General

At the center of your tooth is pulp. Pulp is a collection of blood vessels that helps to build the surrounding tooth. Infection of the pulp can be caused by trauma to the tooth, deep caries which involves the blood supply to the tooth, cracks and chips, or repeated dental procedures. Symptoms of the infection can be identified as visible injury or swelling of the tooth, sensitivity /pain in that area. This simple treatment can save your natural teeth and prevent the need of dental implants or bridges , this statement holds good only if the tooth is restorable.

At the center of your tooth is pulp. Pulp is a collection of blood vessels that helps to build the surrounding tooth. Infection of the pulp can be caused by trauma to the tooth, deep caries which involves the blood supply to the tooth, cracks and chips, or repeated dental procedures. Symptoms of the infection can be identified as visible injury or swelling of the tooth, sensitivity /pain in that area. This simple treatment can save your natural teeth and prevent the need of dental implants or bridges , this statement holds good only if the tooth is restorable.

When your root canal therapy has been completed, a record of your treatment will be sent to your restorative dentist if done by a specialist. You should contact their office for a follow-up restoration within a few weeks of completion at our office. Your restorative dentist will decide on what type of restoration is necessary to protect your tooth. It is rare for endodontic patients to experience complications after routine endodontic treatment or microsurgery. If a problem does occur, however, we are available at all times to respond. To prevent further decay, continue to practice good dental hygiene, as that is one main saving grace for any complication.

A tooth crown is a cover like a cap placed on the tooth to protect the tooth so that it does retain its shape , and functionality. Certain scenario when is a crown advised.

• Tooth severely broken down but still functional
• Tooth usually which is Root canal treated, to preserve its integrity
• To support large restorations to prevent them from being fractured
• Over a dental implant
• Reshape a tooth for esthetic purpose

 

A bridge is a combination of several crowns , usually used when a missing tooth or teeth are present to bridge the gap. Certain scenario when is a bridge advised.  

• Missing teeth which need replacement
• Prevent any malocclusion like supra eruption of surrounding teeth
• To adjust the bite and retain functionality

  To design a bridge or a crown the dentist has to reshape the tooth /teeth to make room for the following prosthesis. This is then duplicated in the mouth and sent to the laboratory for fabrication of the crown. Care for a crown/bridge is almost as similar as taking care of a natural tooth, where in regular intervals of flossing and use of water pik if necessary. Also a regular dental checkup and keeping the area very clean will help the longitivity of the prosthesis. There are various materials used these days and different ways to produce the same result, the most common ones used in dentistry are either metal or metal free. The metal free ones are more esthetic and look and function better due to the durability and superiority of the material. In some instances metal is the best choice due to the functionality issue, then there are various options to the same.

This is a tooth/teeth replacement when one does not want to use the adjacent tooth to be ground down for the purpose of support. There are various types depending on the type and which suits the patients needs one can go for this option .

1. Non-surgical treatment involves scaling and polishing of teeth. The procedure aims to remove food particles, plaque and calculus accumulating around the tooth. The effectiveness of the procedure depends largely on the stage of the disease, the efficiency of instrumentation and the maintenance on the part of the patient. No matter how good we are at brushing, we cannot achieve 100% efficiency in cleaning. So, small depositions continue to occur on a daily basis. For long term maintenance of teeth, it is therefore advisable to go in for a professional cleaning once in six months even if you do not have an evident gum problem.

2. The Surgical approach to treatment is usually recommended for resistant cases where complete removal of the irritants from root surface of the tooth is not possible by scaling alone due to the deep penetration of the deposits. The procedure also called as flap surgery or flap operation involves reflection of the gums by 1-1 1/2 mm and debridement of the area under local anesthesia with direct visualization of the deposits. The procedure is completely painless and involves minimum post-operative pain or discomfort. In certain cases however it is possible to regrow the lost bone by use of certain bone substitutes called Bone grafts and collagen substitutes as the case may require. Such cases provide the ideal outcome of therapy by regenerating the lost tissues.