~ Evan Georgieff, DDS

A group of twenty seven (27) homeless US Veterans came to the event accompanied by Cory’s kitchen volunteer Jim Hester. “We were planning on bringing in fifty (50) veterans to this event, but we could not arrange for free transportation” lamented Hester. “So we could only afford to rent 3 cabs to bring in the more serious cases.”

Besides Lestonnac Free Clinic, a group of medical doctors from University of San Diego worked the Health van, giving out free health examination, wellness education, blood pressure test, glucose test and other needed medical treatments. The neighborhood Target store sent a local representative on site to offer discount coupons (up to 50% off) to all prescribed drugs for that day.  Everest College, the backbone of this event, provided the critical support (all general pre-process) with their medical assistants, dental assistants and masseuses.

The event was acknowledged with the appearance of Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, who was the first to come to congratulate all the volunteers and to present the US Congressional Awards to Dr. Le and his wife Dr. Chung. Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen along with Westminster Mayor Pro Tem Tri Ta and Fountain Valley City Councilman Michael Vo were all on hand to present their respective Proclamation to Dr. Le. California State Senator Lou Correa also sent his representative to present Dr. Le with a Senate Certificate of Appreciation.  

A program of this magnitude doesn’t come without substantial expenditures and even though most everyone are donating their time, Dr. Chuck Le is absorbing all the labor cost, as well as all medical/drugs related cost in support of the various dental procedures.  “We all benefit from all act of altruism and selflessness,” continued Michael Pham. “We are so indebted to have such an abundant number of people come out to help. Today you may be the person with the ability to help, but tomorrow you may be the recipient of someone else volunteer’s effort. I truly believe that it’s our civic duty to volunteer. We hope that Dr. Le’s action today will raise more awareness in this community on the need of community services.”

The problem is that we stop going to the dentist because we fear the pain of a shot and the pain associated with dental treatment.  We fear that the pain will come back to haunt us while we are sitting at the dental office.  In reality the pain we endure with a simple shot is very minimal compared to the pain endured after years or months of neglecting to see a doctor and do necessary dental treatments. 

Due to the high levels of anxiety that some patients experience there is a new option for getting dental treatment.  Patients can now get treatment while they sleep and have virtually no pain.  They can get fully sedated and their entire dental treatment can be done in one visit.  If sedation is something the patient does not desire, he or she can also get nitrous, previously known as laughing gas, which will relax the patient and ease any tensions.  Nitrous is a gas that is inhaled and just causes the patient to feel relaxed and make the dental visit more pleasurable. 

At 7 Day Dental, we offer many options to ease a patient’s pain and nervousness and therefore dental visits can now be an enjoyable rather than traumatizing.

The next class would be class II which is when the upper teeth are further moved forward than the bottom teeth.  Most people have heard the term, overbite, or overjet, which would refer to class II malocclusion.  Some problems occur when food is consumed the front teeth do not touch and cause the lower front teeth to interfere with the upper gums.   

Class III is commonly known as a negative overjet, which demonstrates the lower teeth in the foremost area.  This appearance is very obvious and causes the patient to look like they have an oversized bottom jaw which in some cases gives the appearance of absent upper teeth.  This can cause problems when the patient is trying to eat since they cannot move their upper jaw to adjust to their biting surface.

Any of the three cases can cause problems with biting and jaw functioning, but every smile has the potential to be significantly improved.  Any of these bites can be changed to become your ideal smile with a class I, normal occlusion.  A free consultation with our Orthodontist at 7 Day Dental would provide further information on the recommended treatment and treatment time which will vary from patient to patient.

A smile can be improved significantly regardless of its current status.  After having all major dental work done, it is fairly simple and inexpensive to maintain the health and appearance of the teeth. 

There are several reasons why teeth become unhealthy and many revolve around factors that can be changed by ones health maintenance habits.  Many consume excessive amounts of sugar on a daily basis and do not realize the exponential damage they create.  Excessive sugar acts like a catalyst speeding up the rate of plaque formation which creates decay to occur.  Another reason that cavities occur is that the proper dental care is not being performed at home.  It is crucial to have great oral hygiene habits because this will cause sticky build up known as plaque to be removed upon being cleaned.  Excessive amounts of plaque builds and leads to periodontal disease which occurs in the gums and can cause teeth to become mobile or fall out entirely.  Brushing and flossing daily as well as getting professional teeth cleanings helps improve these circumstances significantly. 

Bruxing which is clenching or grinding of the teeth is another major problem which everyone does whether they are or are not conscious of it.  This action occurs when a person is stressed or is entirely focused on a task.  Its damages can destroy any tooth even if it has had dental work. 

Healthy teeth can also be maintained by fixing problems associated with dry mouth.  Dry mouth can occur for different reasons such as:  old age, prescription drugs, and non prescription drugs.  Cold medicine for example contains antihistamines which create dry mouth.  Patients with dry mouth tend to always have some type of hard candy with them to alleviate their condition but this in return creates decay.  Chronic dry mouth patients will suck on a piece of candy for hours to keep their saliva flowing but this causes serious decay and a more rapid formation of cavities.

The other major cause for unhealthy and unattractive teeth is abrasions.  Abrasions occur with grinding of the teeth or by the chemicals in toothpaste.  The combination of toothpaste abuse and course brushing causes the enamel to be worn out causing erosion and dissolution of the tooth structure.  All mouths are different and have their own checklist of work that must be done to achieve the healthiest and most beautiful smile. 7 Day Dental provides the best oral care for you and your family.

The gums are another area of concern when bad breath is involved.  Healthy gums are not prone to bacteria or bad breath since they are maintained properly.  Unhealthy gums caused by bad oral hygiene cause a great portion of bacteria gather rotting the bone and gums causing periodontal disease.  This bad odor is immediately recognizable and treating periodontal disease is a fairly simple procedure which can be done at the dental office.  Professional cleanings performed at the dental office stop the disease from spreading and worsening.  Periodontal disease can also be caused by impacted wisdom teeth because the area between the gums and crown of the tooth is open and an overgrowth of anaerobic bacteria occurs causing infection of the gums.

The tongue is another major source of bad breath.  The tongue is composed of filliform papillae and these hair-like projections are healthy when they appear pink.  Papillae grow up to a specific length and then break off causing a shedding effect that happens mostly on the anterior part of the tongue due to constant movement and contact with teeth.  Filliform papillae are located towards the back of the tongue and tend to grow longer and do not break off as easily.  This area also gets stained by different foods and will retain the odors.  A solution for this is to use a tongue scraper in the morning and at night.  Tongue scraping really works and removes visible material which causes bad breath.  Using a tongue scraper and scraping vigorously will remove build up and bad odors.  Hydrogen peroxide solutions will also eliminate these odors after tongue scraping because the hydrogen peroxide liberates oxygen molecules in the mouth and will remove the chemical compounds responsible for bad breath. 

Bad breath is not a condition to disregard but one to pay immediate attention to since its effects can be dangerous to your health.  Periodontal disease has serious side effects since bacteria gets ingested and can lead to other serious problems associated with the lungs and stomach.  Regular dental cleanings and examinations at 7 Day Dental can help you achieve the best results.

Just like wax became my best friend, bleaching products have become the best friend of society. In this new era where society has place beauty as an important factor for success, bleaching your teeth has become more and more common. Because of the rapid growth in demand for products that could whitening your teeth, there has been many confusion on whether bleaching your teeth is really effective or not. Here, we will answer some common questions and provide you with extra helpful information. 

Does it really work?

Yes! For the last 100 year it has been done in one way or another and it has shown it self to be not only be effective but also safe.

What gets bleached during the process?

In order to answer this question it is important to understand the structure of the tooth. The natural tooth is made up of the enamel, the dentin and the nerve.  The enamel is the layer you can directly see, and its natural color is white, but it combines its color with the structures that lays underlie it. The dentin, which lies underneath the enamel, is made up of a yellow color but its structure is porous. Lastly, the nerve lies underneath the dentin and it can permeate causing it to darken to a brownish yellow as we get older. When we look at a tooth the color we see is a combination of the colors of the enamel with the dentin, which both at times could permanently stain as we get older. When bleaching, both the enamel and the dentin are the structures of the teeth that get whiten.

Is bleaching safe?

This is an important question because of the different rumors and myths that are going around that misinformed many people. In order to best answer this question I went to the source, and found that The American Dental Association had published the following statement a couple weeks ago (if you want to visit them go to www.ada.org):

“Dentist-prescribed, home-applied bleaching made by a reputable manufacturer and used under the supervision of a dentist in a relatively short-term treatment duration is safe and recognized as most effective in lightening the color of teeth. Bleaching materials that have received the ADA Seal of Acceptance are recommended. 

Mild thermal sensitivity [sensitivity to cold] is a common side effect associated with most in-office and dentist-prescribed home bleaching methods. However, no long term irreversible tissue effects have been demonstrated in relevant clinical studies.” 

Bleaching solutions do cause your teeth to become temporarily sensitive.  When a patient enters into a bleaching treatment, the solution use to bleach the teeth needs to penetrate through the enamel to reach the underlying dentin. This is the reason that the teeth become sensitive.  However, over the course of the years that these bleaching products have been used, the sensitivity goes away within a few days of terminating the bleaching treatments, and the nerves in the teeth suffer no permanent damage. 

Here are some of the most common products or methods that are used to bleach the teeth, not all of them have the same results and as explain previously the most effective one is the one prescribe by a dentist:

• Whitening toothpastes
• Bleach releasing disposable strips (Crest White strips)
• Professionally supervised take-home bleaching with custom made trays
• In-office bleaching (Power bleaching)

Schedule an appointment with our dentists at 7 Day Dental to see which type of bleaching is the right one for you.

Composite resin is a material composed of microscopic glass and porcelain particles embedded in acrylic matrix which are hardened by exposure to blue light.  The blue light causes the acrylic fluid to harden once the dentist has had time to shape the filling.  Composite fillings not only look natural and indistinguishable from the natural tooth but are stronger and provide better results especially when placed on large biting surfaces.

Overall composite fillings are the best restoration for conserving tooth structure and maintaining an appealing esthetic.  There is a remarkable difference between a mouth full of amalgam fillings and one with composite fillings as seen in the picture.  Many patients get amalgam fillings and later want to replace them with composite fillings but this becomes more expensive and intrusive.  There is a high risk when constantly replacing fillings because the nerve of the tooth can get damaged resulting in a root canal or extraction.  The best thing to do is to discuss with our doctor at 7 Day Dental which option would be best and which would allow the best possible restoration with minimal destruction of the natural tooth.

• A sore in the mouth that does not heal within three weeks
• A lump or thickening in the cheek
• White or red patches on the gums, tongue, or mouth lining
• Soreness or a feeling of something interfering in the throat
• Trouble swallowing and chewing
• Trouble moving the jaw or tongue
• Numbness within the mouth
• Swelling of the jaw

90% of oral cancers derive from squamous cell carcinoma and tend to occur on the floor of the mouth or undersurface of the tongue as seen in the picture to the right.  Some of the leading causes of oral cancer are tobacco use, alcohol, age, and HPV.  Use of tobacco and alcohol for extensive periods of time contributes significantly to the development of squamous cell carcinoma and these individuals are fifteen times more likely to develop oral cancer.  Tobacco is a carcinogen and it damages DNA first causing the growth of malignant cellular masses and alcohol will inhibit the body defenses from naturally fighting these malignancies.  Age is also a major factor which plays a role with the risks of oral cancer.  Individuals over the age of 40 have a less competent immune system and therefore will be less able to eliminate mutated cells.  HPV has also been found to increase the possibilities of obtaining oral cancer since it is contracted by oral sexual contact.

Oral cancer can be detected by performing ViziLite.  ViziLite causes squamous cell carcinoma lesions to fluoresce and helps the trained clinician to spot the lesions early and detect oral cancer.  As seen in the picture, this light illuminates lesions beyond the surface which would otherwise be undetected by the naked eye.  A doctor would clearly see the blue marks from the TBlue dye showing any oral cancer traces.  7 Day Dental offers ViziLite and it is a 5 min procedure that is painless and extremely effective.

• Rinse the brush well after each use to remove left over paste and debris.
• After rinsing the brush, tap it on the edge of the sink to remove excess water and leave it at a location to air dry.
• Always have color-coded brushes in order to avoid using a family members toothbrush. Select brushes with your favorite color or birthstone.
• Replace your brush every 2 to 3 months or when the bristles show wear.
• Always replace your brush after having a cold, flu or sore throat.

Schedule a visit at 7 Day Dental Anaheim-Lincoln office and get a complementary toothbrush at the end of your visit.