Common Types of Teeth Injuries and Their Solutions

Although teeth are naturally resilient, they can face some problems like gum disease and tooth decay. These types of dental problems can badly damage your tooth. In the worst case scenario,  you may even lose them! However, there are some external dangers that can injure your teeth as well. Fortunately, there are treatments available which can help fix them and can decrease the chance of losing them. It is best to frequently visit your dentist for a regular checkup. Some of the common dental injuries are as follows: Fractured or Chipped Teeth Your tooth can be fractured easily especially during sports (when receiving an abrupt blow to the face). A report by the National Youth Safety Foundation says that if athletes don’t wear mouth guards for some sports, they have a 60 percent more chance of damaging their teeth. Moreover, … Read more

Using Laser Therapy after Tooth Extraction to Improve Wound Healing

An interesting article titled “Does laser therapy improve the wound healing process after tooth extraction? A systematic review” written by Lemes et al., was published online on October 15, 2018 in Wound Repair and Regeneration. The authors sought out to review research on using laser therapy after tooth extraction to improve oral wound healing. It is believed that laser therapy could increase the oral wound healing process by stimulating cell regeneration, attenuating pain, and modulating the immune system. The researchers were motivated because using lasers to accelerate wound healing after tooth extraction has remained controversial.  The researchers performed a systematic review to assess the best evidence that could show whether laser therapy was beneficial for wound healing after tooth extraction or if it had no merits. The review was carried out by three researchers who used eight databases including: MedLine (PubMed), The … Read more

Storing Wisdom Teeth Stem Cells

In recent years there have been articles discussing harvesting stem cells located in wisdom teeth with the hope that one day they could be used to heal damaged cells in the body. Nowadays some oral surgeons will offer patients the option after extracting their wisdom teeth to bank dental stem cells. There are a few extra steps to preserve stem cells from wisdom during surgery. All one has to do is to put the teeth into a packaging kit and then send them off for processing using a shipping service like FedEx, UPS, or USPS. It makes it easy if the oral surgeon or oral surgeons office can assist with the packaging and shipping of wisdom teeth after surgery as someone who just had surgery probably won’t be up for it. However, if the location one has wisdom teeth does … Read more

Long-acting Local Anesthetic After Wisdom Teeth Removal

A new medication called Exparel produced by Pacira Pharmaceuticals provides an alternative to opioids for use as pain relief following wisdom teeth removal. Exparel is a long-acting local anesthetic that is delivered during the surgery that numbs the site of surgery for up to three days. Exparel is not an opioid and is not habit forming and therefore will not lead to any opioid addiction. Many patients are already familar with local pain analgesics such as lidocaine that are given as a dental injection to numb an area for several hours. Exparel is a long lasting analgesics which seems to share some similarities but lasts much longer. Recently the use of opioids after wisdom teeth removal has been more closely scrutinzed, see for example http://blog.teethremoval.com/opioid-prescriptions-from-dental-clinicians-for-young-adults-and-subsequent-opioid-use-and-abuse/ and http://blog.teethremoval.com/persistent-opioid-use-after-wisdom-teeth-removal. Many are concerned that patients having wisdom teeth surgery are exposed to opioids … Read more

How to Safely Remove Your Teeth

Both adults and children need teeth removal at one point. For children, it is a normal and natural process. Sometimes for adults, it is due to problematic teeth or health conditions. Tooth extraction is a delicate process that requires the attention of a trained dentist. For children, you are advised to let the teeth to completely become loose and fall out by itself or have the dentist remove it. Here are some tips when it comes time to remove your teeth: 1. Removing Teeth in Children This is a natural process that happens to every child. According to dentists, you should not try to hurry the process. The teeth will become loose and fall out by themselves or with a little assistance. Trying to pull the teeth too early will cause too much pain for the child. It may also … Read more