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As we all know, or should by now, the key to maintaining great oral health is keeping up with a daily plan of flossing, brushing, and using mouthwash. These three practices in combination will help you avoid tooth decay and keep bacterial infections at bay.

At Central New England Endodontics and Implantology, we’ve noticed that it’s usually not the toothbrush or floss that people have trouble picking, but the mouthwash.

Depending on the ingredients, different mouthwashes will have different effects on your oral health. Here are some ideas to take under consideration when you’re trying to decide which type of mouthwash will best fit your needs.

• If gum health is your concern, antiseptic mouthwashes are designed to reduce bacteria near the gum line.
• If you drink a lot of bottled water, you may want to consider a fluoride rinse to make sure your teeth develop the level of strength they need.
• Generally, any mouthwash will combat bad breath, but some are especially designed to do so.
• Opt for products that are ADA approved, to ensure you aren’t exposing your teeth to harmful chemicals.
• If you experience an uncomfortable, burning sensation when you use a wash, stop it and try another!

Still have questions about mouthwash? Feel free to ask Drs. Manzoli, Russo, Pauk, Desrosiers, Sahakyants during your next visit to our Worcester office! We’re always happy to answer your questions. Happy rinsing!

Sometimes people feel a tiny bit nervous when they sit in the dental chair. And sometimes it’s more than a tiny bit. If your anxiety over dental procedures is leading you to postpone the root canal that can save your tooth, if worrying about an apicoectomy outweighs treating a recurring infection, if dreading endodontic surgery means you would rather live with tooth loss than give us a call—give our Worcester office a call! Sedation dentistry might be just the procedure you need to make dental anxiety a thing of the past.

Depending on your preferences, there are several levels of sedation Drs. Manzoli, Russo, Pauk, Desrosiers, Sahakyants can provide to make your visit more comfortable.

• Minimal Sedation—this type of sedation leaves you calm and conscious, and you respond normally to verbal directions.
• Moderate Sedation—sometimes called “conscious sedation,” this option will leave you awake, relaxed and able to follow directions, but you will probably have little memory of the procedure afterward.
• Deep Sedation—a deeper level of sedation where you cannot be roused easily or respond to instructions. It is unlikely you will remember much or any of the dental treatment.

Our office is trained to administer and monitor all these forms of sedation. Because sedation in all its varieties is a regular part of our practice, we have the medical knowledge and skill to provide you with a safe and comfortable endodontic experience.

And we will prepare you with all the information you need to decide on any endodontic treatment, including sedation. We will describe the procedure in detail, and discuss any possible risks. If you have any health conditions or take any medications that might interfere with sedation, we can discuss your options with you and your doctor to make sure you are a good candidate. We will explain any preparations you should take, and let you know if there is a window of recovery time needed in our office while the sedation wears off.

Don’t let yourself suffer dental pain or discomfort because you suffer from dental anxiety! Please call us to discuss your sedation options. Whether you choose oral, inhaled, or IV sedation, we are trained to administer your treatment gently and safely. Above all, we want to help you keep your smile the heathiest it can be, and that only happens with proper dental care. Let us work with you to make that care as comfortable and stress-free as possible.

Baby teeth come with a built-in expiration date. That charming first smile is meant to make way for a healthy, beautiful adult smile. Unfortunately, before they are ready to make way for permanent teeth, primary teeth can be affected by decay, trauma, or infection—problems which can lead to damage to the pulp within the tooth. If your dentist tells you that your child’s tooth needs specialized endodontic treatment, is treatment really that much better for your child than losing a baby tooth prematurely?

Quite often, the answer is yes!

Baby teeth do much more than serve as temporary stand-ins for adult teeth. They are essential for:

• Biting and chewing—a full set of baby teeth helps your child develop proper chewing, which leads to healthy digestion. And chewing also helps build face and jaw muscles.
• Speech development—primary teeth help guide speech production and pronunciation.
• Spacing—a baby tooth serves as a place holder for the adult tooth waiting to arrive. If a primary tooth is lost too early, the remaining baby teeth may drift from their proper location. This, in turn, can cause overcrowding or misalignment of the permanent teeth when they do erupt.

Baby teeth, like adult teeth, contain living pulp tissue. The pulp chamber inside the crown (the visible part of the tooth) and the root canals (inside each root) hold nerves, blood vessels, and connective tissue. When the pulp is damaged by trauma or infected, a baby tooth can still be saved with endodontic treatment. Endodontic treatment in baby teeth can take two forms.

• “Vital” pulp is pulp that can be saved. Vital pulp therapy uses procedures to deal with damaged pulp inside the crown, or visible part, of the tooth. Pulp therapy can be used on teeth when only the top of the pulp has been affected by decay, limited exposure, infection, or trauma, but the root pulp remains healthy. Specific treatment will depend on the nature of the pulp injury, and a crown will usually be placed over the tooth after treatment to protect it.
• With non-vital pulp, your dentist will probably recommend a traditional root canal procedure. All of the pulp tissue will be removed from inside the crown and the roots, and the pulp chamber and root canals will then be cleaned, disinfected, shaped, and filled. Finally, because the treated tooth will be more fragile, a crown will be used to protect the tooth from further damage.

There can be good reasons for extracting a seriously damaged baby tooth, and there are situations where preserving the tooth is the best and healthiest option for your child. Discuss your options with Drs. Manzoli, Russo, Pauk, Desrosiers, Sahakyants when you visit our Worcester office for the safest, most effective way to treat your child’s compromised tooth.

Your teeth generally give you no reason to complain. In fact, brushing and flossing regularly for tooth and gum health, getting good check-ups, and appreciating your beautiful smile in your latest selfie are all very positive experiences. But sometimes, a tooth demands attention in a less than positive way.

When exposure to hot and cold foods causes discomfort, or your gums are swollen and tender around a tooth, or when you can’t bite down without pain, it might mean that the pulp or roots of your tooth have been injured or infected. If your regular dentist suspects there is a problem inside your tooth, he or she might recommend that you see an endodontist, like Drs. Manzoli, Russo, Pauk, Desrosiers, Sahakyants.

“Endodontic” means “inside the tooth,” and refers to the pulp and roots within each tooth that hold tissue, nerves, and blood vessels. While all dentists receive some endodontic training in dental school, to specialize in this field, endodontists receive two or three years of additional advanced training. Here they concentrate on the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and injuries that affect the inner tooth and its supporting tissue.

Damage to the tooth’s pulp can be the result of an injury, such as a blow to the mouth. A chip, a crack, or a deep cavity can leave an opening for infection. Whatever the cause of injury or inflammation, once the pulp and roots have been compromised, treatment needs to take place to prevent further infection, pain, and even tooth loss. Endodontists work to save injured teeth with a variety of procedures, including root canals, treatment of injuries caused by trauma, and endodontic surgeries.

If you have a compromised tooth, or if you have oral or facial pain that is difficult to find an explanation for, talk to Drs. Manzoli, Russo, Pauk, Desrosiers, Sahakyants about specialized endodontic treatment at our Worcester office. Saving a tooth is, after all, one of the most important ways to preserve our smiles. And that’s nothing but positive!