Why Should I floss my teeth?

Most of the dental workers will tell you to floss every day.
Then you heard on the media that the benefits of flossing is not proven.

Many people think, it is very time consuming. some people told me it is very hard to floss the back teeth.
I am a firm believer of flossing.
Can your brush can reach the space between the teeth? If you have nicely aligned tooth, brush is not going to reach the inter-dental space. The tiny food particles will stay in that small space.  That will cause cavities between teeth.
Think of the place where gums and tooth meet. Bush will not reach there. The plaque accumulate that area will cause gingivitis, ie. inflammation of the gums. Untreated gingivitis will cause bone loss and eventually tooth will fall off. Gingivitis is the main cause of bad breath.

The solution:  floss every day. Floss is designed to go between the teeth and go a little below the gum level to remove food and plaque.
By flossing everyday, you are reducing your dental costs too. If there is no cavity, no need for fillings. You can even reduce the number of annual dental cleaning visits.

After doing it for about a month, flossing will become easy for you. Then it will not be a time consuming process.

So start your new habit of flossing.

What is a tooth coloured filling?

Jane is at the dental office for a six months dental cleaning appointment. 
While checking her teeth, the dentist told her she is getting a cavity and it needs to be filled. 
The dentist kindly explained that cavity is like a hole on the tooth. There is decayed tooth structure in the hole. The filling will be a tooth colored material. 

So, How the dental filling is done?

The cavity is small and not going deep to touch the nerve. Then a regular filling can be done. 

first the dentist will use a drill to remove the decayed tooth structure. that means the hole is going to be a little bigger. They need to prepare the cavity in a way that the filling material will stick to the tooth. 

Once the tooth is prepared, they etch the tooth surface using 37 percent Phosphoric acid. It is blue coloured and comes in a plastic syringe usually. The etch will roughen the tooth surface so that the filling will stick to the tooth very nicely.

Etch will be washed with water and then the tooth will be dried using air. Then cotton rolls will be placed on the sides of the tooth to prevent saliva getting on the tooth.

Next step is the application of bonding. Bonding agent is a liquid plastic. This liquid will flow into the etched surface nicely. Then the dentist use a blue colored light to harden the bond so that it will be locked on the tooth surface. Then a composite material is added on top it to give tooth its necessary shape.

Each layer of composite material is hardened using curing light . Once the filling is done, then the height of the filling adjusted so that it feels normal when you are biting. 

That is how a simple dental composite filling is done.

What is a Dental X-ray?

Your dentist is telling you, you need to get an X-ray.
Why do you need an X-ray?
How they are going to take it?

Dental X-rays are to create picture of your tooth. These images are 2D. There are two types of dental radiographs: intra oral and extra oral.
Intra oral radiographs are taken inside of the moth and extra oral are taken outside of the mouth.
Intra oral radiographs taken while you are sitting on the dental chair. They can be film or digital. Films are placed inside the moth and after the X-ray exposure, they will be processed to view the picture.
The digital ones can be viewed immediately after the exposure on the computer screen.
Dentist will study these images and find out the details like, cavities, bone support, infection etc.
The extra oral X-rays are used to view impacted teeth, the jaw structure etc. They will not give finer details of the tooth as in the intra oral X-rays.
X-rays play an important role in diagnosing dental problems and to create treatment plans.

When you learn that your dental assistant is HARP certified, you may think, what is it!
HARP stands for Healing Arts Radiation Protection. There is not certification issued for each person. It just means that they successfully completed a Radiography curriculum  approved by HARP commission.

Dental Cleaning means

So, you got your new insurance.
You have dental coverage. Every one said, first go for a cleaning.
If you are visiting for the first time, like many immigrants and refugees here, then you have no clue what it means.
So, I will tell you what to expect.
When you reach your chosen dental office, they are going to ask you to fill out a form. Mainly you will be filling out name address and stuff like that.
Then there is place to fill your medical history. The dentist wants to know about your allergies, regular medications you are taking etc. If you have any heart condition, or other diseases, you must mention that too.
Then fill out your insurance information too. Your health card is not needed in a dental office.
Once they take you in, the dentist will examine your teeth, tongue and the jaws. Then will discuss the findings with you. If needed the dentist will prescribe X-rays. Then will usually create a treatment plan.
I will tell you about the dental cleaning now. Some offices the dentist will do the dental cleaning. Some offices, they will assign a dental hygienist to do the cleaning.
Either way, they are going to use something called cavitron to clean your teeth. The instrument vibrates to help remove the calculus from teeth. There will be water coming from the tip as well. The water will cool down the instrument.

There will be a straw like thing to take the water out from your mouth, called saliva ejector.
Not a very pleasant experience, but not a very painful one either.
If it is your first time, and you are not keen in flossing everyday, you can experience some bleeding.
After the cleaning is done, there will be a polishing. It is similar to an electric brush. Instead of tooth paste there will be polishing pate/prophy paste.

While examining, the dentist will let you know about the findings. If you like, you can make a treatment plan too.