Smile Makeover for a recovering bulimic

September 22, 2012

Filed under: Bulimia,Porcelain Crowns — Tags: bulimia and teeth, porcelain veneers, recovering bulimic — okcitydentist @ 10:34 pm

I am a recovering bulimic. I am really embarrassed about the state of my smile and want to get a smile makeover. Now that I’ve gotten my issue under control, it will give me kind of a clean slate. Are porcelain veneers a good option for me?

Barbara K.- Michigan

Barbara,

Porcelain veneers are a great way to renew a smile makeover, but they will only deal with the front of your teeth. As a recovering bulimic, you really need to put most of your consideration on the back of your teeth, because that is where most of the damage has occurred. A great option for that is to get porcelain crowns. It will remake the front, back, and sides of your teeth.

When treating recovering bulimics we’ve noticed how much it helped their confidence to have a new, undamaged smile. We often hear they enjoy feeling both normal and beautiful, and are especially relieved not to have their smile as a reminder of their past.

One word of warning–Make sure you go to a skilled cosmetic dentist. You don’t want to end up with shoddy workmanship. Any dentist can claim to be a cosmetic dentist, because there isn’t an official cosmetic dentistry specialty. You don’t want to spend all that money on a smile makeover only to be disappointed with it.

This blog is brought to you by Oklahoma City Dentist Dr. Don Swearingen.

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Is it safe to pull an infected tooth?

September 13, 2012

Filed under: Tooth Infection — Tags: Dealing with Tooth Infections, root canal treatment — okcitydentist @ 11:02 pm

My son is supposed to have to teeth extracted tomorrow. I am little concerned because he’s had an infection. He’s been on antibiotics for three days, but there is still some swelling in his jaw. Is it dangerous to do the extraction?

Debbie from Colorado

Debbie,

I can’t speak to the particulars of your son’s case without examining him and seeing the x-rays. However, I can give some general guidelines. First, it is important to understand that you can never treat a tooth infection with antibiotics alone. The tooth itself will have to be treated. You can do that either by a root canal treatment or by extracting the tooth.

That is why even with three days of antibiotics, your son is still dealing with the effects of a tooth infection. However, the point of the antibiotics is to get the infection under control so there is no danger of spreading the infection during the extraction.

This blog is brought to you by Oklahoma City Dentist Dr. Don Swearingen.

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