What Is Swimmer’s Mouth?

As you swim back and forth in a pool that has extremely acidic water, you can’t help but get some on your teeth. The PH of a pool is usually 7.2 to 7.6 and this acidity causes proteins to harden on the teeth. "Eventually, when the tarter continues to harden you may notice some brown-yellowish stains on your teeth," states Dr. Judy Strutz.  There are ways to protect against the stains sticking to your teeth permanently.  

Studies have shown that this typically occurs in individuals who are swimming six or more hours a week.  If the PH of the pool is higher, you can experience eroding of the enamel. If this occurs you may want to double check the PH of the pool to ensure that it is at a safe amount.

If you begin to see stains on your teeth due to antimicrobials and the PH, you may want to visit the dentist more often. Dr. Strutz, "They can help clean off the stains on your teeth before it becomes a problem." You may also want to carry a toothbrush with you and brush and rinse your mouth as soon as you finish swimming. While this problem is most common in Olympic swimmers, it is not unheard of in others that swim often to cool off regularly, particularly in the summer.

Don’t Forget About The X-Rays

X-rays are a part of a routine visit with Dr. Judy Strutz but they are not used in a routine manner. They are utilized in order to find out the problems that are going on in your mouth beyond what the eye can see. It is critical for your oral health care that x-rays to be taken.  When you visit your Prosthodontist, Dr. Judy Strutz, she needs to be able to evaluate the whole picture of what is going on in your mouth.

If she is going to properly fit you for crowns, veneers, or other dental appliances she has to first be able to see the bone below the gums to determine if you have enough bone structure to place the necessary appliances. When recommending x-rays or radiographs, Dr. Strutz is utilizing them to analyze the health of your smile.  In order for her to plan the appropriate treatment to meet your dental needs she first has to be able to analyze your entire mouth. When your dental care provider can only see the tops of the teeth, valuable dental information is missed, in fact it could be information that saves your life.

X-rays help see the minor problems before they become major problems and are also important to evaluate whether you have oral cancer. X-rays should be taken on a regular basis.

Maxillary Frenum’s Need Your Attention

Frenectomy laser surgery is a must if your child has tongue-tie. While you might believe it will go away on its own, it can actually get worse. If the skin that is holding the tongue in place on the inside of the lip goes untreated, it can get thicker and begin to separate the front teeth. "While a gap between the teeth seems cute when children are younger, it can be detrimental to older children," suggests Dr. Strutz.

Placing the tongue up against the back of the teeth makes certain sounds. When they begin to develop sounds, it is important that your school age child hears the sounds correctly. However, they need to also be able to say the sounds correctly in order to develop reading fluency. There is a small window when speech sounds are being developed and research shows that students who do not learn to speak correctly by early educational grades may never learn to correctly say the sounds. 

Your child’s self-esteem is important and is developed by being secure in their abilities. Children who struggle to state sounds correctly may become insecure as they begin to talk to peers but are unable to be understood. While they are in school, education is built on their ability to share ideas with their peers while the teacher facilitates the learning, for example your daughter walks through how to solve a math problem by talking. Reading is built on your child’s ability to hear and say the sounds correctly.

If you’re concerned about your student’s frenum contact Dr.Strutz today.

Why Your Infant Should Have Frenectomy Surgery

Some doctors may recommend you wait for your baby to have a frenectomy surgery. Dr. Judith Strutz however, recommends having this procedure done sooner in order to increase your baby’s ability to nurse correctly and reduce the risk of a greater impact later on.

When babies are nursing they should be able to comfortably latch on and feed. When your baby has a maxillary frenectomy or tongue-tie it can cause your son or daughter to attempt to latch on at the side of their mouth instead of directly on. It can also cause you an extreme amount of pain if they are latched on incorrectly.   While the first few days of breastfeeding a brand new baby can be very trying, increased pain from an improper feeding position can cause any new mom to give up on the process.

When babies are nursing, if they are not latched on correctly, they may not be getting the necessary amount of food they need in order to maintain their weight and grow. On average after a baby is born they loose a few pounds. Proper nutrition is critical for these little ones to fight off infections and to boost their fragile immune systems.

Tongue-tied babies can almost immediately latch on and eat correctly after the surgery has been performed. Due to modern technology this surgery tends to be very smooth and easy for babies.   A laser is used to cut the extra skin and the wound is cauterized. While it takes a short amount of time to completely heal, your baby should be able to eat almost immediately.

If your little one was born with a frenum issue, contact Dr. Strutz and her team today for more information.

Bone Grafting-What is it? & Why Do I Need It?

Bone grafting is a procedure which allows your prosthodontist to synthetically help your body grow bone. This is done in order to fill extraction sites with synthetic bone.  Your dentist may recommend this procedure to you if you have a tooth that needs to be extracted and bone needs to be retained in the area; especially if an implant may be added in the future to the extraction site.  Dental implants usually require at least six millimeters of bone to attach to. The synthetic bone is placed in the extraction site to build up that area of the jaw.

Bone grafting procedures can be done using bone from your own body - removed usually from the hip area, it can be created and grown in a lab, or it can come from another animal. While all choices offer a viable solution according to Dr. Judy Strutz, this fantastic opportunity allows patients to regain a beautiful smile because once the bone grafting surgery is completed then implants or veneers can be created to build your new smile.

If an implant is placed on an inadequate amount of bone then the implant will not hold and you could end up in pain or require more extreme dental procedures in order to adequately fix your smile.  Dr. Strutz states, "once the bone is placed in the proper location, healing time will vary from person to person." However, once the site is built up correctly you can move forward and get that long lasting beautiful smile you have always desired.  

Laser Advancements Improve Dental Surgery For Your Child

 

Dental technology has come a long way over the last ten to fifteen years. One of these technological advances that have your family’s best interests at heart is the use of laser’s when completing dental surgery for your baby.   Dr. Judy Strutz is now providing laser surgery for your child’s frenum or tongue-tie problems. Some dentists and doctors may suggest you wait for this critical surgery, however, with the latest advancements in technology there is no reason to wait and many reasons to proceed early after birth.

Laser frenectomy procedures are a short and easy process that will enable your child to nurse correctly. Once Dr. Judy Strutz is able to meet with you and your baby for a preliminary screening she will be able to better provide you with the information you need to help make the decision whether to move forward or not. While a hundred years ago a midwife with a long nail would cut the extra skin in the mouth.  Now a laser has the ability to do the same thing with precision control of the outcome. Using a laser for this procedure allows for minimal pain and a quick recovery. Healing will begin right after the surgery and most children may breastfeed immediately. They will only need a short follow up to make sure everything is progressing as normal. 

Schedule your baby’s exam today.

Brush It Off & Move Forward With Your Dental Needs

A general dentist is a great place to start for your routine dental care, however, if you have more extensive dental needs a prosthodontist, such as Dr. Judy Strutz, may be a better alternative. She specializes in caring for patients who have extreme situations with their smile. And she doesn’t just focus on one problem. She focuses on restoring your mouth to build a one of a kind custom smile

While Dr. Strutz’s schooling is advanced, her experience in the field combined with her education is what makes her a genuine contender for restoring difficult smiles. The dental field offers numerous options today for fixing and restoring your smile, for example, implants may be the best way to go in order to get a full and beautiful smile, but you may only need a few implants. While there are numerous options, Dr. Judy Strutz will take the time to listen to you, build a smile using custom materials and then will see you back for a follow up to make sure that your smile is what you want and is, at the same time, fully functional.

Beautiful does not make your smile functional. The purpose of teeth is to allow you to chew all of the delicious food around you, to allow you to say certain words correctly and to provide a confident business look. Missing teeth may cause your smile to droop and age you beyond your years.

Drug Abuse & Your Smile

Dr. Strutz and her team believe in supporting you to rebuild your life and your smile. A history of drug abuse & dental neglect may have impacted your smile.  Drug abuse can leave you with stained, chipped, cracked, decayed and damaged teeth causing you an extreme amount of pain. But Dr. Strutz and her team can fix the dental issues you are experiencing and she and her team will help you restore your smile.

 Decay that has been left untreated can go below the gum line and cause inflammation, infection, bleeding and tooth loss. As the decay continues to spread to other teeth your smile you can be further impacted. Dr. Strutz will work quickly and efficiently to get your smile back to where it was and to get you out of pain.

The team at Judith Strutz & Associates is not there to judge you or embarrass you. They are there to help you rebuild your life starting with a smile you can be proud to show off. Putting your life back together after drug abuse can take time, but having a gorgeous smile can help improve your chances of finding a job and worthwhile relationships, and the health of your smile can improve the health of your body. Call Dr. Strutz and her team today & let them restore your smile.