The holidays have officially begun! Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve, it’s fairly certain you’re going to be spending time with lots of folks. From family gatherings to neighborhood open houses to the office holiday party, you’ll find yourself rubbing elbows with all the in-laws and out-laws in your social orbit. And because it’s the season of cheer, you’ll probably smile—a lot.

So, before the festivities go full tilt, take a little time to freshen up that wonderful smile of yours. Here are a few suggestions for having a smile this holiday season that you’re confident to put on display.

Dental cleanings. While professional dental cleanings primarily remove any lingering disease-causing plaque and tartar, they can have the secondary benefit of improving your smile’s appearance. So, if it’s close to time for your regular dental visit or you would simply like to give your teeth a quick polish, schedule a cleaning appointment for a little extra holiday sparkle.

Teeth whitening. You can gain a noticeable increase in smile brightness with a professional whitening application. With our advanced bleaching solutions and techniques, we can precisely control the level of brightness you desire, from a more subdued natural white to a dazzling “Hollywood” shine. And with care, the effect could last for several months or even years with an occasional touch-up.

Bonding. A chipped tooth can stand out from your smile like a smudge on a masterpiece painting. In many cases, though, we can repair minor chips and other defects by bonding composite resin to the tooth in a single visit. The process is simple: We color-match the resin to the tooth, then apply, shape and cure it. Your tooth will look good as new.

Porcelain veneers. For a more durable and comprehensive solution, consider veneers for dental flaws you do not wish to live with. These thin wafers of porcelain are permanently bonded to the front of teeth to mask chips, heavy staining or slight misalignments. And they are quite affordable compared to more extensive cosmetic restorations.

All of these cosmetic options can fit into most people’s budgets and don’t take a lot of time in the dentist’s chair. Veneers are the one slight exception: These require more than one visit to the dental office because they are custom-made for you in a dental lab. Also note that veneers often require the permanent removal of tooth enamel, so the tooth will require a veneer or other restorative covering from then on.

All in all, though, it doesn’t take much to put some much-needed zing back into your smile. In most cases, it only takes one visit—just in time to brighten up your holiday season.

If you would like more information about smile enhancement, please contact us or schedule a consultation. To learn more, read the Dear Doctor magazine article “Porcelain Veneers.”

A root canal treatment is a common procedure performed by dentists and endodontists (specialists for inner tooth problems). If you're about to undergo this tooth-saving procedure, here's what you need to know.

The goal of a root canal treatment is to stop tooth decay within a tooth's interior and minimize any damage to the tooth and underlying bone. This is done by accessing the tooth's pulp and root canals (tiny passageways traveling through the tooth roots to the bone) by drilling into the biting surface of a back tooth or the "tongue" side of a front tooth.

First, though, we numb the tooth and surrounding area with local anesthesia so you won't feel any pain during the procedure.  We'll also place a small sheet of vinyl or rubber called a dental dam that isolates the affected tooth from other teeth to minimize the spread of infection.

After gaining access inside the tooth we use special instruments to remove all of the diseased tissue, often with the help of a dental microscope to view the interior of tiny root canals. Once the pulp and root canals have been cleared, we'll flush the empty spaces with an antibacterial solution.

After any required reshaping, we'll fill the pulp chamber and root canals with a special filling called gutta-percha. This rubberlike, biocompatible substance conforms easily to the shape of these inner tooth structures. The filling preserves the tooth from future infection, with the added protection of adhesive cement to seal it in.

Afterward, you may have a few days of soreness that's often manageable with mild pain relievers. You'll return for a follow-up visit and possibly a more permanent filling for the access hole. It's also likely you'll receive a permanent crown for the tooth to restore it and further protect it from future fracture.

Without this vital treatment, you could very well lose your tooth to the ravages of decay. The time and any minor discomfort you may experience are well worth the outcome.

If you would like more information on treating tooth decay, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Root Canal Treatment: What You Need to Know.”

It’s common for kids to be less than enthusiastic about visiting the dentist. For some, though, it’s even more of a challenge: A child with extreme anxiety and fear during dental visits could interfere with them receiving the dental care they need. The impact could even extend into adulthood.

Recognizing the need to reduce this high anxiety, dentistry has used a number of pharmacological tools for many years that relax a child during dental care. Sedatives have often been the only choice for reducing anxiety, especially during extensive procedures and treatments. But now there’s a promising new approach in dentistry that doesn’t depend on drugs.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a psychotherapeutic method used for decades to treat depression, phobias and eating disorders, has been investigated recently as a possible approach for relieving children’s dental anxiety. During CBT, trained therapists use specific behavioral techniques to help patients develop mental and emotional strategies for dealing with stress.

During the usual course of CBT therapy, a therapist meets in counseling sessions with patients weekly over several months to help them change their routine thinking or behavior surrounding a stressful issue. Initially, the therapist guides the patient toward understanding the underlying causes for their negative reaction to the issue. They then work with the patient to devise an objective way to test whether those emotions and beliefs about the issue are true.

Using this effective method for changing behavioral and emotional responses for dental anxiety has had encouraging results from initial research. One study found CBT successfully reduced dental anxiety among a majority of a group of European children ages 9 through 16 who participated in the method.

CBT isn’t an overnight cure, often requires a number of months to achieve results. But for children who suffer from extreme fear of professional dental care, this drug-free method may provide long-term benefits that extend well past their childhood years.

If you would like more information on reducing dental anxiety in children, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation.

As the host of America's Funniest Home Videos on ABC TV, Alfonso Ribeiro has witnessed plenty of unintentional physical comedy…or, as he puts it in an interview with Dear Doctor–Dentistry & Oral Health magazine, "When people do stuff and you're like, 'Dude, you just hurt yourself for no reason!'" So when he had his own dental dilemma, Alfonso was determined not to let it turn onto an "epic fail."

The television personality was in his thirties when a painful tooth infection flared up. Instead of ignoring the problem, he took care of it by visiting his dentist, who recommended a root canal procedure. "It's not like you wake up and go, 'Yay, I'm going to have my root canal today!'" he joked. "But once it's done, you couldn't be happier because the pain is gone and you're just smiling because you're no longer in pain!"

Alfonso's experience echoes that of many other people. The root canal procedure is designed to save an infected tooth that otherwise would probably be lost. The infection may start when harmful bacteria from the mouth create a small hole (called a cavity) in the tooth's surface. If left untreated, the decay bacteria continue to eat away at the tooth's structure. Eventually, they can reach the soft pulp tissue, which extends through branching spaces deep inside the tooth called root canals.

Once infection gets a foothold there, it's time for root canal treatment! In this procedure, the area is first numbed; next, a small hole is made in the tooth to give access to the pulp, which contains nerves and blood vessels. The diseased tissue is then carefully removed with tiny instruments, and the canals are disinfected to prevent bacteria from spreading. Finally, the tooth is sealed up to prevent re-infection. Following treatment, a crown (cap) is usually required to restore the tooth's full function and appearance.

Root canal treatment sometimes gets a bad rap from people who are unfamiliar with it, or have come across misinformation on the internet. The truth is, a root canal doesn't cause pain: It relieves pain! The alternatives—having the tooth pulled or leaving the infection untreated—are often much worse.

Having a tooth extracted and replaced can be costly and time consuming…yet a missing tooth that isn't replaced can cause problems for your oral health, nutrition and self-esteem. And an untreated infection doesn't just go away on its own—it continues to smolder in your body, potentially causing serious problems. So if you need a root canal, don't delay!

If you would like additional information on root canal treatment, please contact us or schedule a consultation. You can learn more by reading the Dear Doctor magazine articles “A Step-By-Step Guide to Root Canal Treatment” and “Root Canal Treatment: What You Need to Know.”

You depend on your family dentist for most of your oral care. There are some situations, though, that are best handled by a specialist. If you or a family member has a deeply decayed tooth, for example, it might be in your long-term interest to see an endodontist.

From the Greek words, endo ("within") and odont ("tooth"), endodontics focuses on dental care involving a tooth's interior layers, including the pulp, root canals and roots. While general dentists can treat many endodontic problems, an endodontist has the advanced equipment and techniques to handle more complex cases.

The majority of an endodontist's work involves teeth inwardly affected by tooth decay. The infection has moved beyond the initial cavity created in the enamel and dentin layers and advanced into the pulp and root canals. The roots and underlying bone are in danger of infection, which can endanger the tooth's survival.

The most common treatment is root canal therapy, in which all of the infected tissue is removed from the pulp and root canals. Afterward, the empty spaces are filled and the tooth is sealed and crowned to prevent future infection. General dentists can perform this treatment, primarily with teeth having a single root and less intricate root canal networks. But teeth with multiple roots are a more challenging root canal procedure.

Teeth with multiple roots may have several root canals needing treatment, many of which can be quite small. An endodontist uses a surgical microscope and other specialized equipment, as well as advanced techniques, to ensure all of these inner passageways are disinfected and filled. Additionally, an endodontist is often preferred for previously root-canaled teeth that have been re-infected or conditions that can't be addressed by a traditional root canal procedure.

While your dentist may refer you to an endodontist for a problem tooth, you don't have to wait. You can make an appointment if you think your condition warrants it. Check out the American Association of Endodontists webpage www.aae.org/find for a list of endodontists in your area.

Advanced tooth decay can put your dental health at risk. But an endodontist might be the best choice to overcome that threat and save your tooth.

If you would like more information on endodontic dentistry, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Why See an Endodontist?”