X-rays play an invaluable role in detecting complications with your teeth, such as areas of decay. Unfortunately, there are some issues that may not show up on the images, like tiny cracks. When they are too small to see on an x-ray, it is known as cracked tooth syndrome. The fractures can develop above or below the gum line. No matter where they occur, you will need treatment for cracked tooth syndrome in Tallahassee.
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Who doesn’t love candy at Halloween? If your kids are like mine, they’re going to come home from trick-or-treating with tons of candy, sugary candy that can lead to tooth decay. Following these simple steps can help you and your children have a fun Halloween without the nightmare of harming teeth in the process.
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HAPPY HALLOWEEN
X-rays are an essential aspect of dentistry. With X-rays, we can diagnose and plan treatment for a wide range of dental issues, many of which may be hard to diagnose with just the naked idea. X-rays allow us to create an image, like a photo, of the area that is exposed to the x-ray beam. Historically, this image has been captured on a film that is developed in a manner similar to the way that photographs used to be made into a negative and saved as a print. With x-rays, denser objects like bone and teeth absorb, or block, the x-rays before they pass through to the film. Soft tissues like cheeks and gums don’t block the x-rays. The different ways that the tissues absorb the x-rays gives us the final picture.
X-ray images are a critical aid in diagnosing dental problems. Without the assistance of x-rays, the dentist is pretty much just “in the dark”. The dentist uses them to:
But traditional X-ray technology is notorious for creating small, blurry images that have to be developed by harsh chemicals and stored somewhere for later reference.
But traditional X-ray methods aren’t the only game in town anymore.
& Boyd is embracing the future with digital X-ray technology. Digital X-ray technology makes it possible to produce sharper, clearer images with much less radiation. Digital X-ray images have much greater resolution and can be displayed on a computer screen, where they can also be highlighted and enlarged. We have the latest in digital x-ray software as well, so we can change the contrast of the pictures, make measurements and the most recent x-rays can easily compared with previous X-rays.
But the biggest benefit for patients is a significant reduction in radiation exposure. Although dental x-rays traditionally have used very small amounts of x-rays to create the image on traditional film, digital x-rays take it to a new level. It’s estimated that digital radiography exposes patients to as much as 80% less radiation during a single session. Digital x-rays are the future now. They provide much sharper images with much less radiation. It’s a win/ win for everyone!
“Milk bottle cavities,” or “baby bottle tooth decay” (BBTD), is a condition that results from improper feeding of babies by their parents or caregivers. It is a devastating pattern of decay that causes the teeth to decay all around the gum line. Often, the teeth will even break off at the gum line, causing a disfiguring appearance, pain, and abscessed teeth that must be extracted or have root canal treatment. Replacement of baby teeth is possible but very difficult and expensive, and because children lose baby teeth until age 12, this can lead to years of complications. The eruption of the permanent replacement teeth can also be affected by this condition, so the ramifications can last long past childhood.
The decay sequence involves the sugars in the bottle’s liquid. Although drinks like milk and fruit juice sound healthy and even good for you, they are dangerous when children are put to bed with a bottle. Milk contains lactose sugar and fruit drinks contain fructose sugar. Sugars are eaten by the bacteria on the teeth, which can result in decay. The decay process requires three things: a tooth, plaque, and sugar. So once a child gets a tooth (around six months old) decay can occur.
Three things to keep in mind:
1.) Teeth
Once teeth erupt in the mouth they need to be brushed; that means mom and dad. Letting children play with a toothbrush is good, clean fun and can get them familiar with brushing.
2.) Plaque/Bacteria
The child’s mouth becomes colonized by bacteria from their parents. The bacteria form a sticky adhesive matrix on the teeth that is full of millions and millions of sugar eating bacteria. This is the film that we are removing when we brush and floss.
3.) Sugars
Bacteria live on sugar. Milk has lactose sugar; fruit juices have fructose. Manmade drinks like Gatorade and Hi-C contain various types of sugars. The waste product from bacterial digestion of sugar is acid. The plaque layer of the bacteria holds the acid against the teeth and eats away at the calcium in the outside enamel layer of the tooth. This weakens the tooth’s hardness. Because baby teeth have thinner enamel they decay much more rapidly. Once exposed to sugar, the bacteria make acid for twenty minutes.
What makes nighttime bottles so dangerous is the length of time the teeth are bathed in sugar and therefore acid. Compounding the effects of the acid is the fact that saliva flow decreases at night and plaque grows much more rapidly during sleep. Therefore, the maximum acid production occurs when the bacteria are most plentiful.
Conclusion
We all want to be great parents, and we certainly don’t want to be responsible for causing prolonged pain and anguish to our children. Prevention of “baby bottle tooth decay” is simple. Give your little one only water at sleep time.
