Cracked Tooth: Emergency or Not? How to Sort It Today
The short answer. Whether a cracked tooth is an emergency or not is decided by three things, and none of them is how big the crack looks. Is there pink or blood in the break, meaning the nerve is exposed? Does the piece or the tooth move? Does it hurt when you let go of […]
A Knocked-Out Tooth: What the First 30 Minutes Decide
The short answer. With a knocked out tooth, the first 30 minutes are spent protecting the root, not the tooth you can see. Pick it up by the crown, never the root. Do not scrub it, and do not let it dry. If it is an adult tooth and you can, set it back in […]
Why Dentures Stop Fitting and What a Denture Reline Does
The short answer. Dentures stop fitting because the gum and bone under them keep changing shape after the teeth are gone, while the denture stays exactly the shape it was made. The denture did not change. The ridge under it did. A denture reline resurfaces the fitting side so it matches the ridge you have […]
Dental Swelling: When to Go to the ER and When to Call the Dentist
The short answer. Dental swelling decides when to go to the ER: some of it can wait for a call to the office, and some of it cannot. Swelling that stays on the gum next to one tooth is a call to the dental office today. Swelling that closes an eye, runs under the jaw […]
Why a Crown After a Root Canal Is Part of the Same Treatment
The short answer. If you are wondering why a crown after a root canal is being recommended at all, here it is: the root canal takes the infection out, and the crown is what keeps the tooth in one piece afterwards. They are one treatment delivered across two appointments, not a treatment followed by an […]
When a Filling Needs to Become a Crown
The short answer. A filling replaces the decay that was drilled out. A crown replaces structure the tooth no longer has. The line between them is how much sound tooth is left standing once the old material is gone, not how big the cavity looked on the X-ray. Once a restoration is carrying most of […]