Dr. Richard Louis Raimondo, D.D.S.

There are two keys to allowing your child to enjoy sweets and still not get cavities: 1. Twice daily very good tooth-brushing and flossing is essential. Most 4-year-olds cannot be expected to do a very good job of brushing and flossing; therefore, parents must help. A minimum of two full minutes of good brushing followed by flossing at least once/day is the first key. 2. Limit sweets/candy/sugared drinks to mealtimes only. It usually is not the amount of sweets the child eats that causes cavities. It is the frequency. At meals, there is usually something with sugar already. Adding a piece of candy is not going to make things worse. Rinsing with water after a meal that contains sugar will help also. If this is too much work, be ready for some dental bills.

Sometimes.

Bleeding gums is a sign of something serious - gum disease (periodontal disease, periodontitis). Bleeding gums can also be a sign of leukemia - but unlikely. Bleeding gums and diabetes are related. Gum disease is usually worse in diabetics and gum disease can make diabetes worse. You should start be seeing a dentist for a diagnosis of your problem.

To answer specifically, since there is no bone in the teeth, you cannot have bone loss in the teeth. You can, however, have bone loss around the teeth. This is called periodontitis and is made worse if you are diabetic. With periodontitis, if you lose enough bone, you lose your teeth. In most cases you can control the periodontitis with excellent daily brushing and flossing. You may be a candidate for further gum treatments by a dentist or periodontist. Except for certain instances where bone grafting is appropriate, once the bone is lost, it cannot be regained.

Not necessarily. It depends on how much damage has occurred to the jaw joint (TMJ) itself. Sometimes through the use of a night guard, you can "rest" the joint and muscles and let it recover. Other times, after a proper diagnosis of the problem, physical therapy, ultrasound treatments, or rarely surgery can be helpful.

Go back to see the dentist that placed the filling.

Please note: message attached

1. You cannot eat anything to reduce plaque.
2. Anything that has sugar will feed the bacteria that are part of plaque. If you are brushing twice a day and flossing once a day and you still have a good amount of plaque, you are not being very effective. However, many people confuse "plaque", "calculus", "tartar". Calculus and tartar are the same thing - "calcified plaque" - a hard deposit on the teeth that cannot be removed by brushing and flossing, but can be prevented by effective brushing and flossing. Plaque is mostly a soft bacterial accumulation that can be removed with effective brushing and flossing. Calculus is removed by the dental hygienist to help prevent gum disease.

You may have an infection. Go back to see the dentist that did the cleaning or give us a call for an examination - 210-653-3452.

You probably have a gum infection called periodontitis. Periodontitis is the major cause of tooth loss in adults, so you do need to seek help for proper diagnosis and treatment. If you do not have a dentist already, please give us a call - 210-653-3452.