Your Diet and Oral Health
... To prevent cavities and maintain good oral health, your diet – what you eat and how often you eat – are important factors. Changes in your mouth start the minute you eat certain foods. Bacteria in the...

Plaque
... Plaque is the sticky, colorless film of bacteria that forms on teeth. It makes teeth "feel fuzzy" to the tongue and is most noticeable when teeth are not brushed. What causes plaque and why ...

Treating Cavities With Fillings
... To treat a cavity your dentist will remove the decayed portion of the tooth and then "fill" the area on the tooth where the decayed material once lived. Fillings are also used to repair crac...

Your Oral Health Care Plan
... Good oral health involves more than just brushing. To keep your teeth and mouth healthy for a lifetime of use, there are steps that you should follow. Here''s what you need to consider: 1. Understand ...

More on Fillings
... Will I experience sensitivity around the filling following the procedure? Tooth sensitivity following placement of a filling is fairly common. A tooth may be sensitive to pressure, air, sweet foods, o...

Oral Surgery
... A number of conditions may require oral surgery, including: Impacted teeth Wisdom teeth, otherwise known as third molars, are the last set of teeth to develop. Sometimes these teeth emerge from the gu...

Frequently Asked Dental Questions
... What new methods are under development to treat and prevent tooth decay? Several new treatments are under development. One experimental technique uses fluorescent light to detect the development of ca...

Laser Use in Dentistry
... Lasers have been used in dentistry since 1995 to treat a number of dental problems. But, despite FDA approval, no laser system has received the American Dental Association’s Seal of Acceptance, which ...

Caring for Your Teeth and Gums
... With proper care, your teeth and gums can stay healthy throughout your life. The healthier your teeth and gums are, the less risk you have for tooth decay and gum disease. How can I care for my teeth ...

Choosing Dental Care Products
... With so many dental care products (competing toothpastes, toothbrushes, mouthwashes etc) on the market today, how should you decide which product to use? This document provides information to help gui...

Controlling Dental Pain
... Fear of pain is the main reason people avoid seeing the dentist. The good news is that there is a wide array of medications and techniques – used alone or in combination – that can reduce or eliminate...

Bad Breath
... Bad breath Bad breath, or halitosis, can result from poor oral hygiene habits or may be a sign of other oral health problems. Bad breath can also be made worse by the types of foods you eat or by unhe...

Braces and Retainers
... If you have crooked teeth and/or a misaligned bite (an underbite or overbite), your dentist may recommend you see an orthodontist. Orthodontists are dentists who specialize in correcting irregularitie...

Air Abrasion
... Air abrasion is a newer technique that is being used by some dentists to remove tooth decay and for other applications described below. How does air abrasion work? An instrument that works like a mini...

Finding a Dentist
... How do I find a dentist? The American Dental Association (ADA) offers these suggestions: Ask family, friends, neighbors or co-workers for their recommendations. Ask your family physician or local phar...

The Quest for a Movie-Star Smile
... (Part 1 of a 2-part series) By age 45, the average conscientious teeth brusher has spent more than 1,900 hours trying to keep the ivories clean, shiny and white. That’s approximately 8 minutes per da...

The Quest for a Movie-Star Smile
... (Part 2 of a 2-part series) Over-the-counter teeth-whitening products seem ubiquitous these days and there always seems to be a new one. In part 1 of this series, we focused on some of the fundamenta...

Tooth Decay
... What is tooth decay? Tooth decay is an area of tooth destroyed by acids. These acids result as the bacteria that normally live in the mouth come in contact with the foods we eat. The acids damage the ...

Commonly Used Dental Terms
... abscess: an infection of a tooth, soft tissue or bone. abutment: tooth or teeth on either side of a missing tooth that support a fixed or removable bridge. acrylic resin: the plastic widely used in de...

Pericoronitis
... Pericoronitis is a dental disorder in which the gum tissue around the molar teeth becomes swollen and infected. This disorder usually involves the wisdom teeth, the third and final set of molars that ...

Halitosis (Bad Breath)
... Bad breath Bad breath, medically called halitosis, can result from poor oral hygiene habits, may be a sign of other oral health problems. Bad breath can also be made worse by the types of foods you ea...

Cavities
... Cavities occur as a result of tooth decay. Tooth decay is the destruction of tooth structure. Tooth decay can affect both the enamel (the outer coating of the tooth) and the dentin layer of the tooth ...

Caring for Your Teeth and Gums
... With proper care, your teeth and gums can stay healthy throughout your life. The healthier your teeth and gums, the less risk you have for tooth decay and gum disease. This document describes how you ...

Abscessed Tooth
... A tooth abscess is an infection at the root of a tooth or between the gum and a tooth that is caused most commonly by severe tooth decay. Other causes of tooth abscess are trauma to the tooth, such as...

Dental Health Insurance: Frequently Asked Questions
... My dentist recommends a treatment that my dental health plan will not pay for. Does this mean the treatment really isn''t necessary? It is a common practice for dental plans to exclude treatments that...

Dental Health Insurance: The "Basics"
... Dental health benefit plans vary widely because each involves a negotiated contract between you or your employer, the dentist providing the care, a dental insurance carrier, and sometimes an administr...

Easing Children’s Fears about the Dentist
... What can I do to make my child less anxious about their first visit to the dentist? Parents play an important role in "setting the stage" for making the first dental office visit a positive ...

Oral Health Care Providers
... Many different types of oral health care providers could become involved in the care of your teeth, gums, and mouth. A brief description of these various health care providers is as follows: General d...

Dental Resources
... Academy of General Dentistry 211 East Chicago Ave. Chicago, IL 60611 (312) 440-4300 Web: www.agd.org Academy of Laser Dentistry PO Box 8667 Coral Springs, FL 33075 (954) 346-3776 Fax: (954) 757-2598 E...

Brushing, Flossing and Other Care Tips for Your Child’s Teeth
... When should I start to brush my child’s teeth? Teeth should be cleaned as soon as they emerge. By starting early, your baby gets used to the daily routine. A soft washcloth wrapped around your finger ...

Dental Bonding
... What is dental bonding? Dental bonding is a procedure in which a tooth-colored resin material (a durable plastic material) is applied and hardened with a special light, which ultimately "bonds&qu...

Dental Bridges
... Dental bridges literally bridge the gap created by one or more missing teeth. A bridge is made up of two crowns for the teeth on either side of the gap—these two anchoring teeth are called abutment te...

Dental Crowns
... What is a dental crown? A dental crown is a tooth-shaped "cap" that is placed over a tooth -- covering the tooth to restore its shape and size, strength, and/or to improve its appearance. Th...

Dental Restorations
... In "dental language," restorations are the various types of solutions you and your dentist can consider to replace or restore missing teeth or missing parts of the tooth structure. Tooth str...

Dental Veneers
... What are dental veneers? Veneers (also sometimes called porcelain veneers or dental porcelain laminates) are wafer-thin, custom-made shells of tooth-colored materials that are designed to cover the fr...

Recontouring of the Teeth
... Recontouring or reshaping of the teeth (also called odontoplasty, enameloplasty, stripping or slenderizing) is a procedure in which small amounts of tooth enamel are removed to change a tooth’s length...

Teeth Whitening
... Tooth whitening is a procedure to lighten teeth and remove stains and discolorations. How do teeth become stained? There are many reasons why teeth become discolored. Among the reasons are the consump...

Treating Dry Mouth
... Treatment for dry mouth depends on what is causing the problem. Generally, treatment of a dry mouth focuses on three areas: Managing underlying medical conditions causing the dry mouth Preventing toot...

Caring for Your Child''s Teeth
... Teaching your children at a young age to care for their teeth can help them avoid dental problems as they get older. Care of children''s teeth and gums should begin even before their teeth break throu...

Dental Care in Infants
... Why is oral health important for my infant? Oral health is important for a child’s growth and development, overall health and well being, and self-esteem. Tooth decay can lead to pain, infection, maln...