Dental Emergencies

I cannot possibly talk about all possible dental emergencies, However with Halloween being here I want to talk about broken teeth.

It seems that this time of the year with popcorn, corn nuts, caramels and the like. It is common to see broken teeth. With adults, it's normally a back tooth which has an old filling in it. Usually a cusp or support area of the tooth breaks off leaking a sharp edge. In children it tends to be a baby tooth which is weak because it's getting ready to fall out... With a child you want to keep them comfortable. Tylenol and orajel will help until you can have dentist look at it.

Adults tend to have more challenges. The sharp edges of a fractured tooth will drive you crazy because your tongue won't leave it alone. One option is to go to the pharmacy and see if they have any temporary material or soft dental wax. This will only work if there's enough tooth to hold onto the material. The other option is to use a file, like an Emory board to smooth the sharp edge. Take analgesics for pain, and no whiskey is not an analgesic! Then contact your dentist ASAP.

Hope everyone has a safe Halloween.

Dr. G

Halloween Candy

Is there a better candy for Halloween?

I don't know about you, but I always loved looking at my haul and seeing the bountiful treasure of M&M's, Snickers, Milky Ways, Tootsie Pops, Almond Joys and everything else. I would map out every savory detail of the next couple of days. At that moment my mom inevitably would enter the room and tell me to choose one candy and give her the rest. For me, it was about 5 minutes of nirvana, I'd look forward to it every year.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, the longer the sugar stays in your mouth, the worse it is for you. This makes sticky candies like caramels, and hard candies worse. Sticky candies can get caught between your teeth, and be a great picnic for the bugs (bacteria) in our mouths. Hard candies also will stay in your mouth a lot longer giving these same bugs an all morning or afternoon dining delight of sugar.

Always have your children brush their teeth, ideally for 2 minutes, before going to bed. If you think your child might be prone to tooth decay a fluoride rinse like ACT could be beneficial to be part of their daily routine.

Dr. G

Halloween

Halloween will be here later this week. It's a time which brings a lot of excitement for our children. Although costumes can range from funny to unique and creepy. We all want this to be a safe holiday for our little ones.

What should you do after the big haul?
The first thing to do is check the candy and make certain it hasn't been tampered with. If the seal has been broken on the candy, throw it away.

I want to assure everyone that one,two or three days of eating candy will not create a cavity. The sugar in the candy is food for the bacteria in our mouths, as we eat more sweets, the bacteria thrive and they will excrete acid. The acids will break down the enamel causing cavities. This has to happen over a long period of time. Months, not days.

I've been asked is it better to eat all the candy at once or over many days. Let me put it this way, if you eat the candy all at once, the bacteria eat it one time and your body has to tolerate one exposure to their acids. However, if you do this, you will most likely have to pull your child off the ceiling with all that sugar in their system. It's better to give them one or two candies a day.

In my family, we allowed our children to "get into" their Halloween candy for 2-3 days. Then we would hide it, and take it out a couple of time a month for a treat. Of course I was the official "taster" to make certain the candy didn't go bad.

Sensitivity to sweets can be a sign at you have a deep cavity into the nerve of the tooth, a crack in your tooth, or a leaky filling. If you have sensitivity to sweets that lasts longer than a day or two. Call your dentist. The earlier something is taken care of the less expensive it will be.

Go have a safe Halloween

Dr. G

Passion

I think passion is a word that is not used very much today. Yet it is such an important word.

I've told my children find a career you're passionate about and you'll never work a day in your life.
I think too often we look for the easy way, or just go with the flow. I know I've done this in my life too many times.

I'm fortunate that I have a passion for my profession, my patients and my family. I've been truly blessed.

I would challenge you to find something you're passionate about and do something with it. It could be as simple as seeing a sunset, but you just haven't made time for it, or connecting with an old friend who you love like a brother or sister, but time has prevented you from connecting with them. I would suggest that you take time to say I love you to those who are most important to you. Whatever you choose to do be passionate about it.

Dr. G

Hello World!

 Hello worldwide web.

After years of battling and fighting my family and staff, I've finally consented to write a blog.

I've been given so much input. I've been told to be funny. Really, Funny? How many of you 

have been to dentist who should be replacing Letterman! In our wedding vows, my wife said,

"I promise to laugh at your jokes" You now know that humor challenges me, or should I say my humor

will challenge you.

Then there's this thing called a hashtag, really hashtag???? When I grew up # was a number or pound

sign. They say this will open up the universe of Twitter to you. Great, I have to # my tweets to get attention to

my humor which will challenge you.

Enough already, I'm a really good dentist, I'll blog about that another time. Let's talk about something I'm 

really passionate about, college football. As you might know, I'm a USC graduate so a big Fight On to my fellow

Trojans and wannabe Trojans!

This year has been a great year for college football. I mean if I would've said a month ago that Mississippi State 

would be the #1 football team in the country, any football fan would look at me like I was crazy. If I were to have

said that two of the top three college football teams would come from Mississippi you would've called me an idiot.

Yet that's what's happened.It's been a crazy season so far and more craziness is sure to come.

Since this is our first date, I'll rely on the fact that when I think I've written enough, I've probably written too much.

In future blogs find out if I really have a sweet tooth, or if my brother was the starting center on his college basketball team.

Until then, Fight On!

Dr. Gerosa