Options for Complex Restorations

Our experienced dentists at the Miami Beach and North Miami Beach offices of Doctors Ressler, Hirschl, and Lelchuk have provided replacement teeth to a lot of people over the years. In that time, we’ve seen new options for complex restorations develop, allowing us to better serve each patient’s specific needs. To help our patients understand which kind of restoration will benefit them, we wanted to talk a bit about bridges.

Traditional bridges are linked series of artificial crowns, with a middle crown suspended between two crowns that are affixed to natural teeth. The natural teeth would have to be reshaped to accommodate their new caps, which made this kind of bridge an attractive option for people who needed multiple crown replacements. It also allowed people to retain their natural tooth roots, keeping the jaw bones healthy and decreasing the risk of tooth migration. But dentists may also have felt it necessary to reshape or extract teeth that were healthy in order to make room for the bridge, which is no longer a common practice.

Modern partial dentures can be manufactured to fit a patient’s mouth much more closely than in the past. They can be made with gaps for natural teeth, eliminating the need to extract them. The adjoining natural teeth have to be reshaped slightly, but not to the same extent as with fixed bridges. This makes partial dentures a good option for people whose decayed or broken teeth are not all in a row. If the patient has sufficient jaw tissue, it may also be possible to support the partial denture with implants. The denture would still be removable, making it easy to clean.

Dr. Allen Ressler, Dr. Andrew Hirschl, and Dr. Ira Lelchuk operate from two locations. To schedule an appointment at the location at Mount Sinai Medical Center, 4300 Alton Road, Suite 1190, Miami Beach, Florida, 33140, call 305-532-1444. To schedule an appointment at Intracoastal Mall, 3909 NE 163^rdSt, Suite 310, North Miami Beach, Florida, 33160, call 305-949-2630. They can also be reached on their website, Miami Dental through a contact form.

 

Dental Avulsions

With the fall sports season in full swing, we at the Miami Beach and North Miami Beach dental offices of Doctors Ressler, Hirschl, and Lelchuk wanted to remind our patients of fundamental dental safety protocols. A dental avulsion, the loss of an entire tooth, is an emergency, but when a patient acts quickly enough, they may be able to save the tooth.

A tooth should only be held by its crown, never its root. Ideally, it should be rinsed with a saline solution and then reinserted into the empty socket (while facing the right way). If this is too difficult, it may be held in the cheek. The American Dental Association approves of tooth saving containers which can hopefully be found in a nearby first aid kit, but if not, the tooth may also be transported in a cup filled with milk or saltwater.

Teeth that are cracked at the root may not be salvageable, and a successfully reinserted tooth will need a root canal. We also won’t reinsert baby teeth that have been lost prematurely, as this may damage the permanent tooth that is forming inside the jaw. A patient should prioritize facial lacerations over a dental avulsion. But when a tooth is saved, a patient will be spared the risk of jawbone deterioration and from either having to get an implant or wear a partial denture, so it’s worth trying.

Dr. Allen Ressler, Dr. Andrew Hirschl, and Dr. Ira Lelchuk operate from two locations. To schedule an appointment at the location at Mount Sinai Medical Center, 4300 Alton Road, Suite 1190, Miami Beach, Florida, 33140, call 305-532-1444. To schedule an appointment at Intracoastal Mall, 3909 NE 163^rdSt, Suite 310, North Miami Beach, Florida, 33160, call 305-949-2630. They can also be reached on their website, Miami Dental through a contact form.

 

Denture Stomatitis

Patients who get dentures at the Miami Beach and North Miami Beach offices of Doctors Ressler, Hirschl, and Lelchuk may expect that their new teeth will be beautiful and long-lasting. The science of prosthodontics is constantly improving, and people with dentures today have a much higher quality of life than just a few years ago. But getting dentures also requires people to make some changes in their oral hygiene, which is why today’s blog post is dedicated to the dangers of denture stomatitis.

Normally, our immune systems regulate the growth of the Candida species of fungus, which are a kind of yeast. Saliva contains antimicrobial enzymes and cleanses the mouth of particles fungus could feed on. But when a person’s dentures are poorly fitted or not cleaned often enough, Candida can easily grow on them or the area they cover. People are especially prone to developing fungus growths on the roof of their mouth where the upper denture’s prosthetic palate adheres to, or at the corners of their mouth if their lips are chapping.

Stomatitis manifests as redness and swelling, but it may have to develop for a while before patients will feel pain. Some medications, including the use of inhalers, put people at greater risk of developing it. However, it can usually be mitigated by regular brushing of both the denture and the mouth. Patients should brush their gums each morning before putting their denture in and should brush their entire denture, not just the part that looks like teeth.

Dr. Allen Ressler, Dr. Andrew Hirschl, and Dr. Ira Lelchuk operate from two locations. To schedule an appointment at the location at Mount Sinai Medical Center, 4300 Alton Road, Suite 1190, Miami Beach, Florida, 33140, call 305-532-1444. To schedule an appointment at Intracoastal Mall, 3909 NE 163^rdSt, Suite 310, North Miami Beach, Florida, 33160, call 305-949-2630. They can also be reached on their website, Miami Dental through a contact form.