcotics, sells them to an 18-year old boy, who then dies in a car accident. The plot goes downhill from there. His fiancée’ kills his brother in the dental chair. He then pulls out his dead brother’s teeth, pulls out his own teeth and puts them into a mold. He super-glues the mold into his brother’s mouth and starts a fire. He and Susan, having become lovers, go to France to live, while his former fiancée’, who killed his brother, (who everyone thinks is the dentist because of his teeth) goes to prison for life. Believe me, this is not a typical day in the life of a dentist.

In the 1970’s, Peter Bonerz played the goofy friend and dentist sharing a professional office-building floor with psychiatrist Bob Hartley, played by Bob Newhart in the TV series, The Bob Newhart Show. The key words here are dentist and goofy.

In the 90’s sitcom, Seinfeld, Dr. Tim Whatley, played by Bryan Cranston, who later plays the father in the sitcom, Malcolm in the Middle, calls himself, “Dentist to the Stars.” As Jerry’s dentist, he is accused of converting to Judaism so that he could say Jewish jokes, and being a “re-gifter,’ giving someone a gift that you received from someone else. Jerry is also upset at seeing Penthouse magazines in the waiting room and having possibly sexually molested while he was unconscious during a tooth filling. And then the most troublesome was receiving Christmas gifts from his dentist that were intended as donations to charities made in the dentist’s name. The phrase, “anti-dentite,” is introduced in the show by Kramer. What an unpleasant character this dentist, Dr. Whatley, is portrayed as, certainly not someone you can trust to be your dental caregiver.

The plot in one episode of the long running, animated TV comedy series, The Simpsons, called “Painless Dentistry,” revolves around the father, Homer, being told that his daughter, Lisa, needs braces. So that he doesn’t have to pay for her braces, he runs for and is elected as the President of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant union. He then leads the workers of the plant in a strike in order to get their revoked dental plan back. What he will do in order to pay for dentistry is a bit excessive, but in this day and age of insurance issues, it is quite timely and understandable.

Andy Dick plays Matthew Brock in the 1990’s comedy series, News Radio. He is described as a news reporter and official office weird guy. He’s a health-nut, has a desk covered in vitamin bottles, and is very anti-smoking. Despite his apparent lack of intellect, it’s revealed in the fourth season that Matthew is a dentist who gave up his practice because radio, not dentistry, was his passion.

Glen Jacobs, professional wrestler, made his debut with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as Dr. Isaac Yankem DDS from 1995-1996. The name was obviously a pun, “I Yank’em”, as in “I yank teeth”. The use of such terms as “yank” when referring to removing a tooth is one of the fear trigger words that causes angst and should be avoided.

Since 1978, the comic strip, For Better or For Worse has portrayed dentist, John Patterson in a more favorable light as a dentist, father, and husband to wife, Elly Patterson, a married stay-at-home mother of two, who periodically fills in as a dental assistant in John’s office. The everyday problems of being a family are thankfully more humorously portrayed.

An animated British TV series, Bob and Margaret, 1998-2001, follows the comedic adventures of a married couple, Bob and Margaret Fish. Bob is a dentist and Margaret is a Chiropodist. I’ve never seen the show so I can’t give an opinion about the content.

Another British entry into the media bash the dentists’ image, is the TV 2000-the present television show, My Family. The main character, Ben Harper, played by Robert Lindsay, is described as a misanthropic dentist who shows little compassion for his family, his patients, his partner or anyone else he encounters, and who doesn’t seem to care about anyone other than himself. Again, I have not seen this show, but from all indications, the title character is a dentist who unfortunately fits the mold of most people’s negative view of dentists’ poor personality traits.

In the Prison TV Drama Series, OZ, which ran from 1997-2003, a prison dentist, Dr. Tariq Faraj, appears twice. In one episode, as a form of revenge towards a white supremacist inmate’s racial slurs, this prison dentist of Pakistani origin and warped sense of humor, transplants gum tissue from a dead black man onto the racist’s receded gums. Since his blood is no longer pure, and because of his “ghetto gums,” the white supremacist gets kicked out of the Aryan Brotherhood. Well that doesn’t stop that resourceful and nifty Neo-Nazi from cutting out his transplanted gums with a razor blade without a local anesthetic. WOW!!! OH My GOD, THAT HURTS!!!

On the present day on going television series, Desperate Housewives, the dentist, Dr. Orson Hodge, played by Kyle Maclachlan, kills, but didn’t really kill his first wife, (his mother is eventually exposed as the killer), ran over Mike the Plumber (Richard Denton), and knowing that Mike is having a drug problem, prescribes the very medication to which Mike is addicted. He then marries one of the housewives, goes to prison for the previously attempted murder of Mike the Plumber, loses his license, becomes a kleptomaniac, and is involved in a fight with his wife’s lover during which the lover is killed. He is severely injured and now rolls around town in a wheelchair. How this dentist of questionable character will end up is anybody’s guess. He certainly is not going to win the dentist of the year award.

The latest entry into the character assassination of the dental profession is Glenn Martin, DDS, an animated comedy on Nick at Nite about a dentist who buys an RV, and sets off on a cross-country adventure (or should I say misadventure) with his family doing some dentistry while on vacation. I did see one episode and was not impressed. “Variety” states in their review, “Glen Martin, DDS isn’t as bad as visiting the dentist, but isn’t much better than sitting in the waiting room.” Thank you “Variety” for that eloquent summation of my profession.

So there you have it. Certainly these past portrayals have been less than positive and have contributed greatly to keeping nearly 1/3 of our population from regular dental visits. I know that there have been some dentists who have been positively represented in art and media. But they are relatively few and far between. I certainly would appreciate receiving emails or blogs from readers talking about the dentist they loved, or their own positive dental experiences, or any positive dental images or characters that they have encountered. I am very happy to put them all together in another article.

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Also called removable, acrylic partial dentures, flipper dentures are temporary appliances for filling in gaps in a patient's smile. Consisting of a retainer holding any number of prosthetic teeth, flipper dentures are typically used for replacing front teeth. So, for those who have gaps in their smile and want that fixed as soon as possible, check with your dental professional to see if flipper dentures are the right option for you and your oral health.

Getting Dentures

Whether it's due to tooth decay or injury, losing front teeth can leave patients feeling self-conscious, even to the point of hiding their mouth at any given moment, but this style of dentures can fill those gaps immediately. To create these dentures, a dentist must first make an impression of the patient's mouth, which a dental lab will use to make the actual final product.

Regarding cost, this can vary due to certain factors, such as how many teeth are being replaced, a patient's location, and the materials a dentist uses, costing anywhere from $ 300 and $ 500. A patient's dentist can let them know beforehand how much they should anticipate paying, but this choice is often the least expensive type of temporary dentures available.

What Patients Should Expect

When patients first get their flipper denture, it might feel awkward or bulky inside the mouth, but most get used to the new appliance in time. At the same time, patients should keep their dentist informed if there is any pressure or pain caused by their dentures. Both pressure and pain aren't things to get used to-it's a sign the dentures don't fit properly and need adjusting.

Also, because flipper dentures are retainers, one can be flipped out of place by the tongue, so patients should avoid using their tongue to keep their dentures in place. They're also susceptible to staining, so it's best to avoid pigmented drinks and foods, such as curries, dark juice, and coffee, to keep the appliance looking good.

For maintenance, they must be cleaned each day to remove food debris and plaque, using a soft-bristle toothbrush but no toothpaste, which may be too rough on dentures. Instead, use mild soap or a dishwashing liquid before thoroughly rinsing the dentures and putting them back in the mouth.

Moving Forward

Oftentimes, these dentures are meant to be temporary, so that, once a wound has fully healed, a more permanent solution, such as a fixed bridge or dental implants, can be used.

As well, give they can be loose fitting and uncomfortable, they aren't a great long-term solution for most patients. At the same time, they offer a viable, permanent teeth replacement solution for some cases, such as when patients aren't good candidates for fixed bridges or dental implants or if patients have budget limitations.

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Toothaches can cause you sleepless nights. As a matter of fact, an aching tooth can make your life unbearable. It induces headaches, paralyzing pain in the mouth and makes eating a problem that you cannot begin to imagine. This is mainly as a result of tooth decay, which leads to the infection of the pulp and makes it so hard for you to live comfortably. Root canal therapy has been advanced over the years to make sure that you are able to easily access fantastic dental care.

What exactly is root canal therapy?

A root canal, also known as endodontic therapy, is a sequence of treatments focused on the pulp cavity of the tooth. When the pulp cavity is infected, it causes severe tooth sensitivity and lots of pain. Endodontic therapy therefore aims at eliminating the infection plus protecting the decontaminated tooth from any future invasion by micro organisms.

Simply put, this treatment is focused on the inside of the tooth. It is a necessary form of treatment for a pulp that has become infected or inflamed. The causes of the infection or inflammation vary tremendously. In most cases, it is deep decay of the tooth, but in others, it could be a faulty crown, repeated dental procedures on the tooth or a crack in the tooth. On top of that, any kind of trauma to a tooth can cause damage to the pulp even if the tooth does not have any visible cracks or chips. When left untreated, the infection causes a lot of pain.

How does root canal therapy help?

During the root canal treatment, the infected or inflamed pulp is carefully removed and the interior of the tooth is cleaned. It is then disinfected to prevent any further damage by infection. Once the cleaning and disinfection is complete, the tooth is filled and sealed up using a rubber-like material known as gutta-percha. The final step is to restore the tooth with a crown or filling that offers protection.

This procedure is very important to make sure that the teeth function like any other teeth. Therefore, the benefits of a root canal therapy are just so many including:

1. Restoring normal biting force and sensation
2. Chewing remains efficient
3. Protecting the other teeth from excessive straining or wear
4. Maintaining the natural appearance of the tooth

How long does the procedure take?

A root canal is a rather simple procedure when carried out by an experienced professional. Depending on the condition of your tooth and personal circumstances, it can be completed in one or two appointments. This is contrary to popular thought regarding this procedure. Once the procedure is done, the tooth can last for as long as the other natural teeth.

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It has been said that there is no pain worse than a toothache. Images of what people will do to deal with this are branded into our consciousness through movies like Cast Away with Tom Hanks, Marathon Man with Dustin Hoffman, and many others. I’m sure that you can think of a few others without trying too hard.

The pain, the throbbing, the agonizing feeling that your head is about to explode are a reality for many at this very moment. I have had women tell me they would rather experience childbirth than the pain associated with a toothache. As a man, I wouldn’t know, but at least with childbirth you have something to show for the experience at the end.

It is also a reality that much of this is entirely avoidable. Here are a few ways to get a handle on this starting right now:

1. Understand that you can have a cavity without experiencing tooth pain. This is probably, the main reason that people get into trouble. They assume that if a tooth isn’t hurting, there must not be anything wrong with it. Nothing could be further from the truth. You can even have multiple cavities — on the same tooth — without pain in the early and moderate stages of decay. How is this possible? It’s simple. The outer layer of your tooth, called enamel, is mineral. It has no nerves and therefore will not send you a pain signal to say it is breaking down.

2. Watch your diet. Avoid sugary foods, drinks, and snacks. Cut sodas out of your diet. The average 12 oz. can of soda contains about as many teaspoons of sugar. Many foods also contain hidden sugars. Foods with bleached flour (think bread, pizza, bagels, cereals, chips, pasta, etc.) are among the stickiest and most acid-forming foods out there. I would venture to guess that the residue following a sandwich or pretzel will probably stick to your tooth longer than a caramel. Bad news if you don’t brush after meals.

3. Develop disciplined oral hygiene habits. Make brushing your teeth after meals and snacks, as well as daily flossing, a part of your daily routine. Many people start out well (especially after a trip to the dentist), but become less disciplined after a few weeks. Very often they will stop flossing altogether, for example. You need to make your hygiene routine as regular a part of your daily habit as eating.

4. Get out of the “emergency” mentality. Some people will only see a dentist for emergencies. You know who you are. So does the dentist. As my receptionist puts it when one of these people calls: “His (or her) head must be on fire.” Emergencies end up costing you far more than preventive care. If you don’t believe it, ask your dentist about the cost of a filling versus an emergency visit that involves a root canal… and then the tooth restoration following the root canal. The latter type of visit usually costs you more than ten times the former.

5. See your dentist regularly. Believe it or not, this actually saves you money in the long-run. Patients that see their dentist at least twice a year are much less likely to experience the high costs associated with neglect than those who see their dentist only when they perceive a problem. There is also the matter of lost income associated with time out of work. Perhaps not least importantly, you will avoid much of the pain and discomfort that comes with abscesses, bleeding gums, broken teeth, and swollen faces.

Take care of yourself. Apart from the health risks involved with infection and the inability to digest your food well when you lose your teeth, tooth pain can put a serious dent in your disposition. It’s hard to be happy when you are losing sleep because of constant throbbing or when you can’t concentrate at work or at home. You can find more tips on how to prevent dental problems and save money while doing so in the article section of my website.

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