What sleep apnea can do to you. Eye balls popping out and ever shirking brain (brain damage).

We will be on Best of LA show tomorrow at 10:30am kcop13.

OralDNA saliva test is a new test to help in treating gum disease with the right antibiotics.

Bonding Veneers

The more conversative veneers is call the composite or bond veneers. In the right hand, bond can look just like really tell. This is an example of a single teeth we did recent - layer with 7 colors (customize to match adjust teeth as close as possible.

Fighting Cavities

In recent months, we have seen an increase of tooth decay with our patients, especially with the teenagers and the elderly. For teenagers, it's the increase of drink power drinks and soda which decrease the pH in the mouth making it more acidic. For elderly, it's the increase medications they are taking. Most medications decrease salivary flow. As we age, our saliva gets thicker which can means increasing the acidic in the mouth. An increase acidic or decrease of pH can promote an optimal environment for the Streptococcus Mutan and/or Lacto-bacilli bacteria to cause cavity in teeth.

Here are a few things one can do to reduce this risk. First, decrease snacking and sugar intake. Any food debris left on teeth will eventually break down to a weak acid by the bacteria that can slowly dissolve enamel. Processed drinks such as sodas, “thirst quenching drinks” and even juices contain high amount of sugar and are also highly acidic, which can also be detrimental to teeth. Secondly, if you are taking medications regularly or drink caffeinated beverages daily, you are experiencing dry mouth whether you realize it or not. With less saliva to fight against cavity, you are more prone to getting tooth decay as well. Increasing your water intake to 6-8 glasses daily can help to re-hydrate your salivary glands and dilute the acid in your mouth. Since most tooth decays are between the teeth and along the gum line, practicing better oral hygiene especially flossing daily will help you tremendously. Topical fluoride treatments such as mouth rinse and professional fluoride varnish can help to reduce cavity. The fluoride treatments are far less costly than having a cavity filled. Finally, use chewing gums that contain Xylitol, an antibacterial agent, as the only sugar substitute. For more information, please let us know and we will be happy to assist you.

www.carifree.com is a website in which you can order some of the products mentioned above.

What is the best way to get my teeth whiter?

In the last few years, teeth whitening has become one of the more requested treatments by our patients. There are a few things to consider before getting you teeth whiten.

First question to ask is why are your teeth discolored? From Coffee, tea, smoking, tobacco chewing? These are external stains will require professionals to remove them. Other stains can be from tooth decay, dark mercury fillings, demineralizations of tooth structures, aging and/or medications or others. For these reason, you should have a dental professional screen your discoloration before proceed with any teeth whitening.

Now you're ready to begin your teeth whitening -after external stains and teeth decay have been taken treated. Teeth whiten is a very rewarding treatment, especially with a in-office 1 hour whitening treatment. We have patient gotten up to 10 shades lighter in just 1 hour of treatment.

The other whitening treatment would be custom tray whitening in which a thin flexible clear plastic tray customized for your upper and lower teeth. Whitening gel is placed in the tray to be worn for 30-45 minutes 1 to 2 times daily. Normally it will take about 2 weeks to get to a desirable shade. This is all done at your leisure. The speed of whitening varies from person to person.

We normal recommend patient to have both the in-office plus the custom tray treatments. This way, you would have the tray to do touch ups at home.

Over the counter whitening products are also very effective and will provide a pretty good result. You just need to be aware of other possible dental problems.

Below are a couple before and after example that you can see with Zoom teeth whitening.










Peter Young DDS FAGD
626-445-2536
www.SmilesOfArcadia.com

Three ways to replace missing teeth.

Here are 3 ways in which I am able replace missing teeth for a few of my patients.

Missing a tooth or many teeth can be an embarrassment and/or disabling to a person, especially when a tooth is in the smile zone for people that loves to talk and smile; or in the back molar area for people that loves to eat. Either way, it's never pleasing. There are mainly 3 options in which you can pursue: Implants, Fix Bridge, or Removable denture.

Removable denture is the oldest treatment for replacing missing. This goes back to the day of George Washington who had a set of wooden teeth. Probably that's the reason you never saw a picture of him smiling. Of course, dentures or partial dentures can be made very nicely that is customized to fit in the missing areas. Advantage of this treatment is that's it's the most less costly of the three. Disadvantage is that dentures need to be constantly remove to cleaned and left out over night and it can give more stress to the anchoring teeth.

Denture Case: Upper movable and lower full denture.









The other option is Fix Bridge. This treatment will require to crown the adjacent teeth and link another artificial tooth in the middle where the missing tooth was. The is a very good treatment as long as the anchoring teeth are strong and health. However, if there's neglect in cleaning, it may be very costly to replace.

Bridge Case: Old Fix Bridge replace with a more esthestic natural looking bridge.










Our third option is Dental Implants. Dental Implants have now become the standard of care with success rates over 90% in 10-year studies as opposed to 75% for fixed bridge and lower with removable dentures. Initially, it may seem more costly, but over a 10-year period it actually becomes more economical. Dental implants are also used to retain and support dentures. This improves chewing and gives people security without having to deal with adhesives for loose dentures. Almost anyone can have an implant; smokers, diabetics and people taking some forms of fosamax should be cautious.

Implant Case






Please go to my website or email me for for more information.

Peter Young DDS FAGD
626-445-2435
www.smilesofarcadia.com