Decay happens when sugars in food and drinks react with the bacteria in plaque, forming acids. Every time you eat or drink anything containing sugars, these acids attack the teeth and start to soften and dissolve the enamel. Snacking between meals on sugary or acidic foods and drinks can increase the risk of decay, as the teeth come under constant attack and do not have time to recover. It is therefore important not to keep snacking on sugary foods or sipping sugary drinks throughout the day.

Once the cavity has reached the dentine your tooth may become sensitive, particularly with sweet foods and drinks, and acidic or hot foods. If ignored at this stage, the decay continues to grow deep and reaches the pulp (nerve) of the tooth, following which the patient gives the symptoms of severe pain.

Toothache is a sign that you should visit a dentist straight away, as it is a warning that something is wrong. If you don’t do anything, this will usually make matters worse and you may lose a tooth that could otherwise have been saved.

If the decay is not too serious, the dentist will remove all the decay and restore the tooth with a filling. Sometimes the nerve in the middle of the tooth can be damaged. If so, the dentist will need to do a root canal treatment by removing the nerve and then restoring the tooth with a filling or a crown. If the tooth is so badly decayed that it cannot be restored, the dentist may have to extract it.

The best way to prevent dental decay is by brushing your teeth thoroughly twice a day with fluoride toothpaste, making sure that you brush the inner, outer and biting surfaces of your teeth. Using ‘interdental’ brushes, or dental floss also helps remove plaque and food from between your teeth and where they meet the gums. These are the areas where an ordinary toothbrush can’t reach.

You need a root canal in case you have one of the following symptoms:

• Sensitivity to hot or cold that lingers.
• Discomfort when chewing or biting.
• Dull ache or severe pain.
• Discomfort that wakes you up at night.
• Your dentist has diagnosed the need for endodontic treatment either by clinical exam or x-ray.

The single most important benefit of root canal therapy is that you save your tooth. Extraction may lead to other dental problems. For instance, drifting of teeth, bite problems, TMJ discomfort, and the need to treat adjacent teeth that do not otherwise need dental treatment in order to restore the missing tooth. No matter how effective modern tooth replacements are – and they can be very effective – nothing is as good as your natural tooth.

With modern techniques and local anaesthesia, its likely not to hurt during the procedure. However certain patients feel slightly sensitive.

Crowns may be placed for several reasons. Usually the tooth has been broken or severely damaged by decay. As a result, a filling can’t replace enough of the tooth or make the tooth strong enough. A crown may hold together parts of a cracked tooth. It also can be used to hold a bridge in place. Crowns can be used to improve appearance as well. They may be placed to cover misshapen or badly discolored teeth. They are also used to cover a dental implant, used to cover the tooth after RCT. It can also be used to protect a weak tooth from fracturing.

There are primary materials used in the present day are - all ceramic (porcelain), porcelain fused to metal.

Dental implants are used for replacing missing teeth today. While dental implants are more costly their benefits are much greater.

A dental implant is used to replace missing teeth. It supports one or more false teeth. It is a titanium screw that can replace the root of a tooth when it fails. Just like a tooth root, it is placed into the jawbone.

Implants are a safe, well-established treatment. How well do you take care of your implants – and whether you go for your regular appointments or not – will have the biggest impact on how long they will last. If you don’t look after your implants, they will develop a coating similar to that found on neglected natural teeth. Left untreated, this can lead to gum infection, bleeding, soreness and general discomfort. You could get all these problems with natural teeth. If your implants are well looked after, and if the bone they are fitted to is strong and healthy, you can expect them to last for many years. However, just as with other surgical implants (such as a hip replacement) there is no lifetime guarantee.

Teeth’s cleaning is a part of oral hygiene and involves the removal of dental plaque from teeth with the intention of preventing cavities and gum diseases.

No, scaling doesn’t loosen the teeth. Calculus (which is a hard substance formed over a period of time due to the plaque deposition) surrounds your teeth and gums very tightly. When this is removed during the scaling procedure, the patients feel as though the teeth have become loose. Scaling is a safe and routine procedure and does not damage the tooth surface in any way.

Floss helps to remove leftover food particles between the teeth and inside the gum pockets, which reduces the volume of plaque inside the mouth. And flossing is especially important in the prevention of gum disease, which is the main cause of tooth loss and the incidence of tooth decay.

Possibly but not necessarily. When your child’s milk teeth are falling and permanent teeth are erupting, the stage is called the ugly duckling stage. However, if significant crowding is seen then the child might need braces. An orthodontist would be the best judge.

Braces help not only for cosmetic reasons but also for other purposes. Straightening teeth helps make cleaning easier, preventing decay and other gum problems. They help in correcting the bite that can make chewing more efficient thus increasing the overall health of your child. It also helps in correcting speech problems. It reduces jaw pains due to correction of wrong bites.

Braces help not only for cosmetic reasons but also for other purposes. Straightening teeth helps make cleaning easier, preventing decay and other gum problems. They help in correcting the bite that can make chewing more efficient thus increasing the overall health of your child. It also helps in correcting speech problems. It reduces jaw pains due to correction of wrong bites.

Initially your child might have some amount of pain. It may hurt for a couple of days after every monthly adjustment. However, with the advance of medicine, mild painkillers can be prescribed.

Root Canal Treatment (RCT) is carried out when the tooth gets infected due to decay or cavity and has involved the nerve of the tooth (also known as pulp) causing uneasiness, swelling and pain in the area. An RCT procedure involves elimination of the nerve, cleaning the root canal and sealing off the tooth to protect it from further decay & damage, thus saving the natural tooth. A crown is then placed over the tooth to make it stronger. Dental crowns can be made of Porcelain Fused Metal (PFM) which consists of a layer of metal alloy at the base topped by porcelain, or Zirconia (full ceramic).

There are instances where one has a natural inappropriate alignment of the tooth structure, which can result in tooth decay and gum disease. In such cases, cosmetic alterations using braces are required to derive a perfect set of aligned teeth, which will help the tongue, muscles, and jaws to function correctly, and make the smile look beautiful. To correct crooked teeth, traditional metal or ceramic braces are used. More advanced and latest methods include lingual orthodontics and Invisalign treatment. 

The stream of cosmetic dentistry revolves around the aesthetics, and includes dental techniques and procedures aimed at improving the beauty of your smile. Cosmetic Dentistry can rectify chipped or crooked teeth, fill gaps between teeth, whiten stained or discoloured teeth, replace missing or broken teeth and reduce a gummy smile. Smile makeover treatments include teeth contouring, ceramic or metal free crowns & veneers, invisible braces, dental implants, gum recontouring and teeth whitening.

Due to the natural aging process and/or debilitating illness, senior citizens are more likely to suffer from a host of oral health issues including missing teeth. A denture is a removable replacement for missing teeth and surrounding tissues The common types of removal dentures are complete and partial dentures - complete dentures are used when all the teeth are missing, while partial dentures are used when some natural teeth remain.

Dental implants are the best options for a permanent replacement for missing teeth, where the root/roots of a tooth get replaced. Like the natural tooth roots, dental implants are secured in the jawbone and are invisible once surgically placed. It secures artificial teeth with a more natural look.  These implants are made of titanium alloys or zirconia, and a crown is placed once the implant is fused in the jawbone (osseointegration) to strengthen the implant.

Crowns and bridges are fixed prosthetic devices. Unlike removable devices such as dentures which one can take out and clean daily, crowns and bridges are cemented onto existing teeth or implants. A crown is used to entirely cover or ‘cap’ a damaged tooth. Besides strengthening a damaged tooth, a crown can be used to improve its appearance, shape or alignment as well. A bridge may be recommended if you’re missing one or more teeth.

Gum disease is commonly caused by a sticky layer of bacteria called plaque; if not cleaned well, the bacteria in plaque can cause gums to become inflamed. When this happens, the gums will bleed and will pull away from the teeth to form spaces called pockets where the plaque gets trapped, forming calculus (which is a hard substance) and cannot be removed with regular brushing. If untreated, gum disease could lead to bone loss and tooth decay. Scaling and root planning are deep cleaning techniques below the gumline for treating gum disease. It is recommended that dental scaling should be done every six months to maintain oral hygiene and wellbeing.

At Elite Dental, we take every effort to preserve your natural teeth. However, there are instances when the tooth is unrestorable, especially when they are associated with tooth ache and bone loss, and thus extraction becomes the only option. Wisdom teeth, also called as ‘third molars’, can often cause problems during their eruption (breaking through the gum tissue), requiring a surgical procedure for extraction. The common causes for wisdom tooth surgeries are:

• Partial eruption due to less space in the jaw.
• Embedded completely in the jawbone, causing to exert pressure on neighbouring teeth.
• Difficult to clean as they are the last teeth and the toothbrush does not reach there.

Dental cavities and fillings are very common these days. With the help of carbohydrates and sugar from food intake, the bacteria in our mouth secrete acids which erodes the enamel resulting in holes (cavities) in the teeth.

As the enamel doesn’t grow back, dental restoration is required to fill these cavities. This procedure entails removal of the bacteria eroding the enamel and filling to prevent worsening of the cavity.

The latest advancement in the field of restorative dentistry includes tooth coloured fillings which are of two types- composite and glass ionomer cement.