Dr. Timmy Hieu Truong

It seems like you have a cankor sore either from spicy food, stresss, or can also be hormonal imbalance changes in your body. I would not rule out that this might also comes from herpetic lesion which mainly from HSV 1 virus. Usually stays dormant but will break out when body immune goes down or stress level increase. Before this small round yellow lesion occurs, if you detect a small round fluid blister at the affected areas that feel itchy and uncomfortable, you can place ice at the area. I understand these lesion can feel uncomfortable and it can take up to 1-2 weeks to resolve, however, if you can't tolerate rinsing with warm salt water or apply a prescription cream TAC 0.1% 3 times a day will speed up the healing process. Depends on the area of the lesion and if it takes much longer and is still not resolved, I would go to the dentist for a thorough exam. Thanks for your question.

Yes! Peridontal disease can conme from hereditary. With that said, there are also a lot of factors that can contribute to chronic periodontal disease: smoking, diabetes, pregnancy, trauma from having misalign teeth, genetic, and as well as oral hygiene. Unfortunately, it is something we cannot cure but only to maintain and do what we can to prevent from getting worse. Just to clarify that gingivitis is not periodontal disease. Periodontal disease can mask by smoking since it will show no symptoms in smokers. Periodontal disease is when your underlying bone which support your teeth and gum begin to disintegrate that if serious can lead to infection and tooth loss. What you can only do at this point is to maintain it and best to go to the dentist every 3 months for a maintaince, a daily prescription rinse Peridex can also help, and of course home care and avoid risk factors that correlate to this chronic oral disease. Thanks for your question.

The recovery from surgery and healing process is varies from person to person, depending on a lot of factors: medical history, their daily activity, age, and the severity of the injury as well. If her jaw was wired shut for 6 weeks and can be longer depending on the follow up visit with her surgeons. Since she is a gymnast, I would consider she a healthy young person which probably will speed up the healing process. Its all depending her compliance in following all the post surgery instructions that was giving by her surgeon, but the average time to fully recovered can take up to one year. Make sure she stays in touch with her surgeons in monitoring her recovery process and trust the surgeon recommendations. Following the post operative care instructions is extremely important for optimal recovery. Im sorry and its an unfortunate event, but thanks for your question and I wish your sister well and on her way to a successful recovery so that she can return to her normal activities. Being an athlete myself, I know how it feels to not be able to train for a period of time. Stay strong!

You have several options that we can approach in term of crooked teeth. Every situation is different and in dentistry we cannot tell exactly yes you will need to have this treatment from the dialogue with the patients on the phone or via emails, etc.. We always can only gove the patient a genral background and options regarding to their concerns. We really need to see clinically as well as we also need to take xray, pictures, sometime impressions to have study models; all the necessary tools to diagnose and come up with what would be the best treatment for the patients. To answer your question yes, braces can be an option to treat your crooked tooth and yes it will move your other teeth as well. Depending on how severely that crooked tooth is and the position of that tooth, we can also do invisilign and that will also move your other teeth. We can also do veneer if that is your front tooth that is crooked and you do not want to have to go through the process of wearing braces (mild misalignment of the teeth and this will not cause the movement of your other teeth; however for esthetic reason and depending on case to case if you choise veneer, it might be best to have more than once to achieve a more desirable smile). With that said, a comprehensive exam always require to make sure that your oral health from your tissue, you gum, the underlying bone, and all your teeth are in a healthy condition with no cavities, pathololy and active infection before we can address the esthetic concerns for the patients. I hope this answers your question and I am assuming you are refering to your front tooth? It is best to make an appointment with the dentist so that he/she can evaluate your concern in person with all the necessary diagnostic records so that you will know what will be your best option. I would also recommend for you to seek for other professionals' opinion to see which provider is best suited for your needs because in dentistry, it's subjective and each dentist have a different way in approaching the same case. Thanks for your question and I wish you the best.