Posted by drgracesun on March 8, 2010 under Beautiful Smile, Cosmetic Dentistry, Healthy Smile | 
Did you catch the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver? The games present an exciting and fiercely competitive time for the globe’s top winter athletes! One thing I noticed while watching the 2010 Vancouver games is how many athletes wore their protective mouth guards during the competition, which was very exciting to me.
It was not uncommon to see athletes removing and replacing their mouth guards before and after events; most wear clear silicon rubber guards while some wear colored ones. I am very pleased to see the awareness of preventing sport injuries on globally broadcast television - all athletes with a chance of injury should be wearing a sport mouth guard to prevent oral facial injury, jaw injuries and even brain concussions.
The dangers of an unprotected oral cavity 
don’t just apply to olympians – any physical activity can result in an accident without safety precautions! Proper protection in the form of a custom-fitted mouth guard is vital to assure the health and safety of your teeth, jaw and fasciomuscular system. Using your teeth as a tool for anything other than eating food – even opening a plastic bag – can cause a tooth to crack.
Dental trauma usually results from an accidentally cracked or broken tooth. Many times, teeth that have previously been treated with a root canal are prone to breakage due to a weak and/or compromised structure. All root canal teeth should be capped with a crown to protect the tooth structure. Certain hard foods can also trigger tooth breakage, such as corn nuts, popcorn, hard candy, and especially ice! Tooth decay, periodontal disease and even cracked teeth can all be prevented! Most hygienists will inform patients of important daily cleaning habits, but rarely elaborate on dental trauma and how to prevent it.
If you ever find yourself in a situation with missing teeth, try and preserve them in milk. If your tooth becomes cracked, avoid using your mouth and get to your dental professional ASAP! If you have a night guard (or mouth guard), wear it to protect the site. If you can get to your dentist in a timely manner, the teeth may be reattached. Simple chipping can be repaired rather simply (bonding or porcelain veneers can be explored with your dental care professional). Your doctor will be able to evaluate you further and discuss whether more extensive procedures are necessary (like implants or a root canal). Whether you’re jogging in your neighborhood or racing for the gold, being prepared will help you avoid dental trauma.
Posted by drgracesun on April 30, 2009 under Information |
“Doc, can I have more Novocaine? I don’t feel very numb.” Of course, it is nice to feel numb before dental surgeries! Have you ever been in a situation in which you had difficulty getting numb?
Local anesthetic is effective in most situations, however approximately 15% of dental patients experience a partial or total lack of numbness after receiving anesthesia injections. This phenomenon usually occurs in the lower jaw, when mandibular bone is too dense for infiltrated anesthetic injections to take, unlike the upper jaw which can receive the anesthetic solution easily. The dental nerve within the lower jaw is essentially buried within the dense bone itself, so it requires a mandibular block injection for proper numbing (numbing which includes the teeth, tongue and lips in the same quadrant).
Variations in the anatomy of the “entry window location” (where the mandibular injection deposits its solution) makes it difficult for some people to receive proper numbing, even when the dentist follows the usual landmarks – don’t blame the dentist right away if your anesthesia doesn’t work! The physiology of each individual varies besides the anatomy, which will lead to different thresholds or reactions to various dental injections. Different dental injection solutions also gives different numbing effects – your dental professional should choose what is most applicable to your situation, usually epinephrine (the blood vessel constrictor) is added to give a better local numbing effect.
Speedy injections or anxious patients can cause a racy heart beat, which could be very uncomfortable. If you’ve had too many cups of coffee or if your blood sugar is low from having not eaten, you may feel uncomfortable after receive the dental injection. The wine from last night can also alter the effectiveness of the numbing. This all makes anesthesia a very delicate science. The technique of the operator (the dental professional) can occasionally be at fault for improper anesthesia, but more likely than not it is a complication with a patient variable. It is important for you to communicate with your dental professionals if you’ve had a history of difficulty with dental anesthetics.
Special oral local anesthetic techniques, such as intraosseous anesthesia, which can enhance deep pulpal anesthesia, may help to increase the numbing sensation. This process injects novocaine directly into the bone marrow – because the needle penetrates the hard cortex of the bone, it penetrates to the jaw’s deepest level and can adequately numb the site. It is important to remember that every mouth can be anesthetized, however because intraosseous anesthesia is considered a specialized procedure, it is important to find a dental professional who is experienced with such techniques.
Tags: anesthesia, anesthetic, ca, california, Cosmetic Dentistry, dds, dental, dentist, doctor, intraosseous, LA, los angeles, mandibular, Novocaine, numb, physician, procedure, sun, weho, west hollywood
