Invisalign (Clear Braces) - Maple Grove Dentist

Hi, this is Dr. Ryan Francis, DDS from Grove Health Dental.

Today, I will discuss Invisalign and address the most pressing questions related to Invisalign that I receive from my patients.

What is Invisalign?

Invisalign is a thermoplastic material made of medical-grade polyurethane resin. More simply put, it is a clear, plastic brace.

Are you an Invisalign candidate?

As we approach the year 2015, I would say most people are Invisalign candidates. This was not the case almost seven years ago when I started, but Invisalign technology has made continued advances in terms of the material, plastic, and type of attachments that assist in the movements, as well as (decreased) treatment time.

Does Invisalign work?

I would be willing to bet that most Invisalign-treating dentists would agree with me that it works…that is, if you wear them. Wearing Invisalign for at least 20 hours a day is what you should aim for. You need to decrease those pockets of time when you forget to put it in, like before you go to school or the office. The worst thing is when you forget to wear it for a whole day. If you do any of these, there would be delays in treatment time.

Oddly enough, I have had most success with teenagers who used Invisalign. The idea of decreased treatment time is very appealing to them.

In general, the ones that are most challenging are those patients who do not wear Invisalign extensively or those who regularly forget to wear it. Other challenging situations would involve treatment that was started before the latest Invisalign technologies have been available, but we can update those now and achieve the necessary treatment goals.

How long does treatment time take?

There is a significant time range. My average treatment time is a year or a year and a half. In certain cases, like deep bites which is what I am currently fixing, it may take two years or more. Others would take only six months. Treatment time with Invisalign’s latest technology is shorter compared to a few years ago.

Does it hurt?

Invisalign does not hurt as metal conventional braces would. The reason for this is, with Invisalign, you will not be torquing the teeth to the same force as you would with metal braces. From time to time, depending on certain tooth movements, it would be sore to chew on, but not to the extent of regular metal braces.

If you have further questions about Invisalign, I would be more than happy to discuss it with you. We do offer free consultations. Invisalign treatment is a great service that we provide in our clinic that has yielded increasing success.

Grove Health Dental

763-416-0011

9907 Maple Grove Parkway
Maple Grove, MN 55369

www.GroveHealthDental.com

How To Manage Tooth (Dental) Trauma - Maple Grove Dentist

Hi, this is Dr. Ryan Francis, DDS from Grove Health Dental

Dental or tooth trauma is a type of injury which can involve a full tooth or baby tooth. You must understand that timeliness is key when dealing with dental trauma.

If a full tooth has been traumatized, you can do either one of the following actions:

1.    You need to get the tooth back into the tooth socket within five minutes. If you are comfortable, you can do it yourself. To do this, you need to rinse the tooth with water, hold it by the crown (top part of the tooth) and not the root, and re-implant the tooth. Just bite down on something and then it’s essential that you visit us as soon as possible so we can preserve the tooth.

2.    You need to clean the tooth and then put it in a storage medium. You have two options:

a.    Recommended storage media include milk, saline solution, or contact lens solution. The most popular storage medium is Hank’s Balanced Salt Solution, but I assume not many of you have this.

b.    Another option is saliva or spit (spit of the person who lost the tooth). Clean the tooth, put it in a cup with spit and cover it, and then call us immediately.

As long as tooth has been placed in a storage medium, we have approximately 1 to 2 hours to salvage the tooth.

If it’s baby tooth, we are not going to put it back in the tooth socket. If you are not sure if it’s a baby tooth or full tooth, we can walk you through that.

If the tooth is damaged and still in the tooth socket, we need to examine it immediately. Certain procedures can be done to salvage that tooth within 24 hours. Even if the tooth is just a bit loose, it is recommended that the person visit our office, as the tooth might need some form of treatment.

Sometimes, the tooth involved in a dental trauma could sore and heal quickly. This traumatized tooth can get better and be good for a month or even 10 years. However, it will likely create a problem down the road, so it’s prudent for you to have it checked sooner rather than later.

If you know anyone suffering from tooth or dental trauma, make sure to advise the person to come and visit us immediately so we can save the tooth. Immediate examination of the traumatized tooth is important and taking prompt action will vastly increase the chances of saving the tooth.

Grove Health Dental

763.416.0011

9907 Maple Grove Parkway
Maple Grove, MN 55369

www.GroveHealthDental.com

Bruxism - AKA Teeth Grinding

Hi, this is Dr. Ryan Francis, DDS from Grove Health Dental

Today we are talking about Bruxism or more specifically Clenching and Grinding of your teeth!

Now, there is a very good chance you or someone you know personally grinds their teeth. This is because statistically 1 in every 3 people clench or grind their teeth. General "bruxism" or teeth clenching occurs during the day as people manage busy lives and stress. Teeth grinding on the other hand is usually more common at night as most people consciously stop themselves from grinding.

Clenching and/or Grinding teeth can lead to many symptoms including:

1. Headaches
2. Sore Jaw Muscles
3. Wear Of Teeth (Front and Back)
4. Pain In Front Of The Ear
5. Temporomandibular Joint Pain

Simply put it can cause a lot of pain, discomfort and annoyance.

How can you or those you know manage and reduce the severity of these symptoms?

Here are a few options I recommend at my clinic:

1. Occlusal Guard (aka night guard, splint, bite guard) - this is a clear guard that is placed on your bottom teeth. The occlusal guard works by helping to prevent the jaw muscles to engage which relaxes the temporal mandibular joint at night. These are typical worn at night as they can make speech difficult. [I generally make a few of these a week for patients and have noticed significant improvement in those patients].

2. Daytime Mouth Piece - I have recently started creating these for my patients an it has become very popular. This mouth piece fits similar to an occlusal guard but is much less bulky and usually much less noticeable. The action is also similar to that of the occlusal guard as it allows the jaw muscles to relax which decrease the daily clenching of teeth.

These two options are great for those of you struggle with overly stressful days and/or those who struggle with intermittent sleep patterns.

If you notice that you are in fact struggling with any of these issues or symptoms I'd love to talk to you about the relief we can provide as many people are great candidates for these simple appliances.

Grove Health Dental

763.416.0011

9907 Maple Grove Parkway
Maple Grove, Mn 55369

www.GroveHealthDental.com

Sports Mouth Guards (Under Armour) - Maple Grove Dentist

Hi, this is Dr. Ryan Francis, DDS from Grove Health Dental

Today we are going to be talking about Sports Mouth Guards  and Mouth Pieces.

Today's sports mouth guards have some very convincing research behind them to back up the claims that Under Armour makes. Which they claim can increase performance of an athlete just by wearing their mouth pieces. In fact their research is backed by double blind scientific proven studies.

So how/why can they increase performance, lets get into it.

To begin with, Under Armour makes 2 main types of mouth guards, they include:

1. Athletic Mouth Guard - specifically designed for contact sports.

2. Mouth Piece - specifically designed for non contact sports.

What makes these two mouth guards/pieces advantageous?

Under Armour has included their proprietary "Power Wedges".

Now what exactly does this Power Wedge do? Basically... In a "Nut Shell" they do not allow the jaw to close completely. This lack of closing is proven to decrease the release of the stress hormone Cortisol while also increase the athletes oxygen uptake. [While this isn't a large change in oxygen uptake the athlete receives it can be substantial and allow for increased athletic performance].

Again Under Armour's scientific studies have proven this can incrementally increase their athletes performance output. This alone has become HUGE in professional sports!

The great part for younger athletes is that these performance upgrades and mouth guards are being adopted by the collegiate level as well as high school level athletes.

Now their are 2 ways to go about taking advantage of these new "performance upgrades"

1. Custom Impression - This is completely painless as we take impressions of your bite to create an excellent fit. This is crucial to athletes who want performance without the feeling of being inhibited,

2. Form To Fit (Non Custom) - These can be found at any retail store (dicks, sports authority, etc..) we can and do fit these hear in our office which is a more affordable option our clinic offers. This is a great way to ensure proper fit to gain proper performance output.

Personally as a an athlete myself I'm really excited about these! In fact my son has one that we have custom fit for him and I'm in the process of making myself a mouth piece as well as creating an athletic mouth guard when the hockey season comes back around.

Now, if you or someone you know could benefit from a custom mouth piece please give our office a call to schedule an appointment or simply ask us any questions.

Grove Health Dental

763.416.0011

9907 Maple Grove Parkway
Maple Grove, Mn 55369

www.GroveHealthDental.com

Maple Grove Sedation Dentistry - Grove Health Dental - Maple Grove Dentist

Hi I’m Dr Ryan Francis, DDS with Grove Health Dental

Today, I have a question for you. Who likes going to the Dentist?

…Probably the only person raising their hand is the one who has never had a cavity before. (which isn’t many).

I would venture to guess most others don’t enjoy going to the Dentist.

It ranges from:

1.      Prefer to do something else

2.      Un easy about it

3.      Dislikes it

4.      Really dislikes it

5.      Hates it

So, if you’re one the people who do not enjoy going to the Dentist why not do something that is going to make it more relaxing?

We have some great alternatives to help make your experience better. We offer these through Sedation Dentistry. The first one is nitrous oxide or “laughing gas”.

I strongly feel it is underutilized and it is very simple to use. We use what is called a “nasal hood” or simply a “nose piece” which allows you to breathe in the nitrous oxide which really calms you down and gives you a nice relaxed feeling.

The next step up is using the nitrous oxide gas as well as a sedation pill, which this combination is a great alternative to the heavier sedation options, you simply take 1 pill and we use the gas. This is a great option for someone is doing a deeper cleaning or something a little bit more than a routine cleaning but one that is not a real long procedure. People really seem to enjoy this option.

The next step up is called “Oral Conscious Sedation” which is a combination of anywhere from 1 to 3 different types of pills in conjunction with the nitrous oxide gas.

Since everyone is different we use a method called “titrate” which allows use to observe and evaluate how you respond to the medications to make it as minimal as possible while also having the most effective treatment.

There are several great things about oral sedation, not only to mention how incredibly safe it is (we use this high tech device by Welch Allyn to continually monitor our patients vitals in real time which we have chosen to utilize as an added measure of safety).

 Sedation is a great service for anyone who has anywhere from a mild to severe fear, anyone who has a long or multiple purpose appointment (we can get what would take up to5 or 6 visits done with 1 visit during one sitting).  

“I have been utilizing sedation for 12 years in my practice and it’s probably one of the greatest things I started doing!” The most rewarding part is being able to get that very fearful/anxious patients work all done with them hardly remembering it while making it pain free.

So there are a few options for sedation. I hope this has been educational and will open your mind up to potentially utilizing one of these sedation methods.

Here at Grove Health Dental we provide all of them. So please feel free to call us to learn more or to schedule your visit with Dr. Ryan Francis, DDS.

www.GroveHealthDental.com

(763) 416.0011

9907 Maple Grove Parkway
Maple Grove, Mn 55369

Dr. Ryan Francis, DDS - Maple Grove Dentist

How To Prevent Cavities.. Hint (It's Easier Than You Think)

Today we are talking about cavities and how we can minimize your chances of getting cavities.

Things to Keep In Mind

1. Xylitol - This is an artificial sugar that is found in a lot of chewing gums such as dentine, trident, orbitz and spry.

Whats so special about Xylitol?

It actually helps to fight off bad bacteria that can cause cavities. It works really well, they actually call it an 'anti-cavity" gum. So make sure to look into products that contain Xylitol.

2. The Air Floss - This is a new little device to help minimize your chances of cavities, it is made by Phillips who also makes Sonicare. This "little gadget" allows you to put your mouthwash right into the opening of this device and directly shoot a little jet between each one of your teeth. This works really well to fight off in between the teeth cavities which a lot of us tend to get.

3. See Me For A Check Up - I think most of us know this but the best way to make sure you do not have cavities is to come see me for a checkup. Since cavities rarely hurt, pain is not a good indicator of whether you do or do not have a cavity, unless it has gotten to the point where more work needs to be done such as a root canal. 

I hope those little "tid bits" helped you know a little bit more about how to minimize your chances of getting cavities. 

Learn more here: More Cavity and Tooth Decay Information

If you're suffering from what you think may be a cavity, please call our office to schedule an appointment. Our number is 763.416.0011