Sports Mouth Guards

Nearly 40% of all dental injuries happen while playing sports. While contact sports like hockey and football are the worst offenders, other activities like cycling and skiing carry a certain risk as well. To help prevent or lessen the effect of sports related trauma, we recommend always using a custom mouth guard.

Mouth guards are semisoft retainers molded to either the maxillary or mandibular teeth. They are usually thicker than a nightguard but still soft and compliant when you bite down on them. If you are wearing a guard and fall or receive a blow to the face, it helps distribute the force of impact over a greater area, thus reducing the risk for chipped or cracked teeth. Likewise, the chance of biting through a tongue or lip is reduced by the blunting effect of the soft plastic. Some athletes also subconsciously grind their teeth in intense situations and these guards can protect against this abrasive enamel wear. 

You can buy mouth guards at almost any sporting goods stores. Most of them are of the "boil and bite" variety, where you heat the plastic in a pot of water and bite down on them. These usually work well enough, but we encourage you to bring the guard to your dental appointment and let us examine it. Misshapen guards can irritate the gums or cause mild orthodontic movement of the teeth.

For a "professional" fit, our office can make custom guards for any patient of record. We start by taking an impression of your teeth, create a stone model and vacuum form plastic over the model until a minimally effective thickness is reached. A short second visit is needed to deliver and adjust the guard to your comfort. If you would like to know more about mouth guards, dental trauma or other preventative oral health measures, please give our office a call!

Crown Lengthening

A quick overview of crown lengthening. Once the Decay is acessable, a permanent crown or filling can be placed. 

Crown lengthening is a dental procedure most often performed by a periodontist where an incremental amount of bone and tissue is removed from a tooth's gum line. This is most commonly used to reveal more tooth structure and facilitate the placement of a crown. If a tooth has deep decay or a fracture to the bone level, creating a good seal between tooth and crown is impossible. In order to save the tooth, the "crown" (portion of tooth above the gum line) has to be "lengthened," at the expense of the root. Crown lengthening is also performed on the anterior teeth for esthetic reasons. Uneven gum lines and "gummy" smiles can sometimes be fixed through this procedure. Many times, this must be followed up with crowns or veneers to create a cosmetic appearance. 

While crown lengthening allows us to save teeth that would otherwise need to be extracted, it is not without potential drawbacks. Lowering the gum and bone level on a tooth can compromise its long term stability in the jaw. By gaining length in the tooth crown, the roots become gradually shorter and less anchored in bone. This procedure can also negatively affect the adjacent teeth as well. The periodontist needs to create a natural bone contour, and will often need to adjust around the neighboring teeth to make a smooth transition. 

Often times, crown lengthening is only one of a few treatment options. Teeth can also be extruded using orthodontics to create more crown structure. Likewise, a tooth with a questionable longevity can be replaced with a implant in many scenarios. Only a comprehensive dental exam will reveal what can and needs to be done to save a tooth. To schedule an exam or find out about more dental treatment options, please give our office a call!

Posts and Cores for Dental Crowns

If you have had a dental crown recently placed (particularly on a root canal treated tooth) you may have been surprised to learn that you needed a post or core placed in addition to the crown. These procedures allow us to maximize the strength of the natural enamel and add structure back to broken down teeth. In every instance, they are an integral part of the long term success of a crown. 

When teeth have root canals placed or deep cavities removed, they are left with a large hole in the center of the tooth or a missing wall of enamel. For a crown to be successfully cemented, the tooth has to have a fairly regular "teepee" shape. Any large holes or divots in the tooth prevent the lab from making a successful restoration.  A core is a bulk of material added to the tooth to provide strength and structure prior to finishing the crown. They are made from a variety of material, depending on the specific needs of the tooth and the plan for the final crown. Many times the endodontist will place the buildup themselves once the root canal is finished. 

When a tooth is missing multiple walls of enamel or lacks enough structure above the gumline (as is common with fractured teeth), a post may need to be placed in addition to a core. Posts are solid metal or composite rods that are cemented in the roots of root canal treated teeth. They extend upward and act as an anchor for the core buildup. Without a post, large cores are prone to failure and fracture. This causes huge headaches, particularly after the root canal and crown are completed. An important point to note is that posts can only be placed on root canal treated teeth, as it needs to be placed within the root system. In rare instances, a root canal may be performed on a healthy tooth so that a post can be placed.

We always try our best to notify patients of the potential need for a post and/or core prior to starting crown treatment. These procedures are not optional steps, but rather necessary precautions for the long term stability of the tooth. If you would like to know more about posts, cores, dental crowns or root canals, please give our office a call!

Specialist Spotlight: Westlake Oral and Plastic Surgery

At Thousand Oaks Family Dentistry, we are proud of the network of skilled dental specialists we have created. Whether you are in our office or one of our associates’ offices, know that you will be treated with respect, kindness and experience. Today, we would like to highlight the surgical services offered by Westlake Oral and Plastic Surgery.

At Westlake Oral and Plastic Surgery, Doctors Donald Nikchevich, Michael Newton and Scott Bennion provide our patients with the best in surgical care. They approach every situation with years of experience and the latest in dental technology. We typically refer to Westlake Oral and Plastic Surgery for patients requiring dental extractions or implants. In both situations, technologies like cone beam CT scans and platelet rich plasma (PRP) applications ensure the best outcomes coupled with speedy and predictable recovery. 

With your referral appointment, be sure to check out the Westlake Oral and Plastic Surgery website to register with their office and add your medical history online. This helps streamline your surgical consultation and ensures accuracy of information. If you have any questions on your upcoming dental referrals or would just like to recap your treatment plan/options, feel free to give our office a call!

Website: www.scoms.com

Address: 911 Hampshire Road, Westlake Village, CA, 91361

 

Smile Repair Using Bonding and Emax Crown

Today's patient came to us with complaints of mismatched central incisors. The patient's right incisor had a large composite (tooth colored) filing that had become worn and stained over time. Their left incisor had a crown that was too light and opaque compared to the surrounding teeth. Both of these esthetic problems are very common, as teeth tend to age differently from the materials we use in dentistry. Composite fillings pick up stain and erode more quickly than enamel while crowns do not respond to color changes like surrounding teeth. The result is that restorations in the front of the mouth gradually become more obvious and less natural over time. 

Dr. Kari Ann Hong set out to repair this smile by placing a new filling on the left incisor and using an Emax Lithium Disilicate crown on the right. The new restorations add natural coloring, opacity and shape back to the patient's smile. In the before picture, the existing dental work is fairly obvious. The new crown and filling blend naturally and bring harmony back to this smile! If you would like to know more about crowns, fillings or other cosmetic procedures we perform at our office, please give us a call!

Molar Replacement with Implant and Zirconia Crown

Although studies show that the population's general oral health is improving, over half of all adults will be missing at least one tooth by retirement age. In the past, single tooth replacement options were limited to bridges (that required drilling on the teeth adjacent to the missing area) or removable dentures. Many patients found these options unpleasing and sought after something that could replicate the function and convenience of natural teeth. Fortunately, implants can offer exactly that- a fixed tooth replacement that functions independently of the adjacent teeth!

For today's patient, a missing first molar was replaced using a titanium implant and zirconia crown. As with any procedure, careful planning and communication between our office and the surgeon's office ensured that the implant was placed exactly according to the patient's needs. One the bone was given time to heal and osseointegrate (grow new bone around the titanium screw), we took impressions and had our lab create a durable and esthetic replacement crown. A process like this one typically takes about 4-6 months from implant placement to final crown delivery, depending largely on the body's healing process. 

While implants are a fantastic treatment option, they are not appropriate for every patient in every circumstance. You must be healthy enough for the placement surgery and have enough strong healthy bone to support the implant. Additionally, there are certain treatment options/scenarios where implants simply will not work. If you would like to know more about implants and how we use them to replace teeth, please give  give our office a call!

Dental Sealants

February is the official National Children's Dental Health Month, as recognized by the ADA. Thousand Oaks Family Dentistry will be rolling out weekly topics relating to pediatric dentistry all month long. Make sure to check back regularly to catch all the great information. 

While Dental Sealants are appropriate for patients of all ages, they are most commonly placed on kids and teens to maximize their preventative ability. The pit and groove patterns of the chewing teeth create near-perfect food traps. In fact, they are often so deep and narrow that toothbrush bristles cannot reach the furthest depths. Bacteria can then grow in these areas undisturbed and fueled by a constant food source. This is the general pattern behind cavities on the biting (occlusal) surfaces of teeth.  

Sealants interrupt this process by physically filling in the deepest parts of these pits and grooves. With the space gone, the risk of developing cavities in these areas is significantly decreased. The process of placing a sealant takes about 45 minutes (depending on the number of teeth) and does not require a shot. We start by cleaning the teeth with gentle air abrasion. Once the teeth are free of saliva, bacteria and food, we place the material into all deep grooves. The procedure is finished by checking the patient's bite and making sure the sealant is well bonded to the tooth. 

It is important to understand that sealants only protect against decay on the biting surfaces of the teeth. Cavities between the teeth (another common area) are only prevented by proper brushing and flossing. Additionally, it is worth noting that sealants can fall off over time and are much more likely to fail if the patient's home care is insufficient. As always, the key is brushing twice a day with fluoride toothpaste and flossing daily. If you have any more questions about sealants, what they do or why we place them, please give our office a call!

Complete Smile Makeover!

What makes a perfect smile "pop?"

Today's patient came to our office wanting a smile that exuded natural beauty. Their existing teeth had a general "flat" appearance with uneven wear on the edges. Younger/cosmetically desirable teeth tend to have more variance in shape between adjacent teeth and more symmetry across the midline. Each tooth has unique anatomic features, and a great smile captures these subtle differences!

To create this transformation, Dr. Kari Ann Hong prepared the patient's anterior teeth (from canine to canine) for dental crowns. Impressions were taken and sent to Opus One Dental Lab where six crowns were fashioned from Emax lithium disilicate material. Emax allows us to make hyper-realistic crowns that capture the translucency and shading of natural enamel while remaining resistant to fracture. The result is absolutely stunning! If you would like to know more about dental crowns, smile esthetics or cosmetic dentistry, please give our office a call!

Perfecting Incisors using Emax Crowns

One of the most common dental anomalies is underdeveloped lateral incisors. Often referred to as peg laterals, this condition typically presents as two lateral incisors that look smaller and mismatched when compared to the central incisors. For today's patient, Dr. Kari Ann Hong chose to correct the cosmetics of this smile using two beautiful Emax lithium disilicate crowns.

Since the incisors were already undersized, only a minimal amount of tooth structure had to be removed in fitting the crown. By working with Opus One Dental Lab a near perfect match was made to the natural central incisors. Notice the delicate translucency near the edges of the teeth and harmonious shape. We even captured the pronounced developmental grooves (called mamelons) on the central incisors. The result is a beautiful smile that looks more natural than the "before" shot!

If you would like to know more about the cosmetic services we offer at Thousand Oaks Family Dentistry and what we can do for your smile, please give our office a call!

Grinding and Night Guards

For many patients, nighttime grinding and clenching cause a host of problems including broken crowns, worn down incisors and sore jaw muscles. These habits fall under the category of bruxism- the involuntary contraction and movement of the jaw muscles. 

In most instances, bruxism occurs at night when you sleep. It can also occur during daytime hours in periods of intense stress or concentration. Early signs of bruxism include sore jaw muscles, sensitive teeth and "scalloped" indentations on the sides of the tongue. Later indications include fractured enamel, blunted cusp tips and chipped porcelain on dental crowns. It is generally understood that bruxism is caused by stress and external triggers that activate automatic responses in the brainstem. As such, tackling the cause of bruxism involves a deeper investigation into stress, coping mechanisms and mental health. 

From a dental perspective, our office offers custom fitted night guards to protect against the effects of nighttime grinding and clenching. On top of preventing damage to the teeth, these appliances feature a completely level biting surface. This allows all the opposing teeth to contact the guard at the same time, increase comfort and preventing jaw fatigue. Night guards usually need two appointments- one for initial impressions and a followup to deliver and adjust the finished guard. 

Night guards represent only one of many protective and preventative services we offer. If you would like to know more about bruxism, night time grinding or how to prevent it please give our office a call.