July is Park and Recreation Month, when we Americans celebrate our ongoing love affair with the great outdoors. Since Yellowstone became our first national park in 1872, we've been passionate about preserving our country's natural resources for the enjoyment of this and future generations. As dental providers, it also reminds us of something else worth preserving: our natural teeth.

Not that we don't have amazing restoration options for lost teeth. With the advent of dental implants, you can get a replacement that looks and functions like the real thing. But even though implants are an exceptional choice, they are still not superior in terms of the overall health protections of real teeth. So unless keeping a sick tooth would cause more harm than good, going the extra mile to save it is often the best choice for long-term dental health.

First, though: Preserving natural teeth doesn't start when they're in peril, but with daily and regular care. The “daily” part is your job—brushing and flossing to remove dental plaque, the single biggest factor in the occurrence of dental disease. Doing this every day is critical in preserving your teeth in the long run.

The “regular” part is our job—professional teeth cleaning every six months. Using special tools, we clear away any plaque you might have missed, plus any tartar (hardened plaque), which can't be removed with brushing and flossing. Routine dental visits also give us a chance to check your teeth and gums for any signs of developing decay or infection.

That's important because although prevention can minimize your risk of tooth decay or gum disease, it can't eliminate the risk altogether. If disease does occur, we'll need to treat it as soon as possible to avoid the worst case scenario of a lost tooth. Often, root canal therapy can save a tooth that is diseased on the inside. Using dental treatments, even extensive ones, as needed to preserve teeth remains the best way to optimize dental health.

Teeth treated for disease may still be viable, but they may look the worse for wear. Fortunately, we can often give unattractive teeth a cosmetic makeover. Tooth-colored fillings and porcelain veneers or crowns, for example, can completely change a tooth's appearance for the better. With the right enhancement procedure, you can keep both your natural teeth and your smile.

It takes an ongoing effort to maintain your natural teeth. But just like preserving the natural surroundings of our national parks, it's well worth the effort.

If you would like more information about daily and regular dental care, please contact us or schedule a consultation.

As in other parts of medicine, lasers are beginning to change the way we provide dental care. More and more dentists are using lasers to make earlier diagnoses of dental disease or provide surgical treatment. One area prime for change is the treatment of teeth with deep decay and in danger of being lost.

For decades now, the best way to save teeth in this condition is with root canal treatment. In this common procedure we access the pulp, remove the infected tissue with specialized hand instruments, and then fill and seal the pulp chamber and root canals with a special filling.

We can now potentially improve the efficiency and increase the success rate of this treatment with laser technology. With their focused light, lasers emit a concentrated burst of energy that's extremely precise. In many instances laser energy can remove the target diseased tissue without damaging nearby healthy tissue.

In this form of root canal treatment, we use lasers to remove tissue and organic debris within the pulp and then shape the root canal walls to better receive the filling. We can also utilize the heat from laser energy to soften and mold the filling, so that it better conforms within the walls of the root canals.

Using lasers in root canal treatments may require less local anesthesia than the traditional approach and also eliminates disturbing or discomforting sounds and vibrations. Dentists who've used the new technology also report less bleeding during the procedure and less pain and occurrences of infection afterwards.

But there are a couple of disadvantages for using lasers in root canal treatment. For one, light travels in a straight line — and many root canal networks are anything but straight. More complex root canal networks may still require the traditional approach. Laser energy could also increase the tooth's inner temperature, which could potentially damage tissues even on the tooth's outer surfaces.

Used in the right circumstances, though, lasers can be an effective means to treat diseased teeth.  As laser technology continues to advance and becomes a mainstay in dental care, you may soon find it part of your next dental procedure.

If you would like more information on root canal treatments, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation.