Dr. Rachel A. Riley, D.M.D.

You could potentially have all your teeth extracted at the same time. This type of procedure is usually performed with sedation and with an oral surgeon. But some general dentists will perform this type of procedure. A thorough medical history will need to be discussed with your doctor before this type of procedure. Make sure you list all medications you are taking as they can interfere with drugs used for sedation and with post operative bleeding.

There are different types of anesthesia for different reasons. If you are having a procedure done that would cause pain in your tooth or gums there is local anesthesia to numb this area. Other kinds used in dentistry would be considered general anesthesia. Nitrous oxide (or laughing gas) can be used to reduce anxiety and help with pain reduction. General anesthesia with IV sedation would be more like surgery where you'd go to sleep and typically have little to no recollection of the procedure. There are dentists that utilize all of these forms and some only use a couple. I would look around and ask your dentist if they provide any of these services. I would also try to find a place that has a calming environment, listens to you, makes you feel at ease. Tell you dentist what makes you anxious and what you like or don't like. We like to know these things! :-) At our office, we have blankets, Netflix/Hulu, noise cancelling headphones, etc. to help reduce anxiety during uncomfortable dental procedures. I'm sure you can find a dentist in your area that would help with this.

Yes. You have a few main nerves that run through your jaw and little branches that break off the main nerve and go to specific teeth (kind of like a main river with small creeks coming off of it). If pain or infection gets bad enough the pain can spread through the nerve, and you can feel it in other areas. If infection has spread, it can go into other tissues. Pain can be felt from this as well.

Typically your surgeon will want to follow-up with you in 3-4 months. He will have to give clearance that the implants are completely healed and ready to be completed with a crown. Once the surgeon gives the clearance, that's when you will want to set up an appointment with your dentist to put the crown on the implant.

This can be from bacterial or fungal overgrowth. If you use an inhaler or have taken a new medication recently it could have resulted in an imbalance of bacteria/fungus. I suggest a stainless steel tongue scraper daily. However, I recommend having a dentist examine the white spots. White and red spots on soft tissue (gums, lips, cheeks, tongue, roof of mouth) could be immune-related, sores, pre-cancerous lesions, etc. I would feel better if you had a dentist look at it to see if biopsy is suggested.

This varies widely and depends upon many factors. Home care and cleaning will be very important. You want to make sure to keep the crown clean, especially where the crown and tooth meet close to the gumline. You also want to clean between the crown and other teeth with something like floss, soft picks, or a water pik. Seeing your dentist regularly for your hygiene visits is very important. Keeping your mouth healthy is the number one way to increase the longevity of your crown. You also want to give your body the nutrition it needs to build healthy teeth because the tooth under the crown needs to stay healthy.

I have seen them last 20+ years when someone takes care of their mouth. I have also seen them last only 2 or 3 years if the person does not clean and maintain the crown.

This is not always necessary. You should discuss the pros and cons of general anesthesia. It can depend on many factors including overall health, personal preferences, anxiety levels, difficulty of extractions, and more.
Hope this helps!

The treatment can take anywhere from 7 weeks to a year. It depends on the complexity of the case. I have completed very minor adjustments in 7-10 weeks. The results should last indefinitely as long as you wear your final retainer to keep the teeth in place.

It depends on the type of material your dentist uses, but it should only be a short time until the cement is fully set. You should be able to leave the office and eat. But make sure you ask your dentist at the time because different materials have different set times.

Your body has undergone a surgical procedure. This would be similar to a knee replacement or other type surgery. It is normal to have soreness and tenderness for a week or so after your surgery as the bone and surrounding tissue begins the healing process. Cool compress and rinsing with salt water can help. I would avoid heat in the first few days as this increases blood flow to the area and can increase swelling. Good luck and hope you're feeling better!

Hi. This is a great questions but different for everyone. It is going to be very important to keep these teeth clean, specifically at the gumline where the crown meets the tooth. If this area doesn't stay clean, decay can form at that margin and would require a new crown. Typically crowns will have to be replaced over time. If you take care of them they may last 15-20 years or more. However, if there is ever decay around the margin, it needs to be replaced. Hope this helps!

What a great question! I'm so glad you're aware of how harmful oral bacteria can be. Just like gut bacteria there are good and bad bacteria. It is important to keep the good ones around and eliminate the bad. Great oral hygiene at home is the best way.

Some of the best practices are:
1. Brushing all sides of the teeth (with an electric brush) for 2 minutes twice a day
2. Cleaning between the teeth (floss, interdental picks like soft picks, or a water pick). Softpicks are my favorite as they stimulate the gum tissue and clean both sides of the teeth.
3. Scraping the tongue with a tongue scraper (I prefer stainless steel to limit plastic exposure)
4. Mouthrise: saltwater, water, or your favorite rinse. Avoid rinses with alcohol because they dry the mouth out.

There is also an oral probiotic made by ProBiora that I love and use. I also sell this in my practice. You let it dissolve in your mouth so that you are putting all the good bacteria in the mouth. Hope this helps!

In a simple answer yes. One of the ways cavities form is due to a bacterial infection just like when you get a cold or sinus infection. This bacteria isn't just on 1 isolated tooth. It's all over your mouth. So the specific bacteria that can cause cavities can spread and damage multiple teeth. It is important to get to the source of your cavities in order to heal and prevent new cavities from forming.

I strongly suggest going to a dentist to have an exam on this tooth. It sounds like there may be infection at the root of the tooth. Sometimes when a tooth is damaged from trauma or dental treatment (and sometimes for no reason) the tooth can die and cause and infection at the end of the tooth root. When this infection builds up there is pain. The infection can eat away the bone and drain into the mouth. When the infection is able to drain the pain goes away. Then when the infection builds back up there is pain. It is a cycle that will never go away without dental treatment. A thorough clinical exam with x-rays should show if the tooth has infection.

It should be fine to go back to work after the filling. You may be talking funny from the numbing medication. But once a filling is placed it's immediately okay to eat, drink, talk, or chew. There may be some soreness at the injection site, and sometimes a tooth can be sore from the trauma of the dental treatment. However, with most fillings people can go about their daily tasks immediately after.

There are several possible complications and side effects from have a tooth extraction. Your dentist should go over these with you thoroughly before taking the tooth out. A few possible complications could be sinus involvement with the roots of an upper tooth, damage to teeth on either side of the tooth being extracted, a dry socket, and prolonged numbness from the injection. Some side effects of extractions include post-operative bleeding and pain. The teeth on either side of the extraction site can drift into the new space if nothing is done to replace the missing tooth. The tooth on the lower arch that bites against the tooth being removed can drift upward as well. It is important to go over these things with your dentist, so you have a plan to replace the missing tooth and avoid complications in the future.