Come on, Give Us a Smile!
NUSS: The Graduate Oct - Dec 2011
With proper dental care, there is every reason to show your pearly whites when the occasion calls for it
Urban legend has it that Mona Lisa – that enigmatic beauty made famous by Renaissance painter Leonardo da Vinci – shows such reluctance to smile because she had bad teeth or worse, none at all. In all probability that may be true. If you were born in the 15th century at around the time the portrait was painted, there was a high chance that your teeth would be rotten even before you reached your thirties.
Until about 100 years ago, drinking water in even most developed countries was not fluoridated (the natural mineral fluoride helps prevent tooth decay), there were no proper toothbrushes or toothpaste and dental care was nowhere near what it is today. Thanks to modern developments and to advanced dental care and cosmetic dentistry, our teeth are in a much happier state. And anyone who practices proper dental hygiene and is happy to pay for aesthetic dental treatment can have teeth that are close to perfect.
Alarmingly, with all the ease of dental healthcare today, some people are still letting their teeth go to rot, and a lot of it has to do with oral hygiene.
Common Issues With Teeth
Let’s begin by looking at the three common problems that get in the way of healthy teeth and a beautiful smile.
• Dental caries or tooth decay
This happens when plaque, that sticky film of bacteria that clings on to teeth, is not removed through regular brushing and flossing. The bacteria feeds off the sugars from the foods and rinks we ingest and produce acids that erode the teeth enamel, leading to cavities and causing toothaches, sensitivity, discoloured teeth, and bad breath.
The good news is that dental caries is easily preventable.
Solution: Practise the seven virtues of dental hygiene
For mothers keen to give their child a head start against early childhood caries, a caries assessment test for both mother and child followed by a tailored dental programme can help bring the decay risk down.
• Misalignment
Crooked teeth give the same bacteria plenty of opportunity to settle on hard-to-reach uneven surfaces, which even the most diligent tooth brushing might not dislodge.
Solution: Talk to an orthodontist about straightening your teeth
Accelerated orthodontics means you wear your braces
in less time than it usually takes, which is normally about two years. Straightening your teeth not only helps to prevent tooth decay, but also enhances your appearance and improves your bite.
If you are worried about how you will look with braces, there is a solution: Clear, removable braces that are virtually unnoticeable when fitted on.
• Wisdom teeth
These troublesome molars only start to grow in our late teens or early 20s. As luck would have it, they also appear at the back of our mouth, making them even harder to reach and therefore more prone to tooth decay and gum disease. The decay could affect the neighbouring teeth. Cases where cysts form around an impacted wisdom tooth have also been recorded.
Solution: Surgery to remove your wisdom teeth at the first sign of trouble
We use the word ‘surgery’ because the procedure usually requires an operation and stitching afterwards.
Making Teeth Look Good
People who would like their unsightly teeth corrected by dental aesthetics will be grateful that most procedures are virtually pain-free. Here’s what aesthetics can do for your teeth:
• Whitening
Over time, teeth enamel can get discoloured from certain staining food such as coffee, and from smoking. Age is also a culprit. With whitening, your teeth can go up to three shades lighter. Have it done by laser at the dental clinic, or use a home kit.
• Fillings
Ceramic fillings, which resemble tooth enamel, are today’s alternative to silver amalgam. Using the modern technology of Computer Aided Design-Computer Aided Manufacturing, ceramic fillings take a few days to produce before they are cemented onto your teeth. They may be more costly and sometimes not as long-lasting as amalgam fillings, but they look much more natural.
• Contouring and reshaping
Minor changes such as filling can vastly improve the look of your teeth.
• Veneers
Porcelain or plastic veneers act as covers over teeth that are discoloured or misshapen. They work best for front teeth.
• Crowns
Used as restorative caps over teeth that are badly worn-out, fractured or have large fillings. They can also be used to correct minor problems such as uneven spacing between teeth, or teeth that are discoloured or irregular-shaped.
• Implants
All the above treatments work well if you still have your teeth. But what if you don’t? Then your option is implants, which like all the other treatments, are available at the National Dental Centre of Singapore (NDC). Each implant restoration looks like a tooth but with a screw to function as the root. Almost always made from titanium alloy, the implant is inserted into the gap left by the missing tooth. It has the look and feel of a real tooth, and is as good as being permanent, giving it an edge over removable dentures.
According to Dr Teoh Khim Hean, Senior Consultant and Chairman of the Oral and Craniofacial Implant Programme at NDC, “Implants are increasingly popular. People request for implants for practical reasons, like being able to chew properly, and also for aesthetic reasons. “
Not everyone is a suitable candidate, though. For example, your gum health may not be up to par, so your dental surgeon has to advise you. At NDC, surgeons have access to 3D imaging and treatment planning systems that will help them assess and treat each case more accurately. Says Dr Teoh: “Successful implant treatment requires a thorough understanding of the individual oral condition of each patient, careful evaluation of the patients’ desires, meticulous planning from the assessment if the implant site to the selection of the implant system, and finally the design of the replacement tooth.
Patients should be aware that there are alternatives to implant therapy and they should discuss and explore these adequately with the dental surgeon before making a final decision. Implant systems with good track records of long-term outcomes are important too. “
Read article clipping here