A. Pain is a good indicator that there is a problem, but it is also a late indicator. All dental
problems start small and
don't hurt. That is the time to fix them, before they hurt. When a tooth hurts, it may already be abscessed and require
a root canal
. Don't wait for pain.Q. My tooth is sensitive to cold drinks. What could that be?
A. Sensitivity to cold means that the nerve of the tooth is inflamed. If the sensitivity goes right away
after the cold
food or beverage is swallowed, the inflammation is usually reversible by fixing the cause, such as a deep cavity,
grinding your teeth or gum recession. If the cold sensitivity lingers, the tooth may need a
root canal.
Q. My tooth is sensitive to hot drinks and food. What could that be?
A. Sensitivity to hot is usually more serious. That often means that the tooth inflammation is more advanced and may
not be
reversible unless root canal is done.
Q. When I bite down on hard foods, it hurts. What is that?
A. Biting down on hard foods means that there is inflammation at the top of the
root, just like walking with a stone in
your shoe would cause your foot to hurt. If it is due to biting too hard on the tooth, such as would be the case with a
new filling
that is too high, or tooth clenching or grinding, fixing the bite will help. If it is due to an infection in the tooth,
a root canal is probably needed.
Q. My teeth have chips in the front. What causes that?
A. Chips in teeth are caused by mechanical trauma such as a blow to the tooth or, more commonly, tooth grinding.
You can see if the chipping is due to tooth grinding by putting your top and bottom teeth together edge to
edge,
and seeing if the chips or worn spots on the top and bottom teeth line up.
Q. My teeth are sensitive along the gum line to cold. What can I do?
A. Usually these sensitive areas are
caused by tooth clenching or grinding. The solution is to try to desensitize them
by using a prescription-strength fluoride product, such as Prevident, if over the counter products like Sensodyne
don't help. Also, you need to
determine the cause, such as tooth clenching or grinding or gum recession, and correct
that to prevent the problem from getting worse.
Q. I have little notches in my teeth along the gum line. What causes that?
A. We used to think that little notches in teeth along the gum line were due to brushing too hard. Now we know that
they are actually due to
tooth grinding or clenching that literally bends the tooth breaking off the enamel.
Q. I keep getting cavities. What can I do?
A. You don't have to keep getting cavities. You have to stop what
is causing them. Cavities are due to either eating
too much sugar relative to the strength of your teeth and not flossing, or due to old
fillings
leaking and letting decay
under them. You need to discover the problem and then cut down your sugar, start flossing and fix leaking old fillings.
Using a prescription strength fluoride is helpful too.
Q. If you cap a tooth, can it ever decay again?
A. A tooth with a
cap is much less likely to decay than one with a big silver filling
that is more prone to cracking and
leaking. However, a cap is not a permanent solution to prevent decay. You still have to brush and floss and avoid
sugar foods because where the cap ends the tooth can still decay.
Q. If I lost a tooth, do I need to replace it?
A. Except for wisdom teeth, teeth that are lost should generally be replaced because when a tooth is lost, several
things happen. The other teeth may
start to shift, causing food traps which can lead to more decay or gum disease.
In addition, it can throw the bite off leading to bite problems. The last problem is difficulty with chewing, leading to
poor digestion and eating
processed foods which aren't as healthy as harder to chew fresh fruits and vegetable and
high fiber breads and cereals.
Q. I get food, particularly meat or stringy foods, stuck in between my teeth. Why is that?
A. Food traps between your teeth may be due to cavities between the teeth,
fillings
that are breaking or your teeth
may be shifting if you have lost and not replaced missing teeth. It is important to fix these problems because the
trapped food can cause gum disease in addition to being annoying.
Q. Do you have to cap a tooth that had a root canal?
A. Usually a tooth has
root canal due to severe decay. In that case, a cap
is needed to fix the tooth properly so it
does not continue to decay or break. Ask your dentist about your specific situation.
Q. My teeth are generally sensitive. What can I do?
A.
Generalized sensitivity of teeth is usually due to gum recession caused by gum disease or tooth grinding due to a
bite problem. You need to find the source of the problem and fix it. If it is only one tooth, then it could also be
due to
decay.
Q. I've always had weak teeth. What can I do to make them stronger?
A. Some people do have weaker than average teeth. These people can use prescription-strength fluoride, like
Prevident, to make their enamel stronger and more decay-resistance.
Q. Weak teeth run in my family. How can I help my kids avoid cavities?
A. To help your kids avoid decay, make sure they are
getting optimal fluoride in water or by prescription and
minimal sugar. In addition, make sure they are getting dental check-ups twice a year to catch problems while they are
small and practice effective plaque removal at home.
Q. How can I get decay when my teeth are already filled?
A. Teeth that are
filled
can get more decay if the filling chips or cracks open and starts to leak. That is why the material
selected must be strong enough. In fact, an extensively filled tooth is generally weaker than an unfilled tooth. In addition,
if the person does not practice effective plaque control and continues to eat too much sugar for their own system,
decay can start in the remaining unfilled tooth structure.
Q. I have broken several teeth and had a cap made. Why do teeth break?
A. Most commonly, teeth break due to large cavities weakening the remaining tooth structure. That is why, with large
cavities, they usually need to be fixed with a material that can strengthen the tooth, such as a
crown. The other reason
teeth sometimes break is from the pressure of tooth clenching or grinding, which is far
more common than most people
think.
Q. Don't you have to eat some sugar for energy?
A. No. The body cannot turn table sugar directly into energy. The body must convert table sugar (sucrose)
into
glucose to burn it for energy. This is exactly what happens to all carbohydrates and fats we eat, like breads, pasta
and potatoes, as well as fruit sugar (fructose) and sugar from grains (maltose). You actually never need any
table
sugar at all. Ever!
Q. Do some people just have soft teeth?
A. Just like the three little pig's houses, some people's teeth are definitely stronger than others. However, even the
little
pig with the straw house was doing fine until the Big Bad Wolf came along. People with naturally harder teeth,
like the pig living in the brick house, can take more sugar without crumbling, but people with naturally weaker teeth
won't get decay either if they limit their sugar contacts.
Q. If you brush right after eating can you brush away the sugar before it causes decay?
A. The germs in the plaque begin to eat the
sugar as soon as it enters your mouth. By the time you start to brush
it's way too late.
Q. I only eat natural foods, so I have nothing to worry about right?
A. This is one of the biggest lies
of all. Natural just means grown from the soil. There are other "natural" substances
like alcohol, tobacco and cocaine that aren't very good for you either. The only difference between brown or "natural"
sugar and white processed
sugar is the color. Sugar is sugar.
Q. I brush my teeth 5 to 6 times a day; do I still need to floss?
A. From a decay point of view, two good brushings a day will clean the places a brush can
reach. The problem is
that the brush can't go between the teeth where most decay forms. No amount of brushing will replace flossing.
They just don't do the same spots. Just like cleaning the kitchen 6 times a day doesn't make the
bedroom clean.
You need to brush and floss.
Q. If I only eat a little sugar at a time is it less likely to cause decay?
A. More frequent sugar contacts cause much more decay. The truth is that
the number of times per day that you eat
sugar is more significant than the total amount of sugar you eat. Follow this logic. The germs in the plaque are very
small. In the first bite of a sugar food, they get all the sugar they
can eat. It takes the germs about 30 minutes to digest
the sugar and turn it to acid before they are ready to eat more sugar. After the first bite of sugar, they are full. If you eat
a pie in one sitting, that's one sugar contact.
If you cut it up into 24 pieces and eat one per hour, it is 24 sugar contacts.
It may be no less fattening, but it is twenty- four times as decay causing as eating it in one sitting.
Q. If I avoid candy, cakes and gooey desserts, will I still get decay?
A. Most of the sugar consumed in America, about 150 pounds per person per year, is not in candy and cakes.
The problem is that manufacturers put
sugar into all sorts of things like ketchup, white bread, spaghetti sauce,
mayonnaise and most processed foods. That Big Mac with special sauce on a bun is just as decay producing as
the ice cream shake.
Q. If adults outgrow decay, can't they eat more sugar than kids?
A. That is like saying that you can out-grow the damaging effects of bullets. In our office, the real truth is that the
number of cavities per adult
patient is much higher than the number of cavities per child patient.
Q. Fluoride is mainly for kids. Does it help adults?
A. Yes, it does. Adults can get great benefits from fluorides applied
to their teeth on a daily or weekly basis because
fluoride hardens the outside of the tooth. If the outside is harder, decay can't start.
Q. Can I eat all the sugar I want since my teeth are all filled already?
A. The
filling
doesn't seal the tooth as well as a solid tooth that has no filling. Sugar can seep into these cracks more
easily so filled teeth are actually more likely to decay again than unfilled teeth. Always ask the dentist if a cavity is a
new one, and caused by sugar, or due to a broken old filling so you understand what your problem is.
Q. Don't some people have weak teeth and they just can't avoid decay?
A. If you cut the number of sugar contacts down below your own threshold, you won't get decay. Period. Since you
don't
know the number for yourself, you can make a simple food diary. Simply write down everything you eat or drink
for four consecutive days including weekends and weekdays. Then circle anything that either has sugar in it or that
you
add sugar to. Then count them up. If you are decay prone, cut the number of times you eat sugar down to three
times a day. You'll watch decay disappear.
Q. Isn't it hard to get sugar contacts down to the three a day range?
A. These days, with all the processed foods it isn't easy. But now that you have some more information, you'll see
how easy it really is. You just
need to pick and choose.
