2.         Several different things can make a root canal necessary, including a major cavity that can spread into the nerve of the tooth if left untreated, a trauma serious enough that it causes the nerve to be exposed, or damage to the nerve caused by a deep crack in the tooth.

3.         If a tooth is infected and a root canal is not done to save it, “the pulp infection can lead to abscess, destruction of bone, and spread of the infection via the bloodstream.”

4.         During a root canal, the pulp of the tooth is removed and replaced.  “The pulp is soft tissue containing blood vessels, nerves, and connective tissue.”  It is removed and replaced because “If pulp becomes damaged through injury or disease and cannot repair itself, bacteria and their products can leak into the pulp and cause the pulp to die.”

5.         A root canal requires more than one visit.  At Moore Family Dental, we are committed to making you feel comfortable at all times, including during a root canal.  Good communication is necessary; we’ll make you aware of what’s going on and we request that you provide us with feedback about how you’re feeling and what you need.

6.         The first visit for a root canal involves making an opening “through the crown of the tooth” to allow removal of the pulp and cleaning and shaping of the root.  This stage of the process may also involve medication for “the pulp chamber and root canal(s) to help eliminate bacteria.”  A temporary crown is placed there and you may go home with a prescription for antibiotics.

7.         During the next step, the “pulp chamber and root canal(s) are filled and sealed.”  Finally, you’ll have a crown placed there so the tooth will return to its normal appearance and function.

8.         Don’t take your fully-functioning tooth for granted.  It is important, even essential, to visit the dentist regularly to monitor your overall dental health, including the tooth where you had the root canal.

9.         Listen to music if you’re feeling anxious about having a root canal. “In a new study, 143 people listened to music while they received a painful shock in their fingertip. Participants were asked to follow the melodies, and identify unusual tones in an effort to take their mind off the pain.  It seemed to do the trick. Participants’ pain decreased as they became more and more absorbed in the tunes. Those who were the most anxious reaped the most pain-relieving benefits when they became engaged in the music.

10.       At Moore Family Dental, we take your dental health very seriously.  We also take your questions and concerns very seriously.  If you have any additional questions about root canals or any other procedures or problems, we hope you will let us know.

In support of NCDHM, Moore Family Dental would like to provide you with answers to these important health concerns.  We encourage any parent to contact us regarding the dental wellbeing of their child.  We are ready to discuss (either by phone or in person) best practices for establishing a life of great oral health.  The earlier these habits can be formed, the more natural and long-term they become. We also have assembled a free information package for parents to take with them.

Our goal is to help you learn about when children should have their first dental visit, ways to prevent early childhood cavities, when to expect changes from primary to permanent teeth, proper brushing and flossing techniques, thumbsucking, dental sealants, choosing the right mouth protector for active children and adolescents, and teaching children to say no to tobacco. You will also learn about the importance of regular dental examinations.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us.  We look forward to answering any questions you may have!

We invite everyone to stop by next Tuesday for a delicious meal!  In fact, Moore Family Dental will buy lunch at Lloyds for anyone who donates blood between 10am-3pm.  Additionally, we will be raffling off 5 FREE whitening packages between 10-3pm. Anyone who buys a meal at Lloyd’s or donates blood is qualified to win!

All blood donors will also be entered into a raffle to win an overnight package which includes dinner at Russell’s Steaks Chops & More and a stay at Salvatore’s Grand Hotel!

Don’t miss your FREE lunch at Lloyd Taco Truck!  Come donate blood on Tuesday, January 31 at 350 Alberta Drive, Amherst.

We encourage everyone to schedule an appointment ahead of time by calling us at 716.835.1670.  Of course, walk-ins are always welcome! Please remember to bring photo identification.  Donors must be at least 17 years of age, weigh a minimum of 110 pounds, and be in good health the day of the drive.

All donors will be entered into a raffle to win an overnight package which includes dinner at Russell’s Steaks Chops & More and a stay at Salvatore’s Grand Hotel!

Here is a little more information about UNYTS: Our commitment is to enhance and save lives through organ, eye, tissue, and blood donation while maintaining respect for those who give the Gift of Life.

Please consider stopping by to donate blood to a great cause!

Floss regularly.  If you never floss, start now.  Floss occasionally?  Make it part of your daily routine.  If you are not sure how to do this well, ask the staff at Moore Family Dental to help you.  Flossing is an essential part of good oral care and it is never too late to start.

Whiten your teeth.  If your teeth have become dull or discolored, a whitening process will do wonders for your confidence.  The staff at Moore Family Dental can help you decide the best whitening process for you.

Address any outstanding issues.  Even if you are fastidious about oral care, you may have one particular issue, big or small, that just bothers you.  It may be a chip or crack in your tooth, a gap between two of your teeth, an old filling, bad breath, or something else.  Do not ignore it; talk with the staff at Moore Family Dental about ways to address it.

Go to the dentist regularly.  This is very important and it will benefit your teeth – and your overall health – in so many ways.  Think of it as a gift to yourself.

Eat healthier overall.  Even if you do not indulge in a lot of sugary foods throughout the day, your diet may not be healthy.  Keep a food diary for a week or two so you can really examine your eating habits and find the deficiencies.  You may realize that your diet is woefully inadequate when it comes to vegetables; that is a good starting point so you can begin eating better.

Help kids achieve better oral care.  With children, oral habits can slip; monitor them carefully and offer a refresher course when needed.  Remember that small incentives, such as a fun toothbrush or flavored toothpaste, can do wonders when it comes to getting kids to brush.

Use mouthwash.  Ask the staff at Moore Family Dental for recommendations specific to you.  Then use it faithfully and enjoy the feeling of a clean, fresh mouth.

Smile more!  It’s contagious! Your smile is unique to you; share it with family, friends, and everyone around you.

Enjoy the new year and make dental health a priority in 2012!

Regardless of how the discoloration occurred, you may be considering whitening your teeth to improve their appearance.  Fortunately, you have some options in this regard and Moore Family Dental can help you determine the most appropriate solution.  Let’s take a look at three of them.

1. Pola Office whitening system – This popular whitening method begins in the office.  Dr. Moore will schedule a 90 minute chairside whitening session to give your teeth an instant burst of whiteness.  Custom bleaching trays will be provided with take home whitening gel to give you optimal results. You’ll see the benefits of your whiter smile immediately.
2. Veneers – veneers are also a wonderful option for discoloration.  Since veneers can be used for other issues, such as a chipped or damaged tooth, they may be especially appealing to you if you want to address two issues at the same time.  With veneers, impressions are used to create a restoration and the restoration is fitted to the tooth for maximum comfort and excellent results.
3. At-home whitening options – if you visit a drugstore, you’ll note that today’s market offers many options for whitening your teeth at home.  Although this may seem to be the easier and cheaper option, consider the advice of the American Dental Association (ADA) before you decide whether this is the best choice for you.

The ADA advises patients to “consult with their dentists to determine the most appropriate treatment. This is especially important for patients with many fillings, crowns, and extremely dark stains.”  Some whitening toothpastes have received the ADA Seal of Acceptance.  These toothpastes “contain polishing or chemical agents, rather than bleaches, to improve tooth appearance by removing surface stains. They do this through gentle polishing, chemical chelation, or some other non-bleaching action.”  Some of these products can be abrasive – so be cautious.  The staff at Moore Family Dental is happy to answer any of your specific questions regarding these take home whitening solutions.

The American Dental Hygienists’ Association (ADHA) also recommends beginning any whitening process with a “thorough examination, assessment, and recommendation.”  The ADHA notes that this step is important to make sure “your teeth and mouth are healthy and that any oral health problems are addressed before you begin a whitening program.”  There’s an additional incentive to begin the process this way: “your dental hygienist will advise you of strategies that will help you maintain your new whiter smile once you have it.”

Chances are you have a dirty mouth and it could be killing you.

The Surgeon General estimates 85 percent of Americans have gum disease—which make it one of the six major risk factors for heart attacks and strokes.

Indeed, the plaque in our mouths is the same as the plaque in our arteries, so if you have bleeding gums, that stuff is entering your bloodstream.

“Our mouth is the gateway to health,” says Daniel L. Sindelar, for 30 years a practicing dentist in the St. Louis area and co-founder of the American Academy for Oral Systemic Health.

Sindelar, author of the new book, “Refresh Life,” adds, “Our mouths are where our life begins, so don’t let it end there.”

Q: Haven’t we all been checked for gum “pockets” over the years? Why is this more of a problem today?
A: People don’t always exhibit visual problems. We now have a “Rinse Test” that shows us which bad bacteria are present. Dentists need to be more aggressive with their patients about this.

Think about it this way—if you have bad bacteria, that stuff is leaking into you. The scientific term for this is “portal of entry.”

Q: So we all need to floss, right?
A: Of course, but only 3 percent of the population does it regularly.

Q: Why this sudden interest in gum disease?
A: The new research shows us that—although our mouths are only a few inches from our brains —we have allowed inflammation to occur without much worrying.

The old style of checking for gum disease was just observations. Measuring pocket depths, looking for bleeding, observing the color of the gums, to name a few.

These are still important but now we can be much more scientific by using salivary diagnostics.

Trouble shows up before gums are bleeding, teeth are loose or you have bad breath.

If you have gum disease, you are two times more likely to have a heart attack; three times more likely to have a stroke; four times more likely to have dementia if the disease is present before age 35.

Q: What should we ask the dentist to do?
A: Your dentist should do a salivary diagnostic test that shows if the bad bacteria are present. Then that can be followed with gum therapy and nutritional counseling.

Q: And at home, we should . . .?
A: Use something to clean between your teeth at least twice a day.

And you should eat raw vegetables and consider some form of anti-inflammatory nutrition. Your dentist can advise you.

There are several tools you can use to clean between your teeth, in addition to brushing—which you need to do twice a day minimally, of course.

Indeed, in addition to brushing morning and night, you should clean your teeth after eating or drinking anything but water.

And between your teeth, there is floss and interproximal brushes, also waterpick-type devices.

Q: You claim a clean mouth will add at least 10 years to my life?
A: Absolutely. It’s explained on my website.

Q: And wisdom teeth? Are they a “trap” for disease?
A: In light of the recent research, if the wisdom tooth is not going to be in a good position that it can be kept clean, it should be removed. As for wisdom teeth in general, if they erupt in good alignment and can be kept clean, that’s probably OK. But I would suggest being more aggressive in removing any wisdom teeth that cannot be kept clean.

Think about it for a moment.  When you brush, you brush the surfaces of your teeth, but what about the spaces between them?  Even if you manage to clean these spaces to some extent with the bristles of your toothbrush, you cannot clean these spaces as well as they ought to be cleaned.  This is even more important when you consider that food is not the only problem in these spaces; plaque can form there, just as it can form on your teeth.

With dental floss, you can clean these spaces far better than you can with a toothbrush alone.  This is essential because, as noted by the American Dental Hygienists’ Association (ADHA), “plaque build-up can lead to tooth decay and gum disease.”

What if you don’t floss?
Many people, after finishing a meal, check a mirror to make sure there are no embarrassing particles stuck between the teeth.  Even if these bits of food aren’t embarrassingly visible, they’re still there.  The amount between the teeth adds up with everything you eat throughout the day.  By the time you brush your teeth before bed, your mouth can have a variety of foods stuck in the spaces between the teeth.

Although this is not a pleasant thought, it illustrates how much food can build up during any given day.  What if you don’t floss for a week?  Again, this isn’t a pleasant thought, but it’s an important one, especially because the food isn’t the only thing in there.  There’s plaque accumulating, too.

Consider this: If you are prone to bad breath or halitosis, try flossing regularly.  You may be surprised at how much cleaner your mouth feels – and how fresh your breath becomes.

The ramifications of not flossing may be much worse than bad breath.  Dr. Robert Korwin, a dentist in New Jersey, created a website, www.flossingforlife.com, about what a difference flossing can make in your efforts to protect yourself against a variety of health problems, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and pneumonia.  The list of health conditions on this website is extensive and each condition listed is a separate incentive to floss regularly.

If you have children, here’s one more incentive.  If you brush and floss with your child, you will show him or her that your dental health is important to you and that you are willing to take the necessary steps to protect and preserve it.

If you are unsure about how to floss or if you have any questions about this issue, ask the staff at Moore Family Dental.  If you would like a flossing demonstration, ask!  Your oral health is important to us and we are always happy to work with you to ensure that your teeth and gums are as healthy as they can be.

During the study, researchers examined more than 100,000 adults in the Taiwan national health insurance database and found that, if they had at least one cleaning by a dentist or dental hygienist in their lifetime, they had a 24-percent lower risk of heart attack and a 13-percent lower risk of stroke compared to those who had never gone.

About half of those in the study had received at least one dental cleaning. They were matched by age and gender with those who had never had tooth scaling. None of the participants had a history of heart attack or stroke at the start of the study.

Protection against heart disease was even stronger among those who had their teeth cleaned at least once a year, said Dr. Emily Chen, cardiology fellow at the Veterans General Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan, who presented the findings.

“We knew that dental health contributed to heart attack and stroke, but didn’t know that tooth scaling would have more effect on other places in the body and not just the teeth and mouth — especially not in subjects that did not have dental problems,” said Dr. Zu-Yin Chen, a member of the Taipei Veterans General Hospital’s division of cardiology and one of the study’s authors.

The report, which was presented to The American Heart Association, suggests higher frequency of professional tooth cleaning led to a greater reduction in heart risk.

“The results are not surprising since there have been many studies showing association between inflammation and heart disease,” said Dr. Lawrence Phillips, assistant professor of medicine in the division of cardiology and Director, Nuclear Cardiology at NYU Langone Medical Center, New York City. “With tooth scaling, the thought is that chronic inflammation is decreased. Good dental hygiene is recommended for all patients,” he added.

Dr. Phillips pointed to some potential limitations of the study. “It is unclear the additional risk factors that these patients had in each group beyond those recorded in their database, so we do not know if they are comparing similar patients,” he said. “In addition, those people who are proactive about their health may have lower risk of heart disease and stroke, independent of their risk factors. People who go for routine dental work, such as tooth scaling, are likely to be in this group.”

Meanwhile, a separate study from Sweden revealed different types of gum disease may predict the degree of risks for heart attack, stroke, and heart failure. The researchers found that fewer teeth and a higher number of infections around the base of teeth increase a person’s risk for congestive heart failure or heart attack. Moreover, they found greater incidence of gum bleeding was also associated with an increased risk for stroke.

Don’t procrastinate!  If you haven’t been to the dentist in a while, contact Moore Family Dental to schedule a cleaning.  Your dental and overall health should be a priority.

First of all, it may be your brushing technique.  You may be brushing too harshly or using hard bristles which can be extremely abrasive on your gums.  Moore Family Dental recommends using soft bristle brushes.  Also, you don’t need to use excessive force when brushing – you shouldn’t see sparks flying!

Also gum recession may be a sign of gingivitis.  This is a type of gum disease and it is important for you to treat it so it doesn’t progress.  If left untreated, it can progress to periodontitis; ultimately, if there is enough damage, you may lose teeth.

The good news is that treatment can make a tremendous difference.  First, let’s get a little background on this condition.  The culprit is not surprising: bacteria.  Do you remember elementary school health classes?  Bacteria and everything else in your mouth form plaque.  Unfortunately, even when you brush and floss faithfully, you cannot completely remove all of it.

Other factors can increase your chances of developing gingivitis and even periodontitis.  Genetics can be a factor, as can uncontrolled diabetes.  “Diabetes increases the risk for gum disease, possibly because people with diabetes are more prone to infection. Gum disease also makes it harder to control diabetes.”  Finally, if you are a smoker, another incentive to quit may be to avoid gum disease. “According to the American Dental Association, smoking may be the cause of almost 75% of periodontal diseases.”

The American Dental Hygienists’ Association cites an additional risk factor which originated in recent years: lip piercing.  It causes the gums to recede because of the “continual contact with the stud on the inside of the lip.”  The result is that proper brushing becomes very challenging, “increasing the chances of plaque build-up, which could lead to long-term problems such as gingivitis.”  What is the best thing to do?  “Removing the piercing is the best solution, as there is no way to prevent gum line recession with an object constantly rubbing against the gums.”

Even if you are a non-smoker who does not have diabetes, a genetic connection to gingivitis, or a lip piercing, you may still be at risk as a result of bacteria. “In gingivitis, the gums become red, swollen and can bleed easily.  Gingivitis is a mild form of gum disease that can usually be reversed with daily brushing and flossing, and regular cleaning by a dentist or dental hygienist.  This form of gum disease does not include any loss of bone and tissue that hold teeth in place.”

It is essential to treat gingivitis so it cannot progress to periodontitis, which can eventually result in the destruction of the “bones, gums, and tissue that support the teeth.”  If that is the case, “the teeth may eventually become loose and have to be removed.”

When you look at your smile, check on your gums; if they seem smaller, schedule a dental appointment, don’t procrastinate.  If you have any risk factors, you should also discuss this with a dentist. The staff at Moore Family Dental is always ready to assist with any dental situation.