| Visit Our Site | Appointments | Subscribe | Unsubscribe | February 2012 |
We invite you to read our latest SmileLink Newsletter and to check out our website often for new information, or contact our office with any questions or concerns. Working together, we can help you achieve a lifetime of healthy and attractive teeth and a beautiful smile.
scroll down to read our newest articles
Check us out on Facebook at facebook.smilestpete.com
Office Updates:
DentalVibe is the only product that uses VibraPulse™ technology to stop the pain of anesthetic injections anywhere in the mouth! When we saw how it can reduce or eliminate injection pain we knew we had to try it for our patients' comfort. We are one of the few offices in our area with this new system.
We have tested it on patients who have told us they hate the injection part,and all say they did not or hardly felt the injection and want it used again next time. If you've been delaying needed dental treatment because of injection fear, let us help you with this new advance in comfortable dental care.
Dr. Bloom is now offering dental implants to his patients for replacement of missing teeth and stabilization of loose dentures for select cases. If you would like more info on this or a complimentary consultation to see if this is something that would benefit you, please call us at 727-384-4151.
We believe that everyone deserves a great smile. That is why we offer many different kinds of teeth whitening. Our patients though have been really excited about our
Whitening Rewards Program
How would you like to get free whitening gel at your dental cleanings?
Whitening Rewards is available for a one time enrollment fee of just $119
(or only $29 for patients who have already started whitening in our office - wow!).
After you enroll in this program, you will receive customized whitening trays and whitening gel. When you return for your recommended cleaning visits, you will receive whitening gel absolutely FREE.
Featured Article |
SmileLink Articles |
At awards shows, a seat filler temporarily fills an empty seat vacated by an award winner or presenter. The seat filler is needed to keep the auditorium looking good on television. In this same way, your mouth may sometimes need a ‘seat filler’ to continue to look good until a permanent solution is available. Enter the temporary crown.
This temporary crown is necessary because before a permanent crown can be seated, the original tooth must be reshaped into a smaller size. To protect your reshaped tooth while waiting for the new crown to be seated, we use a temporary crown. This temporary crown protects the newly reshaped tooth, withstands chewing force and keeps your other teeth from tipping.
read more >
Oral piercings may be a popular way to make a fashion statement but your teeth may not appreciate it. Tongue and lip piercings can lead to serious problems with your teeth, gums and overall health.
Some health related problems with mouth hardware include:
Chipped Teeth – Contact between the metal hardware and your teeth will begin to weaken and eventually chip and wear down your teeth, especially the front teeth.
Gum Disease – In addition to wearing and weakening your teeth, tongue hardware will begin to erode your gum tissue making way for periodontitis and loose teeth.
Infections – The open and continuous wounding of your tongue and gums provide a breeding ground for infections.
Damage to Existing Dental Work – The same wear and tear that chips your natural teeth can also damage your fillings and crowns.
Hypersensitivity to Metals – This form of contact dermatitis can make it difficult for you to have future dental procedures and other surgical procedures that require contact with metals.
Disease Susceptibility – Having an open wound in your mouth can make you more susceptible to blood-borne diseases like Hepatitis.
Scar Tissue – Development of scar tissue can interfere with eating, swallowing and even breathing.
read more >
Very few people have naturally perfect smiles. The rest of us need a little help. If your smile complaints are minor but bothersome, a technique called bonding could be just what you need to polish that smile.
Bonding uses a strong color-matched material made from silicon and resin that can be used to restore or enhance imperfect teeth. Unlike a major restoration like a crown, bonding is best for small imperfections such as gaps, chips, spots and cracks.
To prepare the tooth for bonding, we must roughen the surface so that the adhesive can get a good grip and then, add a conditioning agent. We apply the bonding material one layer at a time and use a special light to harden each layer. Once the resin is the correct thickness, we sculpt the material to the shape we need. The final step is to buff and polish the tooth.
read more >
Have you ever had ‘cotton mouth’? Everyone occasionally has a dry, sticky feeling in their mouth because of heat or a reaction to food but when your mouth is chronically dry, it’s a serious problem. When you notice a dry mouth, it’s a condition called xerostomia (zero-stow-me-uh) and may be only noticeable after you’ve lost about 60% of your saliva.
Xerostomia refers to a sensation of a dry mouth and can be caused by many different factors including over 400 different medications. A constantly dry mouth isn’t just annoying but makes it difficult to speak, chew and swallow foods and prevents you from maintaining proper nutrition.
Without that protective saliva, your mouth becomes a bacteria playground. If left untreated, xerostomia can result in tooth decay and gum disease, painful oral ulcers or a rampant yeast infection.
read more >
Just as you can’t judge a book by its cover, you can’t judge the health of your roots by the appearance of your teeth. Unbeknownst to you, your roots could be silently, painlessly dissolving under the gum surface. This process is called root resorption.
You may not realize it but you’ve experienced this already once in your development. Root resorption is the process by which the roots of ‘baby’ teeth ‘melt away,’ allowing the tooth to easily fall out. Unfortunately, external and internal pressure on the secondary root system can trigger root resorption in your ‘permanent’ teeth.
There are two kinds of root resorption.
read more >
If you are heading into the hospital to have a procedure done, its important to plan ahead. When you are compiling that necessary to-do list before your hospital stay, don’t forget about having a dental exam.
Before any surgery, your dental health is as important as any other aspect of your overall health. While most people have healthy mouths that won’t have an unknown infection lingering, studies show that an unchecked oral infection can derail your surgery and affect other parts of your body. While your body struggles to heal from your procedure, that oral bacteria can enter your bloodstream and travel to your heart, artificial joint, lungs or even your brain.
Bacteria in your heart could cause a grave condition called infective endocarditis. This is an inflammation of the lining of the heart. Besides being a dangerous heart condition, it’s possible for a mass of the infected lining to dislodge and travel to your brain, causing a stroke.
Oral bacteria can also be inhaled into your lungs, setting up conditions for a nasty bout of hospital acquired pneumonia adding days and dollars to your stay. Patients who have periodontitis are nearly four times as likely to develop pneumonia after surgery.
In extreme cases, a periodontally involved tooth could be dislodged by a breathing tube during surgery and swallowed. This is more likely in the event of major existing periodontal disease.
Before you schedule an upcoming sur...