Michael Keselbrener, DDS

Gum Disease Treatment All is not lost if you have gum disease. The infection can be tricky, usually starting out with little to no pain or irritation. You might not even know you have the milder form of the disease, called gingivitis. Without gum treatment, it can develop into the more severe form, periodontitis. Fortunately, treatment for gum disease is available! The goals of gum disease treatment are to control infection, prevent tooth loss and keep the disease from damagi...ng tissues. Types of Gum Treatment If you notice you have any of the signs of gum disease, including red, puffy or bleeding gums, receding gums or bad breath, talk to your dentist about the best gum disease treatment for you. Here are some of the ways dentists may treat the disease: Non-Surgical Step -- Bleeding gums treatment or receding gums treatment starts with a deep cleaning. This type of gum treatment involves a process called scaling and root planing, where dental plaque and dental tartar deposits on tooth and root surfaces are removed. This gum disease treatment helps gum tissues to heal and gum pockets to shrink, with the help of medications prescribed by your dentist. Periodontal Surgery -- This gum treatment option is used when the tissue around your teeth is unhealthy and cannot be repaired with non-surgical bleeding gums treatment. The specific procedure your dentist performs depends on your case. With surgery, dentists can access areas under the gum and along the roots where plaque and tartar have accumulated and are hard to reach. Bone Surgery or Bone Grafts -- When the disease has destroyed part of the bone too, receding gums treatment may require dentists to rebuild and reshape the bone with a bone grafting procedure. Gingival Grafting -- Bleeding gums treatment may require tissue grafting, which simply means healthy tissues from another part of the mouth are stitched in place to help anchor the teeth. This gum disease treatment is done when the existing gums are too diseased to sew back together. The Best Gum Treatment? Prevention. Gum disease is usually preventable. Just take care of your teeth! Proper oral hygiene is a good start: Brush regularly with a fluoride-containing toothpaste, floss every day and visit your dentist regularly.

Baby Teeth Care Basics It's never too early to start taking good care of your baby's teeth. Here are some baby teeth care basics: - Prevent early childhood caries, also known as baby bottle tooth decay, by making sure baby doesn't sleep with a bottle containing any sugary liquids -- even breast milk. And never give your child a pacifier that's been dipped into anything sweet.... - Start brushing baby teeth as soon as the first tooth appears. Routine baby dental care should also include massaging the gums with a clean gauze pad. When all teeth have erupted, floss at least once a day to help prevent the buildup of dental plaque. - Wean your baby off thumb-sucking if he or she is still doing so by age four. Otherwise, it can cause overcrowded or crooked teeth. - Consider a combination of fluoride treatment and dental sealants, thin plastic coatings applied on baby molars to keep dental plaque from accumulating. Talk to your dentist before giving your child any fluoride dental treatment and have your child use only un-fluoridated toothpaste until two years of age. - Take your child to the dentist after the first tooth arrives or by age one. Regular dental visits combined with daily baby teeth care can help give your baby a good head start on the road to dental health.

Health Watch: How Bottled Water Affects Your Teeth Millions of Americans are embracing a healthy lifestyle and turning to bottled water as part of their diet. Bottled water is often marketed as being better for you, but it may be doing your teeth a disservice. Your bottled water could be missing some elements that promote oral health. For over 60 years, the United States has been involved in a public health program called community water fluoridation. Many communities through...out the nation added fluoride to their water supply, and the result was a significant decrease in childhood cavities. In fact, community water fluoridation is the single most effective public health measure for tooth decay prevention to date. The Water Works Fluoride battles dental cavities by strengthening tooth enamel and remineralizing teeth damaged by acid. Unfortunately, the majority of bottled waters contain little or no fluoride. In fact, fluoride may even be removed from water during the filtration process. Bottling companies and home filtration systems use reverse osmosis or distillation units to remove sediments and impurities from the water. Reverse osmosis is a water purification system that filters out minerals and some chemicals, while distillation uses heat to literally steam water away from impurities. The steam is then cooled and turned back into water. What's gaining steam in the water industry is the sale of bottled water -- and you'll need to drink plenty of it in order for your teeth to benefit. According to the American Dental Association, fluoridated water should contain 0.7-1.2 milligrams per liter of fluoride for effective cavity protection. While fluoride intake varies according to weight, the ADA states that ingesting 4 mg of fluoride per day is adequate for the average 160 pound person. Since most bottled waters contain less than 0.3 mg per liter of fluoride, you'll need to stock up to get the amount of fluoride recommended by the ADA!

A Closer Look at Bonding It's not unusual to feel shy about smiling if your teeth aren't everything you would like them to be. Stained teeth might inhibit you from smiling as often or as big as you normally would. Chipped teeth and gap teeth can have a similar effect. But with a little dental bonding, you can start smiling again with confidence. Dental bonding is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to make cosmetic improvements to your teeth.... During a bonding procedure, a tooth-colored resin, or plastic, is bonded to your tooth with an ultraviolet "curing" light. Unlike veneers and crowns, which are sometimes used to make similar improvements, a bonding procedure usually takes just 30-60 minutes per tooth and is often complete in just one dental visit. Another advantage of dental bonding: It requires less prep work than veneers or crowns, so more of your tooth enamel remains intact. Bonding can even be used to replace existing amalgam (silver) fillings with natural-looking composites. It’s also ideal for treating cavities in the front teeth, where aesthetics are especially important. Keep in mind that dental bonding isn’t the cure-all for every tooth defect. Bonding doesn’t work well on back teeth or larger cavities. But for the smaller changes, bonding can have a huge impact on the way you feel about your smile.