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Congratulations! You’ve made the decision to replace a missing tooth with an implant. While an implant will restore the appearance of your smile, you also know that there are many reasons that an implant will improve your health, too.

A missing tooth causes structural problems as well as cosmetic ones. Remaining teeth can shift to fill the gap, leading to wear and bite problems. Without the stimulation of biting and chewing, bone tissue under the lost tooth gradually shrinks and is resorbed. The shapes of our jaws, cheeks and lips can be affected. Replacing a lost tooth with an implant can not only restore the appearance of your smile, but maintain it.

And implant procedures have a very high rate of success. Implants are made of materials compatible with the body, and surgically placed in the jaw to act as anchors for replacement teeth. The implant will actually integrate with the bone growing around it for strong, stable, and long-lasting support. After the time it takes for the implant to integrate and the area around it to heal, a crown, designed to match your own teeth perfectly, will be securely attached to the implant post.

What can you do to help the healing process? Follow our instructions carefully. Dr. Jeffery Spahr and Dr. Janna Spahr will give you suggestions for the time immediately following the procedure as well as instructions on the importance of keeping the area clean while healing takes place. And one very important favor you can do yourself? If you smoke, this is the time to stop.

Studies have shown that smokers have a significantly increased risk of dental problems and implant failures, and there are several theories as to why.

• Smoking slows the healing process. Some studies indicate that smoking impairs blood flow in the gums, so that less oxygen and fewer nutrients are delivered to healing tissue.
• Smokers tend to be more vulnerable to gum disease.
• Smoking has been linked to a weaker immune system, so it’s harder to fight off an infection or to heal from one.
• More marginal bone loss around implants is seen in smokers than in non-smokers.
• Peri-implantitis, an inflammation of the gum tissue around the implant that can lead to bone loss and implant failure, is also more common in smokers.

Now that you have decided on a dental implant at our Lincoln, NE office, make one more decision to ensure the success of the procedure. Talk to us about ways to quit smoking before your implant, and how to reduce the chance of smoking-related complications. We know that quitting can be difficult, but your improved smile—and your improved health—are worth it!

A shopping mall is a great place to get lots of errands done in one trip. Department stores, clothing boutiques, specialty shops? So many tempting options all in one place. But teeth whitening? Maybe not.

Dental office whitening provides you with the whitest possible teeth in the safest possible manner. Your teeth will be checked first for any conditions that might make whitening a bad idea, such as tooth decay, weakened enamel, or gum disease. Dr. Jeffery Spahr and Dr. Janna Spahr will make sure your gums and mouth are protected. A gel with a higher concentration of bleaching agents than those available over-the-counter will be applied, and your whitening progress will be monitored. You can also ask about having a custom-fitted tray made for at use at home with professional whitening gel.

What is different about mall bleaching?

• No dental exam will be provided beforehand. If you have dental issues, the whitening process might cause further problems such as tooth sensitivity or gum inflammation.
• The amount of peroxide in the bleaching agents can vary from place to place. You might end up with something equivalent to home whitening strips, or you might be exposed to solutions that should only be available in a dentist’s office.
• Finally, in many areas, mall whitening is actually illegal because it is considered the practice of dentistry without a license. Mall kiosks skirt this problem by having customers insert the trays full of gel themselves—a practice that does not take the place of professional training, licensing, and regulation.

A mall kiosk is a convenient place to select a new phone. Or try an unusual hair care product. Or purchase the latest in fad toys. But when it comes to your dental health, it’s worth a special trip to our Lincoln, NE office if you want the safest, most effective whitening.

August 22 is National Tooth Fairy Day! If the Tooth Fairy is a treasured part of your child’s life, you’re just in time to celebrate! But what to do when the Tooth Fairy doesn’t arrive on schedule—when baby teeth stay longer than expected or are lost too soon? 

A baby’s 20 baby teeth tend to come in within a fairly predictable time frame. The bottom central incisors in the very front of your baby’s mouth typically make their appearance first, when your baby is around six to ten months old. Over the next few years, the remaining incisors, canines, and first molars arrive. Last on the scene are the second molars, which usually show up between the ages of 23-33 months. 

Just as baby teeth follow a pattern coming in, they tend to follow the same pattern falling out. The front teeth begin to wiggle and loosen around age six or seven, while the last of the baby teeth, the canines and second molars, are often lost between the ages of ten and 12. 

Baby teeth fall out as the adult teeth below them push up as they erupt. The top of the new tooth puts pressure on the root of the baby tooth, gradually dissolving it. As the root grows smaller and can’t anchor the tooth, the tooth begins to wiggle and eventually becomes loose enough to fall out. This leaves the adult tooth perfectly placed to grow into its proper position.

Sometimes, though, teeth linger far past their fall-out date. Sometimes, because of decay or trauma, they are lost much too early. In either case, Dr. Jeffery Spahr and Dr. Janna Spahr can provide treatment to protect little smiles now and to ensure that there’s space for the permanent teeth to erupt and align correctly.

Teeth Which Overstay Their Welcome

If that baby tooth never gets wiggly, the team at Fallbrook Family Dentistry can help! When baby teeth stubbornly hang on, adult teeth can erupt behind them, creating a double row of teeth commonly known as “shark teeth.” These permanent teeth can become crowded or misaligned as they try to fit in any space available. Or a baby tooth can block an adult tooth from erupting at all. When that baby tooth just isn’t budging, an extraction will create space for the permanent tooth to erupt.

Extracting a baby tooth is generally a straightforward procedure because primary teeth have very small roots. Your child’s dental team at Fallbrook Family Dentistry are experts in helping you prepare your child for the procedure in a gentle, reassuring, and age-appropriate way. 

Often, a local anesthetic is all that’s necessary for a simple extraction, but if you feel sedation would better fit your child’s needs, discuss sedation options with your dentist. After the extraction, you’ll be given clear information on how to deal with pain and swelling, which foods and drinks are best while the extraction site heals, and how to protect the area.

Teeth Which Exit Too Early

In the case of decay or trauma, Dr. Jeffery Spahr and Dr. Janna Spahr will do everything possible to save the tooth. When decay is so extensive that there’s not enough structure left to hold a filling or crown, or when there’s an infection in or around the tooth, or when an accident or injury has caused serious damage, extraction might be the healthiest option. Depending on your child’s age, further treatment might be needed afterward to protect future smiles. 

Besides their roles in eating and speaking, baby teeth save space for permanent teeth. Whenever a child loses a primary tooth too soon, the family dentist will be on the lookout for potential future orthodontic problems. If remaining baby teeth shift, taking up part of the empty space left behind by the lost tooth, the adult teeth below won’t have the space they need to erupt properly. Permanent teeth might come in at an awkward angle or in the wrong place. 

In this case, Dr. Jeffery Spahr and Dr. Janna Spahr might recommend a space maintainer. Space maintainers are small, custom-designed appliances which prevent the remaining baby teeth from shifting position while holding space open for the permanent tooth to arrive right on schedule and right where it belongs. 

It’s comforting to have charts which let us know when little teeth will typically come in and when they will typically fall out. But unexpected events might mean teeth overstay their welcome or depart too soon. When the Tooth Fairy can’t keep to her schedule, schedule an appointment at Fallbrook Family Dentistry in Lincoln, NE as soon as possible to make sure your child is on track for a future of healthy smiles.

What do you think of when you hear the term dental or oral hygiene? Brushing and flossing tend to come to mind, since that is what the terms imply.

What you might not know, however, is that good dental hygiene involves much more than just your mouth. That’s the tip of the iceberg … just a piece of the complex puzzle that is the human body.

Simply put, you cannot be fully healthy if you don’t have good oral health. Studies have shown that oral health and body health are closely linked and in fact almost impossible to define as separate phenomena.

Take gum disease, for example. It’s one of the most common dental infections, but it doesn’t just affect your gums. According to the Academy of General Dentistry, gum disease can be directly linked to more serious complications such as strokes and heart disease. Doesn’t that make you want to floss a little more often?

This goes the other way, too. Many oral events like sores, swollen gums, and dry mouth syndrome, which might seem fairly trivial and even harmless, may be signals of a much bigger problem: possibly leukemia, kidney disease, diabetes, or pancreatic cancer.

Now that you’ve been made aware of just how vital dental health is for your overall health (and vice versa), the best thing to do is what you’re probably already doing: making sure you brush and floss, as well as maintain a well-balanced diet. It’s also smart to keep away from cigarettes and tobacco, because both are known to contribute to periodontal disease.

In addition, be sure to keep getting your teeth cleaned every six months! If you’re due for a cleaning, give our Lincoln, NE office a call to schedule an appointment at Fallbrook Family Dentistry.