WHEN AN EXTRACTION IS NECESSARY
When a tooth is severely decayed and cannot be saved, extracting it can be the best choice for relieving pain and preventing the spread of infection.

MOST DECAYED TEETH CAN BE SAVED
Most decayed teeth can be treated successfully with a filling or crown. But for these treatments to work, there must be enough healthy tooth structure above the jawbone to support the restoration.

For example, a crown is often used to cover, protect, and restore a tooth that’s been damaged by decay. The crown attaches to the part of the tooth that’s above the bone, so an adequate amount of tooth structure must remain to hold the crown securely. (continue reading…)

To prevent cavities and maintain good oral health, your diet — what you eat and how often you eat — are important factors. Changes in your mouth start the minute you eat certain foods. Bacteria in the mouth convert sugars from the foods you eat to acids, and it’s the acids that begin to attack the enamel on teeth, starting the decay process. The more often you eat and snack, the more frequently you are exposing your teeth to the cycle of decay.

Mouth-Healthy Foods and Drinks

The best food choices for the health of your mouth include cheeses, chicken or other meats, nuts, and milk. These foods are thought to protect tooth enamel by providing the calcium and phosphorus needed to remineralize teeth (a natural process by which minerals are redeposited in tooth enamel after being removed by acids).

Other food choices include firm/crunchy fruits (for example, apples and pears) and vegetables. These foods have a high water content, which dilutes the effects of the sugars they contain, and stimulate the flow of saliva (which helps protect against decay by washing away food particles and buffering acid). Acidic foods, such as citrus fruits, tomatoes, and lemons, should be eaten as part of a larger meal to minimize the acid from them.
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You take a drink of iced tea, bite down on a candy bar, or slurp some hot soup and the electric stinging sensation in one or more of your teeth sends you flying out of your seat. You’ve got “sensitive teeth,” a rather mild name for what can be a wildly uncomfortable condition.

So what’s going on? Why do your teeth react to hot, cold, sweet, or sour, and sometimes even to pressure? Dentists have to play detective to determine what’s causing a patient’s discomfort, since teeth become sensitive for many different reasons, from trauma to dental disease, which can destroy tooth pulp, requiring a root-canal procedure to relieve the pain.

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