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InformationAbout our Practice
Today, we have over 6,000 patients supported by: 3 Dentists, 5 Registered Dental Hygienists, 5 Clinical Assistants, 2 Office Personnel, 1 Practice Administrator.
For more information Click Here.
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Shemen Dental Group LLPShemen Dental Group LLP
Welcome to our Practice
We are very grateful you have chosen to put your trust and confidence in us for your dental health.
We hope your experience here will be exceptional - so exceptional that you will invite your family and friends to come experience the difference.
The question has come up several times: Where did you get the word Shemen ?
Shemen is an Old Testament word for oil. Oil, In ancient times had many uses and meanings. It represented an ointment for healing and also played a significant role in sacrifice and worship. We want to be the Lord's ointment of healing, and we want the things we do to be an acceptable act of worship for the gifts God has given us. www.shemendental.com
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Shemen Dental Newsletter
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Shemen Dental Newsletter
Don't Need No Stinkin' Baby Teeth
Many parents don't think baby teeth matter. Sure, they're going to fall out eventually, but baby teeth are extremely important. Decayed, chipped, missing, or broken baby teeth will impair your child's speech development, chewing and, yes, self-esteem. Children's missing teeth can also create an obstructed airway, causing sleep apnea which can affect learning.
Probably the most important role of baby teeth is they are the placeholders that allow permanent teeth to come in properly. Whenever something goes wrong with baby teeth, you are almost guaranteed to have problems with permanent teeth.
A baby tooth lost too early allows the neighboring teeth to shift into the open space; then, there is not enough room for the permanent tooth to move into its position. Overcrowded, crooked teeth will likely result in braces, which are more expensive than taking good care of the baby teeth.
Lost or decayed teeth also make it difficult to eat properly. That means your baby or toddler may only choose foods that are easy to eat and may not get the proper nutrition needed for healthy growth. When your child does eat solid food he may not be able to chew it well and that means digestion will take longer than it should.
Just like an adult tooth, we have some options for restoring a child's tooth.
For decayed, chipped, stained and broken front teeth, we can use a tooth-colored, enamel crown with an aluminum interior. These crowns are sturdy and durable. The enamel will not peel or chip. White crowns can last until the permanent teeth erupt.
If the crown should darken or stain from certain foods, we can touch it up and restore the shade.
Unfortunately, if your child has developed a malocclusion (teeth do not properly bite against the opposing teeth), we won't be able to use this type of crown. The white enamel crown also cannot be used if your child bruxes (clenches or grinds their teeth).
If your child chips a tooth, the best option may be to repair it with a bonding material.
For back teeth, we may recommend a stainless steel crown. The silver color is not as noticeable on back teeth. If we do have to restore a child’s tooth, we’ll discuss your options.
And remember, we want to see your child before there is a problem. We'd rather prevent a problem than fix one. Wouldn't you?
Left High and Dry
It doesn't come up much in polite conversation, but saliva is important. In fact, if saliva had a theme song, it would be "You Have a Friend in Me."
Saliva—that runny stuff that fills your mouth when you think about eating a lemon or that leaves your mouth high and dry when you snore—is on the front line of defense against cavities.
Certain medications, chemotherapy, or even stress can cause your mouth to consistently dry out to dangerous levels.
Without a healthy saliva flow, decay-causing bacteria attach to the tooth surface where they quickly grow into a mob-type colony called "biofilm" that robs precious minerals from tooth enamel. When calcium and phosphorous are stolen from your teeth, the tooth surface softens, which opens a gateway for tooth decay.A healthy saliva flow constantly bathes your teeth with enamel building minerals and lays down a protective barrier on clean teeth. Your saliva naturally contains buffers that affect the acid produced by bacteria.
Saliva flushes away waste products that could harm your teeth. It teams up with your immune system to repel bacteria that cause gingivitis, which is the beginning stage of gum disease (periodontitis). If you notice that your gums are swollen and red, you likely have gingivitis.
Saliva helps you chew and swallow food and talk. Saliva, a very important body fluid, is your best friend.
To help your mouth have a healthy saliva flow, it is important to eat a healthy diet, to reduce the amount and frequency of eating sweet and starchy snacks, and to maintain good oral care. If you are unable to brush after eating, chew sugar-free gum that contains xylitol. Chewing gum helps stimulate saliva production, and xylitol prohibits the bacteria from sticking to your teeth.
If you have difficulty producing saliva, see us right away. We can check for an underlying condition and offer recommendations.
Job Hunting? The One Thing You Cant Afford to Ignore
It's no secret. Looking for a job is nerve wracking. And in a down economy the competition is fierce. But there's one thing that can help you land the offer: a great smile.
Studies show that people who have bright, white teeth are perceived to be more successful, attractive, intelligent and healthier, and you deserve to be one of those people.
Teeth become dark and stained for many reasons, including everyday wear and tear. Time takes its toll on your teeth, causing micro fractures in tooth enamel. Food debris and foods or beverages such as red wine, carrots, tea, colas and coffee, for example, fill in the micro cracks and stain your teeth. Nicotine in tobacco leaves a dark brown deposit on your teeth and is not easily removed with brushing.
In most situations, professional, chairside tooth whitening can have an instant effect on tooth stains. In-office whitening is the safest and fastest way to have white, sparkling teeth. In as little as 1 hour your teeth can be as much as six shades whiter. We may also send an at-home whitening kit with you to continue working on those tough stains.
Using an over-the-counter product is a slow process because the whitening product cannot be as strong as we can use in the office. It can take as long as four weeks to notice any color difference.
Don't let your teeth prevent you from living a successful, happy lifestyle. Call and schedule a consultation so we can give you the sparkling teeth you deserve.
Gotcha! Digital Detective Exposes Secret Hideouts
Dentists and hygienists are like 007 or Sherlock Holmes. We're always looking for danger in dark, out-of-the-way places. Fluoridated water and better oral hygiene have driven decay into hiding. And we're there with our smarts and high-tech gadgets to drive it out.
Tooth enamel is softened when you eat sugary or carbohydrate foods and beverages. Decay-causing bacteria penetrate the soft enamel and hide under the enamel's surface. There are oral care products that reharden softened tooth enamel. Unfortunately, any decay-causing bacteria trapped underneath the rehardened enamel can continue to do damage.
That makes it almost impossible for us to detect the decay in traditional ways.
When looking for decay that isn't obvious to the naked eye, we first use an explorer. That's a thin, metal instrument used to gently touch the surfaces of your teeth. If the explorer sticks to an area, we suspect decay; but it can't find decay below the surface. X-rays are the other most common way to look for decay, but they can be misleading and miss decay, too.
Enter DIAGNOdent. It's a handheld device about the size of a pen that bounces a laser beam off your tooth. A reading appears on a small screen, and the DIAGNOdent emits a sound. If the reading and tone indicate an early stage caries lesion, we probably won't need to drill. We might use a minimally invasive air abrasion procedure to "blow" away the tiny spot. [bottom image]
The DIAGNOdent is painless, uses no radiation and is 90 percent accurate. The old probe combined with a visual exam and x-rays missed tiny surface caries lesions about 40 percent of the time.
You will be delighted how easy your dental exams can be when we use high tech tools like DIAGNOdent to uncover hidden problems. See you at your next appointment!
The Xylitol Myth Buster
Already, there are myths and misinformation swarming about the wonder ingredient, xylitol.
Xylitol protects your teeth in two ways. First, it puts decay-causing bacteria on a starvation diet. Hungry bacteria can't reproduce and their numbers drop off. Second, xylitol also creates a slippery surface on your teeth’s enamel so plaque and bacteria can't latch on.
Xylitol's naturally sweet taste and 20 years of clinical research on the dental benefits now have it showing up in oral care products like mouthwash and toothpaste. It is also being put in chewing gums, candy, baby pacifiers and lozenges.
Now, let's bust some myths.
Making xylitol will decimate forests. Xylitol originally was a product of the birch tree, but any woody-stem plant can be used to produce xylitol. In fact, most xylitol is made from corncobs.
Xylitol is only for kids. It certainly benefits children because we know that tooth decay is the number one chronic (and preventable) childhood disease. Fact is, xylitol benefits anyone who is at risk for tooth decay, especially some elderly adults who are unable to take care of their oral health.
Xylitol is just another sugar substitute. No. It is produced from the natural sugar xylose that is extracted from plants.
The effect doesn't last long. Studies show that new mothers who chewed or ate 6–10 grams of xylitol every day for two years passed fewer decay-causing bacteria to their child. Dental exams showed that childhood decay decreased by 70 percent three years after the study ended. Some studies showed benefits six years later!
If I chew gum I'll get TMD. That is unlikely unless you already have problems with your temporomandibular joint (the hinge that moves your jaw). A stick of xylitol gum is chewed for only 5 minutes. If you're not a gum chewer, try mints, granulated xylitol, or toothpaste.
Remember, using products with xylitol is a good supplement to your oral care but will not replace brushing and flossing.
Any oral care routine needs to be followed up by regular dental exams. Call today and schedule your next exam. We can give you more information about xylitol products while you are here.