Garden Grove Dental Arts : Marianna Ibrahim DDS

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Monthly Archives: April 2016

“What Can I Do When My Dentures Fall Out?”

Sometimes, denture patients simply can’t figure out how to keep their dentures in place. For some people, something as simple as drinking water can cause their dentures to come lose. This is especially a factor for the bottom dentures. For many patients, the sheer prospect of eating can become so stressful that your favorite meals become a complete chore, when they should be something to look forward to instead.

At Primary Dental Care of Garden Grove, we’re the experts on affordable dentures. Looking for tips to help adjust to your dentures? Look no further. If you live in the Garden Grove area, we’re the nearby dentist you can turn to for all of the answers.

Solutions for Slipping Dentures

Proper Fit: Don’t Rush the Process

The very first and most important factor when it comes to dentures is fit. If your dentures don’t fit properly when they are installed, they will likely never fit properly. This is why your dentist will recommend an immediate denture to wear after your teeth are extracted, before your “permanent” set of dentures are created. This is so that your jaw and soft-tissues can react and adapt to your extracted teeth. If you rush the fitting process for your permanent dentures, there is a chance that your jaw will change and your denture first will suffer.

Denture Adhesives

Denture adhesives are a popular solution for denture wearers everywhere. However, it’s important that denture adhesive isn’t used in place of properly fitting dentures. Most of all, adhesives are the best when they are used either as backup support and strength. Many new denture wearers find it difficult to adjust to their new teeth, with their biggest concern being that they will fall out or slip while eating or in conversation. Denture adhesives are great “training wheels” that can help provide the confidence and support new denture wearers need to embrace (and actually use) their new teeth with confidence.

Get Re-fitted

If you’re experiencing a lot of slipping or your dentures are prone to falling out, visit your dentist. Sometimes, all your “new” teeth may need is a simple adjustment.

Implant Supported Dentures

Sometimes, an alternative to traditional dentures is even better. When budget allows, implant supported dentures can be sturdier and more natural-feeling than traditional dentures.

If you hope for the confidence and freedom that real-teeth provide, implant supported dentures might be the ticket. Because implant supported dentures integrate into your jaw with titanium posts, they feel like natural teeth and will naturally bond to the underlying bone structure in your jaw over time. Due to this, implant supported dentures function as new roots for your teeth, minimizing bone-loss typical of traditional dentures. Overdentures are an implant supported denture that can be used to replace some or all of your teeth. They are held in place using dental implants and are sturdier than traditional dentures. Worried about being able to eat all of the foods you love, or concerned with dentures that are prone to fall out or slip? Overdentures make the shortcomings of traditional dentures virtually nonexistent.

 

When a Root Canal “Fails” (and Why)

root-canal

A root canal is designed to save your tooth an eliminate pain. But can it fail? Yes! Here’s what you should know.

Root canal therapy is an incredibly important procedure when it comes to saving teeth that have been damaged by either infection or injury.

But in order to understand the need for root canal treatment, first you need to understand what a root canal is. Put simply, the root canal is the underlying foundation of your teeth. At the center of each of your teeth is a collection of soft tissues, connective tissues, blood vessels, and nerves.  Beneath the crown of your teeth, the largest part of the root canal is the pulp chamber – which is often the most susceptible to infection and inflammation.  When your teeth are developing, its these systems within your teeth that provide nutrients and help them grow.

When the pulp chamber and underlying components of your root canal become inflamed or infection, your dentist will generally recommend root canal therapy.

So what happens when root canal treatment doesn’t work? If you’ve ever needed root canal treatment, your dentist might have told you that it would spell quick relief for the tooth ache you’ve been experiencing. However, root canal treatment can be an intricate job. More often than not, treatment will be completely successful. But sometimes, there are a few situations that can re-kindle the problem.

What Causes Root Canal Failure

Root canal problems all tend to start with one thing: bacteria. If any amount of infection remains in your tooth (or finds it’s way in after the fact), your tooth can become infected again.  This can occur a couple ways:

  • The crown used to cap your tooth has a crack or breakage, enabling bacteria to work its way through and making re-infection a possibility
  • Root canals were re-infected by saliva during treatment
  • New tooth decay can allow bacteria to leak back into your root canal
  • Roots that were improperly filled or sealed
  • The pulp chamber and root canal weren’t thoroughly cleaned during your first root canal treatment. This is often due to the difficult and intricate nature of root canal, especially when your dentist is dealing with hard to reach spaces

How do you know if a root canal “didn’t work”.

More often than not, on the rare occasion a patient needs a root canal re-done,  the first symptom of a problem occurs when the normal healing time seems to take extra long. There is generally a small amount of discomfort as your tooth heals following root canal treatment. However, if this discomfort doesn’t go away after a few days, or the pain you’re experiencing increases (instead of going away completely), there’s a good chance that there is a new infection in your root canal.

In other cases, a failed root canal might not manifest for years. Over many months or even years, a variety of the conditions outlined above can cause future problems or a dental abscess. If this is the case, be sure to contact your dentist as soon as possible in order to save your tooth and get the proper care required.