Archives for May 2021

Braces Causing Enamel Damage To My Teeth!

May 25, 2021 by jsander

I am 13 years old and just got my braces off. Right after they were removed I am seeing chalky white spots on my front eight teeth. I had my teeth cleaned four times a year, and my orthodontist never mentioned this possibility for tooth destruction to me. My dentist wants to do porcelain veneers; is this what you would recommend? Also, I am a teeth grinder, if that makes a difference.

-Ashley in Texas

Ashley,

I wouldn’t recommend porcelain veneers for someone your age for your 8 front teeth. The problem with doing veneers at your age is that your teeth could erupt a little further as you get older, which will reveal the margin of the veneers instead of keeping that margin at the gumline. Plus, the fact that your dentist is suggesting that at your age makes me worry that he or she isn’t expert in placing porcelain veneers. There is a more conservative option for you, which would be direct dental bonding, and I would go to an expert cosmetic dentist for that.

The white spots are decalcification. What happens when you have braces is that the braces catch food every time you eat anything. If you don’t brush it off right away, it sits there and bacteria grow in the food debris and put out acid that attacks your teeth. I’m disappointed that your orthodontist didn’t talk to you about that. When you have braces, you need to be very careful about eating, and your orthodontist should tell you how to avoid this problem. One thing is that when you’re wearing braces you should avoid snacking. Just confine yourself mostly to eating at meals with only occasional snacks, and that will greatly reduce the damage. And then, after you eat, you need to brush right away. When I had my braces, I carried a toothbrush with me so I could do that, and after lunch or a snack I would excuse myself to the bathroom and take care of this. If you’re not able to brush, at least swish vigorously with water to get as much of that food debris off your teeth. Not only does it decalcify your teeth, but it smells bad.

Getting your teeth cleaned four times a year is okay, but it’s no substitute for getting the food out from around your brackets right away.

This blog is brought to you by Tulsa Dentist Dr. Ryan Noah.

Root Canal Caused Days of Pain

May 4, 2021 by jsander

I had a root canal treatment done five months ago, and it was very traumatic for me. My dentist wanted to put a crown on the tooth, but decided that it would be best to wait, since the tooth was still painful. When it never got better, my dentist referred me to an endodontist. He thought maybe he had missed a canal, and the root canal specialist would be able to find it.

Well, the endodontist re-did the root canal. He told me there were no missed canals and advised me that there would be some discomfort for a few days. However, it’s been four days and I still have pain in the tooth. I don’t want to lose this tooth.

How long do you think I should wait to see if it gets better before I assume something is wrong? It’s been five months since we started this and I’m not sure what to do. I do know that I don’t want anyone else to mess with my tooth.

Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Kari from Colorado

Kari,

The key to knowing if the root canal was successful is not so much the discomfort itself, but if it’s improving at all. If it is improving, even just in the slightest, I would be optimistic. Your endodontist said that you would be in discomfort for a few days. I don’t think four days is too long, provided that it isn’t getting worse. Especially if you’re biting on the tooth, it can take it a while to get better. If the pain is coming from biting on the tooth, one remedy could be to grind the tooth down so that you don’t hit it at all when you bite. Since you’re planning on getting a crown on it, taking it out of occlusion shouldn’t hurt anything.

You didn’t say anything about swelling, so hopefully there isn’t any. Increased swelling would be a problem—a sign that the tooth isn’t going to get better.

For our readers, I’d like to add that this kind of trouble with a root canal treatment isn’t typical. Most of them these days are fairly uneventful. But a certain number of root canal treatments will fail, and to be fair, we can’t rule out that possibility with your tooth. But you need to give it more time to know that.

The root canal failure that happened with your general dentist may have been an inadequate seal at the end of the root since it wasn’t the result of a missed canal.

This blog is brought to you by Tulsa Dentist Dr. Ryan Noah.