Invisible Braces

Invisible Aligners for Teeth

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Everybody wants a great smile, but a lot of us need help getting there. More and more people are having success with clear orthodontic devices called aligners.

Braces use brackets connected by wires to encourage teeth to move. Aligners are a series of tight-fitting custom-made retainers that slip over the teeth. Invisalign is the largest producer of clear aligners, but it’s not the only brand. Others include Clear Correct, Inman Aligner, and Smart Moves.

Clear (or “invisible”) aligners aren’t for everyone. Biermann Orthodontics can help you decide what’s best for you.

Can anyone get invisible teeth aligners?

Because the invisible aligners are custom-built for a tight fit, they are best for adults or teens. Straightening a child’s teeth is more complicated. Young people, and their mouths, are still growing and developing; the doctor must think about this when setting up treatment.

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Top 5 Embarrassing Oral Health Problems...Solved!

Top 5 Embarrassing Oral Health Problems…Solved!

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Stinky breath, unsightly mouth sores, and tooth decay: We’ve got a solution for all of your dental-health dilemmas.

The best way to keep your mouth, teeth, and gums looking and feeling great? Your daily brushing and flossing routine, combined with a balanced diet and regular dental visits.

But following these oral hygiene commandments isn’t always enough. Many common oral-health problems, such as bad breath, tooth decay, erosion, receding gums, and mouth sores, can leave people feeling both physically uncomfortable and reluctant to smile. Fortunately, with the right treatments these embarrassing oral-health problems can be solved! Check out these remedies from the American Dental Association (ADA):

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Dental Pulp Disease

Dental Pulp Diseases: The Basics

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Poor dental hygiene is the main reason for tooth decay, tooth pain, and other oral health conditions. If you don’t maintain good oral health habits, including brushing and flossing regularly, plaque can develop and lead to cavities. Left untreated, a cavity can eventually affect the soft center (or pulp) of your tooth, which contains sensitive nerves and delicate blood vessels. And if pulp diseases aren’t properly managed, you can lose your teeth.

Symptoms of Pulp Diseases

Depending on the type of pulp disease, symptoms may vary in intensity and can include:

  • Pain in a tooth or teeth when you eat something very sweet, hot, or cold
  • Sudden, intense pain in the mouth
  • Infection in the mouth

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Prevent Teeth Grinding

How to Prevent Teeth Grinding

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Are you grinding your teeth at night? The condition, called bruxism, can be a painful problem if it goes untreated.

You may not even know you’re doing it. But if you wake in the morning with jaw pain, headaches, or chipped enamel on your teeth, you might be grinding your teeth in your sleep, a condition called bruxism.

Understanding Bruxism

In most instances, teeth grinding is a nighttime problem – if you have bruxism, you’re likely doing it while you’re asleep and might not realize it. “Many times, someone’s spouse or partner is the first one to notice the bruxism due to the terrible grinding sounds it makes when the person is sleeping,” says Timothy Chase, DMD, a cosmetic dentist in New York City.

Researchers still aren’t exactly sure why bruxism occurs in some people, but there are a number of theories. “Studies have suggested that nocturnal bruxism is mediated by the central nervous system and is linked to sleep arousal patterns, brain chemistry, certain drugs, alcohol, smoking, and genetic factors,” says Karyn Kahn, DDS, a dentist with the Cleveland Clinic. “Medications, such as SSRIs that affect dopaminergic systems, have been associated with bruxism. Personality and psychological factors, stress, and anxiety have been shown in some studies to affect bruxism in some individuals.”

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Why Do We Have Wisdom Teeth

Why Do We Have Wisdom Teeth?

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The last teeth to develop can cause havoc for the rest of your healthy mouth. Yet there’s growing controversy about whether we really need to have them taken out.

Just as you enter adulthood, your wisdom teeth make their presence known in the far reaches of your mouth. Wisdom teeth — officially the third molars — are the last set of teeth to come in, usually between 17 and 25 years of age, in the so-called “age of wisdom.”

For some, these teeth come in fine. For many others, wisdom teeth don’t come in properly (if at all), are vulnerable to disease, and need to be removed to protect a healthy mouth.

It’s estimated that 95 percent of American 18-year-olds “have wisdom teeth, and most of them have little if any chance to function in a normal manner,” says Louis Rafetto, DMD, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon in Wilmington, Del.

So if wisdom teeth are virtually useless in millions of mouths, why do we have them? One theory lies in the mouths of our ancestors. Early humans needed an extra row of teeth to chew their food: a diet of uncooked, hard items like roots, nuts, and meat. “I’m not an expert on anthropology, but clearly the need for and utility of wisdom teeth in the past exceeds that of the need of today,” says Dr. Rafetto.

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