Do you ever find yourself talking to someone who has something to say that you really want to hear, but you can’t concentrate on what that person is saying because his or her breath is bad?  Americans spend millions of dollars a year on mouthrinses or toothpastes or “Tic-Tacs” to avoid offensive mouth odors.

          Bad breath comes from several sources: stomach  problems too numerous to mention can emit gases that escape through the mouth- for these you need to see a physician.  Old food left in the mouth actually rots and of course smells bad.  Bacteria in the mouth also emit bad-smelling gases- most often a sulfur compound.

          What to do:  brush thoroughly (not vigorously) and often, including the cheeks and the very back of the tongue  (keep the debris moving).  Keep your mouth moist.  Water, of course, is the great cleanser.  Lozenges smell good and stimulate saliva flow, which obviously are a moistener and cleaner.  Some mouthrinses contain chlorine dioxide, which kills the odor-producing bacteria.  Other mouth rinses just mask the bad odor, or even have alcohol in them, which further dries the mouth.

          Periodontal disease makes for bad breath also.  This infection is the result of chronic gum inflammation, which is caused by inadequate oral care.  It can and will lead to deterioration of the boney socket in which the tooth is situated, which can lead to premature tooth loss if not treated appropriately.  For this you need to see a dentist.

 Do you ever find yourself talking to someone who has something to say that you really want to hear, but you can’t concentrate on what that person is saying because his or her breath is bad?  Americans spend millions of dollars a year on mouthrinses or toothpastes or “Tic-Tacs” to avoid offensive mouth odors.

          Bad breath comes from several sources: stomach  problems too numerous to mention can emit gases that escape through the mouth- for these you need to see a physician.  Old food left in the mouth actually rots and of course smells bad.  Bacteria in the mouth also emit bad-smelling gases- most often a sulfur compound.

          What to do:  brush thoroughly (not vigorously) and often, including the cheeks and the very back of the tongue  (keep the debris moving).  Keep your mouth moist.  Water, of course, is the great cleanser.  Lozenges smell good and stimulate saliva flow, which obviously are a moistener and cleaner.  Some mouthrinses contain chlorine dioxide, which kills the odor-producing bacteria.  Other mouth rinses just mask the bad odor, or even have alcohol in them, which further dries the mouth.

          Periodontal disease makes for bad breath also.  This infection is the result of chronic gum inflammation, which is caused by inadequate oral care.  It can and will lead to deterioration of the boney socket in which the tooth is situated, which can lead to premature tooth loss if not treated appropriately. 

For this you need to see a dentist.

 I heard a dentist talking on the radio the other day about the anti-sleep apnea mouthpiece he has developed.  I’ve been making a similar appliance for over ten years, so I did listen to what he had to say.  I’ve written on this subject before, but it’s important enough to talk about again.  And, there’s new information available, so you can’t move on quite yet.

          People, apparently men more than women, snore (noisy breathing while asleep) for several reasons, including flabby tissue in the throat, loose or long soft palates, or obstructed nasal passages.  Sleep apnea (the temporary cessation of breathing) is a result of some of that redundant tissue or the base of the tongue covering the wind- pipe.  Snoring and sleep apnea prevent a good, deep night’s sleep, which can lead to a sleepy day, even narcolepsy (essentially falling asleep in the middle of a sentence).  Severe apnea- this is from the guy on the radio- can occur up to sixty times an hour and last twenty or even thirty seconds per episode.  That’s a long time to starve or deprive a body of oxygen. Undue stress on the heart can be a result of a poor night’s sleep.  And it has now been determined that there is a correlation between sleep apnea and strokes. 

          There are surgical procedures used today to cut away redundant tissue and open up the breathing passage.  Alternatively, I make a non-invasive removable oral appliance (like a retainer) that comfortably repositions the lower jaw forward, thereby clearing the base of the tongue away from the windpipe.  I have tried several designs, both on myself and patients with similar problems, and have finally found THE WINNER.  My wife and my neighbors, and all the patients for whom I’ve made this appliance and their neighbors, are very grateful.  We all awaken more refreshed in the morning because we got a more profound, more restful nights sleep.

          I just got my braces off after fifteen months, during which I couldn’t wear my anti-snoring appliance.  Because I wasn’t sleeping well at night, the sensation of fatigue I experienced all day, or the almost daily need for a nap, was remarkable.  As soon as I started wearing the appliance again, both were almost totally gone.

          If your sleep habits are disturbing other people, or your sleeping-time is not adequately restful, this mouthpiece is definitely worth a try before going the surgery route.  ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

 I love my work!

“Why “, you say?  Thank you for asking; let me tell you why:

As a dentist, what I do makes people feel better and look better.  What could be better than that!

And there are, almost on a daily basis, new ways to take care of people.  Including, but not limited to: 

Tooth-straightening without metal braces (”Invisalign”);

Tooth-colored porcelain crowns that have no metal in them and are subsequently dramatically more attractive and natural looking; 

Porcelain veneers (Lumineers) that improve alignment, color, and evenness of front teeth with no tooth structure removal (no drilling, no anesthetic);

Anesthetic that doesn’t make your heart beat faster or numb half of your face;

Painless root canals that take only one appointment, or implants for when the tooth isn’t going to be strong enough, even after a root canal;

Lasers (Waterlase MD) that remove decayed tooth structure, like for a filling, without anesthetic (the shot) or the drill;

Treatment of canker or cold sores with a laser, dramatically shortening their life and discomfort;

Gum surgery with a laser (Periolase), not a knife, that is much more effective and way less uncomfortable;

Removable dentures (false teeth) that are anchored to implants, preventing them from falling out and allowing normal chewing.

We’re all living longer, and we’ll need our teeth longer.  And we have all these good things we can do to make that happen.

To paraphrase my pastor, it’ll be good to have teeth left at the end of your life, rather than life left at the end of your teeth.

I just did some fillings in the chewing-surface grooves of three molars on a fourteen-year-old. I filled them with the tooth-colored plastic filling material- I almost never use the silver-mercury stuff anymore. I didn’t need to give the patient a shot; didn’t need to use the drill. I used the Waterlase MD, a laser, which pretty much selectively removes bad tooth structure, leaving more healthy tooth structure and making for a smaller hole in the tooth. Another advantage of using the laser over the drill is that drilling on any crystalline structure, like tooth enamel, sets up micro-fractures, which predispose the tooth to crack or break in the future, necessitating a crown or a root canal, or, in the worst case scenario, an extraction.

At this rate, few if any people will be afraid to go to the dentist.

Another great service thanks to modern technology.

Invisalign® Orthodontics” – October 2005 - Michael A. Tessier, DDS

The Invisalign® system straightens teeth using a series of virtually invisible trays. Many patients prefer Invisalign® to traditional braces. In this article, Dr. Tessier explains how the Invisalign® system works. (more…)

One of the ladies who works at my front desk showed up one Monday morning with a big old cold sore on her lower lip; hadn’t hardly eaten all weekend. She hadn’t been out of the house all weekend either. It was nasty looking; treated it with the laser. She experienced little or no discomfort during the less-than-five-minute procedure and when she got out of the chair, she said :”the pain was gone”. She went home, but came back to work the next day with her lip looking and feeling dramatically better.

Whether the laser deactivates the virus or increases the circulation to the inflamed tissue or denatures and neutralizes the inflammatory proteins causing the pain is irrelevant.

It works! What a gift!

In the last two days, I’ve done ten fillings, with the laser, without anesthetic- or discomfort.  Two of them were on an eight year old boy.  In thirty years of dentistry, if that isn’t the coolest service I could do for someone, I don’t know what is.

Ah, technology!