Modern dentistry
Dentistry, and the associated fields of orthodontics and periodontics, are subjects about which I am a rightful authority. My mouth is like a different planet, or some alien creature embedded within my body. It takes a village to care for it.
I began orthodontics at the age of 7, and ended when I was 21 (major buck teeth). I began getting fillings around the age of 7 or 8 also. And I developed raging periodontal (gum) disease in my mid-20s. It is unlikely I will keep all my chompers until my death (depending on when I go), but at least one hygienist has expressed confidence that I won't need full dentures.
I brush my teeth twice a day, floss every day, do a home fluoride treatment every other day, and sometimes rinse with an anti-plaque formula after lunch at work. I get my teeth cleaned two or three times a year, and am always complimented on my excellent cleaning habits. And yet, my gums recede continually and I even have some damage to the bone. I have already had gum replacement surgery on one side and may need it soon on the other.
What's up with all that? I just happen to be extremely prone to bacteria in my mouth. It's a genetic thing.
My grandmother lost her teeth, but with the huge advances in dental technology since her day, I might not. I see a dentist in Silicon Valley who is in love with the latest gadgets. And I am very thankful for that. He's got lasers, fiber optic cameras, the slimmest little X-ray unit you've ever seen, flat-panel monitors everywhere, and a fully integrated software-driven system of patient records.
Today, I had an "onlay." This is like the caps people got in my parents' day, but stronger. My tooth had cracked around a large filling. Instead of removing most of the broken bits and capping the whole thing off, he just drilled out the portion affected by the crack and made a model of my tooth in porcelain. This used to require sending in the impressions and waiting a week. But now -- get this -- he's got a computerized milling machine right in his office that takes the digital file of the impression and carves the porcelain in real time. It took 12 minutes to make my onlay. Then it gets fitted into the tooth sort of like a mushroom, sticking up a bit over the top.
Even the procedural stuff is totally modernized compared to my childhood. They fit my mouth with a thing called a "dental dam" (no lesbian jokes, please). It's a piece of thin rubber sheet with a tooth-sized hole cut in it (actually cut in-situ with dental floss for an exact fit). This is anchored outside the mouth on a little thing that looks like an open shark-mouth. This keeps the work area on the tooth dry, and gets the tongue out of the picture. And instead of holding my mouth open for an hour, I got to rest my jaw by relaxing it around a small bit placed on the side they weren't working on.
When he drilled out the tooth, they brought a huge vacuum tube into place so the dust would be sucked away immediately. And for the smaller drill, the drill bit was fitted with a water hose so the dust was immediately caught in the water, while the dental assistant held a tube to suck the water away.
Overall, the whole thing is very clean compared to old-time procedures. This a good thing, given that he found all kinds of decay creeping in where the crack in my tooth was. Those sneaky and prolific bacteria were travelling down the crack-- well beyond where the brush and floss can reach-- and having a good old party.
It was a fascinating procedure. He took before and after pictures with his nifty little camera, so I got to see what had happened (these are also handy for sending in to the insurance company. If there's a photo of a crack, they can't exactly claim that I didn't need the procedure!).
I continue to be amazed by modern medical and dental technology. And my impression is that dentists are more tech-savvy than doctors. I wonder why that is...
I began orthodontics at the age of 7, and ended when I was 21 (major buck teeth). I began getting fillings around the age of 7 or 8 also. And I developed raging periodontal (gum) disease in my mid-20s. It is unlikely I will keep all my chompers until my death (depending on when I go), but at least one hygienist has expressed confidence that I won't need full dentures.
I brush my teeth twice a day, floss every day, do a home fluoride treatment every other day, and sometimes rinse with an anti-plaque formula after lunch at work. I get my teeth cleaned two or three times a year, and am always complimented on my excellent cleaning habits. And yet, my gums recede continually and I even have some damage to the bone. I have already had gum replacement surgery on one side and may need it soon on the other.
What's up with all that? I just happen to be extremely prone to bacteria in my mouth. It's a genetic thing.
My grandmother lost her teeth, but with the huge advances in dental technology since her day, I might not. I see a dentist in Silicon Valley who is in love with the latest gadgets. And I am very thankful for that. He's got lasers, fiber optic cameras, the slimmest little X-ray unit you've ever seen, flat-panel monitors everywhere, and a fully integrated software-driven system of patient records.
Today, I had an "onlay." This is like the caps people got in my parents' day, but stronger. My tooth had cracked around a large filling. Instead of removing most of the broken bits and capping the whole thing off, he just drilled out the portion affected by the crack and made a model of my tooth in porcelain. This used to require sending in the impressions and waiting a week. But now -- get this -- he's got a computerized milling machine right in his office that takes the digital file of the impression and carves the porcelain in real time. It took 12 minutes to make my onlay. Then it gets fitted into the tooth sort of like a mushroom, sticking up a bit over the top.
Even the procedural stuff is totally modernized compared to my childhood. They fit my mouth with a thing called a "dental dam" (no lesbian jokes, please). It's a piece of thin rubber sheet with a tooth-sized hole cut in it (actually cut in-situ with dental floss for an exact fit). This is anchored outside the mouth on a little thing that looks like an open shark-mouth. This keeps the work area on the tooth dry, and gets the tongue out of the picture. And instead of holding my mouth open for an hour, I got to rest my jaw by relaxing it around a small bit placed on the side they weren't working on.
When he drilled out the tooth, they brought a huge vacuum tube into place so the dust would be sucked away immediately. And for the smaller drill, the drill bit was fitted with a water hose so the dust was immediately caught in the water, while the dental assistant held a tube to suck the water away.
Overall, the whole thing is very clean compared to old-time procedures. This a good thing, given that he found all kinds of decay creeping in where the crack in my tooth was. Those sneaky and prolific bacteria were travelling down the crack-- well beyond where the brush and floss can reach-- and having a good old party.
It was a fascinating procedure. He took before and after pictures with his nifty little camera, so I got to see what had happened (these are also handy for sending in to the insurance company. If there's a photo of a crack, they can't exactly claim that I didn't need the procedure!).
I continue to be amazed by modern medical and dental technology. And my impression is that dentists are more tech-savvy than doctors. I wonder why that is...
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