Dr. Virginia Chin, DDS

If your tooth has no physical and/radiographic pathology, then yes. It is okay to have a crown. In some other instance, if you tooth is diagnosed of being positively having a " Crack tooth Syndrome" at its early stage, then Yes, you should also have a crown to protect and prevent the crack from getting worsen. Other instance that you need a crown is that if you have an existing super large filling being placed on a tooth, you will also need to consider getting a crown to protect and prevent the tooth from further chipping/ breaking.

Under normal circumstances, a dental patient does not need antibiotics after gum pinhole surgery. However, if there is any other underlying healthy issue(s)such as immuno-compromised, un-control diabetes, artificial heart valves or hip/ knee replacement and etc.that a patient has, or the surgical site is not healthy and has an existing infection that has not been controlled yet, then this patient will need antibiotics.

HI, It depends on the angle, the position, complexity of the wisdom tooth, whether the wisdom tooth has to be cut out or not. Also, the age and the overall well being of a patient. On my nephew, in his mid twenty, took about one and a half months to fully recover. MY teen son only had pain for two weeks. Some patients had pain for only one day. Others had pain for a couple of weeks. The most important things you need to do is to follow the post-operative instruction. Take you medication if prescribed to you by your dentist. Hope that will help! God bless!

For the comfort of patient, most patient typically only need local anesthetics. If a patient is extremely apprehensive, in this case sometime He / She may need to go under conscious sedation. The only time that a patient does not need local anesthesia for a root canal procedure is that if the tooth is diagnosed with Necrotic pulp ( the nerve is completely dead, no response to temperature, to electric pulp testing, and the tooth involved is asymptomatic ).

If the pinhole surgery was performed on you gum inside the mouth, then you may brush your teeth ONLY on the non-surgical area/ site. Avoid brushing your teeth near the surgical area in your mouth. Your dentist would usually prescribe a prescription strength mouth wash for you to keep the surgical site clean.

Hi, patients usually need about two to three months of healing / recovery time after extraction before one can place a bridge on.

The proper way to drain a gum abscess ( also called gum-boil ) to go to see a dental profession. However, If you cannot get a dental appointment any time soon and you want to do DIY at home. Then, A second proper way is to get the following items-- A sterilized needle ( from sewing) , Isopropal ( Rubbing) Alcohol, some topical anesthetics gel ( such as Orajel, Anbesol or similar), a cotton Q tip, a clean gauze, mouth wash or dilute Hydrogen peroxide. Here are the simple steps. (i) Clean your mouth with either antiseptic mouthwash or dilute peroxide solution ( 1 Peroxide : 2 water ratio ). (2) Use the q tip, apply / rub some topical anesthetic gel onto the gum abscess area for 1 to 2 minutes. (3) Sterilize you sewing needle with either isopropal alcohol, or matches or cigarette lighter. (4) once your gum is numb, insert the sterilized needle into the abscess.( 5) wiggle the tip of the needle in circular motion for a few times to promote drainage. (6) Then, remove the needle, use a clean gauze to squeeze the whitish pus out until you see either clear fluid or clear blood oozing out. (7) On the subsequent days, continue to use warm salt water to rinse until you see your dentist. Hope that will help.

Thank you for asking that good questions. After a person finished with his/her Invisalign treatment, one should wear the retainers for a life time. This rules applies regardless of whether or not you have Invisalign ( here collectively called as Clear Aligner Therapy) or the traditional orthodontic brackets and wires treatment. The main reason is that for the majority of individuals who have orthodontic treatment, their teeth will tends to drift and shit slowly over time. So, in order to prevent this relapse from happening, one should wear the retainers regularly.

If you have a newly made denture recently and you developed a sore area. It is important that you go back to your dentist for a follow up visit. During this follow up visit, you dentist will make appropriate adjustment on your newly fabricated denture so that your sore spot(s) will goes away. It usually it take a few days for the soreness to heal. However, If you have a developed sore sport(s) from denture that was made over 5 to 10 years ago, It is probably about time that you need a new denture. This is true especially if it is a full denture. The average life span of a denture is about 5- 10 years. In some unusual circumstance, it might even last beyond 10 years, depending on how you take care you the denture, and depending on your health. Our body our bone constantly change over time, so does our jaw bone. For a fully edentulous jaw bone, its morphology changes over time. Therefore , a full denture made over 5- 10 years ago will usually became loose because our jaw bone changes. Hope that answer your question! Best Regard, Dr. Chin

As long as the abscess is draining on its own, and you are taking antibiotics, then it is okay to wait until your dental appointment becomes available.

If you have your own family Dentist, I would suggest that you go to your regular dentist, have him/her take a look at the condition of your decayed tooth. Your dentist will then evaluate your condition, provide proper recommendation, treatment. If the tooth needs to be removed surgically, Usually, he/she may or will prescribe antibiotic and pain medicine for you post-operatively according to the treatment outcome.

A dental bridge is one of the several treatment options for missing a tooth. Under normal circumstance, a dental bridge will not cause damage to the adjacent teeth. However, if the adjacent teeth are not healthy, or having some other underlying compromise condition, such as periodontal ( gum ) disease, then it will compromise the long term success of a dental bridge.

It is perfectly normal for your teeth to be hurt after your braces is being put on. Normally this type of toothache will go away after a few days to a week. On some unusual occasions, the discomfort may even last for a couple of weeks. When your teeth are hurting during this transient period of time, there are a couple of things you can do. First, take some over-the-counter ( OTC) pain relief medicine. Secondly, stay on a soft diet during this short period. Avoid chewy, tough, and crunchy food.

After teeth are pulled, it takes about two to three months of complete healing before a partial or full denture can be made.

I am so glad that you ask the question. The best and proper way to clean under a dental bridge is to buy some dental " Floss Threader" from any major grocery store or pharmacy. The floss threader is usually made of plastic material, similar to a lightweight fishing line. It shapes like a plastic needle with a large loop at one end, where you may put a piece of floss through it. You will use the other end of the floss to gently go under the dental bridge at the gumline area. Once the floss threader passed under the bridge, you continue to pull the floss through and under it. Then, use the index finger and thumbs from both hands to pull the floss back and for about ten times between the teeth. Please note that, if you have not flossed under the bridge before, it is normal that your gum may be sore and bleed for the first few days. Once you get into a routine of flossing under the dental bridge, the soreness and bleeding will go away under normal circumstances. However, if your gum keeps bleeding after you continuously floss for 7 -10 days, you may want to check with your dentist to check if there is an underlying issue with your gum. Hope that will help!

In response to your question, the answer is both "Yes" and "NO". Yes, if all of your daughter's baby teeth are exfoliated. Preferably all of her permanent teeth fully erupt. "NO" if her baby teeth are still present.

After you had root canal surgery, you should take all of the necessary medication prescribed by your dentist, and rest and sleep. Please do not stay up overnight.

Thank you for asking me the questions. Before I can answer your questions, I would like to see if I may have your permission to submit your pre-and post-operative dental radiographs to my attention. Without looking into and comparing the radiographs before and after the treatment, it is difficult to answer your particular situation. In some instances, we may need different diagnostic tools ( such as Cone Beam Scan ) to determine what may be the cause of your dental pain. on one hand, if you had some relatively large and old amalgam fillings on all those involved teeth for many years, those old amalgam fillings could potentially cause a micro hairline crack. When you replace it, it could have more problems. If those old fillings were deep and near the pulp ( nerve), replacing them could irritate the pulp, causing subsequent inflammatory response/ sensitivity/pain...On the other hand, if those "old" fillings were NOT too large and NOT too deep, then replacing them may cause temporary/short-term sensitivity to cold, which usually will go away after a few weeks to a few months. Please feel free to reach out to me. I will be more than happy to evaluate your situation. Blessings to you!

Don't worry! Drinking coffee before visiting your dentist is not a bad thing. However, it is the quantity and what you put inside the coffee that matters most. For example, someone who drinks more than 3-4 large cups of coffee a day is not good. Someone who puts a lot of sugar in their coffee is bad for their teeth. Someone who constantly sips on a sugar-loaded coffee around the clock is bad for their teeth and their health. Caffeine is a stimulant. Our bodies will develop tolerance and get use to the caffeine over time. Our body will crave more caffeine. You heard the story that some people have to drink at least 4-5 cups of coffee a day. If not, their body will develop withdrawal syndrome such as trembling and nervousness. For teenagers, if you have enough rest and good hours of sleep at night, regular exercise, there is no reason to drink coffee to "keep yourself awake" during the day. Having said so, if you have to stay up late studying and preparing for your final exams, it is okay to drink some coffee once in a while.
Hope that answer will help!

There several ways to approach teeth brushing with braces on. (1) use the long end of the bristles, place it at about 45 degree angle towards your gum line, and brush horizontally with short strokes and in a semi-circular motion. Repeat this brushing technique for all other area, where the orthodontic brackets are presence, (2) For the interproximal area ( which is the area in between the teeth), you may go to a local grocery, or pharmacy stores. Look for a Proxybrush—it looks like a baby milk bottle brush, or a Christmas tree, except that it is a very tiny little version. This Proxybrush helps to brush your teeth behind the wires and between teeth teeth. (3) There is a specific Orthodontic toothbrush on the market. The bristles is “V” trimmed, allowing somewhat easier to brush. The price ranges differently. One may find it online and from Amazon.com. (4) Last, but not least, whatever techniques you prefer to use, please do not forget to floss your teeth regularly. A floss threader will definitely helps you to make the floss go through the interproximal area much more easier.