How Lumineers Work

Lumineers can be completed in just two visits to your dentist office! You’ll first have a consultation to determine if Lumineers are right for you. Then, during the first visit for your Lumineers procedure, your dentist will take impressions of your teeth and send them to a laboratory to ensure a perfect, custom fit. You’ll come back for a second visit once your custom restorations are complete to bond them to your teeth. Your dentist will ensure they fit perfectly and check to make sure your bite fits with the Lumineers to prevent chipping or premature aging.

Who Qualifies?

Anyone who is unhappy with their smile should schedule a consultation with their dentist to talk about the possibility of transforming your smile with Lumineers! Not every dentist will be experienced with Lumineers, so you should ask your dentist about their experience in helping people get their dream smile with Lumineers and work with a dentist who specializes in the procedure.

Lumineers Can Transform Your Smile

Lumineers are very thin, thinner than traditional veneers, and therefore enamel removal is not needed in most cases. Your teeth will be slightly etched in order to allow proper bonding of your Lumineers. Lumineers can last for 20 years or more if cared for properly, and the procedure is entirely painless and easy at your dentist office.

Lumineers cover your natural teeth, but should you ever decide you’d like them removed, they can be removed to reveal your natural smile. Lumineers are a great option for many patients who are unhappy with their teeth and want an easy alternative to achieve their dream smile. You can light up your smile with Lumineers by choosing what shape and color you’d like your new smile to be, and talking with your dentist about the best fit for your custom look!

Talk to Your Dentist

Talk to your dentist about whether or not you’d qualify for Lumineers. Lumineers provide a cost-friendly alternative to other types of dental work, and the procedure is less invasive and time-consuming as well. Lumineers allow your natural teeth to remain unaffected in most cases, and yet provide you with beautiful teeth so you can feel confident about smiling again!

Lumineers allow you to feel better about your smile in just two short dentist visits. Your teeth will be instantly transformed with the placement of your Lumineers. Don’t feel uncomfortable about your teeth anymore—smile proudly with your new Lumineers and retain full functionality of your teeth. Ask your dentist if Lumineers could be a good choice for your smile!

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Medications

Certain medications can cause an unpleasant taste in the mouth. If you’re on several different ones, you may have to consult your doctor about which one it could be! Sometimes being on certain medications can cause everything you eat to have an odd or unpleasant taste, while other times, you sense of taste may be inhibited. Medications that can cause an adverse taste in the mouth include: Azelastine (nasal spray), Antabuse (to help with addiction), certain antibiotics, anti-inflammatory, and even chemotherapy drugs.

Tobacco or Alcohol Use

Tobacco products can cause an unpleasant taste in the mouth as well as drinking alcohol, especially if you do these two things regularly. The bad taste in your mouth won’t go away until the root cause is identified. If you use chewing tobacco or smoke, chances are that bad taste in your mouth could be caused by the chemicals in these products. Drinking alcohol could also lead to a chronic bad taste in your mouth. This is because overconsumption of alcohol can lead to production of excess bile by the liver, which can be absorbed into the bloodstream and make its way to your mouth to produce a foul taste. This can also happen when your liver is affected by poor diet and toxins as well.

Infection

An infection in your mouth could be the culprit behind that unpleasant taste. If you’re not brushing and flossing regularly, you’re leaving your mouth susceptible to oral infections that could alter your sense of taste. These infections could include gum disease, tooth decay, cavities, or even abscesses. While brushing and flossing regularly is vital for your oral health, you should also visit your dentist regularly to ensure you’re not experiencing infections such as gum disease or tooth decay. Dentists can often spot the signs of infection long before you experience any symptoms such as chronic bad taste!

Injury

If you’ve had a recent head injury, that bad taste in your mouth could be the result of some nerve damage. Usually people who have experienced a head injury and have bad taste find that it goes away as the body heals itself. Talk with your doctor if you’ve experienced a head injury to see if it could be the cause of that lingering bad taste.

Brushing and flossing may keep your chronic altered sense of taste at bay, but it won’t solve the problem. Talk with your doctor about which of your medications could be causing it, or you may have an infection or be experiencing the effects of using tobacco and alcohol regularly. Solve that bad taste in your mouth by discovering the root cause!

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What Is TMJ?

TMJ is short for temporomandibular joint. This is the joint that is used when we speak and chew. TMJ disorders are a broad range of conditions that affect a person’s ability to open and close their mouth. While many problems can contribute to TMJ disorder, one of the most common is a crooked bite.

What Are the Symptoms of TMJ?

When a person is experiencing a TMJ disorder, many symptoms occur. These include:

– Sound when chewing or speaking

– Pain

– Popping

– Clicking

– Grinding

– The joint itself

– Surrounding face muscles

– Neck

– Difficulty chewing

– Jaw fatigue

– Loss of range of jaw motion

– Grinding teeth

As the condition progresses, other symptoms can appear. For example, grinding may wear teeth unnaturally and result in damage to the teeth. Other long-term TMJ disorder symptoms may be vertigo, tinnitus, ear pain, light sensitivity, and back pain. It is, therefore, important to have a TMJ disorder checked out by a professional, even if you feel you can live with it.

How Can TMJ Dentistry Help Me?

TMJ disorder treatment begins with a thorough examination to determine the cause of the problem. Again, this often goes back to an abnormality in a person’s bite. Because of this, the primary treatment involves correcting the issue with a person’s bite.

Depending on the degree of a person’s TMJ disorder, several forms of treatment may be recommended:

Mouth Guard (or dental splint) – Because a person with TMJ may grind their teeth, a custom fit mouth guard can protect the teeth from unusual wear. While this does not correct the underlying issue, it is an inexpensive way to prevent further damage to the mouth.

Orthodontics – Sometimes, misaligned teeth can cause a person’s bite to be off. If this is the case, orthodontics may be able to correct the issue.

Bite Correction Appliances – In some cases, a person’s bite can be realigned without orthodontics. Specially fit appliances decompress the joint by forcing a person to bite correctly and keeping the tongue properly positioned. Such a device is worn overnight and at times during the day and is used long-term until the pain stops.

TMJ Arthroscopy – In certain situations, a dentist may deem it necessary to perform a minimally-invasive procedure to correct the alignment of the patient’s jaw. It is an outpatient procedure with about a week of recovery time.

Pain Relief – If a patient is in severe pain, NSAIDs, such as ibuprofen, may be prescribed to reduce swelling while the condition is being treated.

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What Are Dental Sealants?

First, let’s be clear that sealants are in no way a substitute for good oral care. With that out of the way, dental sealants are a coating applied to the chewing surface of teeth to prevent the formation of cavities. The sealant is a synthetic plastic material that is usually clear. While some are concerned that plastic means BPAs, an article from the ADA website provides research showing that these sealants are safe even for children.

What Teeth Are Sealants For?

The teeth that are most commonly treated are molars. That is because the chewing surface is usually pitted, allowing bacteria to build up and cause decay faster. However, any tooth can be treated with a sealant. This process is usually performed when a child gets in their adult teeth, but teeth with no cavities can be treated later on as well.

How Long Do Sealants Last?

It is tough to estimate this, mostly because it depends on how well a person cares for his or her teeth. Again, this is not a substitute for proper oral care. The coating simply acts to overlay the enamel which usually serves to protect the tooth. It is like adding a second protective coating. When teeth are cared for properly, sealants can last for many years.

Is It Worth the Cost?

Treatments are usually performed by the tooth. When a patient has many teeth sealed, the procedure can cost hundreds of dollars. However, because the sealant protects against cavities and other dental problems that are costly to fix, this preventative measure is really a cost-effective means of protecting your teeth. Plus, decay can lead to lost teeth. You can’t really put a price tag on being able to keep your own teeth throughout your life as opposed to dealing with dentures.

Good Oral Care Is a Must

With the help of dental sealants, you can enjoy good oral health throughout your life. However, the responsibility still falls on each individual to care for their teeth daily as well as to schedule regular cleanings with a dental professional.

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