Education
Saving Space
Baby teeth are useful for many things:
- chewing on things (not always a good thing)
- eating
- talking
- smiling
- guiding permanent teeth into proper position
- saving space for permanent teeth
It is a rare day in my pediatric dentistry practice when I do not have to think about the space available for permanent teeth to grow in properly. Sometimes I have to extract teeth to make room then hold the space open with a metal space maintainer.
Tartar or Calculus
You know that hard stuff that seems to grow on your teeth and that sounds screechy but makes your teeth feel nice and smooth when the dental hygienist scrapes it off?
That is calculus (Greek for ‘small stone’) and also called tartar (but has nothing to do with the sauce).
Tartar forms by many days of mineral-containing saliva or spit washing over your teeth and calcifying any plaque on your teeth. Because plaque forms continuously, people who have lots of minerals in their saliva make more tartar.
Filling Materials
When a tooth gets a cavity it must be filled or it will continue to decay and get worse – even to the point of death.
What kind of materials are available to fix holes in teeth?
The most common material for about a century has been silver and copper mixed with mercury with a little tin. This mixture is called amalgam or simply silver filling.
Tooth Pain
A toothache is one of the most painful experiences in life. It has been compared with severe back pain and even childbirth.
Although there are many potential causes of toothache, the most common cause is a cavity that infects the pulp inside a tooth and that infection spreads throughout the tooth and into the surrounding bone.
As the infection enters the bone, our bodies try to stop the infection by making chemicals that attract our attention – pain.
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