When patients talk about trying to save a tooth naturally, they can mean several different things. Some want to avoid drilling an early cavity. Others hope to preserve the living pulp inside a deeply decayed tooth. Some are looking for ways to strengthen weakened enamel, while others have been told they need a root canal…
Being told that you need a root canal can make it feel as though the treatment decision has already been made. In many cases, root canal therapy is an appropriate way to treat an inflamed or infected pulp while preserving the natural tooth. However, it is still reasonable to understand exactly why the procedure has…
When a child is diagnosed with a cavity, parents often expect the next step to be a filling. In many cases, a restoration is the right treatment. But before any drilling begins, there are several important questions a dentist should consider. A cavity is not simply a hole that needs to be filled. It is…
When a dentist finds a cavity in a child’s tooth, parents often assume that drilling and filling the tooth must be the next step. Sometimes that is exactly what the tooth needs. However, dental decay is a process, and not every area of decay has reached the same stage. A very early area of mineral…
Being told that you may need a root canal can feel like a major dental decision. For some teeth, root canal therapy is an appropriate way to remove diseased or infected pulp tissue while preserving the natural tooth. In other situations, however, there may be more than one reasonable treatment path. At the Institute of…
When a tooth has deep decay, significant inflammation, trauma, or infection, root canal therapy may be recommended as a way to remove diseased pulp tissue while preserving the natural tooth. For many patients, this is an appropriate and effective treatment. Other patients want to understand whether there are alternatives before proceeding. They may be interested…
Patients sometimes seek holistic dental care because an old extraction site, wisdom tooth area, or section of the jaw has never felt completely normal. There may be tenderness, pressure, unusual sensitivity, or simply a concern that the area did not heal as expected. At the Institute of Systemic Dentistry in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, we…
Finding out that you have a cavity may sound straightforward. The dentist sees decay, removes it, and places a filling. However, determining the right treatment for a newly discovered area of decay should involve more than simply identifying a dark spot on an X-ray or an area that looks suspicious during an examination. Not every…
When a tooth is painful, deeply decayed, cracked, or showing signs of infection, patients are sometimes told that they need root canal therapy. In many situations, root canal treatment can be an effective way to preserve a natural tooth. However, recommending the procedure should begin with a careful diagnosis rather than simply responding to pain…
When a tooth becomes painful, deeply decayed, or infected, treatment often seems to come down to one immediate goal: eliminate the infection. That is certainly important, but good dentistry also asks another question. How much of the natural tooth can still be preserved safely? At the Institute of Systemic Dentistry in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey,…