Chicago Dentist

Lumineers generally cost a little less than other porcelain veneers. Lumineers is a brand name of the Den-Mat Corporation.  Essentially, they are a tough porcelain that can be made very thin.  Their main marketing appeal is that, since they are so thin, the teeth don’t have to be “ground down” any, and they can be placed directly over unprepared teeth without being too bulky. Since the procedure for doing Lumineers is simpler than the procedure for doing traditional porcelain veneers, their cost may be about 3/4 of the cost of porcelain veneers, though that cost will vary from dentist to dentist. However, a couple of warnings are in order. If the teeth are not prepared any before placing the porcelain veneers, the cosmetic dentist has much less latitude in creating a beautiful smile design.  Great cosmetic dentists, being very passionate about the beauty of the work they create, will resist this, and may refuse to place Lumineers in a situation where they feel that they will not end up looking good.

In the blossoming world of cosmetic dentistry, teeth whitening reigns supreme. Universally valued by men and women alike, whitening (or bleaching) treatments are available to satisfy every budget, time frame and temperament. Whether in the form of one-hour bleaching sessions at your dentist’s office, or home-use bleaching kits purchased at your local drugstore, teeth whitening solutions abound. Yet only 15 percent of the population has tried the cosmetic procedure, and misinformation on the subject is rife. The long and the short of it is that teeth whitening works. Virtually everyone who opts for this cosmetic treatment will see moderate to substantial improvement in the brightness and whiteness of their smile. However, teeth whitening is not a permanent solution and requires maintenance or “touch-ups” for a prolonged effect.

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Your dentist may treat gingivitis in several ways, but the first step is to thoroughly clean your teeth, removing all traces of plaque and tartar — a procedure known as scaling. The cleaning may be uncomfortable, especially if your gums are already sensitive or you have extensive plaque and tartar buildup. Gingivitis usually clears up after a professional cleaning as long as you continue to follow a program of good oral hygiene at home. Your dentist may recommend using an antiseptic mouth rinse in addition to brushing and flossing.

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Root canal therapy refers to the process by which a dentist treats the inner aspects of a tooth, specifically that area inside a tooth that is occupied by its “pulp tissue.” Most people would probably refer to a tooth’s pulp tissue as its “nerve.” While a tooth’s pulp tissue does contain nerve fibers it is also composed of arteries, veins, lymph vessels, and connective tissue.

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A root canal is a treatment used to repair and save a tooth that is badly decayed or becomes infected. During a root canal procedure, the nerve and pulp are removed and the inside of the tooth is cleaned and sealed. Without treatment, the tissue surrounding the tooth will become infected and abscesses may form. “Root canal” is the term used to describe the natural cavity within the center of the tooth. The pulp or pulp chamber is the soft area within the root canal. The tooth’s nerve lies within the root canal.

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Your mouth is a busy place. Bacteria - tiny colonies of living organisms are constantly on the move on your teeth, gums, lips and tongue. Cavity Animation Having bacteria in your mouth is a normal thing. While some of the bacteria can be harmful, most are not and some are even helpful. Certain types of bacteria, however, can attach themselves to hard surfaces like the enamel that covers your teeth. If they’re not removed, they multiply and grow in number until a colony forms. More bacteria of different types attach to the colony already growing on the tooth enamel. Proteins that are present in your saliva (spit) also mix in and the bacteria colony becomes a whitish film on the tooth. This film is called plaque, and it’s what causes cavities.

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Sparkling white teeth is part of what makes our smile beautiful and bright as well as being a crucial part of one’s appearance, which is the most important thing today when it comes to make a first impression in the professional or personal field. Here are some essentials teeth whitening tips that are useful for people of all age groups and/or as soon as you see any signs of stains or discoloration of the teeth. Follow the dentist’s advice and brush your teeth twice everyday in the morning and evening just before going to bed as well as floss regularly if possible the best practice is to floss after every meal or at least those meals that you know will leave remains in between your teeth cavities.

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More and more you will find places offering teeth whitening than just your dentists office. You have the option to go to a beauty salon or even a chemist and purchase a kit that will whiten your teeth on your own. With all of them saying that there method is guaranteed to have incredible results, which one do you believe? One option to help you make a decision is cost and you can choose the least expensive route. By taking this path you might end up with lackluster teeth whitening at best and a possible burned mouth at worst. Fact is dentist teeth whitening is still one of the safest routes as well as the one that will get you the best results.

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The strip portion of the Crest Whitestrips ® product is made out of polyetheylene. This type of plastic allows the strip to be very thin and quite flexible. One side of the Crest Whitestrip ® is coated with hydrogen peroxide bleaching agent. The composition of this whitener is adhesive in nature and provides a means by which the strip adheres to the surface of the teeth being whitened. Since the whitener is only placed on one side of the Crest Whitestrip ®, contact between the bleaching agent and the tooth surface is maximized while exposure of the whitener to soft oral tissues and saliva is minimized somewhat.

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Fluoride is a mineral that occurs naturally in many foods and water. Every day, minerals are added to and lost from a tooth’s enamel layer through two processes, demineralization and remineralization. Minerals are lost (demineralization) from a tooth’s enamel layer when acids - formed from plaque bacteria and sugars in the mouth - attack the enamel. Minerals such as fluoride, calcium and phosphate are redeposited (remineralization) to the enamel layer from the foods and waters consumed. Too much demineralization without enough remineralization to repair the enamel layer leads to tooth decay.

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They aren’t just for kids any more. Chances are, you or someone you know has had braces, or as an adult, is about to get them. At 42, Joy Grant is joining a growing trend. The boom in cosmetic dentistry is prompting more adults to consider wearing braces to straighten their teeth – some adults are even opting to get braces at the same time as their children. But adult braces are sometimes more complicated and time-consuming to get fitted for adults because the jaw is already mature. Grant had to have gum surgery before her braces could be fitted — and remembers people telling her she was too old to get them. But as more adults get them, they are finding that the cost of braces are often covered by dental insurance, which in many cases helps those adults to make that decision easier.

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Lumineers are porcelain veneers that fit on the surface of your existing teeth. They are constructed out of extraordinarily strong, contact-lens thin porcelain, and are a painless cosmetic solution to permanently stained, chipped, discolored, misaligned, or spaced teeth, transforming them into a naturally white, radiant smile.

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A Pleasant Hill dentist will be all smiles when he watches the U.S. synchronized swimmers during the Beijing Olympic Games next month. And their smiles will be all the brighter because of his work. On Wednesday, the team dropped into Dr. Ricardo Perez’s office, where he and two assistants prepared free custom tooth-whitening trays for each swimmer and their coaches. Everyone spent about 10 minutes in the chair having impressions made in alginate, a gummy substance that molds to the teeth to create the custom trays. The team members will use the trays with whitening gel to maintain their pearly whites. The services were worth about $300 per person, said Perez, a longtime watcher of the Olympics  “I think it will be cool to see their white teeth when they’re on TV,” he said. “It will be a great thing for them to have a bright smile.”

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ABC’s Good Morning America did a piece last month on dental bleaching at kiosks in malls. They claim that the kiosks are popping-up in malls across the country. I have not been in a mall since probably 1996 but I will assume they are correct and report what they found. ABC News’ Cincinnati affiliate WCPO investigated some mall bleaching kiosks using hidden cameras to uncover what goes on in the booths. The promise? Whiter teeth in just 30 minutes for a fraction of the price a dentist would charge. It’s not a dentist office, it’s a mall. People are getting their teeth whitened in a corridor, wedged between a jewelry story and a makeup shop.

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A tooth fracture can be very painful and traumatic.  The site of a damaged tooth is cause for alarm.  Will the tooth be saved?  How will it wind up looking?  Will is become discolored?  The best thing to do is see your dentist as soon as possible.  The quicker that you can get in for an emergency visit, the better.

To learn more about what to look for in Tooth Fractures, visit the popular article at http://www.chicago-dental.com/tooth_fractures.php.

- The skulls of Cro-Magnon peoples indicate that tooth decay was in evidence some 25,000 years ago, and a Sumerian text from 5000 BC describes “tooth worms” as a cause of dental decay.
- The Chinese used acupuncture around 2700 BC to treat the pain associated with tooth decay.
- The Ebers papyrus from ancient Egypt, written between 1700 and 1500 BC, contains references to diseases of the teeth, and prescriptions for substances such as olive oil, dates and green lead to ease throbbing in the teeth.
- Aesculapius, a Greek physician who lived between 1300 and 1200 BC, is often credited with originating the concept of extracting diseased teeth.
- Between 500 and 300 BC, Hippocrates and Aristotle wrote about ointments and red-hot wire being used to treat diseases of the teeth and gums.
They also discussed tooth extraction and the use of wires to hold broken jaws and loose teeth in place.
- A little later, physicians in Arabia wrote of scraping teeth and using the earliest form of toothbrush, a small stick softened at one end.
- In the Middle Ages in Europe, surgeons frequently acted as dentists for the wealthy, using metal rods as dental drills to remove plaque.
- From the Middle Ages to the early 1700s, barber-surgeons extracted teeth, did minor surgery, applied leeches to let blood and embalmed bodies.
- In the 15th century in Italy, gold leaf was frequently used to fill cavities.
- In the 16th century in France, soft lead was used as filling material.
- French surgeon Pierre Fauchard (1678-1761), author of The Surgeon Dentist, A Treatise on Teeth, is regarded as the father of modern dentistry.
- Dental practitioners who migrated to the North American colonies in the 18th century were mainly concerned with extracting diseased teeth and replacing them with dentures.
- Until the mid-19th century, dentures were custom-made by skilled artisans, who used gold, silver, and ivory for the job.
- In 1851, a process for moulding artificial porcelain teeth was developed, making the manufacture of dentures relatively inexpensive.
Highlights from battle against tooth decay