There are lots of myths out there. The Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, etc.

Mine is the myth of the cosmetic dentist.

There is NO such thing as a Cosmetic Dentist.

Here is a list of the specialties that are recognized by the ADA (American Dental Association):

• Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics
• Endodontics
• Dental Public Health
• Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology
• Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology
• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Pediatric Dentistry
• Periodontics
• Prosthodontics.

Each one of these specialties is strictly regulated. Each doctor that practices in one of these fields must go through advanced licensure requirements and advanced schooling even beyond dental school. These doctors carry with them advanced knowledge that is strictly regulated by the ADA.

If you noticed, none of those specialties that I just mentioned was called the specialty of cosmetic dentistry. That’s because it doesn’t exist. And, as a matter of fact it is illegal to advertise yourself as a cosmetic dentist.

The idea of being “cosmetic” simply means that you try to make things look better. Well, there isn’t a dentist, or specialist, out there who DOESN’T do this. Everyone in the dental field has the goal to make things look better. Its what we do.

Now, is it true that a dental professional can go to courses, after dental school, that focus solely on cosmetic procedures? Absolutely. And, I have been to many of them. But that does not mean that I am a specialist in cosmetic dentistry. Because, once again, no one can be. It doesn’t exist.

If you have things that you would like to see changed about your teeth then ask around. Find a dentist that has a good reputation for that kind of thing. Then when you meet him/her, ask to see some of their work. If it looks good then, you are probably at the right place.

Here is a case that we did in our office.

Sometimes, folks come into the office and tell me that their teeth are so bad and that they have so many missing ones that there is no way that I could possibly fix all of them.

Well, almost 100% of the time, they are wrong.

Take Jenny for instance. Jenny had several missing teeth all on the same side. She thought there was nothing that could be done.

Below, you will see a picture of a bridge that we made for Jenny. This bridge goes from her very back tooth all the way up to one of her front four teeth. (Sorry, it’s a tad blurry.)

It’s all one piece. It will get cemented in place and won’t need to be removed on a nightly basis. It looks fantastic. And, it is a way to replace 3 of Jenny’s missing teeth at one time.

Dentist removes ALL of her ex-boyfriend’s teeth to get him back for dumping her.

HAVE GOT TO READ!!! Taken from Yahoo! News.

If you’re planning a trip to the dentist, it might not be the wisest decision to make your appointment with the person with whom you just broke up.

A Polish woman is facing three years in prison after she removed all of her ex-boyfriend’s teeth during dental surgery just days after their breakup.

I know there is a moral to the story here somewhere but I am just too blown away by the story to find one.

Okay, so what exactly occurs during a Root Canal procedure?

Here are 3 pictures to show you exactly what happens. First, you come in with a tooth that is hurting.

After all the proper determinations are made as to which tooth and why a root canal procedure may be started, the black space in the middle of the tooth is where the nerve lives. We need to gain access to that space to remove the nerve tissue. The long white object jutting out of the tooth is referred to as a file. We use files to clean, shape, and gauge length of the inside of the tooth.

After much cleaning, shaping, rinsing, medicating, etc. etc., the space that used to house the nerve now houses a rubberized material. The hope now is that the tooth will no longer be capable of sending signals to the brain that are interpreted as pain.

The tooth then can either have a filling placed into the hole used to access the nerve chamber or a crown could be placed. You and your dentist will need to discuss what options are best for you.

Now, obviously this is the ideal, and complications can make root canals more difficult to complete. But hopefully, things go smoothly and you are out of pain relatively quickly after the procedure is complete.

Dr. Ellis – Ogden Dentist: Oral Cancer

This post is not for the faint of heart. This is however, one of the most serious posts that I have ever done.

If you smoke or chew, please STOP.

Oral Cancer is very very real. I realize that everyone knows someone that has smoked for 80 years and nothing has ever happened to them. That is all well and good, until its you that it happens to.

These pictures are of a complete jaw bone removal due to oral cancer. And yes, if the jaw bone comes out then the teeth must come with it.

Bottom Jaw

After the jaw bone is removed, a new one must be made. It is fairly typical to make the new jaw out of Metal. The new metal jaw is lined with one of your ribs that has been taken from you and bolted to the metal. Hopefully, later on some type of implants can be fastened to the metal jaw and you can get teeth back. Until that time you are on pretty much liquid.

New Jaw out of Metal

X-ray of the NEW Lower Jaw

Hope this scares anyone enough to lick the habit.

Just going to get up on a little dental soap box for a second.

I have people come into my office all the time with a really bad toothache. I ask these folks why it is that they didn’t come in sooner. The answer that I get, a lot of the time, is that they didn’t have dental insurance.

Now, this answer does have its merits. Dental insurance does in deed help with the cost of dental care.

However, there is another side the story.

Say you have a small cavity. This cavity would cost, lets say, $100 to fix. If you let that small cavity go however, you may need a root canal. A root canal would cost about $500. If you needed a crown after the root canal then we need to add another $800.

So, what would have cost you $100, will now cost you $1,300. You still have no insurance but now you do not have a choice to fix the problem because it is killing you.

The far better solution would be to come in and get the problem fixed when it is small.

Financial arrangements can easily be made to accommodate anyone who may be struggling to come up with the funds.

Save time, money, pain, and multiple trips to the dental office. If there is a problem, PLEASE do not put it off.

Your teeth and your wallet will thank you.

Dentist in Ogden, Utah: How hard will it be to pull out my Wisdom Teeth?

Anytime, we tell someone that they need to take out their wisdom teeth. This is the question that we get most commonly asked.

The answer is that …
      it varies tremendously.

How easy is it to deliver a baby? Well, some women are in labor for 48 hours and some babies get born in the car on the way to the hospital. You never know. Here is a case that we did the other day.

We will go through the 4 wisdom teeth.

First wisdom tooth: Upper left on the screen was the easiest tooth of all. That’s because we didn’t even take it out. Its too far up and might not ever come in. If it does we can deal with it then but its pretty high.

Second wisdom tooth: Upper right on the screen was 2nd easiest. That one took about 1 minute to remove.

Third wisdom tooth was a little tougher. About 10 minutes on that one. One of the roots had a little hook on it so the pressure needed to remove it was a little increased from the upper one.

Fourth wisdom tooth was the toughest. This tooth took 30 minutes to remove. As we were removing the tooth it fractured. This simply means that there was much less tooth to grab onto. We then removed the roots one at a time (3 of them).

So, there you have it. 1 patient 4 wisdom teeth and 4 different difficulties of tooth removal.

So next time you want to ask your dentist how long it would take to get your wisdom teeth out, just realize that he may be able to give you a rough estimate but that anything, good or bad, is possible.

Dr. Ellis – Ogden Dentist: What are Dental Sealants?

A sealant is a protective covering that is placed over a tooth so that it is harder for the bacteria to attack it and cause a cavity. Material is flowed into all of the cracks and grooves to protect them and then the material is cured to a hard state.

99% of the time the teeth that are sealed are the 1st and 2nd adult molars. These teeth come in at ages 6 and 12 respectively.

Any tooth can be sealed, but it is typically these two teeth because they are the most likely to get cavities and they are the ones that the insurance companies will pay for.

Your children don’t need sealants but it sure does help. Adults can get sealants on their back teeth but you will pay for it all yourself. If you are interested, talk to your dentist.

Dr. Ellis – Ogden Dentist: How long until my Tooth breaks?

This question is one that we get, probably, more often then any other.

Below is a picture from a patient that we saw for the first time yesterday. You will notice that towards the top of the picture there is a chip out of the tooth.

The tooth has a large metal filling already and is in a weakened state.

How long this tooth will last till it suffers a more significant break is almost completely up to the patient. If the patient went on an all yogurt diet then, the tooth would last a long time. If the patient had a corn-nut addiction, it may last 12 hours. There is really no way to tell.

Best thing to do is obviously to get it fixed. But if you can’t then, the best thing is to make sure that you don’t chomp down on anything really hard on the side until you can get it fixed.

Dr. Ellis – Ogden Dentist: Switching off of soda? Should you go to sports drinks?

I have many patients who have developed bad oral habits over the years. One of these bad habits is drinking lots of soda pop. Soda is terrible on your teeth. I try to get people to stop drinking the stuff as much as I can.

Some folks have decided that they will kick the soda habit by going to something much more healthy for them. The stuff they decide to drink instead is sports drinks (gatorade, poweraid, red bull, etc.) They see the commercials and see professional athletes drinking this stuff and think that it must be good for them. Not so fast. The following is a study from the university of Iowa. and the results may shock you.

The University of Iowa researchers covered extracted teeth with nail polish. They left bare two patches on each tooth, one on the enamel and one on the root. Then they dunked the teeth in test tubes filled with regular Coke, Diet Coke, Gatorade, Red Bull, or 100% apple juice. Every five hours, the researchers refreshed the beverages. After 25 hours, they examined the teeth with a microscope. All of the beverages eroded the bare spots on the teeth. But different beverages had significantly different effects. On the enamel, Gatorade was significantly more corrosive than Red Bull and Coke. Red Bull and Coke, in turn, were significantly more corrosive than Diet Coke and apple juice. On the roots of the teeth, Gatorade was more corrosive than Red Bull. Coke, apple juice, and Diet Coke followed in that order.

So, there you have it. People switching from soda pop to sports drinks thinking that they are helping their teeth are actually doing MORE damage to their teeth then before. Be careful what people tell you is better for you. It just may be worse.