Preventative Dentist – Acton, MA

Here is what you can expect from your comprehensive dental exam with Dr. Tufa:

• A discussion about your health, dental history, diet, medications, oral hygiene habits as well as any dental concerns and long-term oral health goals.
• A full mouth digital X-rays will be taken to help us detect dental issues (tooth decay, bone loss, hidden cavities) not visible with a visual exam.
• Intraoral and extraoral photoshoot. We will take high quality photos of the inside of your mouth to help us examine hidden problems in the mouth and teeth like detecting hidden cavities or cracks. The extraoral photos are taken to set a baseline for present state and to document use them as your educational tool.
• Wellness digital scan using our state-of-the-art iTero digital scanner where you can see simulations in real-time and time-laps comparisons.
• Extraoral exam to evaluate your jaw joints, muscles, gland and nodes
• Soft tissue exam to screen for signs of oral cancer or other lesions and conditions that may be a symptom of a systemic condition
• Evaluation of your bite and jaw to check how well your teeth fit together.
• Assessment of wear patterns and bruxing habits as well as acid erosion.
• Evaluation of airway and sleep disordered breathing to help detect sleep apnea
• Examination of the gum tissues including recession, bleeding, tooth mobility, measuring and charting pocket depths to screen for gum disease and other signs of periodontal problems.
• Examination of your teeth for any signs of tooth decay, craze lines and cracks, quality of existing restorations
• Upon completion of the exam, Dr. Tufa will share her observations and findings with you and give you a tour of your mouth using the intraoral photos and x-rays that were taken previously and other educational tools and videos.

Digital Dental x-rays or radiographs are an essential part of good patient care. They are taken because we can see only one third of the teeth in the mouth so they help us visualize what we cannot see with the clinical exam.  An X-ray may reveal:

• areas of decay between the teeth or recurrent decay under existing fillings;
• infections in the bone;
• gum disease;
• abscesses or cysts;
• developmental abnormalities;
• some types of tumors;

In addition, many dental diseases and conditions are asymptomatic until advanced and radiographs help us with early intervention in those situations.

What you put in your mouth impacts not only your general health but also the health of your teeth and gums.

During your visit, we will discuss foods and drinks that increase your risk for cavities and what changes you can make to lower your risk. We will also discuss systemic or local medical conditions you may have, such as gastrointestinal reflux, eating disorders, dry mouth, radiation treatments, etc. which can increase risk of cavities and bone loss.

Tooth wear is a common problem that occurs in patients who experience parafunctional habits such as bruxing. Bruxing is the dynamic, repeated grinding of teeth against teeth that causes wear facets, loss of tooth height and thickness, cracked teeth or restorations, loose teeth, un-cemented restorations, muscle spasms and tenderness upon awakening, limited opening, clicking and popping in the jaw joint, etc.

Clenching is another non-functional habit that generates constant, static force on the teeth without any lateral movement. Clenching and grinding are usually subconscious and occur mostly at night, but can sometimes happen during the day. Only a small fraction of patients are aware of their nighttime parafunctional habits, because symptoms of jaw pain and discomfort appear in less than 10% of patients.

There are preventative and corrective measures that can be taken to minimize the effects of grinding and wear. Mouth guards (aka nightguards, occlusal guards, bite splints) are custom fitted appliances, worn at night that take the shock out of this parafunctional habit and protect the teeth and supporting structures from the excessive forces generated during grinding. Parafunctional habits can generate forces of up to 1000 psi; as a comparison, the average force measured in the 1st molar region of dentate person is 150-250 psi, and in an edentulous patient wearing complete dentures about 50 psi. In addition, mouth guards improve jaw and bite alignment, thus relaxing the musculature and deceasing any TMJ related symptoms.

When tooth wear is excessive, and tooth structure is compromised, corrective measures may be indicated in addition to a mouth guard. These may include teeth bonding, full coverage restorations such as veneers or tooth caps, crown lengthening surgery, root canal treatment, and/or realignment of the teeth with orthodontics.