7 Factors That Determine Your Candidacy for Dental Bonding

January 25, 2018

Filed under: Blog,Cosmetic Dentistry — tntadmin @ 10:08 am

Dental bonding is a safe, fast, affordable and minimally invasive dental treatment that involves minor corrective work to revitalize your smile. But, it is important to know if you are a candidate for dental bonding to make sure it is the right investment for you. If you have minor aesthetic imperfections, you may qualify for a dental bonding procedure. It can efficiently conceal dental flaws like stained, chipped, crooked, and misaligned teeth but the treatment is not for everyone.

Dental bonding is primarily for those with:

    • Chipped TeethA chipped tooth can be caused by a sporting injury, an accident, or a car crash but dental bonding can efficiently treat a chipped tooth and improve esthetics while protecting the tooth from further damage. Dental bonding replaces the lost tooth material with composite resin that invisibly blends with your tooth and looks completely natural.
    • Stained Teeth Certain stains are immune to professional teeth whitening procedures and affect only a few teeth. Also, patients who are suffering from dental sensitivity do not make good candidates for a whitening treatment. This is where dental bonding can help brighten up the entire smile.
    • Crooked Teeth Dental bonding can fix slightly crooked teeth by reshaping them. After reshaping, the dentist applies composite resin to ensure that the crooked tooth perfectly aligns with the adjacent teeth to give you a perfectly aligned dental arch.  
    • Fractured Teeth Facial injury or bruxism can result in minor dental fractures and a cracked or chipped front tooth can dramatically affect your appearance and your dental health. Dental bonding can effectively conceal these dental flaws and improve the appearance of your smile.
    • Gapped Teeth Unsightly gaps between two adjacent teeth make the teeth look asymmetrical or misaligned but dental bonding can close the gaps all across your smile and enhance the appeal of your smile in a single visit.
    • Unshapely Teeth If your teeth are misshapen, dental bonding can easily add some extra length or width to your teeth to give it an even edge. The result is proportionate teeth and a beautiful smile that enhances your existing facial structure.
    • BracesPatients wearing braces can greatly enhance the results of their orthodontic treatment with dental bonding. Dental bonding conceals gaps and crowding that typically develop in patients who wear braces for a longer time. It can also mask the stains that are caused by prolonged use of braces.  

Other Considerations

Generally, the candidacy for dental bonding only requires good oral health so if you are suffering from gum disease or having dental cavities, these problems should be resolved prior to proceeding with the treatment. Smoking results in dental discoloration and teeth whitening treatment fails to remove the aggressive staining caused by smoking. This is why dentists recommend their patients to stop smoking before they can undergo a dental bonding treatment. However, if the patient continues to smoke following the treatment, the discoloration and staining will continue to increase with time and eventually they would need a retreatment to retain the esthetic integrity of their smiles.  

Dental Bonding Aftercare

Apart from having good oral health before the procedure, it is equally important to maintain oral health following the procedure.  To avoid staining and discoloration after your treatment, you need to limit your consumption of tea and coffee, richly colored sauces, and smoking. To enhance the longevity of the composite resin material, you need to steer clear of habits like biting your fingernails, chewing on hard, sugary foods and gnawing on objects like pens and pencils or opening packages using your teeth. Practicing good oral hygiene and keeping up with your dental visits following your treatment will ensure that your dental bonding remains in good condition for as long as a decade and your smile spectacular for years. Best option for minor cosmetic changes, dental bonding is a practical and affordable way to enhance your smile.

If you want the best outcome from your dental bonding treatment, it is important to choose a dentist who is experienced, has a high success ratio, and consistently delivers great results. Joshua Hong DDS is dedicated to providing patients with the highest quality of cosmetic dentistry services that deliver optimal results.  So if you want a smile that is both healthy and beautiful inside-out, schedule an appointment with the best dentist in Goodyear AZ at 623.925.8822.

Dietary Measures That Will Dramatically Ease Your TMJ Pain

January 18, 2018

Filed under: Blog,TMJ Treatment — tntadmin @ 5:32 am

If you find it difficult to open your mouth completely, experience discomfort when chewing food, and your jaw locks often, you are likely suffering from TMJ disorder and your daily diet can make your condition severe. The main causes of the temporomandibular joint disorder are stress, misaligned teeth, and inflammatory musculoskeletal disorders but it is very important that you know the symptoms of this dysfunction.

Some of the symptoms of TMJ disorder include:

  • Swelling of the jaw
  • Tooth grinding
  • Jaw popping
  • Locked jaw
  • Frequent headaches
  • Sharp pain when chewing food
  • Inflamed nerves
  • Painful yawning
  • Tenderness in jaw muscles
  • Ear ache and neck pain

These symptoms can also occur in other medical conditions and so it is important to consult a dentist who can accurately diagnose your TMJ symptoms. A complete dental check-up that is done using X-rays, CT scans and MRI ensures an accurate diagnosis which is essential to creating an effective treatment plan. If you encounter any of the signs or symptoms mentioned above, it is best to visit a dentist for an early diagnosis and timely TMJ treatment. Poor posture, lack of sleep, and hard foods can worsen your existing TMJ disorder. Visiting a dentist will help you determine the root cause of your problem and you will also be given certain corrective measures to alleviate the pain and discomfort.

Diet modification also plays a major role in providing faster relief so if you follow these dietary guidelines, you will experience better outcomes:

1. Foods to Avoid

If you are suffering from TMJ disorder, the top 5 foods that you should avoid in your daily diet include:

  • Chewy foods that can make your jaw work harder like candy, nuts, bread, bagels, and steak.
  • Inflammatory foods that can aggravate your joint pain like alcohol, tobacco, salt, sugar, processed foods, corn oil and carbohydrates.
  • Foods rich in salicylates like juices, hot peppers, dairy, and olives that can worsen TMJ disorder in those who are allergic to salicylates.  

2. Food to Include in Your Diet for Reduced Pain

If you are suffering from TMJ disorder, your daily diet needs to be rich in anti-inflammatory foods like fish such as mackerel and salmon, plant foods like broccoli, berries and leafy greens. You also need to increase your intake of foods that positively impact joint health and are rich in vitamin C, vitamin E, magnesium and selenium.

3. How to Eat When the Pain Flares Up

In order to reduce the pain radiating from your TMJ, you should increase your intake of fluids like soups, stews and smoothies. When you are eating solid foods, you must take small bites to limit the opening of the jaw, chew slowly, use sauces or gravies to soften the food, peel the skin of fruits and vegetables before consuming them and chop whole foods into bite-size pieces.  

4. Eating Soft Foods for Pain Relief

Consuming a soft diet that contains scrambled eggs, yogurt, fruits, quinoa, and well-cooked vegetables will improve nutrition and offer relief from TMJ pain. You can also consume soft-cooked foods like fish sticks, meatballs, chicken, tuna, green beans, legumes, kale, squash and spinach. While this cannot be a permanent fix, following a soft food diet will help relax the jaw muscles and accelerate the healing process.

5. Eating Right for Enhanced Jaw Health

While a soft food diet works to heal your TMJ disorder, you can consider adding a few foods that are proven to enhance the health of your temporomandibular joint. These foods include fatty fish, ginger, eggplant, berries, grapes, bone broth and vegetable soup. Adding olive oil wherever you can and consuming dietary Vitamin D will work to reduce the pain and joint inflammation.

Finally, avoid stress because it has a negative impact on your temporomandibular joint and contributes to pain and discomfort. The key to an effective TMJ treatment and lasting relief is an early diagnosis that determines the root cause of the problem and helps confirm the next best treatment approach.

At Joshua Hong DDS, patients can be confident of receiving the right TMJ treatment in Goodyear AZ. Contact us today to experience a dramatic improvement in your painful condition and get treated by the best dentist in Goodyear.