Month: January 2016

Think you should just tough out the pain you are experiencing in your mouth? That could be a very bad idea. Whether it is a tooth, gums, or other soft tissues of your mouth pain is an indication that you need to come into our 24-hour emergency dentist. Pain is the body’s signal to you that something is wrong, and often when it comes to dental pain it is a sign of an infection. If these infections aren’t properly treated, they can spread quickly.

Once an infection begins to spread, it can cause damage to larger and larger areas of your mouth. Sometimes infections can become so severe that they can become life-threatening. That’s why visit an emergency dentist like Center City in Philadelphia is so important. You’ll get the treatment you need to help stop the spread of the infection, mitigate any damage that’s already been done, and get relief for your pain. It’s not only worth the visit, it could save your life.

Our dentist will always treat you with great care, compassion, and expertise. Even if your pain doesn’t turn out to be an emergency, we’d rather you come in for a visit than risk more damage by waiting at home. Get in touch with our 24-hour emergency dentist when you are experiencing oral pain. Emergency patients are welcome to come by our location at 220 S. 16th Street, Suite 901 in Philadelphia. If you have questions, you can call 215.315.7691. Whatever you do, make sure you take care of yourself by allowing us to take care of you!

Many of us have, as a result of a minor accident or circumstance of birth, ended up with less than perfect teeth. When society shows a preference for and admires a beautiful smile, it can be difficult to feel confident about your teeth if they have any noticeable issues. That’s why we’re making a series of blog posts that will discuss what cosmetic dentistry can do to make your smile perfect. Up first is fixing damaged, crooked or misshapen teeth with procedures like crowns, Lumineers, veneers, bridges or Invisalign.

Crowns

Crowns are a not often used to fix a smile, since they requires removing large parts of the tooth’s original structure, which is, of course, an irreversible procedure. That means crowns are most often used when the teeth have already suffered significant damage or issues, and more moderate options aren’t available. However, our crowns look beautiful and natural once they’ve been planted, which just goes to prove that we can turn even severely damaged teeth into that beautiful smile we all dream of.

Veneers

Veneers are in many ways a more conservative option to crowns. They can be used to fix chipped, stained or discolored, crooked, misshapen and oddly gapped teeth. In practical terms, veneers are a porcelain “cover” that’s inserted onto your teeth to give them the appearance of a perfectly shaped and aligned smile. Porcelain veneers are stain resistant and natural-looking, and they don’t usually require extensive reshaping of your teeth, but the process is irreversible and requires the removal of enamel. For anyone whose teeth require a medium amount of work, veneers may be the perfect option to brighten up your smile.

Lumineers

Lumineers are a less invasive version of traditional porcelain veneers. They, too, are a kind of a “cover” that goes on top of your teeth, but they require no preparation, drilling of teeth, etc. They are made out of a thinner, yet durable, type of porcelain than traditional porcelain veneers. Lumineers can be used for the same issues as porcelain veneers – crooked, misshapen, etc. teeth – but for finding out which option is the best for an individual customer’s needs, we recommend consulting one of our expert dentists who are specialized in cosmetic dentistry.

Bridges

The option of a bridge is most often recommended to people missing one or more teeth. It requires extensive reshaping of the remaining teeth, after which a bridge of natural-looking teeth is inserted on top of them. A bridge often lasts a lifetime, although, in some cases, it may need to be replaced or fixed. So if you’re worried that missing a tooth or teeth means the situation for your smile is hopeless, you’ll be glad to know that a bridge can give you a smile even more perfect than you had before. To find out if a bridge is right for you and what kind of a bridge would be the best choice, you should contact us directly.

Invisalign

For teeth that need to be straightened, Invisalign is a less visible option to traditional braces. Its see-through appearance on top of your teeth is practically unnoticeable and only, generally, requires the same time for treatment as regular braces. You can remove the aligners at any time you want, but it’s recommended you keep them on for 20 to 22 hours a day for optimal results. However, if there’s a special occasion you want to attend without them, the time window does give you the opportunity to do so. Anyone getting Invisalign will be given an individualized treatment plan and checkup schedule that will function as their roadmap to a beautiful smile.

We at Center City Emergency Dentists have myriad additional options, like reconstructive surgery, available for customers looking to make their dream of a beautiful smile come true. We are also the leading experts in center city Philadelphia on dental implants and more. The comfort and lasting, beautiful smile of our patients are a priority to us, and we would love to answer any questions anyone considering cosmetic dentistry, or other procedures, has in mind.

How often do you hear people describe someone as having “a beautiful smile?” It usually goes beyond exterior aesthetics and becomes descriptive of a person’s personality; someone with a beautiful smile is assumed to have a radiant, fun personality. Whether that’s a good assumption or not, it does exist, and many people who are not comfortable with their smiles don’t get to fully express their beautiful personalities. That’s why, as the premier experts in dental care, from emergency procedures to dental implants in Philadelphia, we’re doing a series of blog posts about ways to find your beautiful smile. Up this week is discolored teeth.

Causes and Prevention

There are various reasons why your teeth may get discolored or darkened. The most common, and easily avoidable, ones are drinking too much coffee, tea, colas and wines. Particularly in large quantities, they have a tendency to darken teeth. Similarly, tobacco and fruits/vegetables like apples and potatoes can stain your teeth. All of these are avoidable by decreasing or quitting the consumption or by maintaining better dental hygiene with adequate brushing and flossing that removes plaque and stain-causing substances from your teeth.
Causes that are harder to battle include medications, diseases, age, genetics and the environment. Age inevitably darkens teeth, while some medications and diseases, like certain antibiotics and chemotherapy, stain and discolor teeth. Furthermore, too much fluoride in the water you drink or the products you use can cause discoloration.

Treatments

Sometimes, in milder cases, cutting down and quitting the usage of products that cause discoloration can help. However, in many cases, for the best and most noticeable results we would recommend our bleaching procedures. When done by a professional, bleaching your teeth will lead to beautiful, natural results that can’t be achieved at home. Having your teeth bleached by a professional will also ensure you avoid any accidents, further discoloring or other unwanted results. The procedures are painless and quick, so please contact us directly if you’re interested in hearing more.

Veneers, discussed in our previous blog post, also work for making discolored teeth look whiter and more beautiful. They are a more extreme solution than teeth bleaching, but in some cases, they are the right option. Veneers will also help with other issues you may have with your smile, like hiding damage the teeth have received. For more information and finding out whether veneers could be the right choice for you, we recommend you contact us directly through our website or by calling 215-315-7691.

As we approach the end of the year, it’s usually customary to take a little look back on times gone by. As a company that has a long history in the field of dentistry, we’ve always made a point of taking pride in all the hard work from years past that we’ve built our success on, but without living in the past. This month, though, to celebrate the end of another successful year, we thought it might be fun to tell you a little bit about the history of our profession. It’s a very long and eventful history, so we can only fit bits and pieces into one blog post, but we hope they give you a general idea.

Dentistry is literally an ancient profession, as it can be traced all the way back to Ancient Egypt where, around 7500 B.C., people are known to have had the first replacement teeth (ancient versions of dentures and crowns). You can track the development of, and discussion around, dentistry throughout the Ancient World, with the first recorded reference to a professional dental practitioner made in 2600 B.C.

Moving on to Ancient Greece, legendary thinkers like Hippocrates and Aristotle also dedicated some of their thoughts to dentistry, describing dental methods from how to treat decayed teeth to using wires to fix loose teeth. Similarly, there are extensive writings about topics like the importance of oral hygiene (yes, dentists have been desperately trying to promote it for several millennia now) from the Ancient Roman medical writers.

As is often the case in any field of medicine, the traces of the beginning of the profession itself, as well as several innovations within the field, can be traced back to China. For example, in 700 A.C. Chinese medical writers were already discussing the use of a type of amalgam in dental care. One of the most important developments to the profession itself is made in 1200 in France, when the first Guild of Barbers is established. In case you didn’t know, both surgery as well as dentistry were performed by barbers for hundreds of years during the Middle Ages.

The 19^th century saw plenty of developments in dentistry techniques as well as the starting of the first dentistry practice in the United States by John Baker in 1760, an immigrant from England. As an interesting addition, 1776 is when the first known post-mortem dental forensics procedure was done, used to verify the identity of a deceased based on a bridge a dentist can confirm as one he had earlier constructed for the patient. The next two hundred years are a whirl of innovations at a pace that’s ever increasing and impossible to detail in one blog post. But essentially they’ve led us to a place where we can alleviate almost any pain situation, fix practically all aesthetic problems and, generally, make people’s smiles more beautiful than ever.

If you want to know more about what we as the leading providers of procedures from emergency dentistry to dental implants in Philadelphia can do for you, please don’t hesitate to contact us directly.

Whether you go through a wisdom teeth removal procedure or undergo a dental implant surgery, it’s incredibly important that you take the correct measures to heal quickly and appropriately. Our current healthcare systems usually perform quite painless surgeries that place even more emphasis on the recovery process. Below, are five tips to more effectively recover following an oral procedure: 

Medication

After you’ve undergone oral surgery, it’s imperative that you take any medications that you’ve been prescribed by your surgeon or dentist. Antibiotics are incredibly important in helping to prevent infections following a procedure. If you aren’t prescribed painkillers from your healthcare professional, find out whether or not it’s safe for you to take over-the-counter painkillers such as ibuprofen. Abstain from taking Aspirin, though, since it’s known to make your blood thinner, which will result in more bleeding.

Refrain from Brushing 

Considering that you might have undergone oral surgery, you might want to do everything you can do prevent having to go through another procedure again any time soon. Not just yet, though—make certain that the area of your mouth heals correctly before you start brushing your entire mouth again. If you just can’t avoid brushing altogether, then its advised that you only brush the other regions of your mouth that aren’t in process of healing—or else you might cause bleeding. A saltwater rinse is normally a recommended alternative method of cleaning your mouth following an oral procedure. 

Appropriate Diet 

Hard foods will usually lead to discomfort in those individuals that are only a few days past their oral surgery procedure. Surgeons and dentists suggest that you remain true to a strictly soft food/liquid diet to avoid aggravating the sensitive regions of your mouth. Avoid having to deal with additional pain by carefully chewing soft foods and sipping on liquids. As much as you might want to eat the hard foods that you’re used to, realize that you’ll end up causing yourself greater discomfort.

Downtime

Whenever anybody undergoes a medical procedure, it’s imperative that they take the appropriate amount of time to rest and recover. As much as you might feel lazy or unproductive while resting, you must acknowledge that you’re helping yourself rebound from the surgery at a faster pace. Even though you might not view an oral procedure as serious as you might other surgeries, it’s necessary that your body has as much energy as possible to channel into the healing process. Take the rest of the day off from work or school after the procedure, and even consider requesting additional days off, or simply working from home.

Listen to the Doc 

Don’t disregard what the doctor says as being overly cautious and only applicable to the most serious of cases. By acknowledging your doctor’s advice and applying it to your recovery process, you’ll ensure that the treatment is effective and begins to work as expected. Consider that their instructions are most likely the result of many years of experience. The surgeons and dentists understand what patients will have to go through following a procedure, which is why you should always follow the advice that they provide in order to recover quickly.

Take the appropriate measures to have a speedy and effective recovery following an oral procedure. By taking into consideration the mentioned tips, you’ll ensure a smoother post-op experience. Contact experts, such as Center City Emergency Dentist, to undergo emergency wisdom teeth removal in Philadelphia, PA or any other surrounding area. The experts also perform emergency root canals and tooth abscess treatments in Philadelphia, as well.