Author: Familydentalcare_aDMeeN

What Is Cleft Palate Repair?

Cleft lip and palate repair in Oak Lawn is an orofacial surgical procedure for repairing splits or openings in the upper lip and the roof of the mouth palate. For several patients, the surgery involves repairing both the upper lip and the roof of the mouth. A cleft lip and cleft palate are birth defects that occur in many babies, usually as isolated conditions. However, cleft lips and palates are associated with inherited genetic syndromes in some situations.

Cleft palate and lip repairs are typically done on babies, usually within the first 12 to 18 months of life. The reason is that a surgeon can achieve optimal results with minimal scarring on the face. The earlier the surgery, the better the results. Besides, cleft lips and palates create many functional problems, including eating and breastfeeding difficulties.

Diagnosing Cleft Lip and Palate

It is relatively easy to identify orofacial challenges that your child may have after birth. However, it is possible to diagnose orofacial clefts during pregnancy. Routine ultrasound is especially useful for diagnosing cleft lips. However, some orofacial clefts can only be diagnosed later in life, including submucous cleft palate and bifid uvula.

What Causes Orofacial Clefts?

Medical experts are still curious to find the underlying causes of orofacial clefts, just like you are as a parent. Until now, it is still unclear how the defect occurs in babies. However, since cleft lips and palates are birth defects, medical experts and researchers have identified multiple reasons that could increase the risk of the condition. Some of the factors are:

1. Genetics – inherited conditions and syndromes can increase the likelihood of cleft lips and palates.
2. Smoking – women who frequently smoke, particularly during pregnancy, have an increased probability of birthing babies with cleft lips and palates.
3. Underlying health problems – if you are using medication to treat epilepsy during pregnancy, especially during the first trimester, your child may be born with this birth effect.

Why Do You Need Cleft Palate and Lips Surgery?

Repairing a cleft lip and palate is not merely a cosmetic procedure and should not be considered an elective treatment. Instead, patients need corrective surgery for the following reasons:

1. To improve speech
2. To improve breathing
3. To ease feeding – both breastfeeding and eating
4. To aid language development
5. To improve hearing

Aside from orofacial surgery, our oral surgeons at Family Dental Care – Oak Lawn may recommend additional treatments and therapies to promote general body wellness and development. Some of them include:

1. Speech therapy
2. Orthodontic dental care
3. Ear treatment – to manage infections and improve hearing abilities.
4. Psychology and therapy

How Many Surgeries Does It Take to Fix a Cleft Palate?

While as a parent, you would like for the problem to be done in just one procedure, it often takes a series of surgeries to restore a normal-looking appearance and functionality. After a few procedures when young, your child may still require another surgery when they get older.

Technically, the surgical treatment for cleft lip or palate will vary from one person to another. Some factors that may affect the treatment plan include age and the severity of the cleft. Besides, if your child has other birth problems, more surgeries may be necessary to rectify them.

What Happens After Cleft Palate Repair?

The period of surgeries to repair the problems may be a little overwhelming for both children and parents. You will need to make several adjustments to support the healing and recovery of your child in between surgeries. This may include changing up the feeding strategies or getting hearing aids, among other things. Things should get better after the surgeries.

After a series of surgery, you should have a relatively normal appearance. Your mouth and nose should function much better than before the surgery. However, you may need to work on building up your self-esteem. Children might need psychological care to help them maneuver the differences they identify between other kids and themselves.

Aside from that, many patients of successful orofacial cleft surgeries do well in life, leading normal, healthy, and happy lives like everyone else.

What Is Rhinoplasty?

It is a cosmetic nasal surgery that improves the appearance of your nose. The surgery concerns contouring and reshaping the nose to adopt a desirable appearance, usually one that accentuates the rest of your facial features. It means that such a procedure can increase or reduce the size of your nose accordingly, to improve its appearance. However, it does not mean that rhinoplasty focuses solely on the aesthetics of your nose.

Instead, the surgeon should only improve the appearance of your nose relative to its optimal functionality. In that way, even patients who have needs other than aesthetics can benefit from rhinoplasty. For instance, you can base your surgical goals on improving your breathing while elevating your facial appearance.

How Do Surgeons Perform Maxillofacial Surgery?

Maxillofacial surgeons are specialists in handling various injuries and conditions concerning the neck, mouth, jaw, head, and face. It means that they can handle plenty of issues in your facial alignment and overall appearance. Their area of expertise is not only on treating or correcting underlying problems but also on performing cosmetic modifications. Some of the maxillofacial surgeries that surgeons perform are:

1. Implantation surgeries – to install dental implants in the jawbone.
2. Wisdom tooth removal – particularly impacted wisdom teeth that remain stuck underneath the gums.
3. Oral reconstructive surgery – to improve multiple oral features in your smile.
4. Oral cancer – maxillofacial surgeons can treat oral cancers and cancers of the head and neck.
5. Cleft lip and palate surgeries – for both cosmetic and health benefits.
6. Jaw deformities and dysfunctions – including broken jaws, chronic temporomandibular joint pain (TMJ), misaligned jaws, dislocated discs, to mention a few. The surgeons can also shave jaws to create desired aesthetic appeal.

Maxillofacial surgeons can handle many problems regarding your facial framework. The problems can occur due to injuries and traumas or be consequences of developmental deformities.

Can Maxillofacial Surgeons Perform Rhinoplasty?

Yes! As long as they are board-certified and experienced in nose contouring, oral and maxillofacial surgeons in Munster can perform rhinoplasty. During the last two decades of the 21st century, oral and maxillofacial surgeons have incorporated aesthetic nasal surgery into their treatment protocols. It means that other than concerns of your oral cavity, an oral surgeon at Family Dental Care – Munster can perform a rhinoplasty to improve the appearance of your nose.

Rhinoplasty Procedure

The procedure for modifying your nose will follow the treatment plan that your surgeon develops to suit your needs and preferences. The steps of the procedure involve:

1. Sedation and numbing – it will depend on the length of the procedure and the complexity of the problem. Your surgeon will either place you under general anesthesia or administer local anesthesia and a different type of sedation. The goal is to keep you calm and relaxed throughout your treatment.
2. A cosmetic incision – is a small cut at the base of your nose, in between your nostrils. The cut will allow the surgeon to access the bone and cartilage of your nose, adjusting them accordingly. Based on your desired goals, the present cartilage may be enough for your procedure or not. If not, the surgeon will use donor cartilage from a different source. Sometimes implants may be necessary, particularly after accidents that cause significant bone and cartilage damage.
3. Repositioning the skin tissue – after all the necessary modifications, the surgeon completes the procedure by positioning the skin tissue flap back in its place. Stitching is usually necessary to hold the tissue in place.

Recovering After Rhinoplasty

The surgery may take a toll on your physical health if you do not follow the guidelines that your surgeon stipulates for recovery. You will need to keep taking your medication to help manage your pain and swelling during your recovery period. Other tips to speed up and ease your healing are:

1. Keep your head elevated even when sleeping.
2. Change the gauze accordingly to prevent infection on the surgical site.
3. Avoid strenuous facial activity – including blowing your nose with intense facial expressions.
4. Be gentle when brushing your teeth – to avoid upper-lip movement as much as possible.

Use sunscreen – with SPF 30, which will help prevent discoloration on your nose.

A dental biopsy is a procedure that involves removing a small portion of your mouth’s soft tissue for examination. Dental biopsies usually focus only on the soft tissues of your oral cavity. It means that the kind of tissues that your dentist can target are your gums or your tongue. A tongue biopsy involves taking sample tissue from your tongue, while a gum biopsy obtains the tissue from your gums.

Why Would You Need a Dental Biopsy?

The reason our dentists at Family Dental Care – Evergreen Park would recommend a dental biopsy near you is to test for abnormalities in your soft tissues. Ideally, it means that the test will be a biopsy of mouth ulcers, lesions, or other anomalies in your tongue and gums. Some causes for dental biopsy are:

1. A mouth sore or lesion on your gums that lasts for a long time without healing.
2. A red or white patch on your gums or tongue.
3. Swelling, redness, or pain of your mouth’s soft tissues.
4. Having loose teeth is an indicator that the gums are changing or receding.
5. Tongue or gum ulcers.

All the above factors are indicators that may point to oral cancer. However, your dentist cannot come to such a conclusion until after several tests. Other than a biopsy, a dental expert will typically run other tests like MRI or CT scans to determine the progression of cancer, revealing the stage of your existing cancer.

Preparing for a Dental Biopsy

It is best to prepare accordingly before any treatment in dentistry. However, regarding dental biopsies, not much preparation is necessary. You only need to inform your dentist of any medication you use before your biopsy. The reason is that some components in certain medications can influence the test. Besides, if you are taking blood thinners, let your dentist know since the medicine can affect the blood clotting process, which is necessary for healing the soft tissues.

The other consideration to prepare you for your treatment is eating. You cannot eat close to the time of your biopsy. You may need a few more hours between your last meal and your mouth biopsy appointment.

What to Expect During Your Biopsy

The first thing you should know is that the test is commonly performed by either an oral surgeon or a periodontist. However, a dentist too can do a dental biopsy. After sterilizing the target area, your dentist with numb your mouth. Sedation dentistry is often part of mouth biopsies, particularly tongue biopsies.

Before taking out any soft tissue from your mouth, the dentist will consider the state of the operation area. For example, general anesthesia will work better than oral sedation with a hard tumor or lesion on your tongue or gums. It will cast you in a deep sleep during the procedure. The same may apply if the target area is hard to reach and may require much moving around.

Is the Procedure Painful?

During a dental biopsy, you will experience pain because of the surgical measures therein. Depending on the type of biopsy, the dentist may either make a small incision on your soft tissue or insert a fine needle through the lesion repeatedly to obtain the tissues. Either way, the procedure will cause significant discomfort. Besides that, the dentist may stitch the wound to close the open area in your tongue or gums. If not, (s)he will use an electric current or laser to stop the bleeding by sealing the blood vessels.

Thankfully, local anesthesia numbs your mouth so that you will not feel any pain during the procedure. Once your oral surgeon numbs your mouth, all you need is to sit still until the procedure is complete.

Treatment Options Available for Dental Biopsy

Treatment varies widely, depending on the results of the test. The treatment will differ from a bacterial or fungal infection if the tissue is cancerous. The treatment options include:

• Mouth rinses
• Antibiotics
• Lifestyle changes – including quitting habits like smoking or drinking alcohol.
• Tongue scrapers to clean the tongue
• Anti-inflammatory medication
• Pain relievers
• Oral anti-fungal medication
• Warm salt water rinses
• Avoiding spicy and acidic foods

Migraines and headaches are often used interchangeably, even though they do not mean the same thing. Migraines are specific headaches that occur on one side of the head, featuring persistent and throbbing pains.

These headaches can be persistent and often manifest other symptoms like nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and lightheadedness. Understanding the underlying cause of your headache may help your doctor correctly diagnose the type of headache you have.

Typical Causes of Migraines and Headaches

Headaches can occur due to a myriad of reasons, including but not limited to:

1. Dental pain – is nothing new for us at Family Dental Care – Crestwood when many of our patients report having headaches due to oral-related problems. A dysfunctional or problematic jaw, for instance, is enough reason to trigger a migraine. The same applies to toothaches and dental cavities.
2. Drinks – if you always take your coffee in the morning, your body may resist the lack of caffeine. Ideally, missing your cup of coffee can cause a headache. The same applies to other drinks like alcohol and wine if you are a frequent consumer.
3. Sensory stimuli – includes visual or hearing stimuli. For instance, strong and bright light or loud noises may trigger a migraine.
4. Viral infections – for example, if you have a cold or the flu, a headache may be one of the symptoms you experience.
5. Foods – the foods you eat may directly or indirectly affect your health. Eating salty foods or old cheese may trigger headaches. Besides that, skipping meals may also lead to headaches.

Common Reasons for Migraines in Females?

Women have headaches more frequently than not for varying reasons. The common causes of migraines for females are:

1. Hormonal imbalance – during pregnancy, menstrual periods, or menopause, women experience significant hormonal imbalances that may influence their overall general health. Such imbalances feature fluctuations in estrogen, which lead to symptoms like persistent headaches and migraines.
2. Hormonal medication – other than natural factors that cause hormonal changes, medication can alter the hormonal structure in your body. Women that take hormonal contraceptives, whether pills or injections, have a higher likelihood of suffering migraines than not.
3. Stress and anxiety – females under a lot of stress at work or home can also suffer migraine headaches.
4. Poor sleeping patterns – females, especially first-time mothers, hardly get adequate sleep. Poor sleeping patterns significantly affect health and may cause headaches.
5. Physical activity – intense physical movements may trigger headaches. Working too hard or even having intense sexual activity can trigger migraines.

How Family Dental Care Can Help in Migraine Treatment

Although a dentist may not be the first person who comes to mind when treating migraines, you would be shocked at how helpful they are. Dentists can treat the underlying oral-related issues that cause your headaches. Some of those dental problems include:

1. Bruxism – is excessive teeth grinding and clenching that places unnecessary pressure on the facial muscles.
2. Temporomandibular joint disorder – is commonly known as TMD. The disorder features a dysfunctional jaw, and a problematic joint, that connects the jaw to the skull.
3. Dental cavity – having a diseased tooth will cause a severe toothache but also cause a headache.

How to Deal with Migraines Attack?

Migraine treatment in Crestwood takes various forms, depending on the underlying cause. As mentioned above, if your migraine is due to dental-related issues, a dentist would be best placed at treating you. However, other ways for migraine treatment for females include the following:

1. Pain- relieving medications like aspirin or ibuprofen – to manage pain during the migraine attack.
2. Antidepressants – to manage stress and anxiety that may leave you feeling depressed.
3. Combined contraceptives – contain both estrogen and progesterone, creating a balance in your hormonal composition.
4. Estrogen supplementation – are especially useful after ovulation to prevent a significant decline in estrogen levels resulting in migraine attacks.
5. Eat healthily – the foods you eat will impact your health in many ways. Include more vegetables and fruits in your daily meals for the needed balance.
6. Lifestyle changes – habits like smoking or drinking alcohol will tamper with your brain chemistry. Put limits on what you regularly consume to avoid suffering withdrawal symptoms like headaches.

Onlays and inlays are types of indirect dental restorations that help repair damaged teeth. They are manufactured as single solid pieces that fit perfectly into the allocated space on a tooth.

An inlay is quite similar to a dental filling, only that it fills in a tooth as a single solid piece, covering more tooth structure than a dental filling. An inlay typically covers the inside pits and depressions of a tooth but not the cusps thereof.

Conversely, onlays are similar to dental crowns. The only difference is that onlays cover less tooth structure than dental crowns. In this way, onlays are popularly known as partial crowns. Their coverage is only the top parts of a tooth, including the cusps, while a tooth crown encapsulates the entire tooth.

What Is the Procedure for Getting Inlays and Onlays?

The process of getting inlays and onlays is a lot similar to the process of getting dental crowns, particularly because they feature the same materials. The porcelain material needs shaping and molding to create a dental appliance that fits perfectly in your tooth.

The initial step involves preparing your tooth. The dentist will shave off part of your tooth enamel, removing any damaged parts. Afterward, the dentist will take impressions of the tooth and use them to create your onlay or inlay. It may take some time for your piece to be ready, and sometimes your dentist will place a temporary crown over the tooth as you wait.

The installation process is easy and fast because it only requires hardening the dental cement after the onlay or inlay is in place.

The Conditions When You Need Inlay and Onlay Treatments

Inlays and onlays in dentistry are often alternatives to other oral appliances. Ideally, dentists will employ inlays and onlays instead of dental crowns and dental fillings when there is a need.

Inlays are used in place of dental fillings, usually when the filling material needed is too big. It means that the dental filling would require extra reinforcement to hold it in place, so it does not compromise the tooth structure. Instead of all the hassle, the dentist will deliberate using an inlay.

On the other hand, onlays are used instead of dental crowns, usually when the restorative work required is not big enough to necessitate a dental crown. Ideally, it means that you need big tooth restoration, more than a dental filling or inlay can cover, but not large enough to get a dental crown. With that, some of the issues that onlays and inlays can correct include the following:

• Dental caries and tooth decay
• Broken teeth
• Hypersensitive teeth
• Damaged tooth structures

Should You Opt for Inlays and Onlays?

Ultimately, it is the responsibility of our dental team at Family Dental Care – Chicago to inform you whether you need Inlays and onlays procedures. Dentists will run you through the various oral appliances while explaining why you need onlays and inlays. It does not mean that inlays and onlays are superior to dental crowns and dental fillings. Instead, a dentist will use them when (s)he considers them better for restoring your teeth than their counterparts.

Benefits of Onlays and Inlays

Some of the following factors help patients validate the decision of Getting Inlays and onlays:

• Sturdy material – porcelain is a reliable material in dentistry that can restore your teeth without fear of damage.
• Durability – onlays, and inlays can typically last between 10 and 25 Years if you care for them properly.
• Preserving more tooth structure – getting dental crowns dictates removing much of your tooth enamel to make room for the tooth cap. Lesser enamel needs to be removed when installing inlays and onlays.
• Added restoration options to choose from – onlays and inlays are other alternatives for repairing and restoring your teeth. They prove useful for cases where dental fillings and oral crowns do not gratify your desires.
• Relatively affordable – compared to getting a dental crown, you will find that onlays are more affordable because they do not cover an entire tooth.

One of the ways to improve the appearance of your smile is to work on the shapes of teeth. While other factors like discoloration and spacing matter, the shapes of your different teeth affect the overall appearance of your smile. Besides, teeth naturally have different shapes to accomplish various functions, ranging from cutting and biting to tearing and breaking down. Fortunately, dental experts haven’t yet run out of ideas for improving your smile’s aesthetic, even regarding the shapes.

What Are Teeth Reshaping and Contouring?

They are dental procedures for improving the appearance of smiles by adjusting the shapes of teeth. Ideally, every type of tooth in the human mouth has a standard shape so that an incisor does not look the same as a canine tooth.

Due to various factors, you may have oddly shaped teeth, having some too pointy, too rounded off, crooked, or simply chipped and broken. All these issues need correction through teeth contouring and reshaping in Chicago.

When Do You Need Teeth Reshaping?

Anyone can benefit from teeth contouring treatments in dentistry. However, they are considered cosmetic procedures. It means that children will need consent from their parents before undergoing such treatment protocols. Some of the reasons you will need teeth reshaping treatment in dentistry are:

1. Chipped, cracked, or broken teeth – typically following dental trauma and injuries.
2. Crooked teeth – when teeth grow toward the wring direction, which may also cause overlapping.
3. Oddly shaped teeth – can result from either developmental deformities or dental injuries. You can have teeth that are too pointy, rounded or boxed off.
4. Unusually short teeth – may be a developmental problem or due to genetics. However, many patients with unusually short teeth suffer from excessive teeth grinding, also called bruxism, which causes uneven edges, enamel thinning, and erosion.

Understanding The Tooth Contouring And Reshaping Process

The process of changing the shape of your teeth can take many forms. Sometimes, your dentist in Calumet City will send you to an orthodontic dental office to receive braces. Braces are dental aligners that help correct the alignment of teeth, especially regarding crookedness.

The process of shaping teeth using braces takes long, so you may need to wear them for at least six months. The reason is that braces work gradually to shift and rotate teeth. The process relies on the breakdown and disintegration of bone tissue to forfeit the initial location of teeth and adopt a new one. The entire process takes time, with some lasting as long as 24 months before you can realize your desired results. Fortunately, there are different approaches for reshaping and contouring teeth in dentistry.

Is Teeth Shaping Possible Without Braces?

Technically, braces work best for improving teeth alignment by shifting the angles that teeth adopt when in the jawbone. However, teeth reshaping and contouring involve more than that. Dentists have to address the structural issues of your teeth to achieve your desired dental goals. Therefore, teeth contouring is sometimes particular to teeth in your mouth that need reshaping. Many of our patients at Family Dental Care – Calumet City prefer to reshape only the front teeth, which are the most visible when you smile.

Teeth contouring can involve two main processes, i.e., composite bonding and porcelain veneers. Both these materials can improve the shapes of your teeth drastically. Composite bonding involves applying a composite resin to your affected teeth, shaping them accordingly, then hardening them to restore the structure of your teeth.

On the other hand, installing porcelain veneers involves preparing your natural teeth by trimming the tooth enamel. Later, the dentists will prepare a shell-like, tooth-shaped material, then fit it to the front surfaces of your teeth to reshape them accordingly.

Is Teeth Reshaping and Contouring Painful?

Generally, you should not feel any pain during teeth contouring processes. However, you may experience some sensitivity, especially in the case of dental veneers. It is why your dentist will numb your mouth before beginning the enamel preparation process.

After your treatment, you will not be in any pain. You may anticipate a little tooth sensitivity as an effect of the dental works, but it should wear off in just a few days.

Sleep apnea is a disorder that occurs due to complete or partial blockage of the airway as you sleep. During sleep, the soft tissue in the back of the throat relaxes and blocks the airway. Therefore it causes you to snore and gasp for breath. When this happens, the brain wakes you up to restart your breathing.

The disorder prevents you from resting well and affects your health and productivity. Therefore, you should contact a dentist’s office near you if you think you may have sleep apnea. The main treatment for sleep apnea is a device known as Continuous Positive Airway Pressure. This device contains a mask worn over your nose or mouth and pushes air via the nose and mouth.

The Continuous Positive Airway Pressure or CPAP device is quite effective as it keeps the airway from collapsing during sleep. However, many people avoid or discontinue using it since they find it uncomfortable. However, if you are one of them, do not despair. You can still have sleep apnea treatment without CPAP. Continue reading for more information on the treatments.

4 Alternative Sleep Apnea Treatment Options

1. Positional sleep apnea treatment

In some cases, the sleeping position may impact a person’s ability to breathe, leading to sleep apnea. For instance, when you lie on your back or supine position, the tongue, lower jaw, palate, and uvula tissues block your airway. As a result, your breathing and sleep are disrupted.

Treatment begins after a sleep study. First, the specialist will assess your potential risk of having positional sleep apnea during the study. They will then recommend therapies to help you keep off your back when sleeping. Positional therapy involves wearing special devices that force you to sleep on your side instead of your back. They alert you to change position whenever you lie on your back.

2. Undergoing a weight management program

Overweight people are at a high risk of obstructive sleep apnea. This is because the fat around their neck and throat may restrict airflow during sleep leading to sleep apnea. Losing weight can help alleviate sleep apnea symptoms and even cure the condition.

The doctor will help you lose some weight through the right combination of exercise techniques and dietary changes. In addition, the specialist may perform bariatric surgery to aid weight loss in extreme cases.

3. Surgery for sleep apnea

Oral surgery is another sleep apnea treatment without CPAP. It is recommended for people who have trouble breathing when asleep due to extra tissue in their throat or big tonsils. The procedure at a dentist’s office may also involve the tongue, uvula, soft palate, and jaw. Surgery for sleep apnea changes the patient’s anatomy that helps them to breathe well.

4. Consider changing some of your everyday habits.

Changing some lifestyle habits goes a long way in treating sleep apnea. For instance, smokers can quit the habit since it increases airway swelling resulting in OSA. Alcohol relaxes the upper airway muscles making it harder to breathe. Avoiding alcohol before bed will help. Ensure that the nasal passages are not clogged up by taking antihistamines or a nasal decongestant.

How to Make CPAPs More Comfortable

If you prefer the CPAP device over these other treatment methods, there are ways to make it comfortable. They include:

• If your mask is uncomfortable to wear, ask a specialist to help you adjust it so that it fits properly. You can change the mask to a different one that is suitable for you.
• Some people have an allergic reaction to their CPAP masks. You should clean the mask more often and switch it to a latex-free one if you do.
• Others have a dry mouth after wearing the mask. It may be due to sleeping with your mouth open or breathing through the mouth. Adjusting the heated humidifier or getting a chin strap for use at night will help.

How to Get CPAP Alternative

Relief from sleep apnea can come in many ways, not only the CPAP device. If the machine does not work for you, contact us at Family Dental Care for alternative treatment. Our team will work closely with you to help you correct your sleep routine. We will also ensure that you lead a healthy, productive life.