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Short answer: No. But, since an answer that short is hardly worth the time it took you to click on the link, allow us to explain further!

We tend to think of tooth decay as something we leave behind with childhood. And, while it’s true that youthful cavities are unfortunately common, older adults face unique challenges of their own that put them at risk for cavities.

Root Cavities

Gum tissue often recedes with age. And our roots, which were once completely covered and protected by gum tissue, become partially exposed to plaque, acidic foods, and the abrasive effects of heavy-handed brushing.

This is a problem. Instead of enamel, a substance called cementum covers and protects our roots. But cementum isn’t as strong as enamel, and so our roots are much more vulnerable to the cavity-causing bacteria in plaque, erosion from dietary acids, and damage caused by abrasive brushing. Root cavities also progress faster than crown cavities, which can mean a root canal procedure in your future, or, even worse, an extraction if a cavity isn’t treated promptly.

What can you do to avoid root cavities?

• Do what you do to avoid any cavity—brush at least twice a day for two minutes, use floss to clean between the teeth and along the gumline, and use a fluoride toothpaste.
• Fluoride treatments can be applied to the exposed root area for added protection. Ask Drs. Angela Paros, Amer Atassi, Eric Young, Alexander Katsnelson about this option.
• Always use a soft toothbrush. Even a brush with medium bristles can be too firm for teeth and gums.
• Take care of your gum health. If you have symptoms of serious gum disease, expert care in diagnosis and treatment can be provided by Drs. Angela Paros, Amer Atassi, Eric Young, Alexander Katsnelson.

Why see a periodontist? Gum recession can have many serious consequences if left untreated. Besides root cavities, gum recession can lead to infection, bone loss, and tooth loss. A periodontist is skilled in treating the structures which support our teeth, with additional years of study after dental school specializing in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of gum disease.

Drs. Angela Paros, Amer Atassi, Eric Young, Alexander Katsnelson can help restore gum health with both non-surgical and surgical options at our Romeoville, IL office, including:

• Scaling and planing. These non-surgical deep cleaning procedures remove plaque and tartar above and below the gumline, and smooth tooth roots to remove bacteria and help the gum tissue reattach to the teeth.
• Flap surgery. This procedure treats persistent gum infection, reducing pocket depth between gum and tooth and re-securing the gums snugly around the teeth.
• Gum grafting. For more severe gum recession, tissue from your own mouth or a tissue bank can be surgically placed to cover exposed roots, restoring and regenerating gum tissue.

Keeping up with our dental and periodontal health is important at any age. Brushing and flossing, fluoride toothpaste, regular dental exams and cleanings—the basics of dental health don’t change over time, even if our dental challenges are a bit different as we get older. After all, do you ever outgrow an attractive, healthy smile? This answer is short and sweet: never.

Emergency rooms are for emergencies, so before you head to the hospital because of a dental problem, you need to ask yourself this question: Is what you're experiencing really a medical emergency? While emergency room visits for dental related issues are on the rise across the United States , they’re not necessarily the best solution for every problem. Many people don't know about emergency dental care services, many of which are available 24/7, and so they go to the ER.

These types of statistics are common across the country. However, despite the numbers, not all dental problems are created equal. If you've experienced some type of injury to your mouth, jaw, or face, then an ER visit is a good idea, but if you're suffering from a toothache, cavity, or broken crown or veneer, then the ER is not the best place to handle the situation. If you're having a dental emergency, then seeking emergency dental care should be your course of action.

Seeking Long-Term Solutions

The ER doesn't provide a long-term solution to your dental issue; it only gives you temporary relief. There’s a chance they will simply hand you a prescription for pain medication and tell you to call your dentist in the morning. In the end, you’re going to be saddled with two medical bills, and nobody wants that. Even if the ER outfits you with a temporary crown or filling, you're still going to have to make a follow-up appointment our office.

There are numerous homemade remedies that can sooth tooth and gum pain. However, if you're experiencing a dental emergency, the ER is not the place to go. The specialized emergency team at High Point Dental Group is available to take care of every dental problem you may have. In the case of a dental emergency, don't wait any longer than necessary. Feel free to contact our Romeoville, IL office at any time, day or night.

You and your periodontist are essential partners in making sure you have the best dental care. You do your part by eating a tooth-healthy diet, brushing and flossing as recommended, seeing your dentist regularly, and making an appointment with Drs. Angela Paros, Amer Atassi, Eric Young, Alexander Katsnelson when your gums and supporting tooth structures need the care of a specialist.

And one more essential step you can take for your dental health? Let us know which prescriptions and over the counter medications you’re taking.

Medications Have Oral/Dental Side Effects

We’ve all grown used to hearing “Possible side effects include . . .” at the end of every pharmaceutical commercial. That’s because those unintended side effects can affect our health in any number of unexpected ways—and this includes gum health.

For example, a common side effect of many medications is xerostomia, or “dry mouth.” Saliva helps keep our teeth and gums healthy by washing away food particles and oral bacteria. A reduction in saliva production means more plaque and tartar can build up around the gums. Plaque and tartar buildup, in turn, is a common cause of gum disease.

Knowing a patient is taking one of the hundreds of medications which cause xerostomia allows Drs. Angela Paros, Amer Atassi, Eric Young, Alexander Katsnelson to both monitor the condition and suggest the most effective treatment options to control any unpleasant symptoms.

Besides dry mouth, gum sores and gingival enlargement are other well-known side effects that can affect your periodontal health. Knowing which medications you’re taking can provide Drs. Angela Paros, Amer Atassi, Eric Young, Alexander Katsnelson with essential information for the diagnosis and treatment of any medication’s side effects.

Medications Interact

Medication might be needed for your periodontal treatment. Because certain drugs, supplements, and even some vitamins and foods can affect the way our bodies metabolize, absorb, and respond to other medications, we need to know which medicines you’re taking to arrive at your best treatment options.

• There are different classes of antibiotics used to treat oral infections. Knowing your medical history enables Drs. Angela Paros, Amer Atassi, Eric Young, Alexander Katsnelson to choose an antibiotic option which won’t interact with your other medications.
• Local anesthetics such as lidocaine, which numb the area to be treated, can also interact with certain medications. Drs. Angela Paros, Amer Atassi, Eric Young, Alexander Katsnelson can prescribe an alternative local anesthetic or adjust the dosage as needed.
• If you will be using sedation during your procedure, you have several options, including nitrous oxide gas, oral sedation, or IV sedation. Be sure we know about all of your medications beforehand because of possible interactions. Changes can be made to the type of sedation and/or the dosage as needed.

Medications Impact Treatment

It’s important for Drs. Angela Paros, Amer Atassi, Eric Young, Alexander Katsnelson to know if any of your medications will affect standard treatments.

Anticoagulants, for example, are a necessary medication for preventing blood clots from forming, and are often prescribed for certain heart conditions, after joint replacement surgery, or for anyone at risk for developing blood clots. Because these medications prevent the blood from clotting, it’s important to let us know if you are taking such drugs before periodontal surgery.

If needed, Drs. Angela Paros, Amer Atassi, Eric Young, Alexander Katsnelson can work with you and your doctor to create a treatment plan that will be safe, effective, and designed to work with any of your medications. You should never discontinue taking your prescribed medications before dental work without medical approval, as this can be dangerous.

Your periodontist needs the most up to date information about your health to provide you with the best care possible. Knowing which medications you take and why you take them can help Drs. Angela Paros, Amer Atassi, Eric Young, Alexander Katsnelson:

• Diagnose and treat any side effects from non-dental medications which have affected your oral health,
• Prevent drug interactions from occurring, and
• Tailor your treatment to your specific medical needs.

Your prescriptions, over the counter medications, and even herbal supplements and vitamins are essential information. It’s a good idea to make a list before your next appointment at our Romeoville, IL office so you have specific medications and their dosages at hand. It’s one small—but vital—step you can take to work with Drs. Angela Paros, Amer Atassi, Eric Young, Alexander Katsnelson for your best dental health!

Dental implants are a marvel! They look just like your natural teeth, and, even better, they function just like your natural teeth. So, when you’re planning on a dental implant after an extraction, you want to make sure that your implant has the best chance of success—and we do, too. That’s why we might recommend a socket preservation procedure, where socket grafting takes place immediately after your extraction.

What is a socket graft, and what does it “preserve”? Let’s take a closer look.

Socket Preservation—A Logical Choice After Extraction

You’ve decided on a dental implant for some excellent reasons.

• A missing tooth can change the appearance of your smile.
• Your remaining teeth might shift to fill the empty space, causing alignment and bite problems.
• A lost tooth affects the amount, shape, and health of the bone surrounding your teeth.

No one wants to lose a tooth. Sometimes, though, due to injury or decay, an extraction is the only choice for your oral health. After your tooth is extracted, if the socket bone holding the tooth is perfectly healthy and the extraction is a simple one, we might be able to place an implant post in the socket right away.

But often, bone needs time to heal before placing an implant post, and you risk losing the bone size and density you need to make a future implant possible. How can you lose bone? That’s an unfortunate consequence of losing teeth. Teeth are important not just because they let us eat comfortably—they also help maintain bone health.

Without the stimulation of biting and chewing, the bone beneath the teeth begins a process called resorption. As older cells are absorbed back into the body, new bone cells aren’t produced as quickly to replace them. The alveolar bone, the thick ridge of the jaw which holds our sockets, shrinks in size. As the bone gets smaller, gum tissue shrinks around it, causing a sunken spot where your tooth used to be.

For a dental implant to anchor successfully in the jawbone, you need healthy bone that is high enough, wide enough, and dense enough to hold the implant post securely as it fuses with the bone.

A socket graft at the time of extraction provides two important benefits: grafting material fills the empty socket immediately, preserving the bone and gum area around it, and the graft material acts as scaffolding for new bone growth, creating a firm, dense foundation for your implant.

Grafting materials are gradually and safely absorbed as your new, healthy bone tissue replaces them. The result, after several months of healing, is an alveolar ridge with normal height and width and with the density needed to anchor an implant successfully.

The Grafting Procedure

Grafting material comes in different forms, including allografts (made from donor bone), synthetic grafts (made from synthetic materials which function like bone tissue), and autografts (bone taken from your own body). Growth factors may also be included in the grafting material to encourage new cell growth. Drs. Angela Paros, Amer Atassi, Eric Young, Alexander Katsnelson will recommend the type of graft which will work best for you.

A socket preservation procedure will frequently involve the following steps:

• Local anesthesia to numb the area before your extraction. You might choose sedation options as well, which we’re happy to discuss with you in advance.
• Careful cleaning of the site after the tooth is extracted.
• Filling the empty socket with bone grafting material.
• Placing a barrier or membrane over the graft to protect it as it heals.
• Suturing the surrounding gum tissue.

Aftercare Treatment

Aftercare treatment for a socket graft is a lot like the treatment for a tooth extraction. You’ll need to be careful around the graft area for several days as it heals, and we’ll give you specific instructions for your recovery. Normally, these may include:

• Don’t disturb or touch the area. Even pulling on lips or mouth to look at the site can put stress on your sutures.
• Immediately after the procedure, we can give you suggestions for reducing swelling and managing any pain you might be feeling.
• We’ll let you know when and how to rinse your mouth clean and when you can return to brushing. And no spitting!
• Eat carefully. We might recommend a liquid diet for a few days before transitioning to bland and cool soft foods. We’ll let you know the best diet for the period after your surgery. Don’t use a straw for your liquid diet, because suction can interfere with the wound.
• Treat yourself carefully for a few days by avoiding strenuous activities, including workouts.
• Don’t smoke. Smoking interferes with the healing process, and the suction involved does your graft no favors either.
• Visit our Romeoville, IL office for follow up appointments as recommended. We’ll monitor your healing, and give you a timeline for your future implant.

Preserving your socket now instead of repairing it later has many advantages. Immediate placement of a graft protects bone size and density, eliminates the need for a potential bone grafting procedure in the future, and makes it possible for you to enjoy the natural look and feel of a dental implant as soon as possible.

Bone grafting is essential for many periodontal restorations, and we are specialists in this procedure. If you have an extraction scheduled, let’s discuss why socket preservation might be your best path to an efficient, timely, and successful dental implant.