Smoking delays healing of wound in extracted tooth (and other oral surgery)

Smoking delays healing of wound in extracted tooth

 Tobaccos and cigarettes contain a toxic, odorless and colorless substance called carbon monoxide that injures the walls of blood vessels, causing scarring and subsequent blockage of blood flow. Poor transport of blood deprives the injured site of adequate blood and slows down healing. Tissue healing begins with clotting (hardening) of blood around the wound to seal the bleeding.

Carbon monoxide also takes away oxygen from the blood by attaching to hemoglobin first before oxygen does. Hemoglobin in the blood carries oxygen to the tissues. Tissues deprived of oxygen experience cell death.

Also, nicotine is a vasoconstrictor (narrows blood vessels), thus reducing nutritional blood flow to the wound. Nicotine also triggers the release of cholesterol and stored fat, which may lead to fatty plaque buildup inside the blood vessel. And because blood pressure is high from a narrowed blood opening, fats are mobilized in the bloodstream, leading to clogging. Either way, the end result is atherosclerosis (necrosis, or hardening of the arteries). Recent studies show that prolonged exposure to nicotine gives rise to formation of new blood vessels that supply a lifeline to plaques, causing further congestion and loss of blood vessel elasticity.

Tongue piercing can cause gapped teeth

Oral piercing may be hip, but if the effect includes crooked teeth and life-threatening complications, it’s too high a price to pay, especially if you are going to shell out thousands of dollars in orthodontic treatment later.

A case report by researchers from University of New York at Buffalo, published in the Journal of Clinical Orthodontics, reported a 26-year-old woman who developed a diastema (space between teeth). For seven years, she had tongue piercing and habitually pushed the barbell-shaped stud between her upper central incisors (frontal upper teeth), causing a large space to form. Another study involving high-school students in Buffalo, New York who wear oral piercings revealed that three-quarters of these students played with their piercings.

A separate finding by the Mayo Clinic that involved college students found that 17% of all body piercings had complications both mild and severe. Tongue piercing has been associated with bleeding, fractured or chipped teeth, gum trauma, scar formation, eating problems and speech difficulty. Ugly teeth is just the visible side effect; life-threatening infection from viruses such as hepatitis B and C and HIV can also be acquired through unsterile instruments. The lead author of the case report, Dr. Sawsan Tabbaa from the UB School of Dental Medicine, warned that in worst cases tongue piercing could result in brain abscesses.

Oral piercing has been the subject of many studies spanning different countries. A study of 10,503 in England, published in the British Medical Journal, reported that tongue piercing is the fourth-most popular type of body piercing. The study also found that one in 100 piercings resulted in hospital admission.

Highly effective and tolerable oral appliance for sleep apnea and snoring

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is characterized by habitual snoring, chronic fatigue and daytime sleepiness. In an apnea episode, breathing stops for a time (often more than 10 seconds). Pauses in breathing during sleep occur due to a narrowed, blocked or floppy airway. Untreated obstructive sleep apnea may lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, sexual dysfunction and stroke.

Male sex, obesity, aging and mouth and facial abnormalities are risk factors for OSA.
Due to the increasing recognition of the role of head and facial anatomy in the existence of OSA, research on the use of oral appliances to manage OSA have stepped up. There has since been ample evidence of the improvement of sleep and modification of health risks with the use of oral appliances.

In one study published in the Journal of the American Dental Association, oral appliances were said to reduce the severity of respiratory disturbances during sleep by about 60 percent, with an overall patient acceptance rate of 75 percent.

Indirect Bonding Nampa

Save time and discomfort with indirect bonding

You may have heard that getting your braces on takes a long time, is uncomfortable and/or requires you to hold your mouth open for long periods. Such is not the case with indirect bonding.

Indirect bonding is an advanced technique that allows Dr. Chris Cusimano to place your brackets – all at once – in a fraction of the time it takes to place the brackets on your teeth individually (which most orthodontists still do). The procedure is not only easier for our patients but allows greater accuracy of bracket placement. That allows teeth straightening progress to occur more quickly. Your overall treatment will take less time.
Click here to watch Dr. Chris discuss indirect bonding.

Here's how it works: 

		Dr. Chris takes impressions and creates exact duplicates of your teeth in a plaster model usingprecise measurements.
		The brackets are individually placed on the plaster model – a custom prescription unique to your mouth – in the exact positions they will need to be when placed in your mouth.