West Maitland Dentistry Blog



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July 16, 2019 General Dentistry

Have you ever experienced a little sharp twinge after drinking something cold? Or maybe after indulging in a sweet treat?  You’re not alone, a survey of dentists show that 1 out of 8 people is struggling with sensitive teeth.

Why is a Tooth Sensitive?

Tooth sensitivity is caused by the overlying outer layer or tissue of the tooth, the enamel or cementum, being lost. When one or both of these layers are lost, the underlying layer of the tooth, called the dentin, is exposed.  The dentin layer has tiny tubes that interact with the nerve layer of the tooth.  When the tiny tubes are in contact with something extreme, such as cold, hot, sweet or acidic, it will communicate with the nerve and cause the nerve to flare up causing that jolt that is felt until the food or drink causing the pain is removed.

What Can Cause Teeth Become Sensitive?

There are several ways that you can lose your enamel/cementum, such as cavities, wear from brushing too hard or grinding your teeth, acid erosion or bone loss.

Another cause for sensitive teeth can be due to fillings, old and new.  Old fillings, over time, can pull away from the tooth causing small gaps between the filling material and the tooth.  These gaps can cause sensitivity when foods or drinks flow into them.  New fillings as well can cause sensitivity.  This sensitivity should typically only last a few days.

Sensitivity can is also found when teeth are cracked or the start of infections.  Sensitivity is more noticed during biting with cracked teeth, while infected teeth tend to have a lingering sensitivity that if left alone becomes an ache.

What Can be Done About Sensitive Teeth?

First, finding out the cause is important when deciding how to treat your sensitivity.  Discuss your sensitive teeth with your dentist. It is always helpful to keep a journal of when you feel the sensitivity to help narrow down the cause.  In your journal be sure to log where you feel the sensitivity, top or bottom, left or right, front or back, how often you feel it, the duration of time you feel it, and what caused it, such as eating something cold, hot or biting.  Also rating the sensitivity from a scale of zero to ten can be helpful to your dentist.

For patients who have lost enamel/cementum, it may be easy as switching toothpastes to one specifically for sensitivity or by placing a filling to cover up the exposed dentin.  Those who have faulty fillings may need them replaced.  If the sensitivity is from a cavity, a filling should reduce the sensitivity. More aggressive treatment is needed for a tooth that is cracked or infected, such as a root canal and/or crown.

It is important with sensitivity that you follow up with your dentist to make sure that if there is any underlying issues, such as a cavity or crack that it is not left untreated.


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June 24, 2019 Miscellaneous

Ed Helms

So no, Ed Helms did not actually pull his tooth for the movie The Hangover. But, his celebrity dental fun fact is that he is actually missing that tooth in the movie and in real life! Ed Helms permanent front tooth never came in, when this happens we call the tooth congenitally missing. At a younger age, he had an implant placed to replace the congenitally missing tooth. For the movie he had the implant crown removed and a black prosthetic placed to make it look like he was missing a tooth. When he wasn’t on set he had a removable appliance he could put in to make it appear the tooth was in place. After filming ended he had a new crown made and permanently inserted to replace the tooth again.  Now that’s what we call dedication to the role!

Jim Carrey

When Jim Carrey was in grade school a classmate jumped on him causing his front tooth to fracture off. For his role in Dumb and Dumber, he convinced his dentist to remove the filling to make the tooth chipped again for the role!  After the movie ended he had the filling replaced to return to his normal smile.  We applaud him for the lengths he went through and can’t imagine this movie without that signature smile!

 

Julia Roberts

Julia Roberts is known for her famous, large, pearly smile but she holds a fun dental fact. Julia’s former home town dentist encouraged all the children in her town to excel.  If one of his former patients won a major award he promised a tube of toothpaste to every child in town. On March 21, 2001, Julia Roberts received the Best Actress Oscar for her role in Erin Brockovich. Anticipating her win, her dentist had ordered 10,000 tubes of toothpaste!

 

 

John Lennon

The most expensive tooth to date is one belonging to former Beatles’ member John Lennon. After having the tooth extracted Lennon supposedly allowed his housekeeper to give the tooth to her Beatles enthusiastic daughter. The tooth sold at an auction in 2011 for $31,200 to a Canadian dentist.  That’s a lot of bang for one buck tooth!

 

Katy Perry

Speaking of expensive teeth, this next celebrity dental fun fact was so pricey it set a record! Singer, Katy Perry, wanted to add some bling to her music video, Dark Horse. Instead of just using the usual boring jewelry, she decided to work with her dentist to come up with a grill for her teeth. The custom grill has massive amounts of diamonds and precious gemstones on it.  It’s loaded with so many jewels that it is valued as the most expensive grill in the world according to Guinness World Records, at a whopping $1 million!

 

Mick Jagger

When speaking of flashy celebrity dental facts we have to include rock and roller Mick Jagger.  Mick had an emerald gemstone placed on one of his upper incisors. After people kept thinking he had spinach caught between his teeth he decided to change it to a ruby. Although nobody thought he had spinach caught in his teeth anymore, they did think he had blood on his teeth! He finally settled on a diamond to jazz up his smile.

 


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