Will It Hurt to Have My Cavity Filled?

Not usually. If the dentist administer proper anaesthesia and waits for it to take effect, than most often no pain is experienced by the patient. Sometimes, when a patient does experience pain a second shot can be administered and do the trick. Occasionally, I use a second type of injection called and intraligamental injection to achieve anaesthesia. This type of injection works by traveling down the tooth ligament to deliver anaesthesia.

Are You a Celebrity Dentist?

I usually answer this in a tongue and cheek manner "Yes, I am a celebrity dentist specializing in missed and broken appointments!". Truthfully, the answer is mostly no. Although I have treated and continue to treat some celebrities, the bulk of my practice is made up of patients who are engaged in a broad range of activities and professions. Many are quite succesful and interesting, but I don't think I would call them celebrities (outside of their fields at least!). It is fun to treat celebrities, but many are quite busy and do indeed change their appointments quite a bit, so I consider myself fortunate to have the type of practice I have, full of interesting New Yorkers, most of whom work in professions and jobs around the city and most have interesting stories of their own to tell.

What is Vizilite Plus?

Vizilite Plus is a new technology that helps dentists and hygienests to detect oral abnormalities in a non invasive manner. It is easy and painless to use and helps us decide whether to refer early lessions for biopsy. It utilizes a tolonium choride dye and a special light to better visualize abnormalities. Its relatively affordable and my hygienest loves it.

What is the difference between Gingivitis and Periodontitis?

Gingivitis is a name for inflammation of the gums. A person who has gingivitis has inflamed gums that look red at the margins and not pink. When the gums are dried they may appear to have lost their stippling (the normal look of healthy gums is similar to the surface of an orange peel-'stippled') since the gums sometimes become edematous (swollen). Often, when inflamed, gingival papillae (the gums in between teeth) take on a 'reverse architecture' and look almost like 'footballs'. The swollen papillae no longer are knife edged at the tips and are no longer concave on the sides, but appear convex. Gingivitis is reversible and will usually go away after a patient improves their oral hygiene or has a cleaning.
Periodontitis involves irreversible changes to the supporting structures of the teeth. It is associated with bone loss, pocketing around the teeth, and in severe cases loosening of the teeth and even tooth loss. Sometimes gums with periodontitis look normal because the inflammation is deep under the gums and not near the surface the way it is in gingivitis. However when the gums are gently probed with a periodontal probe they bleed easily. In fact bleeding on probing is the best indicator of the presence of inflammation of the gums, whether the condition is gingivitis or periodontits. It appears that bone loss and pocketing occur due to the presence of inflammation over time. Initial treatment for both of these conditions is to have your teeth thoroughly cleaned and to improve a patient’s home care. After treatment, the active phase of periodontal disease may end and the patient is often placed on three month recall with a dental hygienest and if the patients home care is good the disease can remain in remission. A patient in remission may not experience further deterioration of the bone and in fact when observing their subsequent radiographs, their bone can look healthier and more sound. However, bone levels will not return to the same level they were prior to the onset of the disease.

How Do You Make your Porcelain Veneers Look Natural?

Teeth that are perfectly aligned without any noticible incisal embasures, with flat and regular incisal edges, tend not to look real. The trick to doing truly aesthetic cosmetic dentistry is to introduce pleasing assymetries in the smile. The irony is that if all teeth display 'perfect symmetry' then the smile is not perfect! A perfect smile must be pleasing and beautiful to behold. One that is 'static' is not beautiful. A beautiful smile has an energy to it and edges of the teeth must not line up perfectly, but have some irregularities to look create visual excitement. All edges can't be perfecly parallel, but must have some surfaces that slope in a pleasing manner. The smile Should not be bland.
Also natural teeth tend not to be monochromatic, but instead change subtly in shade the further the tooth structure is from the incisal edge. Often times patients desire monochromatic teeth treatments, which look nice, but not natural.
Natural smiles show some wear, and a smile on an adult without any wear on the edges can tend to look unreal.
The trick to performing a natural looking smile make over is to be somewhat subtle and not to over do perfection! Too much of a good thing is not good. The made over smile must be pleasing to look at but shouldn't be over the top in all respects. Cosmetic dentistry should not be about showing off but about producing truly aestheitc and beautiful smiles.