Dr. Brian Cox Dentistry

Prevention and Gum

Prevention is always better than treatment. By actively preventing disease and decay through regular home care, professional dental cleanings and regular exams, you will maintain a healthy, beautiful smile.

In addition, effective prevention can help you avoid costly treatments in the future to remove decay, restore teeth and treat gum disease. Regular prevention is truly your best investment.

Cleanings & Exams

The prevention of disease.

Professional Cleanings:

Professional cleanings (dental prophylaxis) performed by a certified dental hygienist form the foundation for preventing gum disease and tooth decay. In a professional cleaning, your hygienist will:

• Remove plaque from the teeth -- Plaque is a sticky substance that forms in the mouth from food, saliva and bacteria. Plaque sticks to teeth and causes tooth decay and gum disease.
• Remove calculus (tartar) above the gum line -- Calculus is plaque that has hardened on the tooth surface and is difficult to remove. (Calculus below the gum line indicates gum disease and requires a different procedure to remove it.)
• Polish and remove stains from teeth

Dental Examinations:

Dental examinations help to diagnose disease before it becomes hazardous to your health. In addition, regular examinations can save you money by alleviating problems while they are small and before they become expensive to repair, or in some cases, impossible to repair. Your dental examinations generally include the following:

• Oral cancer screening
• Gum disease evaluation
• Visual examination of tooth decay
• Examination of diagnostic x-rays to see cysts, tumors, invisible decay and other problems that can't be seen by the naked eye
• Evaluation of status of current restorations (fillings and others)

We cannot express enough how important it is to see your dentist regularly. Remember, preventing disease is always better than treating disease.

Gum Disease

Gum disease (Periodontal Disease) is responsible for about 70% of adult tooth loss. It is characterized by swollen, inflamed gums surrounding the teeth. Plaque, a sticky substance that forms in the mouth from food, saliva and bacteria gets inside the space between the gum line and the tooth. If not removed, plaque hardens into a substance called calculus or tarter that is very difficult to remove.

Eventually, the bacteria in the plaque and tarter eat away at the fibers that hold the gums to the teeth, creating deep pockets. As bacteria spread, the pockets become deeper until the bacteria finally eat away the bone that holds the tooth in place.

Think of it as if bugs are eating away at the soil around a tree trunk. Eventually, they eat away all of the soil and part of the tree's roots, causing the tree to collapse.

X-Rays

How do X-Rays Help?

Dental x-rays or radiographs are very important. They allow the dentist to see things about your oral health that cannot be seen by the naked eye. These items include cysts (sacks of fluid that form on the roots of teeth), cancerous and non-cancerous tumors, invisible decay that occurs between teeth, and the location of teeth that haven't grown all the way in.

By using an x-ray to diagnose these problems, we can help save you money in the long run from surgeries or other treatments that might become necessary if we didn't find the problem. In some cases, where dental x-rays show the location of tumorous growths, x-rays can be responsible for saving your life.

Are Dental X-Rays Safe?

Modern dental x-ray machines are very safe. We use only state-of-the-art, low radiation machines. The amount of radiation exposure your body receives on an airplane flight from Los Angeles to New York exceeds the amount of exposure you will receive from a modern dental x-ray machine. Contrast this minimal exposure with the risk of not finding an illness until it is too late, and you can see why we prescribe regular diagnostic x-rays.

Diagnodent

Laser Detection of Invisible Decay

The widespread use of fluoride has made cavities more difficult to diagnose, the Diagnodent allows the dentist to look inside the grooves of the tooth. The traditional way to check for cavities was by looking for visual signs of decay on the tooth, checking x-rays, or feeling for a soft area with a dental hook. Diagnodent is a laser technology that scans your teeth with harmless pulses of light. When a cavity is present, fluorescent light of a different wavelength bounces back to the sensor, which is translated to a digital read-out. In general, the higher the number, the greater the amount of decay in the tooth. When a cavity is present, the Diagnodent also produces an audible signal.

You'll benefit from our use of Diagnodent, because it helps us find decay that may have previously gone undetected. By diagnosing decay early in its development, we can prevent more extensive damage. Your restorations will be small and less costly, and you'll be able to retain more of your own natural, healthy tooth.