This patient today broke off his upper lateral incisor. We discussed the different restorative options. I told him I would try to save the root and build a tooth back up for him and place a crown. The tooth had a root canal many years ago. I drilled out the canal and cemented a titanium post inside the canal and build the tooth up. I prepared the tooth and made and cemented a zirconium crown over the build-up.
Tag Archives: dentistry
Bridge case of the day
This patient had a non-restorable decayed upper first molar tooth. I recommended a bridge since his adjacent teeth already had crowns on them. We extracted the infected molar and placed a temporary bridge. Following healing I prepared the adjacent teeth and fabricated and cemented a fixed 3 unit zirconia porcelain bridge. Here’s the before and after pictures.
Implant/crown case of the day
Chipped tooth of the day
Implant case of the day
This patient had a fractured upper first bicuspid tooth that needed to be extracted. I restored her tooth with a Zimmer Biomet 3i Encode screw retained dental implant. Here are my clinical photos of the crown delivery today.
Chipped tooth of the day
Filling of The Day
This patient had an old amalgam filling with recurrent decay. I removed the filling and decay and placed a beautiful ceramic composite restoration.
Implant case of the day
Tips for Your Teeth: Halloween Edition
Dr. Gentry’s Tips for Healthy Teeth
- Eat Halloween candy right after meals. The saliva produced during meals will help dilute the acids produced by the mouth bacteria in response to the sugar and the saliva will help rinse away food particles.
- Avoid candy that lasts a long time. It’s the length of time the sugar is in your mouth that is the critical factor. The longer the candy is in the mouth the more damage to the teeth.
- Stay away from sticky candy. The longer the sugary candy is stuck to the teeth the more decay will occur. Stay away from gummy bears, sticky fudge and taffy. Stay away from sour candy. Sour candy is highly acidic leading to erosion of enamel.
- Drink more water. Tap water with fluoride is best. This will help wash away the candy.
- Eat good healthy foods and don’t fill up on sugary candy. You need good nutrition for healthy teeth and gums.
- Stay away from sodas and sports drinks. The frequent contact with the sugary liquid will increase damage to teeth.
- Chewing sugarless gum after eating candy will cause increased saliva production, which will neutralize the acid in the mouth and wash away food.
- Brush as soon as possible after eating. If you ate sour or acidic foods rinse with water a few times first to neutralize the acid so not to push the acid into the enamel. Brush for two minutes.
- Floss! Flossing removes plaque and food stuck between the teeth where the toothbrush can’t reach.
- Visit your dentist regularly to catch dental problems early, and “treat” them before they get really scary. … Remember good oral health is a major contributor to good overall health.
Bridge to replace a missing tooth
For this patient, I replaced his lower right missing bicuspid tooth with a porcelain fused to metal bridge. Normally we would place an implant, however, in this case his mandibular bone was very thin in this area, and the distal tooth was very badly decayed and needed to have a crown. So I recommended a bridge to replace the missing tooth.
This next patient was missing a lower molar and the adjacent teeth were badly broken down. We elected to try to save the remaining teeth and made a porcelain fused to metal bridge to replace the missing molar and restore the adjacent posterior teeth. The other option would have been to extract the 3 broken down teeth and place dental implants to restore the lower left quadrant. Here’s the before picture showing the broken down teeth, and after with the bridge cemented in place.