20 Oct
Root Canal Treatment

What Is Root Canal Treatment?

Overview

Root Canal Treatment is a procedure performed by dentist to treat infection at the centre of the tooth (the root canal of the tooth). It is performed with the objective to eliminate infection from the tooth in order to save the tooth from having to be removed from your mouth.

 

When Is It Needed?

This procedure is performed when there is infection that involves the pulp (the inside) of the tooth.

 

How Do I Know If I Need A Root Canal Treatment?

A tooth has to be carefully investigated and diagnosed by a dentist before performing root canal treatment.

However, if you have the following symptoms, you may need a root canal treatment.

  1. Throbbing pain
  2. Lingering pain that does not go away
  3. A sudden attack of pain even if you are not eating or drinking
  4. You can’t sleep due to the pain
  5. Pain becomes worse if you are eating hot food or drink
  6. Pain is relieved by cold food or drink
  7. The tooth hurt when you knock at it
  8. The tooth discolored
  9. A swelling / bump at the gum that grows and shrink
  10. A loose tooth

 

What Option Do I Have If I Do Not Want To Have A Root Canal Treatment?

The other option to treat a tooth that involves infection at root canal is extraction (removal) of the tooth.

 

Can Antibiotic / Filling Treats It?

No. Antibiotic can’t treat the infection. It will only suppress the infection but it will recur.

A filling doesn’t stop infection from spreading and doesn’t treat a tooth that has root canal infection.

 

What Should I Do If I Suspect That I Need A Root Canal Treatment?

  • Visit a dentist to get the tooth investigated and diagnosed.
  • Understand the success rate and long term prognosis
  • Consider budget as most of the tooth that had root canal treatment may need a dental crown
  • Get a dentist that you are comfortable with to perform the treatment for you

 

17 Jun
Beautiful Smile, Composite Veneer, Dental Bridge, Root Canal Treatment, Smile Makeover, Whitening

Smile Makeover For Lily – Part 2

THE BEFINNING OF SMILE MAKEOVER

Step 1- Composite Veneers

The first thing I did for Lily is four composite veneers for her upper front teeth.

Why did I choose to do so?

Lily was going to join a new workplace in two weeks time. I needed to do something that had the most impact of her smile.

Base on the smile analysis, people could hardly notice that she had two missing teeth.

The teeth that would affects her smile and image were the four front teeth and hence must be treated first.

Due to the time constraint, her discolored upper right central incisor that needed root canal treatment and internal bleaching (whitening of single tooth from inside the tooth) would be carried out later on.

 

Step 2 – Root Canal Treatment and Internal Bleaching

Base on the investigation results, two teeth required root canal treatment.

It took us about 3 weeks to finish the root canal treatment. Lily was very determined and she came in consistently for her treatment.

From there, we sterted internal bleaching for the discolored upper right central incisor.

Step 3 – Dental bridge

Once the necessary treatments to manage infection were carried out, we moved on to restorative phase.

Lily had two missing premolar, one on the left and one on the right.

After discussion about the treatment options available, Lily prefered to restore the missing teeth with dental bridge.

 

 

We made two fix-fix porcelain bridge for her, just in time for her engagement ceremony.

That was what I promised her, to have the best smile on her engagement ceremony. =)

My heartiest congratulation to Lily!

 

With Love,

Gwen Gan

 

 

 

 

 

17 Jun
Beautiful Smile, Composite Veneer, Dental Bridge, Root Canal Treatment, Smile Makeover, Whitening

Smile Makeover For Lily – Part 1

INTRODUCTION

This blog post is specially dedicated for Lily – a girl who is happy, determined and never give up.

How we met was nothing special, she is a patient and I am a dentist.

She came for dental check up and I was her dentist.

She probably did not expect that our meet up would change her smile and life; and I definitely would not expect that her story would remind me once again how my job could impact someone life.

I want to write this down to remind myself never to forget to be a kind dentist.

THE FIRST MEET UP

Lily had been to many different dentists before seeing me. Her appointment with me was an appointment for scaling.

She is a regular patient in the clinic that I work for but we have never met, she was seeing other dentist all the while.

Looking at her appointment, I did not have a second thought and thought that this is just another patient coming for a regular dental check up and scaling.

However, when I looked into her mouth, I started to frown.

She is a pretty and young lady, and it was very obvious that she had some dental problem but why nothing had been treated despite being a regular patient to the dental clinic. I felt sorry for her.

After the scaling, I sat her down and explain her about her oral condition.

I prepared a long list of what were the problems, what were the treatments required, what are the prices and how long she would need to complete all these.

I reassure her that she would be fine as what she was lacking is someone to guide her and do a good treatment plan for her.

I was running out of time that day, in fact I was overtime as I was only given half an hour with her, but I felt the duty to make sure she understood what is her oral condition and what types of treatment she needed. Hence, I kept her longer to feed her with as much information as I could.

Before she left, I told her that she must make an appointment to come for a discussion again and I did not really have faith that she would return as she was quiet and did not show much interest.

At least I did my part. That was what I thought.

 

THE STRUGGLE IN LILY

Little did I know that, that time she was actually frustrated looking for a dentist.

She had been to many dentists hoping someone could help her, but all she got was blaming her for such bad teeth and never told her what to do.

After we completed everything only she told me that she was taking me as her last chance to fix her teeth.

If I failed her as everyone else, she was ready to give up already.

I am really glad that I took the initiative to explain her oral condition and the treatments that she needed even though she did not ask actively.

I am really grateful that I could be there to help her in making a decision that would impact her life.

I am glad that I still keep my pure heart being a dentist to help people in need. =)

 

to be continued…..