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The latest information from Independence, Missouri Dentist Dr. Zachary Meiners.

What's the deal with X-rays?: X-Rays allow us to do a thorough job checking your teeth. Without them we can only see the tooth surfaces that are visible. Many problems with the teeth originate in areas that we cannot see.

The #1 area for cavities on back teeth is on the biting surfaces of the teeth, which we can see visually. But the #2 area for cavities is in between the teeth. Those only become visible when the decay inside the tooth is large and has eaten away a big portion of the tooth.

On front teeth the #1 area for tooth decay is in between the teeth.

Meiners Dentistry has gone all digital on all types of x-rays now.

The benefits of that are:
#1) Low Radiation needed to capture the same quality of image that we used to get with film.
#2) Fast results. It doesn't take 5-7 minutes to process the x-rays anymore.
#3) It means we've gone "green" - no more chemicals used to process the x-rays, and less waste.

If you'd like to read more about our digital panoramic x-ray unit, I wrote a blog entry about it HERE.

Tags: x-rays

Tuesday April 15, 2008 - 12:29pm (CDT) Permanent Link
White Fillings vs. Silver Fillings: You have choices today when it comes to getting cavities in teeth filled. White fillings aren't new. In fact they've been around for a long time, but the technology used to chemically bond them to your teeth keeps improving all the time. The actually white filling material (composite resin) itself has also gotten stronger with advancements.

Many people think that they have done away with the old silver filling material - not true!

Here are some pros and cons to silver vs. white fillings:

White Fillings:

Advantage:

- looks like your tooth! - probably advantage #1, they really look GREAT!
- chemically bonds to the tooth to seal the filling in (silver fillings are just "packed in)
- repairable if some chips away because new material can stick to the old material

Disadvantage:
- not as strong as silver filling material (metal is still stronger than resin)
- more expensive than silver material (materials are more expensive, and they take longer to do)
- need an absolutely dry surface (no saliva or blood) to place the material for it to be successful. This can make using it very challenging on a lower tooth in the back of the mouth near the tongue, on an antsy child (or adult), or in other hard to reach areas.

- In an effort for dental insurance companies to reduce benefits (this is for BACK TEETH ONLY), if you select a white filling on a back tooth, many insurance companies will downgrade your benefit to a silver filling (because they are less expensive).

Example: The standard dental insurance pays 80% on regular fillings.
So let's say a White Fillings is $120 and a silver filling is $100
If you get a white filling, the insurance pays 80% of the $100 silver filling fee instead of on the $120 White Filling fee.

Your co-pay would be $20 on the silver filling, but would be $40 on the white filling.

Silver Fillings:

Advantage:
- less expensive
- faster procedure
- long lasting
- not as sensitive as white fillings are to moisture, meaning they can be placed easily on kids with active tongues, and hard to reach areas.

Disadvantage:

- doesn't look good
- does not bond to the teeth
- not easily repairable (usually needs total replacement)
- silver filling material still contains a small percentage of mercury. Some people will proclaim this is a problem, but this material has been around for a very very long time with a lot of positive results.
- the small percentage of mercury does allow the filling material to expand and contract (like mercury in a thermometer), which if a filling is large, can weaken the tooth over time. It seems like I see more broken teeth with large silver fillings in them than anything else.

Tags: whitefillings, silverfillings, amalgam, composite

Monday April 14, 2008 - 05:11pm (CDT) Permanent Link
Noland road bridge to re-open early! Update: OPEN!: UPDATE: Bridge Opened 7 PM Sunday April 13th! Yay!
Next up is the re-do of the on/off ramps. We'll keep you posted.

The Noland Road bridge is going to be re-opened much sooner than expected. I'm writing this as of April 10th, and it is scheduled to be ready for service by April 19th.

This is great news since it was originally scheduled to be done on May 19th. It's going to be completed a month early.

The next phase in the project is the reconstruction of the 2 on-ramps, and 2 off-ramps. They are going to be fixing them one at a time and have them closed for two weeks at each time.

Thursday April 10, 2008 - 11:30am (CDT) Permanent Link
Dental Crowns Made Overseas May Contain Lead and Bacteria: Many of you have seen stories about lead in toys that came from China. Now there are other reports surfacing of lead and bacteria found in dental crowns and bridges made in China.

To give a little background. Dental Crowns and Bridges (as well as dentures and partial dentures) are not made by dentists, they are made at dental laboratories. Some dentists use labs right here in our metropolitan area (like we do), some use labs in other parts of the country. The problems spoken of in these articles are about crowns made in other countries, most commonly China.

Here are some of those stories:

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=6078693&version...

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/health/stories/2008/02/28/DentalLead.ART...

http://wwwphp.dispatch.com/vplayer.php?clip=2008_02_27_Denist_Work_To_Test.wmv

At Meiners Dentistry, we have ALWAYS and will continue to ALWAYS use local dental labs in the metropolitan area where we know the individuals making the dental prosthesis personally. We support the local economy, and would not participate with foreign laboratories in the name of cutting costs to increase profit margins.

We are proud of the relationships we've established our local dental labs, and feel they provide products with the finest workmanship and materials available. There's no question it costs us more, but it is the type of quality we would want for our own mouths, and those of our family, friends, and patients.

Tags: dentalcrowns, lead, bridges, dentallabs

Thursday March 20, 2008 - 03:21pm (CDT) Permanent Link
Dental Erosion on Rise in U.S.: This article came from US News and World Report. I've written on this subject myself quite a bit in the past, so it was interesting that it's finally gaining some national attention.

http://health.usnews.com/usnews/health/healthday/080312/dental-erosion-on-ris...

Dental Erosion on Rise in U.S.

Tooth enamel losses, found in 30% of middle schoolers studied, blamed on acids in sweet drinks

Posted 3/12/08

WEDNESDAY, March 12 (HealthDay News) -- Dental erosion -- the loss of the teeth's protective enamel -- is on the increase in the United States, researchers say.

"This study is important, because it confirms our suspicions of the high prevalence of dental erosion in this country and, more importantly, brings awareness to dental practitioners and patients of its prevalence, causes, prevention and treatment," study co-author Bennett T. Amaechi, an associate professor of community dentistry at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, said in a prepared statement.

Amaechi led the San Antonio portion of the study, which also included researchers at Indiana University and the University of California, San Francisco. They looked at 900 middle school students (aged 10 to 14), and found that about 30 percent of them had the condition.

Dental erosion is caused by acids found in many common products, including soft drinks, sports drinks, some fruit juices and herbal teas.

"When consumed in excess, these products can easily strip the enamel from the teeth, leaving the teeth more brittle and sensitive to pain. The acids in these products can be so corrosive that not even cavity-causing bacteria can survive when exposed to them," Amaechi said.

Regular use of some types of medications, such as aspirin, also may cause dental erosion. Certain medical conditions, such as acid reflux disease or eating disorders (such as bulimia) associated with chronic vomiting, can cause dental erosion because of the gastric acids that are regurgitated into the mouth.

"It is important for dental practitioners to identify the erosion and its causes before it is too late. Because dental erosion creates a smooth and shiny appearance of the enamel and causes no pain or sensitivity in its early stages, most patients are not aware that they are suffering from the condition until the problem becomes severe," Amaechi said.

The findings were published in current issue of the Dental Tribune.
http://www.simplestepsdental.com/SS/ihtSS/r.WSIHW000/st.32219/t.35262/pr.3.html

Tags: aciderosion, dentalerosion

Monday March 17, 2008 - 05:58pm (CDT) Permanent Link