The Center for Advanced Dentistry Blog

Restore Your Smile with Porcelain Crowns from Dr. Hornstein

August 12, 2011

There could be any number of reasons for why you’ve lost confidence in your smile. You could have a tooth that’s been chipped for as long as you can remember. Or maybe one that cracked suddenly during a meal. It’s even possible t you have old metal fillings that are starting to deteriorate.

But all this can change. With porcelain crowns from Dr. Hornstein’s Beachwood office, you can restore confidence in your smile by restoring function and structure to a tooth that needs help.

By restoring your smile with porcelain crowns, you’re ensuring that your smile stays strong and healthy for years to come. Crowns can even help you preserve your jaw’s correct natural alignment, which is as important for the health of surrounding teeth as it is for the health of your entire jaw.

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A Whiter Smile in Just One Hour

July 28, 2011

Teeth can become stained for several reasons. One of the biggest is age, but certain beverages (like tea or coffee) can have a major effect, too, as can smoking and even certain medications. But with professional teeth whitening from Dr. Hornstein’s Beachwood dental office, a vibrant smile can be yours again, and in about just one hour.

Using Brite Smile’s professional whitening treatment, we can safely and effectively return your teeth to their optimal brightness.

Professional Whitening in the Comfort of Your Own Home

But in-office teeth whitening isn’t the only way you can revitalize your smile. With at-home teeth whitening, you can achieve professional results in the comfort of your own home. Results aren’t as immediate—best results take between one and two weeks—but you can still look forward to enjoying a brighter, more confident smile.

You can even use at-home teeth whitening in between in-office treatments. We call this our “Whitening for Life” program, and you can find out more about his it works by clicking here.

The Confident Smile of Your Dreams

If you have questions about our teeth whitening services or just want to schedule your next visit with Dr. Hornstein, give our Beachwood dental office a call today. Dr. Hornstein’s practice serves patients from Cleveland, Solon, Shaker Heights, Pepper Pike, and surrounding cities.

Kiss Chronic Bad Breath Goodbye

July 15, 2011

Do you try to masque chronic bad breath with gum or mints?  Those may help, but they don’t really treat the problem. Odds are, your recurring bad breath has something to do with your brushing habits, and it may even be a symptom of a serious problem.

Bad Breath – It’s Causes and What It Might Mean

One reason why some suffer from bad breath, also known as halitosis, is because of poor brushing habits. When you forget to brush (or floss), food particles can become trapped in your teeth, where they decay and mix together with bacteria to form a sulfur compound.

But your bad breath may not just be caused by old bits of food. In some cases, halitosis may a symptom of gum disease. Which mean, if you suffer from chronic bad breath and mints, gums, and brushing aren’t helping, you may want to schedule an appointment with Dr. Hornstein. He’ll put your smile through a comprehensive exam to look for any other symptoms that might indicate the presence of the disease.

If we find any, Dr. Hornstein can recommend a treatment process that will help you. Gum disease can often be treated by spending more time at the sink and with more regular dental visit. We may also recommend a professional kit like CloSYSII or a tongue scraper to help you.

Cleaner Breath and a Healthier Smile

To find out more about how Dr. Hornstein can treat bad breath, or to schedule a consultation visit, give us a call today. Our Beachwood dental office serves patients from Cleveland, Solon, Shaker Heights, Pepper Pike, and beyond.

Sleep Apnea Treatment for Patients in the Cleveland Area

June 27, 2011

If you snore at night or suffer from symptoms like irritability, difficulty concentrating, morning headaches, or daytime drowsiness, you may have sleep apnea.

An under-diagnosed condition, sleep apnea can disrupt your (and your partner’s) sleep and have a detrimental effect on your overall health, putting you at risk for a wide spectrum of serious conditions ranging from heart attack to stroke, high blood pressure, heartburn, depression, and even memory loss.

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Green Tea Helps You Keep Your Teeth

September 22, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , — Dr. Benjamin Hornstein @ 9:39 am

Researchers suspect antimicrobial molecules contained within green tea helps preserve teeth (as long as you don’t add sugar).

  • People aged 40-64 who drank one cup of green tea a day were less likely to lose teeth.
  • Drinking unsweetened coffee had no effect on keeping teeth.
  • Antimicrobial molecules called catechins may account for green tea’s benefits.

A cup of green tea a day may keep the dentist away.

That’s the finding of new research published in Preventive Medicine. The findings show that drinking at least one cup of green tea a day increases the odds of keeping your teeth as you age.

The researchers suspect that antimicrobial molecules called catechins present in green tea and in lesser amounts in oolong tea provide the benefit. But be careful if you like your tea with sugar: sweetener may negate the effect, the team found.

“Green tea may have bacteriocidal effects, which would affect teeth, but only if you drink it without sugar,” said Alfredo Morabia, of Columbia University in New York and editor of Preventive Medicine, who wrote an editorial accompanying the new research.

“They also reported that drinking sweet coffee was actually deleterious,” he added. “Coffee alone had no problem, but sweet coffee would actually make you lose your teeth.”

Yasushi Koyama of the Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine and colleagues looked at more than 25,000 Japanese men and women between age 40 and 64 in making the determination.

They found that men who drank at least one cup of tea a day were 19 percent less likely to have fewer than 20 teeth (a full set including wisdom teeth is 32) than those who did not drink green tea. Tea-drinking women had 13 percent lower odds.

One possible explanation for the benefits of tea drinking is that warm drinks wash out your mouth. But coffee, which also provides a mouth rinse, had no benefit, suggesting something else is going on.

Catechins have been shown to kill mouth bacteria associated with tooth decay and gum disease, so the researchers suspect this is what gives green tea its dental benefits.

“Previous research has indicated that regular consumption of green tea may lead to a lower instance of periodontal disease, a leading cause of tooth loss in adults,” said Samuel Low of the University of Florida College of Dentistry and President of the American Academy of Periodontology in a statement to Discovery News.

Maintaining healthy teeth and gums is part of maintaining a healthy body, Low said. “That is why it is so important to find simple ways to boost periodontal health, such as regularly drinking green tea — something already known to possess certain health-related benefits.”

By, Jessica Marshall at dentist.net

This Daily Mistake Can Make You Obese and Forgetful

August 23, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , — Dr. Benjamin Hornstein @ 12:02 pm

People who sleep either more or fewer than seven hours a day, including naps, have an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, according to a new study.

Sleeping fewer than five hours a day more than doubles your risk of being diagnosed with angina, coronary heart disease, heart attack or stroke.  And sleeping more than seven hours also increases your risk of cardiovascular disease; more than nine hours of sleep results in a 50 percent increase in risk.

The Daily Telegraph reports:

“The most at-risk group was adults under 60 years of age who slept five hours or fewer a night. They increased their risk of developing cardiovascular disease more than threefold … Women who skimped on sleep … were more than two-and-a-half times as likely to develop cardiovascular disease.”

In related news, researchers have also found that sleeping in after a few days of missed sleep can help restore you after missed sleep, nearly erasing any lingering sense of fatigue and mental fuzziness.

How much recovery sleep you need to feel recharged depends on how much sleep you’ve lost.

In the study, volunteers deprived of about three hours of sleep a night for five nights felt nearly, but not quite, back to normal after ten hours of sleep.

To help you get the optimal amount of sleep each night, U.S. News & World Report suggests:

“… [T]ry removing all electronic media devices — BlackBerry, TV, computer — from your bedroom. These distractions … are a prime reason many of us turn out the lights an hour or two later than we originally intended.”

Sources:

This is an excerpt from Dr. Joseph Mercola’s website www.mercola.com.  Sleep apnea can have a direct influence on the quality of your sleep.  The health risks are increased if you don’t get a good night’s sleep.  If you don’t feel rested even after 7-9 hours of “sleeping”, you may have a problem with a sleep disorder.  See www.sleepbettercleveland.com for more information.

Oral Health and Heart Disease

August 3, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , — Dr. Benjamin Hornstein @ 11:53 am

The following link is to a video from Health Day TV.  It shows the results of a study following patients for 8 years and compares the rate of teeth brushing against the incidence of cardiac problems.   Taking the time to brush has benefits beyond fresh breath. 

http://www.msn.com/en-us/health

Quitting Smoking May Minimize Harmful Bacteria and Replenish Healthy Bacteria

July 22, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , — Dr. Benjamin Hornstein @ 10:29 am

Patients with chronic gum disease who quit smoking in addition to undergoing nonsurgical therapy not only demonstrated a lower abundance of harmful oral pathogens, but also an increase in health-associated bacteria. The researchers from The Ohio State University, Columbus Ohio, and Newcastle University, United Kingdom report their findings in the July 2010 issue of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

It is well established that oral bacteria play an important role in the origin of chronic gum disease and that smoking tobacco contributes to a pathogen rich environment. Although prior studies indicate that quitting smoking can alter the oral microbial community, it is unknown if pathogenic colonization can actually be reversed.

In order to determine the effect of quitting smoking on select oral bacteria researchers launched a long-term study, at the beginning of which, plaque samples were collected from 22 initial smokers. Twelve months following nonsurgical periodontal therapy and counseling samples were again taken from all 22 participants, however, 11 were quitters and 11 still smoked. Results showed decreased levels in various bacterial pathogens as well as an increase in health-associated species in those patients who no longer smoked.

“Following nonsurgical periodontal therapy and smoking cessation, the subgingival microbiome is recolonized by a greater number of health-associated species and there are a significantly lower prevalence and abundance of putative periodontal pathogens,” say the researchers. “These results indicate a critical role for smoking cessation counseling in periodontal therapy for smokers in order to effectively alter the subgingival microbiome.”

(S.L. Delima, R.K. McBride, P.M. Preshaw, P.A. Heasman, P.S. Kumar. 2010. Response of subgingival bacteria to smoking cessation. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 48. 7: 2344-2349.)

Mouthguards Aren’t Just For Kids

July 14, 2010

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , — Dr. Benjamin Hornstein @ 9:30 am

Did you know that some of the most common dental injuries seen in patients under the age of 18 are from contact sports? And adults should protect their teeth as well when participating in any sport where injury to your face may be a factor.  Whether you, or your children, participate in rollerblading, soccer, or football, mouthguards help prevent these injuries. The American Dental Association (ADA) recommends mouthguards for any activity that could result in a blow to the face or mouth.

Made of easy-to-clean, flexible acrylic material, an athletic mouthguard covers teeth and protects faces, lips, gums, and jaws from injury. Various types of mouthguards exist, including store bought, mouth-fit, and custom-made mouthguards. All of these appliances will help you avoid facial injuries, but custom-made mouthguards are superior to the other options, because they fit better, allow you to speak easier, and don’t fall out. If you decide on a custom-made mouthguards, we will take molds of your teeth and send the impressions to a dental lab for fabrication.  And we can make them in your team colors.   Call us to find out more about how to prevent injuries to your mouth and teeth.

Mercury Filling Controversy

July 8, 2010

In our office we do not use amalgum fillings.  We think there are more aesthetic materials available today.  However, some of our patients do not want to keep amalgum fillings in their teeth.  Dr. Hornstein removes the old fillings safely.  We use lots of water and a high suction evacuation system.  We isolate the affected tooth with a rubber or latex dam so the patient is minimally exposed to any residual materials when removing the filling.  The patient may choose to breathe oxygen and eye protection is always used.  Some of the local physicians who practice medicine utilizing traditional and complementary treatments refer their patients to our office when they suspect that mercury levels are having an adverse effect on their patient’s health.  This link from Wikipedia has a balanced approach in its review of this controversial subject.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dental_amalgam_controversy

Please call our office if  you have any questions about mercury fillings and their safe replacement with tooth colored materials.

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