Tying a piece of string to a tooth and the other end to a doorknob and then slamming the door shut is a method of removing a problematic tooth often portrayed in cartoons or comedies. This is obviously not recommended, doesn’t work and we laugh when we see it on TV. To my surprise, some patients actually consider this method as a serious way of removing a tooth rather than seeking professional advice from the dentist.
Have you seen someone smile and noticed they had a dark upper front tooth? It doesn’t always mean they don’t brush their teeth so their upper front tooth is badly decayed. Commonly, the dark coloured upper front tooth is due to a previous knock to the tooth which has caused it to die.
There is such a thing as painless fillings. Continuing our recent theme of making your dental visit not only a pleasant experience but a wonderful one, let us discuss how we can make the dental procedure you require, an easy one. There are some dental procedures that scare many patients and getting fillings in their teeth is one that is at the top of many patients’ lists. Many patients are extremely fearful of the needle that is needed to numb the teeth, or the sounds and vibrations of the dental drill. However, fillings can be done these days without the need for a needle or a lot of drilling, hence the term, painless fillings.
Do you have dreams about teeth? As a dentist, I thought it is only our profession that dreams about teeth as this is our work and what we see and deal with on a daily basis. Naturally, it makes sense that you dream about what is going on in your life. However, in society in general, it is apparently very common for us to dream about our teeth. Unlike my own dreams of cases I’ve been doing at work, most people have dreams about their teeth falling out or breaking and crumbling. Let’s have a look at what these dreams apparently mean:
Now that we are approaching State of Origin Game 1, it is appropriate to discuss common State of Origin dental problems. The annual rivalry between Queensland and New South Wales is fun to watch and great entertainment, but it is also known to cause a few dental problems.
After a physical display by the Washington Wizards, a dental bridge saved the Boston Celtics in the second round of the NBA playoffs. Star point guard, Isaiah Thomas, who is the Celtics best player and only player capable of matching the Wizard’s scoring, may have been sitting on the sidelines indefinitely after a heavy collision. He is currently wearing a temporary dental bridge spanning four of his front teeth after the heavy knock in the first game of the second round damaged multiple teeth.
Mouth ulcers can be just irritating to outright debilitating. They cause pain, commonly a burning sensation and make it difficult for us to eat and speak. In severe cases, we may feel generally unwell and need to rest, losing time being away from school or work.
Mouth ulcers are also known as canker sores, mouth blisters and apthae, but the proper medical term for the condition is recurrent aphthous stomatitis. Their typical appearance is a whitish area surrounded by a red halo. They can occur on the sides of the tongue, on the floor of the mouth or in the throat, but commonly are found on the inside of the cheeks and lips.
After our previous blog article highlighted the importance of the sports mouthguard in the NBA, Tuesday’s traditional ANZAC Day NRL match showed the importance of the sports mouthguard in the NRL. The Sydney Roosters versus St George Illawarra Dragons match had everything a fan wanted in a game. It has been labelled as a classic that lived up to the ANZAC Day match billing. It was a close contest, with the lead saw-sawing between both teams that needed to be settled by a Mitchell Pearce field goal in golden point extra time. There were brilliant tries and spectacular takes, but also gritty defence and big hits.
The reigning NBA champions, the Cleveland Cavaliers, are proving the importance of sports mouthguards. During the regular season, they have already had three separate incidents involving the mouths and teeth of their players. Two of the incidents were confirmed to be due to heavy physical contact while playing on court, where sports mouthguards prevented more serious injury to the teeth and gums.
Did you avoid a toothache during the Easter long weekend? Or were you like the many people out there miserably holding their mouths in pain while others were having fun and enjoying the extended break? If you didn’t exactly follow our last blog article covering dental tips to ensure a happy Easter, you might be joining the group of patients who call up first thing Tuesday morning after the Easter long weekend with a dental emergency when everything opens as normal again.
