What type of crowns are the most natural?

All porcelain jackets made with hand stacked feldspar porcelain, that are bonded in place, are the most natural looking crowns available. If the under lying tooth structure is not too dark, than these can be made with minimal opaquer internally and are extremely translucent.

Although, Procera, Lava, Empress, and Captek can provide extremely aesthetic restorations, in my opinion none can match the aesthetics of all porcelain restorations made with feldspar porcelain!

What Do you do for fun?

I have a thirteen year old son, whom, when I am lucky is still willing to go on adventures. Sometimes we get dimsum in Flushing, other times, weather permitting, we go biking, boating, or hiking.

Last weekend my son and two of his friends went paintballing at Liberty Paintball. We were 'walk ons' and we played all day until our paintballs ran out. It was my first time and I was amazed at what good shots those thirteen year olds are and those paintballs do sting!

Do I need a shot for fillings?

This is a frequent question and the answer is; not for all fillings. Although I do administer local anesthesia for many types of dental procedures, I have found that it is not usually neccessary when fixing a small cavity. For fixing small cavities, I use a very small dental bur (half round drill bit-diameter .5 mm) and I use very light hand pressure on the drill. I theorize that fewer nerve processes are stimulated during cavity preparation with a tiny bur, so that the patient experience less pain. Using a tiny bur with light hand pressure may lengthen the amount of time I spend preparing the cavity, but it definitely induces less discomfort.

A benefit of not administering a local anesthesia shot is that over all I find the time a patient spends in the chair is less, since we do not have to wait for the shot to 'take effect'. Of course if the patient does desire a local anesthesia, I able to comply at anytime during the procedure, to insure that the patient has a positive dental experience.

What is the best kind of crown for second and third molars?

Often times patients desire a tooth colored crown, when having their wisdom tooth or second molars crowned. Although I do accommodate patients if they desire this option, it is not their best choice.

Porcelain crowns require more tooth preparation than full metal crowns. Porcelain crowns fail if the porcelain fractures, but full metal crowns do not fracture, they just slowly wear out. This is especially significant, since it seems that the forces exerted by the jaw muscles appear to increase on the back posterior teeth.

Another advantage of full metal crowns is that they require less tooth reduction than a comparable tooth colored crown does. Since second molar and wisdom teeth tend to be smaller and shorter than first molar teeth, they benefit from the dentist being able to preserve more tooth structure with the simpler preparation required for gold and semiprecious full cast crowns.

Why do crowns fall out?

Crowns can come out for a number of reasons. The teeth holding them can decay and break. The cement holding them can wash out and that can also cause a crown to become loose.

Some crowns fall out because the prepared tooth that holds is not retentive enough . Preparations that are too short or too tapered , often are not sufficiently retentive to permanently hold crowns, even when the crowns fit and the cement doesn't wash out.

How can I tell if I have a pulpitis?

As the name implies, it is inflammation of the pulp. The pulp is made of three main types of tissue, Nerve, vascular and conective tissue. When there is inflammation present, often the vascular tissue dialates and patients can experience increased sensitivity of the tooth to cold and or hot. After drinking a cold beverage, this sensitivity can linger for 1-3 seconds or can even cause an ache that lasts for minutes. The longer the discomfort after drinking cold liquids , the worse the pulpitis. If the cold sensitivity after drinking cold lingers for more than ten seconds than you may have a pulpitis.

This condition can have various causes, including trauma from tooth preparation, a large cavity being present, tooth grinding, or a crack in the tooth. In any event, if you have a tooth that has an increased sensitivity to cold and or hot for more than two weeks, it is probably best to visit a dentist to identify the cause.

Sometimes after a prolonged pulpitis the tooth can 'quite down'. Sometimes it means that the pulp has diminished inflammation and other times it can even mean the the pulp has died. It should be noted that if a tooth only has sensitivity to hot and not cold, that can be an indicator that the pulp is necrotic and may require a root canal. If you have sensitivity to hot, you should visit a dentist.

How did you find such a great staff?

There certainly is an element of luck involved, but for the most part I look for nice people. I figure I can train them to be better at their jobs, but I can not teach them to be nice. Dentistry requires caring people who enjoy helping others and who can work well as a team. Most of my staff has been with me for many years and consequently, they have become expert at their jobs.
My staff enjoy their work and they are greatly appreciated both by me, and their patients!