• Chester Hill Dentistry • 

Your career keeps you busy, which doesn’t leave you much time to invest in your skills and education so you can maintain your marketability. If only there were an easier way to stay ahead of the pack, to stand out, to show that you’re capable. There is. A smile makeover can transform your career. And here are just six reasons why. (more…)

The only requirement for pursuing a smile makeover is the desire to have healthier and better-looking teeth. No matter what your age, you qualify for a smile makeover. Which procedures are appropriate for your oral health will vary, but the opportunity to improve how your teeth and smile look is always on the table. (more…)

Embarrassed by Your Teeth? Boost Your Confidence with a Smile Makeover

It’s natural to suffer a dip in confidence from time to time. However, if you regularly feel unworthy or lacking in confidence because you are embarrassed by your teeth, it’s time to find a solution. The term “makeover” can sound daunting. But every smile makeover is different. Some people just need a few tweaks to get their smile looking good. Other patients have an unhealthy smile that needs some TLC before they can boost their confidence with a smile makeover.

Understanding Smile Makeovers

Smile makeovers are customized oral health solutions. They can include one procedure or multiple procedures, restorative dentistry or cosmetic dentistry or both. There is no right or wrong answer, only what’s best for your teeth and smile goals.

For many patients, a large part of their smile makeover includes restorative dentistry – procedures that improve the health and function of your smile because your teeth are infected or damaged or you have gum disease. Other patients focus on cosmetic improvements only. It’s understandable that you are tired of tooth stains or short teeth or misalignment and finally want a solution.

What Smile Makeover Is Right for You?

There are often multiple dental treatments that can fix your smile. For example, if you have a missing tooth it could be replaced with a dental implant or a dental bridge. Both are secure solutions.

One of the most versatile smile makeover solutions is porcelain veneers. Veneers are often able to do the work of multiple cosmetic dentistry procedures. Veneers can create an aligned smile, hide tooth discoloration, lengthen short teeth, and whiten teeth.

Porcelain crowns also have multiple uses. They can cover a tooth that is superficially cracked or chipped, hide discoloration or tooth stains, even out misshapen teeth, protect a damaged tooth, or strengthen a tooth with weak enamel.

Your comfort level, budget, and the condition of your oral health will allow you and your Chester Hill dentist to make the right choices for your smile makeover.

Getting a Healthy and Beautiful Smile

Before anything happens with your smile makeover, your Chester Hill dentist will give you a full dental exam to make sure your teeth and gums are healthy. If you have signs of gum disease, infection, or other problems that threaten your oral health and the functionality of your teeth, these problems will need to be addressed first.

Even if you’re only interested in cosmetic dentistry, your mouth needs to be healthy and strong.  You wouldn’t build a house on a faulty foundation and expect it to stand the test of time. The same goes for your smile makeover.

A smile makeover is a commitment. It may only be a one-hour commitment for professional teeth whitening, or it may be a commitment of several months for restorations, healing, and aesthetic improvements. If you are seeking a Westchester area dentist to perform your smile makeover, schedule your consultation with Dr. Chi Fu at Chester Hill Dentistry.

When you have missing teeth, your entire world is affected. You’re self-conscious about your appearance. You’re uncomfortable when you smile, or you don’t smile at all. You have difficulty eating. If you’re ready to get your life back, it’s time to figure out whether dental implants or dentures are the right restorative dentistry option to replace your missing teeth.

The Benefits of Dental Implants

Dental implants are one of the most popular tooth restoration options. With a dental implant, not only is your smile complete again with a natural-looking tooth crown, there is also a tooth root that is not visible but which stimulates your jawbone and supports the foundation of your smile.

Dental implants are also a permanent solution for missing teeth. Once the implant has been surgically put in place, it’s not going anywhere. You won’t even realize that you have an implant in your mouth. It will be completely comfortable and look natural while remaining strong and durable.

The Benefits of Dentures

Dentures have come a long way thanks to modern dentistry. This restoration is a viable and common solution for replacing missing teeth. Today’s dentures are strong and look and work like natural teeth so you can feel confident about speaking, eating, and, especially, smiling.

There are three types of dentures, which gives you restoration options. Complete, or full, dentures are the traditional type of dentures that replace entire arches of teeth on the top or bottom. Partial dentures replace several missing teeth. And permanent dentures can be help in place with dental implants or anchored with dental crowns. Learn more about these different types of dentures.

Choosing Between Dental Implants and Dentures

The typical elements that come into play when considering whether to choose dental implants or dentures include the following:

• Invasiveness of the procedure: Dental implants are a dental surgery. Dental anxiety may discourage some people from choosing this option, but it is possible to undergo the procedure
• Upkeep: Keeping up with daily brushing and flossing at home and seeing your Chester Hill dentist every six months are the only oral health care your dental implants need. Removable dentures require adhesives and daily cleaning. Tending to your dentures properly will increase their longevity and ensure that they continue to work properly.
• Appearance: Dental implants look natural and so do dentures.
• Functionality: Dental implants are reliable and comfortable. There is no chance of them slipping out of place Dentures are customized to your mouth but, over time, they will need to be refitted or replaced so that your teeth and smile function as properly.

Young or old, you should live your life completely and enjoy your days. A complete smile helps you achieve that goal. Make your appointment with Dr. Chi Fu at Chester Hill Dentistry to discuss your questions about dental implants and dentures and choose the right tooth restoration for your oral health needs.

Dentist Greenwich CT offers Lumineers to help you to smile confidently

You say potato , I say pa-ta-to . . . you say tomato, I say ta-ma-to. What’s the difference? DIFFERENCES – that’s what today’s article blog is about. We want to help you better understand what the difference is between traditional dental veneers and dental Lumineers, a brand name and one of a kind product, made by DenMat Labs, the largest supplier of dental materials. While both veneers are a cosmetic dental procedure to help correct the intrinsic problems of teeth anatomy imperfections and aesthetically improve the natural appearance of the teeth, there are differences in the process as well as the materials used. The difference is in the details so without further adieu, lets get to those details.

Lumineers are noted as lasting as long as twenty years compared to traditional veneers spanning approximately ten years. A big plus from that of traditional veneers is that Lumineers are reversible should you change your mind of having them on your teeth. This because unlike traditional veneers that require shaving down of the initial tooth structure there is no grinding down of the natural teeth in the specialty name brand veneer. Natural teeth are still intact and strong. The needing to shave down the natural tooth with the traditional veneer is due to the weight of the material. While traditional veneer materials are wafer-thin the Lumineer material, digitally created, is ultra-thin – about as thin as a contact lens. That makes a difference when placing the material to the tooth or teeth. Local anesthetics are not needed when working with Lumineers.

With Lumineers there is no need for temporary acrylic veneers while waiting for the customized veneers to come back from the lab as traditional veneers need because of the drilling down of original teeth. Lumineers require only two office visits and on the second visit the teeth are moderately etched so the Lumineers can be set in place and bonded one by one. In terms of value with price the Lumineer brand is of greater value that many are choosing when choosing to use cosmetic teeth veneers.

Westchester NY Dentist offers the dental care your kid’s teeth deserve

Double teeth are dental conditions in which the teeth are connected to each other through the dentin or the pulp. The dentin is the layer found under the enamel of the tooth while the pulp is the innermost part of the tooth. The presence of double teeth on a child should be monitored by a pediatric dentist since it may result to issues in the eruption of permanent teeth.

There are two primary causes of double teeth in children, namely gemination and fusion.

Gemination

Gemination happens when a single tooth splits into two, but the two parts continue to be connected to each other. This dental condition is also described as teeth “twinning” in which a bifid crown comes out of one root. In this situation, two teeth develop from one tooth bud. The two parts of the teeth are identical to each other. When a geminated tooth is counted as a single tooth, the child will have the normal number of teeth. Germination typically occurs on the upper set of teeth.

Fusion

Fusion, on the other hand, is a dental condition where two separate teeth join together while they are developing. Fused teeth look similar to geminated teeth. One way to tell these two types of double teeth is by counting the number of teeth of a child. When fused teeth are counted as a single tooth, the child will lack one tooth. The fusion of teeth normally happens on the lower set of teeth.

Effects of Double Teeth

Since double teeth can prevent the normal eruption of permanent teeth, a pediatric dentist should constantly monitor it. It may even be necessary to remove it so the permanent teeth can emerge without any issue. There may be instances when there are no permanent teeth under the double teeth. But this rarely happens. This can be checked by the pediatric dentist using an x-ray.

Parents should make sure their children do not develop double teeth to prevent any issues in the future. A pediatric dentist should be consulted in case double teeth develop so that all the necessary measures can be undertaken to deal with it.

Dentist Greenwich CT discuss: an ankylosed tooth

An ankylosed tooth is the tooth that is directly fused with the jaw bone. Having this tooth results in the condition called “Dental Ankylosis”, an abnormal condition of a solid, fixated tooth root to the bone. This condition usually occurs in time of the emergence of the secondary teeth. It is commonly observed in children.

How Does an Ankylosed Tooth Form?

Normally, there is a gum tissue, which is called as “periodontal ligament”, around the roots of a tooth. This gum tissue is made up of fibers that hold the tooth so that it securely remains in the dental socket. Also, periodontal ligament is supposed to wrap the tooth root so that it doesn’t touch the bone.

Ankylosis happens when the root and the bone touch as a bridge of material called “cementum” starts to form along the gum tissue. This will create a link between the root and the bone.

Dental Issues That Come Along

1. Tipping Of Erupting Teeth

   Ankylosis causes the ankylosed tooth to stop erupting and to stay in the same place in the same position while the other neighboring teeth on each of its side grow. As these neighboring teeth erupt, they will eventually tip with the unmoving ankylosed tooth.

2. Displacement of Permanent Tooth

   If the ankylosed tooth happens to be a primary tooth, it will end up displacing the secondary and permanent tooth, keeping the new tooth from erupting.

3. Impaction

   Ankylosis can also reduce the space needed for the eruption of the permanent tooth. This eventually results to an impaction, a condition where a tooth fails to erupt.

What to Do About the Problem?

In most cases, a dentist or an orthodontist will try to let the permanent tooth erupt. However, if ankylosed tooth has still not exfoliated after a given period of time, it will need to be forcibly removed. This is where the removal of the ankylosed tooth is done.

Westchester NY Dentist Disucss the topic: Caring for your Kid’s Teeth

You may already know that one of the best ways of preventing cavities is through a healthy diet, regular brushing, and visiting a dentist. However, dental experts suggest that many parents fail when handling the dental health of their kids. This can be noted from the fact that around 42% of kids aged between 2 and 4 suffer from cavities in their baby teeth. Here are some of the greatest mistakes that parents make that are the cause of these cavities.

Allowing their kids to brush alone

Most kids do not have motors skills that should enable them to brush in an effective way until they reach 8 years. This is why it is important to supervise them while brushing and ensure that they clean every surface of their tooth.

Allowing their baby to sleep with a bottle

This is one of the easiest ways of causing tooth decay. This could be through giving babies a sippy cup the whole day or a bottle when putting them to sleep. The downside of this habit is that it keeps the bacteria and sugar levels in the mouth high throughout the day.

Delaying the first dentist appointment

Dentists say that they regularly treat kids aged between 2 and 3 years for infection and cavities. The explanation for this is that parents do not take their children to a dentist early enough. It is advisable to take the kids to a dentist immediately after the eruption of the first tooth. This should be followed by regular visits after every 6 months.

Offering healthy but sticky foods

Whole-grain crackers, raisins, and bananas are healthy foods, but they also contain lots of sugars and tend to stick on the teeth creating cavities. Ensure that your child brush their teeth after consuming these foods.

Ignoring cavities

Many parents consider treating a cavity to be one easy fix. However, cavities can affect your kid for their entire lifetime. When a cavity is infected, this can negatively affect the development of adult teeth.

Westchester NY Dentist discusses the benefits of Mouth Guard

A mouth guard, also known as mouth protector, is a flexible covering worn over teeth to provide protection against impact or other injuries. It is often worn by athletes during their games or those suffering from bruxism or teeth grinding. The mouth guard usually covers the upper teeth. However, those with a protruding jaw or those who wear braces, retainers, and other dentures may wear it on their lower teeth.

The benefits of wearing a mouth guard are the following:

1. Protection for the teeth

   The number one reason why mouth guards are worn is to protect the teeth from damage. In contact sports, a blow to the mouth is not uncommon. When this happens, the force of the impact is absorbed by teeth or jaw. The impact can cause tooth fracture, tooth dislodgement, or damage to the existing dental work such as dental crowns, bridges, porcelain veneers, etc.

   A sports mouth guard can help dissipate the force of impact. Its spongy quality helps absorb the energy of the blow while its stiffness distributes the energy of a traumatic force over a larger area. These effects will lessen the load on each tooth, thus, reduces the probability of any tooth damage.

2. Protection of the Soft Tissues such as Lips, Cheeks, and Gums

   The mouth guard also protects the soft tissues of the mouth by the similar way it does when protecting the teeth. The mouth guard absorbs most of the traumatic blow, therefore, less energy is only left to impact the soft tissues.

3. Protection of the Jaw

   A blow on the mouth might not only damage the teeth but also cause brain injury. Mouth guards help prevent this by serving as a shock absorber and by hampering the hinge of the lower jaw from being pushed into the base of the brain during impact.

4. Psychological Benefit

   There is a psychological benefit of wearing mouth guard, and that is to make athletes more aggressive knowing any blow to the mouth will not cause much injury.

   Mouth guards are an essential protective gear for athletes offering protection of the teeth. Moreover, Mouth guards also help those people with bruxism in preserving their teeth.