Last month we asked you to take a dental quiz. If you haven’t you can click here and take it real quick. It is only a 5 short answer quiz. Let’s see how well you did. In the comments section, let us know how many you got right!
Here are the answers:
1.) A. One visit. There are a lot of dental offices that will take two or three visits in order to place a crown. That is because they have to send the mold off to a lab to create the crown. However, we here at Ledbetter Family Dental Care have a CEREC machine that allows us to place dental crowns in just one visit. In total, you’re in the office for about 90 minutes to 2 hours, and you’ll leave with a natural-looking, permanent restoration. That’s a drastic improvement over spending several weeks wearing an ill-fitting temporary crown.
2.) B. False. Traditional metal brackets and wires are a great way to straighten teeth. They can achieve dramatic tooth movement. But they ARE NOT the only way to straighten teeth. Our practice uses a more subtle way to straighten teeth. Invisalign is an incredible tool that uses clear aligners to gradually straighten teeth. These aligners are virtually invisible and removable, allowing you to eat and clean the liners. During Invisalign, you’ll swap out your aligners about once every two weeks until your teeth reach a better position.
3.) D. All of the above. All of these methods can be used to replace missing teeth. However, some dental offices don’t offer all of those services. We highly recommend dental implants if you need to replace any missing teeth. Dental implants can be used to replace single missing teeth or entire arches of missing teeth.
4.) B. False. You hear us dentists speak about tooth decay often, but it’s not the leading cause of tooth loss. Periodontal disease, also known as gum disease, is the leading cause of tooth loss. Gum disease occurs when an infection is present in the gums. When that infection is not addressed, it can spread throughout the mouth and even make its way to the bone. The infection can then compromise the bone and cause the tooth to become loose or fail.
5.) A. True. Jaw pains and headaches can be caused by a problem with the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). Our office can provide mouthguards that will help ease the tension caused by TMJ. TMJ can cause grinding and clenching which can wear down your teeth. Mouthguards help prevent that from happening. Most patients report seeing their symptoms relieve a few nights after they begin wearing the device.
We hope you had some fun taking this quiz and hopefully learned something new! We love making our patients smile. Education is the best way to help you maintain a healthier, more beautiful smile. It’s time to schedule a visit.