Dr. Russell Wilbur Phillips, DMD

It is true that less is on the agenda for follow up care with dentures than teeth, but that is not to say unnecessary. A denture results in an "organized entrapment " of oral bacteria that are called upon to live in a very unnatural state under acrylic and not being subjected to the normal cleansing action of saliva and food passing over it. . Exams do need to be done to make sure the soft tissue now living under the denture is reacting well to this environment. Denture sores are also a factor, but the likelihood is that a patient will seek out the dentist to rectify that kind of a situation, but people are different and it is recommended to take a look. It is useful also to check to see that a patient is being compliant with adequate hygiene practices to maintain the denture well.

Something is wrong with the tooth under the crown most likely if you are in that much pain. It needs an X-ray and exam to establish a diagnosis and then the options are known to proper treatment.

Replacing a tooth requires a full evaluation of the mouth in general. Typically the mechanical answer to that question is a removable partial denture, a fixed bridge or an implant. Which is applicable depends on the condition of the immediately surrounding teeth and all the teeth in general since one tooth is but one part of the whole.

Evaluate in 3 dimensions the condition of the surrounding bone and then formulate a plan accordingly. Is there enough bone remaining as it is?, does bone grafting have to be done? What are the characteristics of the bite and surrounding teeth? a lot goes into that answer.

A crown can take anywhere from one visit with an office that has an in office milling machine to two visits spread over about a two week period of time that will vary slightly from office to office. For those of two visits, a temporary crown is made to function with in the interim.=20

Just the mechanical part of treating a molar is in the 1 1/2 hour range. Consider though that one molar does not equal another. A host of factors that can complicate the task can be looming around the corner and extend that time. Sometimes even a second visit is rightfully indicated.

Pain after a root canal does not generally come from the gum. Most pain has to do with the periodontal ligament which is a cabling of soft tissue fibers that grow from the tooth surface on one side and the bone on the other. This is what holds your tooth in its socket but it is also the site of a very sensitive network of nerve fibers that work as the “feeling” organ of the tooth. That is how you can feel a hair between your tooth or know when you are biting down to hard and tells you to put the brakes on. The root canal procedure involves cleaning and enlarging the root canal right down to the end of the root where it interfaces and bumps up against the periodontal ligament— the feeling organ of the tooth. This stirs it up and creates a pain response and especially when you bite down on a root canal sensitive tooth. So, most predictable root canal pain comes from outside the end of the tooth, not the gum. There are a few odd situations where the gum could be involved directly by a different mechanism but too complicated to explain here. Most post op root canal pain is as stated above.

Yes, assuming the recipient sites are at the same stage of the process.

Yes, although each case where it is done involves some “engineering decisions” as to how much load it will take and what else is supporting the partial.

Once a day THOROUGHLY with thread flossing snd proper brushing.

Root canals require probably the highest degree of care and attention to detail for successful treatment as any dental procedure. Every dentist is required to learn how to do and to actually do a certain number of root canals in their dental school training. After that, it depends on one's own particular;ar interest whether one continues to do them in practice. Every dentist is legally allowed to do root canals, but is under the obligation of knowing when to refer to an Endodontist. Endodontics is the specialty of root canals and it very much deserves to be a specialty because not all root canals are the same. There is a huge range of complications presented in various teeth and conditions within a tooth that determine difficulty. This is where the question has to be answered carefully. There are many general dentists who can achieve good results on easy teeth. There are fewer general dentists who can achieve good results on complex teeth and fewer the more complex the situations presents. Endodontists are highly trained in evaluating and treating complex situations. These, in my opinion, should be done in their hands. This becomes a bit more complicated when one considers that often times the complexities do not present themselves until the procedure has begun and this is either due to lack of proper diagnosis or truly hidden problems. Endodontists are these days, better equipped to make complex diagnoses and decisions that affect the course of treatment. The most recent decade has seen rapid growth in new materials, techniques, equipment, and training that has changed the methods in which root canals are done. It is a consideration that the average general dentist is becoming less and less able to keep pace with the high tech and methods evolving in doing root canals. Root canal techniques changed very slowly over the last 30 years and it was not hard to keep up with the changes. It is a different story in today's rapidly changing root canal high tech enviornment. As you can see, it is not an easy question to answer, but this gives you a good overview of the situation.

In most cases it is advised because most teeth requiring root canals have had a tough life with a lot of tooth structure loss and weakened walls. In addition a root canal does hollow out the inner aspect of the tooth further weakening it but that is a necessary downside of the procedure. A crown is placed over the remaining tooth structure like a "cap on a fencepost" to support tooth structure externally.

Invisalign only works "permanently" if you are consistent about wearing nighttime retainers. Without that, the teeth will predictably shift back. Retention for life is the current buzzword.

That is one of those" it depends" questions. Assuming that the conditions under which they are placed are optimal, they both can be in the category of the longest lasting procedures we do. Bridges are much harder to maintain on a daily basis and most fail due to lack of proper maintenance. Implants must also be maintained but are a lot easier. All things being equal, implants I think have the edge on longevity.

the relationship between gums accesses and root canal accesses can be complicated. they are called "endo-perio abcesses" and come in a wide variety of involvement. More would have to be known to answer that. some do and some don't.

You can eat norma food in most cases almost right away if you chew somewhere else in the mouth. to chew directly on an implant site is hard to be accurate to answer but a couple months would be reasonable. That answer will vary by the situation.

Salt water is soothing and antibacterial to issues with the gums or other soft tissues of the mouth. It has little or no effect on hard tooth structure.