Nicolas W. Cicchetti, DMD
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Office News
Our goal is to develop a strong partnership with every patient. When you understand the importance of your dental health, we can help you maintain a healthy mouth, as well as treat the causes and symptoms of any dental condition.
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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.
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Job Hunting? The One Thing You Cant Afford to Ignore
Are you due for a promotion? Are you meeting your future in-laws for the first time? If you have dark or stained teeth, you may not feel confident in either of these situations; but we can help. 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.
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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.
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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. 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.
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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...