thedentist1

A software analogy would be: if a client asks for a simple website with a shopping cart and a newsletter, and you ask 10 programmers, you're almost guaranteed to get 10 different platforms (different CMS, different language like PHP vs Ruby vs .net)

It's kind of the same thing with dentists: a good surgeon will tend to lean towards surgery, and there are usually at least 2-3 different ways of solving a particular problem

It's a cool idea and I'm pretty sure it will be more common in the future, but right now almost nobody uses it for a couple of reasons:

1- You actually need a CAT scan of the tooth you want to replace beforehand..sometimes it's not possible (i.e. people who lost their teeth years ago, and now want to replace them)

2- Costs are probably significantly higher for everyone

3- Normal implants are more versatile, as they are basically hollow screws where you can mount a second screw shaped however you want (a tooth abutment, an attachment, etc) so they are also used to stabilize dentures, to create full mouth reconstructions such as all-on-four etc..this is not possible with these zirconia implants

As for toothpaste, what you do is ok, the only risk you run is to overdose on systemic fluoride, which sometimes causes diarrhoea. An alternative is to rinse with a mouthwash and not rinsing with water afterwards

Cavities are caused by sugars (and sugars only), so in theory, if you just eat green vegetables and meat, you shouldn't get any cavities. Veggies contain fibers and the consensus is that they exert a light brushing action on teeth (think when you chew celery and such)

A great resource for these questions is nutritionfacts.org (free and full of references to scientific studies)

What I meant with that "common sense" sentence was basically this:

- It's irrelevant to know if flossing "improves" overall health...what is relevant is that it will not worsen it, and you are removing rotting stuff from your teeth, and worst case scenario you just waste 2-3 minutes and have a more pleasant breath..why overcomplicate things?

It doesn't worsen your health, it either does nothing or improve it, so it is reasonable to do it

Medical literature is full of these things: do you need people to prove it with several studies that it's good for you to go for a walk every day? Try to weight the cost-benefit of your actions...if the cost is small, the risk non-existant, and the potential benefit high, it's usually a good idea

TBH I have never had a patient on which anesthesia didn't work...the only case that's fairly common is if you have an acute infection on that tooth, in which case the effectiveness of anesthesia is greatly reduced

Lower molars receive 2-3 different innervations and it is sometimes hard for a dentist to get all of them numb

1. the powered ones do more "swipes" per minute, so in general they tend to be more effective. If you're good with a manual brush, you will most likely get the same results

2. enamel is far too strong to be abraded by the brush, what does get abraded is the dentin (the yellowish part closer to your gums, that's why sometimes you can see small dent-like abrasions there) so try to focus on brushing softly in those areas. A good idea is to use soft bristles

All you do is good and you're probably already doing 95% of what can be done, the other risk factors are smoking, female hormones, stress and diet. If you are not stressed, don't smoke, are male and eat mostly plant-based whole foods you can't do much more than that

Also, regarding the guy that doesn't trust dentists that posted below...consider this - You had a very good dentist for several years that never suggested you do unnecessary procedures

This dentist had the balls to drop out of network, probably because he's good and has enough patients to not cave in to the absurd demands of insurance companies (they pay far less than a FFS practice, just FYI)

So you decide to drop your good dentist, and go to lower quality ones, just because they are in-network (guess what? these guys actually need to drop their fees because they don't have enough patients otherwise)...and then you find out that these new dentists are lower quality and need to prescribe unnecessary procedures to make ends meet

Solution: like in any other field, value quality over price, go back to your old dentist.

It's like Apple charging more for an iPhone simply because it's higher quality and is time-tested, of course if you buy cheap cell phones they are worse and screw you up some other way.

The real problem is insurance companies here, they are screwing both dentists and patients extracting money in a place where they shouldn't be (why do you need a middleman between a doctor and a patient anyways?)

Dentist here, AMA

By the way: - there is scientific evidence in dentistry just like any other branch in medicine - there are good and bad dentists just like in any other profession - the good ones tend to be very scientific and evidence-based (I know I am, everything I recommend and do is based on solid evidence, and I provide links to pubmed to any patient that asks for information) - a good dentist should be able to answer any of your questions or doubts in a split second, I often draw simple sketches to explain concepts to patients - please use your common sense: even though it might be hard to prove with 3 standard deviations that flossing makes a big difference (for all sorts of reasons that statisticians know very well, including the difficulty of tracking a large group of patients), it's pretty obvious that removing rotting food from your gums is good and leaving it there to putrefy is bad, don't you think? same goes for all the other claims...a powered toothbrush is better simply because it does more iterations per minute than a manual one...again, common sense

Dentist here, 35yo, ask me anything.