Neal Nealis, D.D.S.

You need to have a dentist look at this. Gums should not be changing colors.

Betel leaves can cause oral cancer. Maybe switch to Tums?

If they are made precisely, they should last forever.

You had better discuss this with your surgeon.

Grinding teeth is a natural and automatic response to a misfit of the teeth. Most everyone is programmed to grind their teeth when the brain senses an interference in the teeth to what it considers the ideal bite or “occlusion.“ It’s nature’s way of doing its own dentistry. Your child will eventually grow out of it as the teeth find their proper fit. It would be okay to let a dentist have a look at your child’s teeth. He would be better able to understand the occlusion.

Healing from gum grafting should be fairly uneventful. If the surgeon harvests the graft from your palate, the roof of your mouth will be sore, like major burn from hot pizza. My first question would be, "How did the recession occur in the first place and what kind of shape is the underlying supporting bone?”

This is a very interesting question. We never think about whether there is a proper length of time to brush our teeth, and also we don't consider that there is a proper amount of force to be applied to the brush. If we don't brush thoroughly, we get cavities and gum disease. If we brush too hard, we get receding gums and damage to the teeth and bone. To handle both of these considerations I recommend to my patients of all ages to invest in an Oral B electric tooth brush that comes with built in two minute timer and a stress gauge. This brush pauses every thirty seconds signaling it's time to change quadrants, and has an extended pause at two minutes signaling it is time to stop. If too much pressure is applied, the handle lights red. Brilliant. I use this brush as do each of my grown daughters.

Neal Nealis, DDS

I understand your confusion. Root canals are done for teeth with damaged pulps (nerves and blood vessels deep inside the teeth). Sometimes pulps die silent deaths and never give the tooth any pain. However abscesses (balls of pus) will form at the tips of the roots deep in the bone. The abscess will continue to enlarge at the expense of the bone until it reaches the surface of the bone. Then you will get sudden and severe swelling. A dentist can usually identify abscesses before they reach that crisis level. It would help to ask the dentist who told you that you needed the procedure why you need it.

Nighttime grinding of teeth is called "bruxism or bruxing". It is nature's way of milling a better fit for the teeth. Sometimes the bruxing can get out of control and people do serious damage to their teeth, bone or TMJ's. Best to have a dentist with good understanding of 'occlusion' give him an exam before you do anything on your own. You do not want to create an even bigger problem. A good way to find a dentist who understands occlusion is to call either the Dawson Academy or the Pankey Institute. Both of these teaching institutions are located in Florida but teach dentists from around the country about advanced occlusion. They keep records of their dentists who have taken these courses. Good luck.

You ask a good question. The grafting and bonding should be done either before or after Invisalign.

You should have been given instructions on how to care for an implant. You should chew lightly because the implant does not contain nerves that respond to biting forces as do natural teeth. You should get the implant professionally cleaned four times yearly. You should rinse daily with an antibiotic mouthwash containing chlorhexidine.

Porcelain veneers should be permanent. If you are concerned about maybe not liking them and you should be, then ask the dentist to show you of photographs of other people who he has treated with concerns similar to your own. Also your dentist can place bonding material on your teeth but not attach it permanently in order to get an idea of what veneers would look like on your teeth before your teeth are permanently changed. Hope this all makes sense.

Teeth grinding absolutely can cause headaches because muscles are involved in the grinding and if you grind too much, then you will fatigue the muscles. Fatigued muscles can be painful. You should get an occlusal equilibration from someone who has advanced training in "Occlusion".

Buck teeth can be caused by a variety of problems. Not knowing more about your problem limits the help I can provide. I do understand the cosmetic and social considerations and I will try to help. Perhaps you could provide more information and perhaps some photographs. Consider these possibilities and note if any pertain to you. If childhood thumb sucking was a habit and lasted beyond age 12, then the upper bone formed around the thumb and stopped growing in that position. In this situation either advanced orthodontics called "rapid palate expansion" will be needed or perhaps even a surgical procedure to reposition the bone or both. If you fell as a child as all children do and impacted your chin with your mouth open, the lower jaw would have been driven backward and perhaps damaged the growth plates. This would have led to the lower jaw not fully expressing itself, and with natural remodeling created excessive overjet (overjet is the professional term for buck teeth). In this case simple orthodontics might be the answer, or if severe enough then perhaps some advanced orthodontics and/or maxillofacial surgery. If the overjet is simply natural, simple orthodontics well might be the best answer. 

Other options would not be practical such as crowning all the teeth, front and back. I hate cutting into perfectly healthy teeth because no matter how good we dentists get at what we do, our materials are never a substitute for natural tooth enamel. In my practice I go through an entire month providing exams on patients of record without finding a single cavity. My point is that you want to be as conservative as possible. I treat many orthodontic problems, but yours sounds like something that should be handled by a trained orthodontist.

I hope this helps.

Neal Nealis, DDS

Yep, your dry mouth absolutely can be caused by your inhaler, and in fact it is one of the most common side effects. If you have chronic dry mouth, you need to get extra fluoride treatments otherwise you will develop extensive tooth decay.

The frequency that braces are tightened depends upon the size of the wire used, the type of movements being made and the dentist's preference. You really need to ask your dentist.

The center of every tooth houses the "pulp". The pulp is comprised of soft tissues like nerves, veins and arteries. If the pulp becomes infected, then a root canal removes the infected soft tissue.

Whitening varies greatly from person to person. Whiten the teeth until they are the color you want.

I'm not sure what your filling was made of. If it were either composite (which is mostly plastic) or amalgam (which is silver and mercury), those materials last about nine years. If you make them from either gold or ceramic, they will last indefinitely. They cost more in the short term but being a one time expense, they become cost effective in the long term. They are also better for your health as you don't keep whittling down the teeth.

Third trimester should be safe. Minor concern if it were in the first trimester. Good luck with the baby. My two daughters each had babies last year!