Everyone is different with how their bodies process the anesthetic. Freezing can last as little as 30 minutes to as long as eight hours. Typically freezing will last a couple of hours after the procedure is done.
This depends on how close the decay got to the nerve and how involved the repair process was. Normally, the gums and the tooth can be sore for up to a couple of days following a filling. It is important to contact our office if sensitivity persists longer than a couple of days.
When a tooth is removed, a clot forms in the tooth socket. Initially, this clot looks red, and then darker red (almost black looking) as the blood dries. After a few days, a white fibrin clot begins to form. The gums around the wound will get inflamed over the next couple of days, peaking on the second day following the extraction. This inflammation should begin to subside by the third day. This is all normal healing.
Common complications include (but are not limited to):
• Infection – soreness and inflammation increasing after the third day.
• Dry socket – pain (usually sudden onset) occurring after the wound starts feeling better. The clot has been pulled out (leaving a hole).
Your dentist uses a small file to clean out the root canal system when performing a root canal. This file can sometimes irritate the tissue outside the tip of the root, which can cause some sensitivity in the few days following a root canal. This will usually get progressively better, but the soreness will often peak two days after the procedure. Most people, however, do not experience this complication.
Keep in mind that a filling was also completed on this tooth, and sensitivity can be caused by a filling built up too big (i.e., a high filling).
Yes. This is a service that we provide to our patients free of charge.
No one likes surprises. We do our best to find out what your plan will cover. Sometimes, however, insurance companies will not give us your plan breakdown for privacy reasons. If this occurs, you can call the insurance company and ask them for your plan breakdown using this sheet. After you obtain the information, you can scan and email or phone the information to us. We will then store it in your chart and help you to keep track of it.
At Aspen Trails Dental, we do not make any treatment recommendations based on your insurance coverage. Treatment is recommended based on your clinical needs. We will make the recommendations then investigate your insurance coverage so that there are no surprises.
Front teeth are the most common teeth to fall out. If your tooth is an adult tooth, the best thing to do is to reinsert the tooth in the socket! With time the bone will reform around the tooth, and we can keep it there long term with a bit of treatment. If you cannot get it in, putting the tooth in milk and then coming to the dentist is the best option, in which case we may be able to reinsert it. Do not scrub or clean the tooth or try to soak it in water.
A throbbing tooth can indicate something more sinister is going on. We suggest booking an appointment and getting a checkup to diagnose your tooth. It could be an infection. If it hurts when you bite, it could be a crack or some soreness from clenching. If it is a top tooth, there could be some inflammation in your sinus. This is where our dentists at Aspen Trails Dental have to put on their detective hats and try to get to the bottom of your pain!
Jaw pain is often multifactorial. It can be your joints, muscle, or both. Also, ear infection pain can radiate to the jaw. What we see a lot of at Aspen Trails Dental is jaw pain due to clenching and grinding. Clenching and grinding are not just bad for your teeth but are really damaging to your joints! A great place to start for jaw pain is a night guard. After that, there are TMJ specialists, and, in the worst cases, you may need surgery.
Pain on biting can be a few things. The worst-case scenario is that it could be a cracked or chipped tooth. Something many people don’t know is that you can actually “bruise” your tooth! It is called a “concussion” and happens when you bite something hard or get hit in the face by something. Pets and kids throwing their heads back is bad for this, and also hockey and popcorn! The ligament that holds your tooth in place gets inflamed and may need some to settle down. It can take up to 21 days, but it is fantastic that sometimes our teeth can heal all by themselves.
Come to the dentist, and we will see how deep it is. If you only break your tooth in the top two layers (enamel and dentin), we can often save your tooth with a filling or a crown. If it breaks deeper into the pulp, your tooth will probably need a root canal or an extraction.
Look to make sure the teeth haven’t moved or shifted. If the tooth has been pushed back, you can try to move the tooth back into place, or you can come in, and we will do it. We also may splint the tooth, which means we will bond it with a wire or composite to the strong teeth beside it to help it heal.
Oftentimes, lip cuts look way worse than they actually are. The mouth mucosa can heal itself very well and quickly. First, look for chipped teeth in the mouth and see if you can find the piece that broke off. If you can’t find the piece, it may be embedded in the tissue of the lip. Come to Aspen Trails Dental, and we can take an x-ray or look to see if we can remove it.
Sometimes if the cut of the lip or gums is big enough, it may need a suture. On the other hand, if the teeth seem intact and your child has a small cut on their lip, you may not even need to come to the dentist at all!