Wednesday, July 29, 2015

If You Want to Overcome Dental Anxiety, Visit Our Dental Office

Dental Office
The dental office may not be the place most people chose to spend a relaxing afternoon, but it is the place where you can learn about oral health, get your teeth taken care of, and even overcome an anxiety or two. The sad truth is that too many people are deadly afraid of visiting the dental office. This anxiety, which stems from a number of causes, will make people prefer unhealthy mouths or even damaged teeth to coming in and getting their problems taken care of. One of our goals is to help you overcome these fears.

Dental anxiety is a common occurrence.  In fact, around the United States, 26% of the population states that they know they are in need of dental care. They agree that with dental care their teeth would be in better condition, but refuse to seek out a dentist, other than in an emergency, because of their anxiety about visiting one. We have found that even among people that do make a habit of visiting the dentist, there is a sense of anxiety that is pervasive. Between 9% and 20% of all our patients admit to having anxiety, which ranges from mild to the border of panic attacks, when they have to have a procedure done. For patients who experience this kind of anxiety, but are willing to go to the dentist anyway, much of the anxiety springs from the unknown. Not knowing what condition your teeth are in, what the dentist might find, or what remedies might be needed to bring your teeth back to perfect health is a significant cause of concern. At the dental office, we have found there are three very important things you can do which, if you commit to them, will actually help you to start overcoming your anxiety of dentistry.

How our dental office can help you to overcome some of your anxiety -
The first thing we will help you to understand is what we do, how we do it, and the tools that we use to complete our dental procedures. Knowledge and anxiety are natural enemies, so the more you learn about what we do and the measures we go through to ensure your safety and comfort, the less likely you are to be afraid of receiving dental care. We hope you will ask a lot of questions in your quest to become more familiar with dentistry. Second, we will help you to isolate what your fears actually are. No anxiety is all encompassing. With dental anxiety, we have found that it tends to start from smaller sources, like a fear of experiencing discomfort. While this kind of anxiety is no less intense, it is something that we can isolate and work to prevent. Finally, we encourage building familiarity by scheduling bi-annual cleanings and examinations. When you make it a habit to come in at least 2 times a year, you start to get familiar with the tools and people in our office. As you go through non-invasive and relaxing procedures, you will start to realize that there is nothing to fear from our dental office. If you need additional assistance, we can discuss your options for medication and sedation.



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Friday, July 3, 2015

What You Should Know About Dental Fillings in Chicago

Dental Fillings in Chicago
A dental filling in Chicago rarely starts with a patient that is looking for their teeth to get a filling, despite the fact that the gold fillings do look very snazzy. The reality is that most patients come in for a regularly scheduled checkup and we find that there is sufficient wear and tear, or decay, in a tooth that it requires a filling to keep the tooth viable. Occasionally, although rare these days, will we get a patient who is young or has been lucky with great teeth and has no idea what a filling is or why it is necessary. For the benefit of those folks, a dental filling in Chicago, or anywhere else for that matter, is exactly what it sounds like. A dental filling is a material that is used to replace the tooth enamel that has been damaged by decay to the point where a cavity has appeared. At other times, we will find what is known as a soft spot, where the enamel has almost given way to a cavity but not quite. We prefer to fill these as well since it is only a matter of time before the decay breaks through.
Considering that a dental filling in Chicago usually starts with an examination, we cannot stress enough the importance of coming in for regular checkups. The best rule of thumb is to try and make an appointment, and keep it, at least twice a year which allows us to find things like soft spots or identify areas that have excessive plaque buildup to prevent you needing a dental filling in Chicago
The first thing we do with a filling is to numb the area around the tooth so that you feel no discomfort. This is done by an application of local anesthetic directly into the gums. Once you are fully numb, you will not feel any discomfort at all but it is important to note that you will still feel things like pressure as we work on the tooth. After the tooth has been properly numbed, we can proceed to the actual cleaning. In order to make sure that we get rid of all the decay and that the decay has no chance of spreading or coming back, we will shave off all the portions of the tooth that have decay. While the dentist is removing this bad enamel, we will also take the opportunity to shape where the cavity had been so that it is a good shape for a filling. This will allow the filling itself to be more secure.
From this point on, the tooth is ready to receive the filling and we would go into any special preparations that might be required based on the kind of dental filling in Chicago you wanted to get. For a bonded filling, for example, the dentist would need to etch the tooth whereas some fillings require resin. If a resin is used, we apply it and then use the cool blue light to harden and strengthen it.


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