Pediatric Dentist Portland & Oregon City » Mark Mutschler

Dental Fears

Mark Mutschler — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 16:22:11 +0000

Many of the young children I see are coming to the dentist for the first time. They have no experience of dentistry yet they are often fearful. Why? I believe that children pick up both verbal and non-verbal messages from parents, siblings, friends, and even TV shows that make fun of how scary a dental [...]

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Dental Fears

The Best Toothpaste

Mark Mutschler — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 02:55:08 +0000

There are so many types of toothpastes available that I often get asked by parents, “Which toothpaste should I use?”. These basic types of toothpaste are available: non-fluoridated fluoridated highly fluoridated sensitive formula tartar control formula whitening with or without sodium lauryl sulftate soap All toothpastes have pretty much the same ingredients, but try to make themselves [...]

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The Best Toothpaste

Dietary Supplements for Dental Health

Mark Mutschler — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 21:29:05 +0000

Today a mother of a six year old girl from West Linn told me that she would not give her daughter any food that had aspartame in it because it accumulated in brain cells and could not be removed. Since only natural sugar would do, naturally her daughter has many cavities. In addition to regular sucrose [...]

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Dietary Supplements for Dental Health

Baby Juice Bottles

Mark Mutschler — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 09:11:55 +0000

Parents who come into my Portland, Oregon pediatric dental practice often tell me, “My baby loves juice and I just cannot take it away, so I water it down.” These parents love their babies and want them to have all the good things in life. Juice is sweet and delicious and healthy too. Right? Fruit [...]

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Baby Juice Bottles

How Braces Move Teeth

Mark Mutschler — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 13:18:20 +0000

Kids that suck their thumbs often have buck-teeth. Why? A girl from Gladstone, Oregon asked me why her front teeth stuck out so far. She was a first grader who found it very hard to stop being a thumb sucker. Teeth are connected to jaw bones by thousands of tiny fibers that surround the roots and [...]

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How Braces Move Teeth

Expanding Your Palate

Mark Mutschler — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:38:37 +0000

If you are an artist, your palatte may be very messy and colorful. If you are a gourmand, then your palate describes your appreciation of smell and taste. Anatomically, your palate as the roof of your mouth. Some people have a narrow palate for a variety of reasons: thumbsucking pacificer use low tongue posture birth [...]

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Expanding Your Palate

Crossbites

Mark Mutschler — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 21:25:25 +0000

Let’s get some definitions out of the way. Upper teeth that bite inside lower teeth are called: crossbite cross-bite cross bite An anterior crossbite involves the front teeth and a posterior crossbite involves the back teeth. Rarely, the upper posterior teeth bite completely outside the lower teeth in a condition called a scissor bite. A [...]

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Crossbites

Saving Space

Mark Mutschler — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 19:05:02 +0000

Orthodontists are always worrying about space. When we are lucky, and this is most of the time, there is just the right amount of space for the top teeth and the bottom teeth to come together properly when all the teeth touch and are nice and straight. The primary baby teeth are important for chewing [...]

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Saving Space

Treating Portland Pulps & Root Canals

Mark Mutschler — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 00:05:35 +0000

“Root canal? Ouch!” That is what most of my Portland patients tell me, but luckily root canal treatments take away toothaches to make you feel better. Usually dentists prefer to treat infected root canal pulps before they start to hurt because this is the most comfortable way to go. Waiting for a tooth to hurt [...]

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Treating Portland Pulps & Root Canals

When to Start Kids Braces?

Mark Mutschler — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:59:42 +0000

Most of my Portland patients ask me when to start braces for their kids. I have been practicing orthodontics in Portland since 1995 and so I have seen many of my pediatric dental patients grow up from infancy through their teens. Some orthodontists recommend treating crooked teeth or teeth that do not occlude (bite together properly) in [...]

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When to Start Kids Braces?