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writeradmin writes blog posts on behalf of Dr. Kevin Peck
Pediatric Dentistry

My Child’s Baby Teeth Aren’t Falling Out

My daughter has some adult teeth coming in, but the baby teeth haven’t fallen out yet. They do not even feel loose to me. Should I take her to the dentist in order to have them removed or just keep waiting? She’s never been to the dentist before. I’m afraid it will be scary if she does have to go in.

Deborah

Dear Deborah,

four children smiling

I am glad that you wrote. I know there is a tendency to think that a child doesn’t need a dentist, especially with baby teeth that will fall out anyway. Many parents have fallen into that same fallacy so don’t be too hard on yourself. Ideally, you want to bring your children in to see the dentist early, well before there are any problems. This way they start life thinking the dentist is fun.

But, the ideal does not always happen. When baby teeth are not coming out, and they won’t even wiggle, then it is time to bring them to the dentist. A dentist who works with children will be able to get those teeth out. If you leave the baby teeth in, then they’ll end up deflecting the adult teeth. That will lead to her needing expensive orthodontics, and the teeth will have to come out either way.

Because it won’t be a simple appointment, you may want to look for a dentist who offers some type of dental sedation. Generally a dentist can help prevent this before it becomes a problem but you are in management mode now.

This blog is brought to you by a friendly Phoenix Dentist Dr. Hillary Peck.
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Teeth Whitening

Best Way of Touching Up Teeth Whitening?

I’m getting crowns on one of my front teeth. I had whitened my teeth a few years ago and I’d really like to touch them up to get them back to where they were before I get this dental crown done. I asked my dentist about it and he didn’t have any advice for me. What I kind of need to know is how many weeks I need to whiten and for how long each day before I’m ready to get the crown.

Barbara

Dear Barbara,

Teeth whitening trays
Teeth Whitening Trays

I can give you general principles, but not exact amounts. This is because I can’t know how white your teeth are now, nor how white you want them to get. That being said, the general idea is that the longer you wear your teeth whitening trays, the faster they will whiten.

The fastest way to bleach your teeth will be to wear the trays all night. If you can tolerate that, then that would be my recommendation. If that is too challenging for you, then just wear them during the day for as long as you can tolerate them.

The one hard and fast rule I can tell you is that it will be best to wait two weeks after you have finished whitening before you get your dental crown made. This is because the whitening gel will continue to whiten for up to two weeks after you stop.

Because this is a front tooth, make sure that your dentist provides an all-porcelain crown for you instead of a porcelain fused to metal crown. Otherwise it won’t look as natural. Plus, metal based crowns eventually develop a gray line at the gumline.

I am a bit concerned that your dentist could not give you this information. It is all pretty basic. A dental crown on a front tooth is a tricky procedure. If he can’t handle teeth whitening, then I worry that he won’t be skilled enough to give you a beautiful result on your crown.

This blog is brought to you by a friendly Phoenix Dentist Dr. Hillary Peck.

Affordable Dentist

Dentist Used a Cheap Alloy and Called It a Gold Crown

I went to a new dentist because I needed a dental crown. I asked for a gold crown. Unfortunately, I had a weird feeling that is not what I got. I asked him for the alloy certificate he told me that they didn’t give it to him. I asked him to get it, which he did. There was only 2% gold. The rest was 35% Palladium, 30% Indium, 30% Silver, 3% Zinc. Now I feel cheated. Should I be concerned about any systemic issues from the palladium and indium? I’m mad and worried.

Jack

Dear Jack,

Yeah, I’m not having a lot of faith in your dentist. First, he lied to you in order to provide a cheaper alloy. If he charged you for a true gold alloy then he stole from you, too. In order for something to be considered a gold crown, then it requires a minimum of 40% gold. I also believe he lied to you about the alloy certificate. Labs are legally obligated to provide the dentist with the certificate, who in turn is supposed to place the certificate in your file. My guess is that he threw it out and then got another one when you asked about it.

My suggestion is that you tell your dentist that if he doesn’t give you a refund or replace the crown with a true gold crown you will contact the dental board. You should also switch dentists as soon as possible. I don’t think that you have anything to worry about with the iridium or palladium. If you did, you would be seeing some type of inflammation on your gums.

This blog is brought to you by friendly dentist Dr. Hillary Peck.
Click here to see how she keeps prices affordable.

Teeth Whitening

Is Luster White At Home Teeth Whitening Safe?

I received an advertisement for a tooth whitening at home kit called Luster White At Home Teeth Whitening with a special light. It’s got a decent price. Before I use it, though, I want to make sure it is safe before I use it. Have you heard about this product before? There are some good reviews for it.

Angie

Dear Angie,

Teeth whitening trays
Teeth Whitening Trays

While there are some over-the-counter whitening kits that work, this isn’t one of them. It’s an absolute phoney. The light they have does nothing. While that is disingenuous and unethical, if the whitening part worked most patients could live with that, though they shouldn’t have to.

Unfortunately, they are not even using a valid whitening ingredient. Instead, they are using what they call a “super whitener.” In truth, their whitener is just a pigment made of zinc oxide. It will stick to the teeth and make them look whiter but fade away. This is probably why they have some good reviews. Patients saw an improved whiteness and wrote the review before the fading kicked in. The best, most cost effective way to whiten your teeth is to have professional teeth whitening done.

Having your teeth whitened will take away the stains on your teeth. If you are looking for more than just whiter teeth, like a smile makeover, than I recommend you get porcelain veneers. They can change everything about your smile, including the shape, size, and color of your teeth. Just make sure you go to a dentist who has training and experience in placing porcelain veneers so that you can ensure you go to someone who can give you a beautiful smile.

This blog is brought to you by Phoenix Dentist Dr. Hillary Peck.
Click here to learn how we keep our prices affordable.

Pediatric Dentistry

When Should My Child Start Flossing?

My daughter is starting to get teeth and I have been brushing them, but am wondering when I should start flossing her teeth. She’s been cooperative so far, but I don’t know when I should start.

Kelly

Dear Kelly,

young boy smiling with toothbrush

It is amazing that you are so on top of this. I can tell that you are a great mom. I recommend you begin flossing as soon as her teeth start touching. You can get flavored floss. You’ll have to do it for her at first, until she has the manual dexterity to start doing it herself. They even have ones with handles to make it easier.

In case you are not already doing so, I would start bringing her to a pediatric dentist for check ups. Some parents make the mistake of thinking there is no reason to take a child to the dentist because their teeth are new and won’t have any problems. Then, they just keep with that attitude until, suddenly, there is a problem.

What that means is the first experience their child has with a dentist is for a dental problem or, worse, a dental emergency. Now, instead of having a nice visit with the dentist which is fun and exciting, it is more likely to be scary or painful. It’s always best to have your children start seeing the dentist as soon they develop teeth. This way, they associate the dentist with pleasant things instead of frightening ones.

You can read our dental tips for parents page in order to get more information on children’s dental care.
This blog is brought to you by Phoenix Dentist Dr. Hillary Peck.
Click here to learn how she keeps dental care affordable.

Lumineers

Pricing Veneers

I’m planning on getting ultra-thin porcelain veneers and am trying to decide between DuraThin and Lumineers. Do you know which one is cheaper? I will say that I like the images on one of the sites better than the other, but will keep that to myself until I hear what you have to say on price.

Elliot

Dear Elliot,

A dental tool holding up a single Lumineer

While I am glad you are doing research, I think you’re looking into the wrong thing. The porcelain veneers themselves are not much money, including both DuraThin and Lumineers. Where the real cost comes in is from the ceramist and cosmetic dentist. These prices vary greatly depending on the skill and experience of the dentist along with what ceramist they use.

Doing cosmetic dentistry, especially smile makeovers, correctly you need a dentist with both post-doctoral training as well as an artistic eye. It will also be extremely important that they agree to do a temporary try-in before permanently bonding on your veneers. This way, you get to have a look at them and see if it is a smile you love. If it is not, then they should be willing to send them back to the lab. Only once you have something you’re thrilled with, should the dentist bond them on permanently.

You can get veneers priced exactly the same by two dentists, but the results will be vastly different depending on their skill. Smile makeovers are an art.

This blog is brought to you by Phoenix Dentist Dr. Hillary Peck.
Click here to see how we keep our prices affordable.

Teeth Whitening

Dental Crown is Too Dark

I had a dental crown placed and it is darker than the rest of my teeth. My dentist insists he gave me the whitest crown and even showed me his color contraption. It is the whitest on there. I do whiten my teeth a lot but not with my normal dentist because he doesn’t do teeth whitening, just basic dental services. Is it possible my whitening dentist could also whiten the crown?

Grace

Dear Grace,

Basic Shadewhat Guide

I’m guessing your dentist’s shade guide has colors similar to what you see above. This is a basic shade guide and pretty much the only option for many years. Then in the 90s, teeth whitening became quite popular and the whitest shades were no longer white enough. As a result, the companies that put out the shade guides came out with an updated version of the guide (pictured directly below).

Updated shade guide

As you can see, this has much whiter options for dentist to match to teeth that are regularly bleached. Because your dentist does not do much teeth whitening, he will not have the updated shade guide. Having dental crowns that match the rest of your teeth is a pretty basic expectation.

Unfortunately, teeth whitening will only work on natural tooth structure, so whitening the dental crowns is not an option. There is a solution, though. In fact you have a couple of options. First, you can show your dentist this post and ask him to get the updated shade guide in order to replace your dental crowns with some that match.

The other option is to ask your dentist for a refund and then go to your teeth whitening dentist to have the crowns done. Because they do some cosmetic work, they will likely have the updated shade guide and can get you a good match.

I hope this helps you.

This blog is brought to you by Phoenix Dentist Dr. Hillary Peck.
Click here to learn about our affordable dental options.

Dental implants

Can I Get Dental Implants After Years in Dentures?

I have been in dentures for a little over seven years while I saved up for dental implants. It took me a little longer than I expected. Is it too late at this point for me to get dental implants?

Stacy

Dear Stacy,

implant supported dentures

Technically, it is never too late to get dental implants, but you will need one other procedure to make it work— bone grafting. The moment all of your teeth were removed, it signaled to your brain that there was no longer any teeth roots to support. As a result, your body begins to resorb the minerals in your jawbone in order to use them elsewhere in your body where they will be more useful. Honestly, it is a remarkably efficient system.

The unfortunate side effect is that your jawbone begins to shrink. Eventually, there won’t be enough of your jawbone left for you to even retain your dentures in your mouth, making you a dental cripple. This is known as facial collapse and in addition to make it impossible for you to chew, will also make you look decades older.

The solution to this is bone grafting. This will build up the bone you lost. It is also the procedure that will enable you to get the dental implants you want. Once you have the implants placed, that signals to your body that you DO have teeth, so it leaves your newly built up jawbone alone. Then, after a period of healing, you can have new dentures anchored to them. You will once again be able to eat anything you want, even things you loved before having trouble with your teeth.

This blog is brought to you by Phoenix Dentist Dr. Hillary Peck.
Click here to learn about affordable dentistry.

Teeth Whitening

Using Lemons for Teeth Whitening?

I was thinking about whitening my teeth. I know not to use household bleach. A friend of mine tried that and it ended up a disaster. I recently read an article about people who use lemons to whiten their teeth. Lest I go the way of my friend with the bleach, is this a safe option?

Tara

Dear Tara,

teeth whitening trays
teeth bleaching trays

For those reading who may not realize why you don’t use bleach to whiten your teeth, it is because bleach is a base, like lye, which is very corrosive. It can eat away at organic material. In fact, many dentists use it to do just that in cleaning out dead organic material in a root canal treatment.

As for the lemons, I don’t recommend that either. Lemons contain citric acid. What the citric acid will do is etch your teeth. While this can scrub off some surface stains, it also damages them. That damage makes them pick up stains much more easily, which will make them darker than when you first started.

There are over-the-counter whitening kits that work, like Crest Whitestrips, however they are much weaker. It will take a large number of kits to see any real difference. In the long run, that doesn’t save you much money. The safest and most cost effective way for you to whiten your teeth is using professional teeth whitening through your dentist.

You can get results much faster under the watchful eye of a dentist to ensure that nothing else goes wrong while you are getting the white smile you want. There have been cases of people needing a root canal treatment because of an over-the-counter treatment. That is the last thing you need when you are just trying to get a white smile.

This blog is brought to you by Phoenix Dentist Dr. Hillary Peck.

Teeth Whitening

Can You Bleach Your Teeth with Household Bleach?

I’m thinking about getting my teeth bleached. Before I do, I just thought I’d check about a question I have. Is there a reason that I couldn’t just use household bleach? It seems like I should be able to swish it around in my mouth every day and get some whitening, right?

Ellie

Dear Ellie,

Teeth whitening trays
Teeth Whitening Trays

I like that you’re trying to think outside of the box. That being said, this won’t be a good option for you. Household bleach, such as Clorox, is a base, like Lye. These are very corrosive. Not only can they burn through living tissue, but if they combine or come in contact with certain other chemicals it can poison you by releasing chlorine gas. There are also warnings about you mixing bleach with other household cleaners for the same reason.

Something you may find interesting is that the corrosiveness of bleach makes it ideal for dentists to use it in root canal treatments. They’ll use the bleach to dissolve all the dead, organic material inside the tooth. You wouldn’t want to use it inside your mouth and let it damage your soft tissue.

When a dentist does teeth whitening, they do not use bleach. Instead, they use a special peroxide gel developed specifically to safely, but powerfully, whiten teeth. If you want to whiten your teeth, then I would recommend doing it with a dentist.

This blog is brought to you by Phoenix Dentist Dr. Hillary Peck.
Click here to learn about how we keep our treatments affordable.