Wednesday, March 1, 2017

April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month

This April marks the 14th observance of Oral Cancer Awareness Month. Yet there are still plenty of people who underestimate the seriousness of oral cancer, don't know the warning signs, and are unsure where to get screening or treatment for this potentially deadly disease. It's true that oral cancer doesn't have as high a profile as some other cancers - but thanks to the efforts of educational foundations, medical professionals, and celebrities like actress Blythe Danner and baseball superstar Tony Gwynn (1960-2014), it significance is increasingly being recognized.

How common is oral cancer? According to the Oral Cancer Foundation, some 50,000 Americans will be diagnosed with this illness in the current year. Five years from now, slightly more than half of those people will still be alive. That's one of the most troubling aspects of the disease: Its survival rate is much lower than that of more well-known cancers - like breast or cervical cancer, or Hodgkin's lymphoma. A major reason for those discouraging odds is that oral cancer isn't generally found until it has reached a later stage of development, when it's harder to treat successfully.

That's why early diagnosis of oral cancer is so important - and why it's vital to become aware of possible warning signs of the disease. The first symptoms are often relatively minor: a red or white patch or a sore on the tongue, lips or the inside of the mouth, that doesn't go away within 14 days; an unusual lump or mass in the mouth or neck; or difficulty eating, speaking or swallowing. While these symptoms are common and most often benign, they can also indicate an early stage of oral cancer.

Fortunately, dentists are trained to recognize the early signs of oral cancer, and we can often identify possible signs of the disease in its initial stages. We perform oral cancer screenings at routine dental exams, but you can also come in for an examination any time you have a concern. The good news is that recent advances in diagnosing oral cancer offer the hope that more people will get appropriate, timely treatment for this potentially deadly disease.

If you have questions about oral cance, please visit our website at www.myparkdental.com, or contact us here, or schedule an appointment for a consultation.



Encourage Your Child to Stop Thumb Sucking Around Age 3

One of the biggest concerns we hear from parents is about their child's thumb sucking habit. Our advice: if they're under age 4, there's no need for concern - yet. If they're older, though, you should be concerned about the possible effect on their bite.

Thumb sucking is a universal habit among infants and toddlers and is related to their swallowing pattern during feeding. As they swallow, their tongue thrusts forward to create a seal with the lips around the breast or a bottle nipple. Many pediatricians believe thumb sucking replicates nursing and so has a comforting effect on infants.

Around age 4, though, this swallowing pattern begins to change to accommodate solid food. The tongue now begins to rest at the back of the top front teeth during swallowing (try swallowing now and you'll see). For most children, their thumb sucking habit also fades during this time and eventually stops.

But for whatever reason, some children don't stop. As the habit persists, the tongue continues to thrust forward rather than toward the back of the top front teeth. Over time this can place undue pressure on both upper and lower front teeth and contribute to the development of an open bite, a slight gap between the upper and lower teeth when the jaws are shut.

While late childhood thumb sucking isn't the only cause for an open bite (abnormal bone growth in one jaw is another), the habit is still a prominent factor. That's why it's important that you start encouraging your child to stop thumb sucking around age 3 and no later than 4. This is best accomplished with positive reinforcement like rewards or praise.

If they've continued the habit a few years after they should have stopped, we may also need to check to see if their swallowing mechanism has become stunted. If so, we may need to use certain exercises to retrain their tongue to take the proper position during swallowing.

While you shouldn't panic, it's important to take action to stop thumb sucking before it becomes a long-term problem. A positive, proactive approach will help avoid costly orthodontic problems later in their lives.

If you would like more information about thumb or finger sucking, please visit our website at www.myparkdental.com, or contact us here, or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article "How Thumb Sucking Affects the Bite."



Plan Ahead to Make Your Smile the Best it can be for Your Big Day!

The big day you've waited for all your life is just around the corner - your wedding day! And to make that day as special as possible you've been working on making yourself more attractive.

In all your preparations, don't forget your smile. There are many ways to make it shine, some requiring little time or effort. A professional dental cleaning and polishing, for example, can do wonders for brightening your smile. If you have above normal staining, you can also undergo professional whitening to remove stains and enhance your teeth's natural color.

Some problems, though, like chipped, slightly misaligned or heavily stained teeth may require more than a cleaning or whitening session. In these cases, you might consider covering these less attractive teeth with porcelain veneers to transform their appearance. As the name implies, veneers are a thin layer of tooth-colored, translucent porcelain custom designed for you and bonded permanently to the visible tooth.

While veneers can significantly change your smile, it can't fix every appearance problem. Some teeth require more extensive dental work, like a porcelain crown that completely covers a tooth, or dental implants to replace missing teeth. In more complex situations you may want to look at orthodontics to repair an unattractive bite, or plastic surgery to change the look of a gummy smile.

Keep in mind, though, many of such treatments take time: installing dental implants can take months and some orthodontic treatments, years. As soon as you can, you should discuss your smile appearance with your dentist and what can be done to enhance it in the time you have.

With the help of your dentist, orthodontist or other specialist, you can change your smile. And that, along with all your other preparations, will help make that once in a lifetime day even more special.

If you would like more information on undergoing a smile makeover, please visit our website at www.myparkdental.com, or contact us here, or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article "Planning Your Wedding Day Smile."



Be Sure to Have These 3 Essentials Covered Beforehand for Veneer Success

For over three decades, veneers have helped mask dental imperfections like chipping, staining or gaps and improve the appearance of millions of teeth. As the name implies, this thin layer of porcelain covers a tooth's visible surface and accurately mimics the texture, color and translucence of natural teeth.

Veneers could be just the solution you need for a more attractive smile. But before you begin treatment, be sure you have these 3 essentials in place to ensure a successful outcome.

True expectations. While the transformation of a tooth's appearance with a veneer can be astounding, veneers in general do have their limitations. You need an adequate amount of the tooth's structure present for a veneer to properly adhere - if not, you may need to consider a porcelain crown instead. Likewise, gaps and other misalignments may be too great for a veneer to cover: in that case, you should consider orthodontics. A thorough examination beforehand will determine if veneers are the best option for you.

An artisan team. Every veneer is custom made to match an individual patient's tooth shape and color, handcrafted by a skilled dental technician. There's also an art to the dentist preparing the tooth beforehand and then properly positioning the veneer for bonding to achieve the most attractive result. Be sure, then, that your veneer "team" comes highly recommended by others.

The best materials. The first porcelains were powdered glass ceramics mixed with water to form a paste. Technicians shaped the paste in successive layers and as it oven-cured it took on the beautiful translucence of natural teeth. Unfortunately, this type of porcelain could be brittle and prone to shattering when subjected to heavy biting forces. In recent years, though, we've begun to use ceramics reinforced with other materials like Leucite for added strength. Today, the materials dentists use have much better durability.

If you would like more information on porcelain veneers, please visit our website at www.myparkdental.com, or contact us here, or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article "Porcelain Veneers."