Dentalnews (en)

Which therapy is appropriate for me-root canal treatment or an implant?

There are endless horror stories about “dead” teeth, meaning root canal treatment was performed. But: There are no such things as “dead” teeth. The tooth is a mineral and thus “lifeless”.
The tooth has a connective tissue- pulp. If the pulp gets infected, e.g. caused by cavity, a root canal treatment should be performed. If a bad root canal treatment is performed- without a coffer dam, visual augment and sterile endo box- the root treated tooth is like poison for the body!
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A well  treated root canal on a tooth can last a whole life!
The sealing of the tooth by the crown is also important-e.g. with a ceramic inlay or a crown. If the canals are well cleaned and filled as well as the ingresses are sealed by inlay or crown, the success rate of the whole procedure is pretty good. !
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Usually this treatment is very expensive, which lead us to the headline. It can cost 700€-1500€-prognosis and thus durability should bear in relation to the effort.
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If there are more problems (bone loss, heavy convoluted canals, focus on the root tip, big fillings) a tooth needs to be extracted. In this scenario an implant might be the solution. Remember:
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If you are a heavy smoker or you don´t like mouth hygiene that much, then a tooth implant is probably not the best choice, you try to save the tooth intensively.
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The anamnesis is important in the decision making what is the best treatment-implant or root canal treatment; it varies from case to case.

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You would like to start regular dental visitations – how to avoid tooth ache? 

Get several opinions!

Today it is impossible to overview the whole spectrum of dentistry individually. Depending on their personal knowledge dentists mostly suggest only one therapy option consciously or unconsciously. You are in better hands with a group practice-but be careful. Is it a community of physicians, who only obey regulations from the boss!? Just ask for the specialized subjects!

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The dental visit always begins with the fundamentals!
Severe tooth ache should be eliminated in advance before starting at the fundament! First of all almost every patient gets a cheap treatment-cavity removal, root canal re-treatment, gum prophylaxis. All the necessary information should be collected; health history, previous dental care, recording all the previous dental work, findings from examination, full assessment. Health history is important in providing a good care. Good oral health goes hand by hand with good overall health!

Only then implants, crowns or bridge placements should follow.

Pay attention to the explanations!
In medicine everything is easy to explain, coherences have to be logical-even for non experts. Don´t let yourself be mislead by terms such as homoeopathy or mild medicine. If you don’t understand something, please ask….
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Inform yourself!
There is a lot of valuable information on the internet-do your own research! Make sure to use reliable websites. –

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Price listings on different dental procedures!
Most of the time dental visits are costly; make sure you are presented with a treatment plan after your initial comprehensive exam, including all the cost. If you need extensive care or full mouth rehab you should insist on staging the treatment. It is also important to check with your insurance company for explanation of benefits so you don’t get a surprise hefty bill. 

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Jaw pain-jaw joint pain, what is to be done?

It happens unexpectedly while talking, yawning, or chewing-suddenly you recognise a stitch and the mouth opening area starts hurting and is often restricted. What is to be done?

First of all: Keep calm, cause like every other joint, the jaw joint can be strained. It often happens during mountain hikes with ankles. If it happens in the jaw joint, affected people are more worried about!
Moreover it doesn´t have to be the jaw joint, since muscle pain imitates tooth,- and jaw joint pain very well.
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–You can start with the most important thing, rest and keep calm!

No chewing gums, no chew-intensive dishes, cool it and use pain medication. Moreover you should find a treating person, who is good with face pain. If this person uses the term “craniomandibular dysfunction“ –CMD-forget this person.
The appropriate term is Myoarthropathy-MAP. Through clinical examination the medicating person differentiate between jaw joints and muscle joints and will then start a proper therapy.

What to expect from the therapy? Nothing and everything!
•    Frequently a good clarification and rest are sufficient
•    Optionally physiotherapy
•    Optionally mouth opening practise
•    Optionally a splint therapy-the Michigan splint is well established

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Braces, crowns, bridges are not indicated and are useless-except for the dentist!–

The jaw joint is able to adapt to changed loads-e.g. after tooth loss, new dentures,… it just takes a short time since the biological process is not that fast as the dentist.-
Please don´t get insecure by imaging diagnostics such as MRT, statements such as  “displacement without reduction”. This has nothing to do with your problems…a lot of people suffer from disk displacement without having problems, some have a “broken joint” as per MRT and have no problems, many have picture-book joints with lot´s of problems!

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Today we know that those things are not in relation to eachother and are irrelevant on MAP!
Get well!

jaw joint