Archive for the ‘TMJ Disorder’ Category

I’m a grinder, and I want a smile makeover. How about Snap-on Smile?

Tuesday, June 21st, 2011

I am looking for an excellent cosmetic dentist. I am considering crowns for my front teeth. Since I grind my teeth, I don’t think porcelain veneers are a good option. I have seen some people with crowns however that appear grey at the gumline. I don’t want that at all. How do you feel about Snap-on Smile?
- Gerard from Ohio

Gerard,
Snap-on-Smile will not give you a beautiful smile. It may give an acceptable smile, but your teeth will be a little bulky, and you won’t have that natural translucency of real teeth, plus some other drawbacks. The Snap-on Smile is a low-cost option for a smile makeover. You need to have low expectations for the Snap-on Smile or you’ll be disappointed.

You do have to be really careful if you grind your teeth. You don’t need to rule out porcelain veneers, as long as you are going to an excellent cosmetic dentist who has a lot of experience with smile makeovers. The dentist may have to make them so that they stay out of the way of your grinding patterns. That can be done. And you may need to wear a night guard to protect the veneers at night. We have often worked with grinders and clenchers and they have a hard time believing that wearing this protection at night helps, because they say things always break during the day. But the stress and microcracks that are created at night weaken the teeth and the porcelain, and so the night guard can be excellent protection. But again, it depends on the patient, and each case needs to be handled individually. And you really need an excellent cosmetic dentist with a great deal of experience.

As far as porcelain crowns, that would also be an option for you. The dark line that is associated with crowns is only associated with porcelain fused to metal crowns. An expert cosmetic dentist with many years of experience, again, will be able to place these in such a way as to keep them from breaking. One disadvantage of crowns if you are a grinder or a clencher is that the front teeth are weakened at the neck of the tooth, and, again depending on your grinding patterns, it may make it so that the tooth is more susceptible to breaking off entirely.

You want a dentist with expertise in cosmetic dentistry and in occlusion, and a dentist who is older, say in his late 40s at least, because they will have more long-term experience in doing total smile makeovers. A dentist who has done smile makeovers but not over that long a time period hasn’t yet seen how these makeovers in patients who grind their teeth hold up over time.

This blog sponsored by Colorado Springs TMJ dentist Dr. Joseph Rota.

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Nightguard makes her teeth sore.

Saturday, September 18th, 2010

Is there any way that I can loosen up a mouthguard (custom-made at a dental office), so that it will fit more comfortably on my teeth? Right now it pushes against my teeth; and when I wake up in the morning, my teeth are somewhat sore, and it feels as if braces were trying to realign my teeth. Is there any way I can make it fit looser, so that I don’t have to have another one made?
- Angie

Angie,
It’s very difficult even for a dentist with all the tools they have to adjust appliances like this to adjust the fit of a nightguard on the teeth. It needs to precisely fit every tooth – its shape and inclination. For a lay person to do that without the knowledge of dentistry and with household tools is pretty impossible.

But if I am interpreting accurately what is happening here, this could be a significantly unhealthy situation. It sounds like this nightguard is pushing your teeth into a new position every night. Therefore, you may be having a continual back and forth motion on your teeth, which can contribute to making them loose. Whether or not this is a problem depends on how far the nightguard is moving your teeth.

If this nightguard isn’t very old, the dentist should adjust it or remake it for no extra charge. If you have had it for a while, you will probably have to pay to get this done.

Background information and other links:
A nightguard is usually a treatment for TMJ disorder. Click here to read more about TMJ disorder.
Dr. Rota has great expertise in treating this disorder, but there is no recognized specialty in TMJ treatment, so it wouldn’t be accurate to call him a TMJ specialist.

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Do I need a missing back tooth replaced?

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

I have just had a tooth extracted 2 weeks ago and am supposed to be getting a bridge over time. however the price quoted is over $3500.00. I am now used to the tooth not being there(back tooth)., So, other than just being a cosmetic fix, can i go througjh life without getting the bridge done. Is there any meical reason for it….in other wors, i am just fine as is and rather keep my money. I know the denntist will insist, so i need a secon opinion.
- Andre from Montreal, Canada

Andre
If the tooth is a front tooth, the reason for replacing it is largely cosmetic and partly functional. But for a back tooth, there is an important health reason for replacing it.

The reason is that, when you’re missing a back tooth, the teeth next to it will drift into the empty space that’s left. The teeth on the sides tip into the space, and the opposing tooth drifts down or up, depending on whether it is an upper or lower tooth missing. This throws your jaw out of alignment, which can cause TMJ disorder. When teeth tip, it also helps contribute to periodontal disease (gum disease), and can lead to the eventual loss of those teeth, too.

While these teeth will start drifting within a couple of weeks, the difficulties don’t become apparent until years later. You probably wouldn’t think anything was wrong until a couple of years later you may start wondering why you have headaches all the time and you can’t bite together normally.

My recommendation would be to have the missing tooth replaced within a couple of weeks, before the teeth start drifting at all. This can be done either with a dental implant or a dental bridge. In some situations, a bridge is best, in other situations, the best choice would be an implant.

Posted in Dental Bridges, Dental Implants, TMJ Disorder | Comments Off