Porcelain Fillings

Posted on October 9, 2016 by Holistic Dentist

porcelain fillings

Porcelain Fillings

Introducing Composite Free or Plastic Free dental fillings. We now have Porcelain Fillings which are more Biocompatible than Plastic/Composite fillings. Composite fillings are made of tiny Plastic Particles made of the chemical Bis-GMA. Plastic Fillings often contain BPAs and have a higher incidence of patient sensitivity or allergic reactions. Porcelain Teeth Fillings contain tiny glass particles and do not cause patient sensitivities or allergies. Porcelain Fillings are tooth-colored and produce a nice cosmetic dental result. Porcelain fillings are also an ideal option when Amalgam Fillings are Removed and there is sufficient tooth structure to avoid a crown. In a ‪‎holistic or ‪‎biological dentistry‬ practice, selection of biocompatible materials is integral to overall health. ‪‎

Porcelain fillings offer additional advantages in that porcelain is inherently stronger than composite. Dentists hope to see better performance from Porcelain Fillings over Composite Fillings. Composite fillings in the past have been more susceptible to wear than normal tooth structure and dental crowns. The “glass” property of porcelain is more wear resistant than plastic and composite. Porcelain is a lot more like enamel in structure and moves more like enamel during chewing. Composite is more flexible and stretches more than enamel in fucntion. The greater “flexibility” of composite over enamel causes stress between the composite-enamel interface, causing a higher rate of de-bonding of the composite material. Porcelain Fillings are “fillings” which are much less expensive than porcelain crowns. Porcelain Fillings are slightly more expensive than Composite Fillings, but still only 25% as expensive as Porcelain Crowns. Porcelain Fillings can also be completed in one visit versus two visits necessary for a crown. It is important to note that Porcelain filling are not a replacement when a crown becomes necessary. Crowns are necessary when more than 50% of the tooth surface area is being replaced and the tooth is in need of rebuilding and not just filling. Fillings do not add any structural strength to a tooth, but rather they rely upon the remaining tooth structure to support it. If a filling is used is a situation where a crown is necessary, the tooth will break resulting in likely nerve damage and tooth loss.

Porcelain filling material represents the most significant advancement in dental filling material in over 30 years. The german company Voco released the material after much research in 2015 after it was approved by the FDA.

TMJ Treatment In Rockville, MD

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Holistic Dentist

TMJ Treatment

There are lots of simple home remedies for treating TMJ Pain: stretches, hot cloths, tongue exercises.

But if your jaw pain is bad enough that you’re considering a consultation with a dentist, we can possibly assume you’ve tried these remedies and need to consider a more serious approach.

The sources of TMJ Pain are facial muscles used for chewing, TMJ joint inflammation and teeth and gums getting too much pressure from Tooth Clenching. The cause of TMJ pain is the poor fit of the teeth top to bottom or what dentists call a bad bite. When teeth do not fit one another properly a patient needs to dislocate their TMJ joints to get their teeth to fit. The dislocation every time a patient chews, swallows, opens and closes causes muscles and TMJ joints to function in a poor position and causes neuromuscular pain and Tooth Clenching and Tooth Grinding and then more neuromuscular pain.

To solve or cure TMJ Pain it is necessary to correct a patients poor bite, so the patient will stop Tooth Clenching and Tooth Grinding. Some patients are not aware that they clench. Most of the time the Tooth Clenching happens at night.

Treating TMJ Pain at Natural Dentist Associates is done in two stages: 1) indirect treatment focusing mostly on reducing joint, muscle, gum and tooth inflammation. TMJ patients are treated by a TMJ Dentist with corrective bite Splint Therapy. Basically, records are taken to diagnose how the patients jaws and teeth are out of alignment. Subsequently, a corrective bite splint or Occlusal Splint is made to correct the misalignment. A splint looks a lot like a hard plastic mouth guard, but an Occlusal Splint actually has a corrective bite and cures the patients clenching problem. In severe cases Botox is used to medically calm down the muscles by injection of the drug into the tight chewing muscles. 2) once all the inflammation is better and the patient is asymptomatic, direct corrective treatment can be done to correct the patients bad bite. The correction depends on the patients problem. For example, a patients teeth may be in the wrong position and they may need to be orthodontically moved. The fit of the teeth may be poor and the patient may need bite adjustments and possibly some crowns and fillings redone. Occasionally, patients may have incompatible sized and shaped jaws top to bottom. In this latter case, surgery is the only true direct correction. Surgery is a serious decision and should not be taken lightly. Surgery should be the last resort and only performed when the symptoms are bad and there is a lot of dysfunction and all other options have been exhausted.

Increasingly, Botox is one treatment used by dentists and doctors in the treatment of acute severe TMJ Pain, Tooth Clenching and Tooth Grinding. It is important to note that Botox is an adjunctive treatment to actual corrective TMJ Therapy. Botox will have the effect of greatly reducing muscle tension, the patient feels less symptomatic and it is easier for the TMJ Dentist to diagnose and treat a TMJ patient. Botox will often lessen treatment time by shutting down muscle tension temporarily as the TMJ Dentist corrects the actual cause of TMJ Pain. From a biological standpoint, Botox impedes the body’s release of a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine in the areas where it is injected. Without the presence of this neurotransmitter, muscles in the area whereBotox is injected remain relaxed. Botox is more of a supportive therapy and not a corrective therapy.

Today, Botox is a household word best known, of course, for its aesthetic uses as a wrinkle relaxer, but it first caught on medically as a substance used to help people who had eye problems, particularly crossed eyes, or eye twitching.

A San Francisco-based ophthalmologist named Alan B. Scott realized in the 1960s that there could be medical uses for what we now call Botox. After testing the substance on cross-eyed monkeys for a decade or so, he received permission to test on humans in 1978.

Botox-using ophthalmologists noticed that the substance had one interesting side effect: Their patients were starting to look a little younger, because their wrinkles were disappearing after the treatment.

Since that time, Botox has also been used to treat everything from bladder spasms to excessive sweating. Lately, some Dentists have started stocking Botox as well. As it turns out, the same substance that can fix the problem of eye twitching can also be used, in many cases, to relax the jaw muscles that are at the root of TMJ pain.

One Stop Dental Implants

Posted on April 23, 2014 by Holistic Dentist

We are a full service Dental Implant Office

Our goal is to simplify the dental implant process by providing all phases of dental implant therapy without the need for a referral to see another doctor at a different location. We recommend dental implants to restore missing and broken teeth. Tooth replacement solutions have evolved to meet the dental needs of the population. As of now, dental implants have served as the standard of care for tooth replacement in the dental profession for more than two decades. Research shows that patients who received dental implants during the 1980′s and 1990′s report that their implants continue to perform at an optimal level. This research demonstrates that dental implants provide a long-term solution for replacing missing or broken teeth. One big advantage of dental implants, is that adjacent teeth do not need to be prepared or ground down to hold your new replacement tooth/teeth in place. IV Sedation Dentistry is available for this procedure in Rockville, Maryland.

Dental Implant FAQ

How Long Does it Take to replace a tooth with a Dental Implant?

A tooth can be replaced with a dental implant on the same day as a tooth extraction. The New implant can be viewed as a new root. It takes 8-11 weeks for bone to grow around and attach to the new implant. After bone has grown and attached, implant integration, a Zirconia Crown can be placed on top of the dental implant. During the healing time, a temporary tooth can be provided for cosmetic reasons if necessary.

Dental implants look and function just like your natural teeth.

Dental implants consist of three parts: a root replacement form, a crown that is shaped and shaded to match your natural teeth. As well as an abutment that connects the new root or dental implant to the crown portion of the newly implanted tooth. Each dental implant functions as your tooth and tooth root would function. They form a strong foundation for chewing and of course your beautiful smile.

We offer Zirconia Metal-Free Implants and Titanium Dental Implants.

Replacing a missing tooth or teeth is a two part procedure. At Natural Dentist Associates we do both parts of the procedure. Our dental team places the implant root and then restores it with a crown. It has been noted that many patients who opt for dentures are dissatisfied and wish they had opted for dental implants.