America's Dental Expert Sectioning Teeth During Extractions Extracting a tooth is never a simple procedure. The most unpredictable teeth to extract have multiple roots. Molars usually have three roots. Depending on the anatomy of each molar root, how the roots develop, your dentist may elect to section the tooth to make the entire tooth easier to extract. America's Dental Expert, Dr. Shawn Van de Vyver, explains why sectioning teeth, even during uneventful extractions, makes the procedure...

America's Dental Expert Bone Loss and Sinus Drops / Sinus Pneumatization One of the serious consequences or side effects of losing a tooth is the jaw bone erodes over time. In the lower jaw, bone melts away and develops into a curved area where the tooth once was. In the upper jaw, bone loss occurs from both sides of where the tooth was, the top area called the crest, and the bottom area which is the floor of the sinus. When the sinus area expands into the jaw bone, enough to communicate...

America's Dental Expert Consequences of Losing a Tooth Sometimes, a patient comes into my office in so much pain that the only thing they want is for me to extract their tooth. It's hard to evaluate your options clearly if you're in severe pain. There are lots of consequences of having a tooth extracted, leaving you with a space. In this episode of America's Dental Expert, Dr. Shawn Van de Vyver reviews the myriad side effects of getting a tooth extracted, leaving you with a space....

America's Dental Expert 3D Printing in the Dental Office A lot has changed in dentistry, in just the past couple years even. One area that is quickly evolving is laboratory work. Traditionally, impressions are poured up in stone, making for a messy, contaminated, dusty lab area. One area that is changing the fastest is the incorporation of 3D printers into the dental laboratory. In this episode America's Dental Expert explains how 3D printers are making dental offices more efficient....

America's Dental Expert Snoring and Tooth Grinding in Kids Snoring is not good, and it's especially bad when it occurs in kids. Snoring in patients under 14 years old should never happen. Snoring is a sign of a sometimes severe condition; sleep apnea. In this episode America's Dental Expert explains what sleep apnea is and what it means when it occurs in pediatric patients. Shawn Van de Vyver, D.D.S. also discusses teeth grinding during sleep in kids. Sleep apnea quite literally means no...

America's Dental Expert Bite Splints and Night Guards Some dentists think half of Americans should be wearing a night guard when they sleep, and America's Dental Expert is no different. Night guards, also known as bite splints, are acrylic appliances that protect your teeth from wearing down while you sleep. But why would patients get a bite guard custom made from their dentist when they can pickup a generic one from the local drug store? In this episode America's Dental Expert explains...

After every root canal, you need to protect the fragile tooth underneath with a crown. Many times I get asked "Do I need a root canal too?" The answer is - usually not. This is another one-way street in dentistry. Every time you get a root canal you need a crown on the tooth, but NOT every time you get a crown do you need a root canal. A crown can be done on a healthy tooth and it isn't necessary to do a root canal on it. That isn't ALWAYS the case, but it usually is.

The term "deep cleaning" is an unfortunate description for what dentists and dental hygienists call periodontal maintenance. Periodontal maintenance is a dental cleaning AFTER treatment. A "regular" dental cleaning implies there has never been periodontal treatment performed. Periodontal maintenance is performed after scaling and root planing, which is therapy to treat moderate to severe gum disease, or periodontitis. Once you go through periodontal therapy, the healthy environment needs to...

One area of contention with dental implant treatment is all-zirconia implants. Dental implants are typically made of titanium alloy. But some dentists place implants made of zirconia. Why would they do this? you ask? Zirconia implants are white, while titanium implants are dark gray and look like a traditional metal. There can be major problems with zirconia implants, though, that might not make them suitable for implant treatment.

Why You Should Clean Your Tongue Some of my patients complain of bad breath even when they brush their teeth two, sometimes three, times a day. So what's the cause of their bad breath? One possibility is they have dirty tongues. There are hundreds of tiny hairs on the top of our tongues that harbor germs, bacteria, and food debris. Those bacteria survive on your tongue and produce foul smelling odor. You need to scrape your tongue and clean it regularly to remove all those germs and...

Let's Be Brutally Honest Look, let's be honest with one another. You're not flossing every day, are you? If you're skipping the flossing portion of your morning routine you're missing out. I mean, you're missing out on actually cleaning your teeth. The crowns of your teeth have 5 surfaces: front / back, in / out, and the top biting surface. If you're skipping 2 of those, that's 40%, ALMOST HALF, of your teeth that aren't getting cleaned. That's like going to the bathroom and only wiping the...

Why Would I Need a Bone Graft Before Getting Dentures for My Sinuses? This question was recently asked by one of my patients, and is a somewhat common occurrence with denture wearers. There are a couple reasons why you would need a bone graft before getting dentures because of your sinuses, and I’ll go through what the reasons are and give you a general overview of the treatment process. In order to talk about why you might need a bone graft, I should tell you first what a bone graft is,...

America's Dental Expert, Dr. Shawn Van de Vyver of Great Lakes Dentistry, discusses the options for teeth whitening to give you the beautiful smile you deserve. Please send any questions you have directly to Dr. Shawn Van de Vyver at Great Lakes Dentistry at [email protected] Request an appointment online at www.GLDentistry.com Call our office (248) 435-8880 and email [email protected]

Dr. Shawn Van de Vyver describes what a dental implant is and how it can improve your smile.