How Bite Problems Can Affect Your Oral Health

When you think about keeping your smile healthy, you probably focus on brushing, flossing, and visiting your dentist for regular cleanings. But there’s another factor that plays a major role in your oral health: your bite. If your bite feels “off,” you might be surprised how much it can impact your overall oral health, and how easily we can help restore harmony to your smile with a range of treatments including bite equilibration, full mouth reconstruction, TMJ treatments, and orthodontics in Monterey.

What Is Occlusal Disharmony?

The way your upper and lower teeth fit together when you chew or close your mouth affects everything from tooth wear to jaw comfort. A bite problem, or malocclusion, happens when your teeth don’t meet properly. This can be caused by natural jaw development, missing teeth, or worn enamel or dental restorations. Some common types of bite misalignment include:

  • Overbite: Upper front teeth cover too much of the lower teeth.
  • Overjet: Upper teeth extend too far forward.
  • Underbite: The lower jaw extends beyond the upper jaw.
  • Crossbite: Some upper teeth sit inside the lower teeth.
  • Open bite: Upper and lower teeth don’t meet at all in certain areas. 

However, not all bite problems are orthodontic in nature. Uneven wear, fractured or broken teeth, and other issues can also lead to a bite that’s not ideal. Even minor irregularities can affect how your teeth function and how your jaw muscles and joints work together.

What Causes Bite Problems?

While you may think seeing an orthodontist is for kids or teenagers, not all bite issues start in childhood. In fact, more serious bite problems can develop over time and as we age. 

Mesial Drift

Our teeth naturally shift throughout our lives. Usually, this involves gradually shifting toward the centerline of the face, a process called mesial drift. Mesial drift can cause the front teeth to rotate slightly and become crowded or overlapped. 

Gum Disease

Gum disease can cause shifting to become more of a problem, as it can damage the bone sockets that hold the teeth in place, allowing them to become loose and move out of place.

Missing Teeth

Teeth also rely on their neighbors for support. If you’re missing any teeth, the surrounding teeth will naturally tilt or shift into the space, increasing strain on your bite and leading to more bite disharmony and further damage over time.

Bruxism

Grinding and clenching (bruxism) can also lead to bite disharmony as the teeth become worn down. This can cause shifting or wear away the anatomy of your enamel, leaving your teeth too short or too flat to support a healthy bite.

Damaged Teeth

Damage such as severe decay or fractures can also cause bite issues, especially if they affect the biting or chewing surfaces of your teeth. 

How Can Bite Disharmony Impact Your Oral Health?

Just as oral health problems can affect your bite, bite disharmony can likewise lead to serious oral health issues. In a healthy bite, your upper and lower teeth come together like matching puzzle pieces. The chewing surfaces distribute pressure evenly across all teeth, allowing you to bite and chew without strain.

If your bite is uneven, misaligned, or incomplete due to missing or damaged teeth, it puts more pressure on your remaining teeth. Over time, this can speed up wear and tear on your enamel, lead to more cracks and fractures, and even make gum recession worse.

Without a stable and balanced resting position, you’re also more likely to experience teeth grinding or jaw clenching, which can further increase risks for tooth damage and cause TMJ symptoms like jaw pain, headaches, and sensitivity in the teeth.

In short, an even and balanced bite is a critical part of your oral health. So what should you do if your bite doesn’t feel quite right?

When to Talk to Your Dentist About Bite Problems

It can be hard to tell if your bite is uneven or unhealthy, especially if the misalignment is subtle. Here are a few warning signs of bite disharmony:

  • Difficulty chewing on one side
  • Pain or tenderness when biting or chewing
  • Sensitive teeth or tender gums
  • Signs of TMJ dysfunction, such as pain, clicking, or popping
  • Chronic tension headaches or stiff neck
  • Visibly crooked or misaligned teeth
  • Cracked or broken teeth
  • Worn-down teeth or teeth that look too flat
  • Grinding or clicking
  • Frequently biting your cheek or lip
  • Gum recession
  • Loose or shifting teeth
  • New dental work that has changed your bite
  • A feeling that there is something stuck in the chewing surface of a tooth
  • Feeling like you’re hitting specific teeth with more pressure than others 

At Monterey Peninsula Dental Group, we’re committed to protecting all aspects of your oral health, including your bite health. That’s why we’ll always look for signs of bite problems at every dental cleaning and check-up. We also want you to feel comfortable asking our team about any concerns!

What Can Our Team Do to Fix Bite Problems in Monterey?

If you have bite problems, we can help! We offer a full range of treatments that can help to restore a healthy bite and protect your smile.

Orthodontics

We’re proud to offer orthodontic treatments in Monterey including clear aligners for discreet teeth straightening and traditional braces for more complex needs. Improving the alignment of your teeth can relieve bite disharmony and strain on your jaw joints, helping to decrease TMJ symptoms in many cases. It’s also a great way to get the longest possible lifespan out of dental restorations, making it a smart investment that can save you money in the long run.

Dental Crowns

Dental crowns completely cover and surround a tooth, stabilizing cracks and rebuilding missing enamel due to damage from fractures or decay. Crowns can also be an excellent way to reconstruct a healthy bite if your teeth have become severely worn down due to bruxism.

Dental Implants and Bridges

We can rebuild a complete bite by replacing missing or unsalvageable teeth with strong, functional restorations. Dental implants permanently replace missing teeth with a post that’s anchored to the jawbone to mimic a natural tooth root. 

A dental bridge is a false tooth fused to crowns on either side. We can anchor a bridge to stable natural teeth on either side of a gap, or set it on dental implants to replace several teeth in a row. Both options restore a strong, functional bite.

Bite Adjustment (Equilibration)

If your bite problem is relatively mild, doesn’t require restorations, or the result of dental work such as a new filling, we may be able to gently buff down the area of your tooth that is interfering with your bite. While small adjustments on a specific tooth are fairly straightforward, general bite equilibration is a more involved process that may involve many teeth.

Enjoy a Comfortable, Functional Smile Again!

When your bite is balanced, your teeth share the workload evenly, reducing wear, protecting enamel, and keeping your jaw relaxed and pain-free. You’ll be able to chew comfortably, avoid chronic headaches, and maintain a healthier smile for years to come.

If you’re tired of sore jaws, tooth sensitivity, or frequent dental issues, we can help. Schedule a consultation to discuss your bite problems in Monterey today to learn how restoring balance to your bite can improve your oral health and overall comfort.

MPDG Voted Best Dentist in Monterey County for the 9th Consecutive Year

Thank You to Our Wonderful Patients

We are humbled, grateful, and overjoyed to share that Monterey Peninsula Dental Group has once again been voted “Best Dentist in Monterey County”—for the ninth year in a row.

This recognition means the world to us because it comes directly from the people we serve every day—our patients, neighbors, and friends across the Monterey Peninsula. To know that you continue to trust us with your health, your confidence, and your smiles is the greatest honor we could receive.

A Tradition of Care, Built on Relationships

When MPDG first opened its doors, our goal was simple: to enhance lives though optimal dental care, offering exceptional dentistry grounded in compassion, integrity, and innovation. Over the years, we’ve grown and evolved with our community—adding new technology, welcoming new team members, and expanding our services—but our core philosophy has never changed.

We believe that great dentistry starts with great relationships. Every patient who walks through our doors brings a unique story, a set of goals, and often, a little bit of dental anxiety. Our team takes pride in creating a space where patients feel heard, comfortable, and cared for—whether they’re here for a routine cleaning or a full smile restoration.

Excellence Through Teamwork

Behind every confident smile that leaves our office is a dedicated team that truly loves what they do. Our doctors, hygienists, assistants, and front office staff share a commitment to continual learning and collaboration. We stay on the leading edge of dental science and technology—not for the sake of innovation alone, but because it allows us to deliver the safest, most effective, and most comfortable care possible.

Being recognized as “Best Dentist” isn’t the achievement of one individual—it’s a reflection of the teamwork, professionalism, and compassion that define every member of the MPDG family.

What Makes This Recognition Special

Monterey County is home to an incredible community of dental professionals, so being chosen as the county’s best practice is especially meaningful. For us, this award is a reminder that what sets MPDG apart isn’t just advanced treatment or state-of-the-art equipment—it’s the genuine care we show for our patients and the relationships we’ve built over decades.

Many of our patients have been with us for years, and we’ve had the privilege of caring for multiple generations of the same families. Watching children grow up, return as adults, and bring in their own kids—it’s one of the greatest joys of our profession.

A Heartfelt Thank You

From all of us at Monterey Peninsula Dental Group: thank you. Thank you for trusting us with your care, for recommending us to your friends and family, and for taking the time to vote. Your support continues to motivate us to do better, be better, and give back to this incredible community.

We promise to keep earning your confidence—one smile at a time.

Here’s to another year of healthy, happy smiles across Monterey County!

The Monterey Peninsula Dental Group Team

Gentle Dental Cleanings with Guided Biofilm Therapy (GBT)

Experience the next generation of teeth cleanings in Monterey with Guided Biofilm Therapy, a modern approach designed to be gentler, more effective, and more comfortable than traditional methods.

Regular teeth cleanings are an essential part of keeping your smile healthy. Even if it’s been a while since your last dental visit, you’ve probably been getting your teeth cleaned since you were young, and it might seem like not much has changed over the years. If you’re ready to experience the next evolution in gentle dental cleanings in Monterey, you’ve come to the right place!

Teeth cleanings were due for an update, and guided biofilm therapy (GBT) is here to deliver. What is guided biofilm therapy? How is GBT different from a standard teeth cleaning? And what should you expect at your next visit with our team? Let’s take a look!

What Is Guided Biofilm Therapy?

GBT is an advanced way to remove harmful plaque (also called biofilm), tartar, and stains without damaging your enamel or irritating your gums. It uses a special dye to highlight buildup, followed by a gentle air polisher and ultrasonic tools to clean your teeth with minimal discomfort. To understand GBT, it may be helpful to learn about biofilm and the goals of a dental cleaning first.

What Is Biofilm?

Biofilm is a sticky buildup created by a colony of microbes (usually bacteria). Mildew is a familiar example of a biofilm. As you’re probably aware from cleaning your shower, biofilms can be very hard to remove. That’s because the microbes living in the biofilm excrete a substance called matrix, which is a glue-like gel that delivers nutrients to the bacteria and protects them from damage.

Plaque is another example of a biofilm, which is fortunately a little easier to get rid of than mildew. However, if it’s not thoroughly disrupted a couple of times each day (which is why we recommend brushing every morning and every night), plaque allows more damaging types of bacteria to move in.

It also absorbs minerals from your saliva and hardens, creating tartar (called calculus in dentistry), which is a rough, stone-like substance that damages the gums and allows even more bacteria to stick to your teeth. Unfortunately, calculus can’t be thoroughly removed at home. But that’s what we’re here for!

How Do We Remove Biofilm During a Teeth Cleaning?

The goal of a professional dental cleaning is to remove plaque, tartar, and stains from the teeth. We do this to keep your smile looking great and prevent tooth decay and gum disease by keeping bacteria under control.

There are several instruments for removing buildup from the teeth:

  • Hand Instruments: You’re probably familiar with scalers, which people sometimes call “scrapers.” These are the small metal blades that gently shave hardened deposits from the teeth, leaving a smooth surface.
  • Ultrasonic Scalers: An ultrasonic scaler is a narrow, rounded tip that uses high-frequency vibrations and water to break up deposits and flush them away.
  • Polishing Cup: A polishing cup is a small rubber or silicone disk that spins to remove stains and leftover plaque using abrasive paste.
  • Air Polisher: An air polisher uses a pressurized stream of air with water and very fine powder to gently remove plaque, stains, and “loose” calculus (which is tartar that hasn’t hardened very much).

Depending on your specific situation, your dental cleaning may be preventive (called prophylaxis) or therapeutic. In both a traditional cleaning and GBT, the goal is to remove biofilm and provide the right environment for healthy teeth and gums.

If the goal hasn’t changed, how is guided biofilm therapy different from the teeth cleanings you’re used to?

How Is GBT Different from a Traditional Dental Cleaning?

Traditional cleanings rely more on scraping and polishing with abrasive tools. GBT starts with showing you where plaque builds up, helping you improve your brushing at home. Then we use gentler tools to remove buildup with less scraping and discomfort.

GBT allows us to minimize the use of ultrasonic scalers and hand instruments by flipping the routine on its head, starting with an in-depth look at the biofilm on your teeth.

What to Expect from a Gentle Teeth Cleaning with Our Team

We understand that you’re probably accustomed to dental cleanings going the familiar way. It can be uncomfortable to switch things up, so here is what to expect when you see us for a gentle dental cleaning in Monterey!

  1. We’ll show you where the plaque is. The first step in GBT is to apply a specialized dye called disclosing solution, which sticks to plaque and tartar so they’re easy to see. This allows us to show you any areas you’re missing so you can do a better job at home. It also helps your dental hygienist ensure that they are completely removing all biofilm.

  2. We’ll use the air polisher to gently remove plaque, stains, and young calculus (tartar that’s not very hardened) above and below the gumline.

  3. We’ll use an ultrasonic to break up any hardened deposits that are too tough for the air polisher. Then, we’ll spot clean with hand instruments only where necessary. This process allows us to keep hand scaling to a minimum, giving you a more comfortable teeth cleaning.

In general, most people find this process far more comfortable than the old way of doing dental cleanings. However, we understand that it’s different, and many people may wonder why we’ve changed things up!

Why Switch to GBT for Teeth Cleanings?

GBT has several benefits compared to traditional teeth cleanings:

  • More comfortable, especially for sensitive teeth
  • Less risk of enamel damage
  • Helps you see where you can improve at-home care
  • Scientifically proven to be safe and effective

Your Comfort Matters

Not ready to change it up? No problem! We’re happy to tailor your cleaning to what works best for you. You can always let our team know if a particular instrument bothers you, or if you have any questions about our recommendations or methods.

We understand that many people may feel hesitant about changes to their usual routine during a teeth cleaning. However, our team works hard to stay at the forefront of improvements in dental techniques and technology.

GBT is a proven method that’s been evolving since the seventies. The most recent development has been thoroughly researched and practiced since 2016 with excellent results. That said, we always want to help you feel confident making informed decisions about your care, and can frequently adapt our approach for your comfort.

Meet Our Skilled Dental Hygienists!

At Monterey Peninsula Dental Group, our expert team is trained in the latest GBT techniques to keep your smile healthy and bright with less stress and more comfort. Your smile deserves the best, and our cutting-edge teeth cleanings in Monterey are a key part of how we deliver the highest quality care. Get in touch to schedule your next visit today!

Overcome Dental Anxiety: The True Value of Sedation Dentistry

If the thought of visiting a dentist sounds like a nightmare, you’re not alone. Fear of the dentist is among the most common phobias, and it can be debilitating. Even if you normally feel comfortable at routine dental visits, procedures like a filling or crown may make you hesitant or nervous. If you’re struggling with dental anxiety, Monterey Peninsula Dental Group has your back. Let’s take a look at the signs of dental anxiety, and what we can do to help you overcome it to enjoy better oral health without stress.

Do You Have Dental Anxiety?

Everyone feels nervous at the dentist, right? Maybe not. While the sights, sounds, smells, and sensations of the dental office can put many people on edge, fear of the dentist can become a major obstacle that makes it difficult to get the care you need. But it doesn’t have to be that way! In fact, many people find dental visits relaxing and even look forward to them.

If that sounds impossible, you might have dental anxiety. Here are a few signs that you may need a little help managing your discomfort:

  • Sweating, trembling, or racing pulse at the dental office
  • Difficulty sleeping the night before a dental appointment
  • Finding that you frequently reschedule or cancel dental visits
  • Putting off needed care, even though you know you’ll feel better afterward
  • Feeling like you want to withdraw or shut down during dental visits
  • Using humor or deflection to downplay your discomfort
  • Feeling hostile, irritable, or even aggressive in the dental chair
  • Difficulty breathing, nausea, low blood pressure or feeling faint
  • Feeling like you want to cry when talking to dental professionals
  • Giddiness or uncontrollable giggling even though you’re uncomfortable
  • Panic attacks before, during, or shortly after a dental appointment

It’s important to understand that dental anxiety can manifest in many ways, and fear of the dentist doesn’t always feel like being scared. In fact, it may come out as feeling suspicious of dentists in general, or being consistently “too busy” to make it to your dental visits.

If you feel like you may be struggling with dental anxiety, identifying the root cause can be a great first step in overcoming it.

What Causes Dental Anxiety?

Fear of the dentist is unique to each person who struggles with it, and it can come from many different places. In many cases, fear of the dentist may start with an experience in your own past. However, it can frequently come from hearing about other people’s bad experiences, even if dental visits have always gone smoothly for you.

Here are a few of the most common triggers for dental anxiety:

  • Fear of pain, needles, or medical staff in general
  • Fear of choking, gagging, or feeling like you don’t have control of your situation
  • Feeling uncomfortable being physically close to other people
  • Discomfort or feeling vulnerable lying down with others standing over you
  • Sensory issues, such as sensitivity to lights, sounds, flavors, or textures
  • Worries about previous injuries to the head, face, or teeth
  • Difficulty getting or staying numb during dental treatments
  • Bad experiences with a dentist in the past
  • Shame about your current oral health or the state of your teeth

In many cases, it can be hard to determine exactly what bothers you about seeing a dentist. However, if you are able to determine specific triggers for your dental anxiety, let us know! We can frequently change how we do things to help you feel more comfortable.

Strategies to Manage Dental Anxiety

There are several ways we can help you manage your dental fears to make visits more comfortable. For example, bringing headphones and your favorite playlist can cover sounds that bother you while providing a valuable distraction. Sunglasses to dim the bright light and a stress ball or fidget toy can also be helpful.

Our team can set up a signal such as raising your hand to let us know if you need a break, which can be incredibly helpful if you’re worried about choking, gagging, or becoming overwhelmed. We’re also happy to provide numbing gel or local dental anesthesia (numbing injections) to minimize physical discomfort when needed.

One of the most effective ways we can help you manage dental anxiety is with sedation dentistry in Monterey.

Sedation Dentistry: Say Goodbye to Your Dental Fear

Sedation dentistry can be a game-changer when it comes to overcoming dental anxiety. In fact, it can frequently help people overcome their fear of the dentist completely by building positive experiences and memories in the dental office. This gives your body and mind a chance to change its expectations and associations related to dental care.

Over time and with repeated calm, relaxing, and comfortable visits, most people with dental anxiety realize that the thought of going to a dental appointment no longer feels overwhelming, scary, or hostile. Instead, many of our patients tell us they actually start to look forward to seeing us!

Dental anesthesia can also be incredibly effective in preventing dental phobias from starting in the first place. For example, if you need a more involved procedure like dental implant surgery or a tooth extraction, sedation dentistry ensures a smooth, painless experience so that you can continue to feel confident in the dental office after your procedure.

Is Sedation Dentistry Worth It?

Some people are hesitant to consider sedation dentistry because of the added cost. However, it’s important to consider how this relatively small investment can pay dividends over time.

The Cost of Dental Anxiety

Avoiding dental treatments because of anxiety gives oral health issues time to get worse. The longer issues are allowed to progress, the more complex and expensive it becomes to treat them.

Putting off a simple filling because of anxiety will lead to your cavity growing larger and deeper into the tooth. Without timely care, this can turn a cavity into a crown, root canal treatment, or even the need to remove the tooth and replace it with a bridge or dental implant. With safe and effective sedation dentistry, you can nip these problems in the bud and avoid much higher treatment costs later.

Giving Your Smile a Second Chance

If you’ve been struggling with dental fears for a long time, your smile may already have suffered. But don’t lose hope! With sedation dentistry in Monterey, we can give your oral health a complete reset. Sedation allows us to perform complex treatments comfortably while you relax, and enables us to combine multiple treatments into fewer appointments so you can get a fresh start without dragging things out.

A clean bill of dental health can give you peace of mind, allow you to eat comfortably again, and restore your confidence. In many cases, overcoming this first major obstacle is all it takes to leave your dental anxiety in the past!

We’re Proud to Provide Effective and Affordable Dental Sedation in Monterey

It’s our mission to make comfortable dental care as simple as possible, which is why we’re proud to provide safe, effective, and affordable sedation dentistry in Monterey, CA. Whether it’s been a while since you felt comfortable seeing a dentist or you’re looking for a dental office that helps you feel at home, we’re here for you.

Get in touch with our team to talk about how we can help you enjoy better oral health and overcome your dental anxiety, Monterey!

COVID-19 Office Status

MPDG’s Health and Safety Standards 

At Monterey Peninsula Dental Group, the health and safety of our patients and staff has been and remains our top priority. In an effort to ensure your health and safety in our office, we’ve made changes to our facility and implemented systems to ensure our patients and team receive the best protection possible.  It’s important to us that you feel comfortable & safe while receiving care in our office. 

Here are the steps we’re taking to support a safe and healthy environment: 


A construction crew hoists our new air purifying equipment onto the roof of the building

A construction worker cuts holes in a treatment room floor to accommodate vents for our new negative airflow system

Workers pose with air pumps for our new negative airflow ventilation system

We’re modifying our scheduling to minimize the number of people in our office and instituting new patient flows around the office to minimize your physical contact with other patients.

We aim to move patients directly into treatment rooms as quickly as possible but are instituting social distancing procedures in our waiting room as well

 

State of the Art Air Ionization and Negative Pressure Ventilation – Ensuring a Clean and Safe Environment:

We’ve completely upgraded our HVAC system and added a CleanAir EXP system – a leading-edge air ionizing unit that virtually eliminates viruses, bacteria and other foreign bodies from the air in our facility.

CleanAir EXP has been shown to destroy 99.99% of Coronavirus from the air in less than 10 minutes. Negative pressure ventilation completely exchanges the air in each treatment room every five minutes. This high-tech ionization and evacuation system ensures the air you breathe will be clean and safe.

Our system will be functioning 24/7 and has sensors that continually test the air and automatically initiate the ionization process to prevent unsafe or virus-contaminated air from circulating.  This additional safety measure will result in your peace of mind during your visit to our practice.

 

We’re grateful for your cooperation and welcome your feedback

If there’s anything more we can do to make you feel comfortable and safe during your visits to our office, we encourage you to contact us.  We welcome your feedback as we continue to strive to make our facility safe and your experience as pleasant and comfortable as possible.  

On behalf of the entire MPDG team, we want to express our gratitude to you, our patients. Thank you for trusting us with your care, health and safety.

Post-Op Care for Tooth Extractions

After a tooth extraction, good post-operative care by the patient at home is crucial to a successful recovery. While the extraction procedure is simple and often very quick, it is still a major oral surgery, requiring attention and care to heal properly and avoid any unpleasant complications. The good news is that with the right post-op care, healing after a tooth extraction is relatively quick and recovery time should be minimal. 

What To Expect

If you have been sedated during the procedure, you should plan on having a friend or family member drive you home. You’ll be sent home with complete instructions on how to take good care of the extraction site. We typically have you bite down on gauze, providing pressure to stop bleeding from the extraction, and will send you home with plenty more gauze to change out over the course of the day. This can be removed once the immediate bleeding stops. Following surgery, you can expect minor bleeding or “oozing” for the first two days. Swelling often takes a week or so to subside, with the worst occurring the second and third days after surgery. General pain and discomfort is expected, but should gradually improve over the course of five or seven days. You may also experience tightness and stiffness in your jaw.

Post-Op Instructions

It’s important to follow your post-visit instructions carefully. Not doing so can lead to a very painful condition called dry socket, in which the usual blood clot protecting the empty socket is disturbed or removed. This can leave bone and tissue exposed, causing great pain and slowing the healing process. To protect yourself from dry socket, avoid disturbing the blood clot. You can do that by avoiding any kind of smoking or tobacco use, avoiding the use of straws or any sucking motion in your mouth, waiting to brush and floss in the area until it’s completely healed, and avoiding rinsing or spitting too hard.

What Can I Eat?

For the first few days, you should stick to soft, cool foods that are neither hot nor cold. Soup at room temperature is good, and so are foods like pudding, cottage cheese, yogurt, applesauce and Jell-O. Stay away from carbonated, iced or hot beverages for several days. After three or four days, you can begin expanding your diet to other foods and temperatures, as long as they don’t cause you pain or discomfort.

Dental Hygiene

In the first 24 hours after a tooth extraction, don’t rinse your mouth at all. After that, we recommend gentle rinsing with lukewarm salt water after eating or drinking , using a tilting motion instead of swishing. You can continue this for a week or two depending on how well you’re healing. You can start brushing gently in other areas of your mouth on the second day, too. It’s not a good idea to brush right around the extraction site for at least two weeks.

Managing Pain

Depending on the patient and the surgery, you may be given prescription painkillers, or we may recommend using over-the-counter anti-inflammatory and pain medications like Advil or Tylenol. Follow the instructions for any pain medications closely to avoid taking too much or not enough. You may also be prescribed a short course of antibiotics as a preventative measure. Using ice packs is always recommended to keep pain and swelling to a minimum. During the first 24 hours, use ice on the affected side of the jaw or face for 20 minutes at a time, taking at least 10 minutes off between rounds. After that, stop using ice and switch to gentle heat, like a warm wet towel or compress, to soothe the remaining pain and swelling. 

Following Up

Your MPDG dentist will schedule you a follow-up appointment to check on your progress in about two weeks after your tooth extraction. Be sure to bring any questions you have that may have come up during your recovery. And, if you have an increase in pain, swelling, bruising, start running a fever, or other complications before your follow-up visit, call your dentist and let them know right away. Infection and other complications after oral surgery are very rare, but if you’re worried, we’ll be happy to check up on you sooner and make sure everything’s all right. 

How Long Does Treatment with Invisalign Take?

When you’re trying to determine if Invisalign might be the right choice for straightening your teeth, a lot of questions may come to mind. A very common one is: How long does it really take for Invisalign to straighten my teeth? 

Invisalign aligners, an alternative to traditional braces, are nearly invisible, removable, and typically considered more comfortable by patients than traditional braces. They also require almost no food restrictions, are easier to keep clean, and typically have you in the dentist’s office for fewer appointments. They’re a great choice for many patients who seek teeth straightening. 

How long does treatment take? 

Monterey Peninsula Dental Group is a preferred provider for Invisalign treatment, and from experience, we know many patients worry that clear aligners will take much longer from beginning to end of treatment. It’s a misconception based on the gentler feel of aligners vs. braces, and the fact that they can be removed. 

That, however, just isn’t the case. Invisalign can equal a shorter treatment plan in some cases, and is comparable to traditional alignment treatments for most patients. If patients stick to their treatment plan and wear their aligners for the recommended amount of time daily, the process can be relatively quick. 

Clear aligners from Invisalign are customized for every patient, so the exact timeline to getting straight teeth is a little different for everyone. It’s recommended that patients wear their Invisalign aligners for 20-22 hours each day. By following their dentist’s treatment plan, patients typically use their aligners for around 12 to 18  months, approximately half the time of traditional braces.

Why is there such a difference compared to braces?

The reason Invisalign offers a faster course of treatment than braces for adults is due to the personalized approach of clear aligners. Patients have their aligners changed approximately twice a month, and sometimes even more often, whereas braces are adjusted less frequently. 

For many patients, changing Invisalign aligners doesn’t require a new appointment twice a month in order to see the dentist. In most instances, the new aligners can be changed at home with appointments being required just once every six weeks for checkups and any additional adjustments that may need to be made. 

In fact, patients will likely spend less time in the dentist’s chair than they would with braces due to the latter’s occasional issues like broken wires and brackets. 

What is the personalized approach with Invisalign? 

Your Monterey Peninsula Dental Group family dentist will create a full digital model of your teeth right in the office using cutting-edge 3D scanning equipment. The complete model of your teeth is then processed into a set of correctly-fitting, BPA-free clear plastic aligners, created in a lab. Such advanced techniques allow patients to use their clear aligners 20-22 hours a day, which results in a shorter treatment time to the final result of straighter teeth and a more confident smile. While the Invisalign process can be a little different for everyone, we encourage you to get in touch with us and find out how it might work best for you.

What Are The Symptoms of Dry Socket?

If you’ve ever been around anyone who has had a tooth extracted, you have no doubt heard the phrase “dry socket”. The condition, also known as alveolar osteitis, sometimes happens when a patient has one of their permanent adult teeth extracted via dental procedure. It is the most common complication following a dental extraction.

If a tooth extraction is in your future, it’s important to be informed and aware of what a dry socket is, what the symptoms are, and what to do if the condition does occur. 

The goal of any tooth extraction is to perform the surgery with minimal pain and discomfort.  Once the tooth is removed, it’s expected that a blood clot will form at the extraction site. That clot works to protect the underlying bone and the nerves within the now-empty socket. The clot eventually helps the patient’s body form soft tissue over the tooth socket, and promotes growth of new bone beneath the soft tissue. 

However, there are times when that blood clot fails to develop, or gets dislodged before the extraction site has a chance to heal properly,  and that’s when dry socket can begin. 

What is dry socket? 

When that blood clot fails to protect the exposed bone and nerve endings left behind following an extraction, a dry socket begins to form. The socket becomes inflamed, and intense pain begins to develop typically within one to three days following the tooth extraction. That pain isn’t usually limited to just the socket, but also along the side of a patient’s face as the irritated nerves begin to react. As food debris and other irritants enter the socket, the pain typically grows. 

Unfortunately, typical pain medications available over the counter are usually not capable of relieving the pain of a dry socket. If patients begin to suffer pain at the extraction site or are concerned dry socket may be developing, it is important to contact their MPDG dentist to determine if they need to come in and be seen. 

What are the symptoms of dry socket?

There are multiple symptoms of a dry socket, and those include, but are not limited to, the following: 

  • Intense pain radiating from the extraction site within a few days following the removal of the tooth
  • The loss of the blood clot in the empty socket, which can usually be confirmed visually and sometimes includes visible bone
  • Pain that extends from the socket along the side of the face and possibly to the temple and around the side of the neck 
  • An unpleasant taste in the mouth, often accompanied by bad breath or an undesirable odor emanating from the mouth

How can you prevent dry socket? 

It’s important to follow all your dentist’s instructions for home care after a tooth extraction. Patients are cautioned against several things that can lead to the blood clot either not forming well or becoming dislodged or broken up. 

When you first resume eating and drinking, avoid the extraction site by chewing on the other side of your mouth, and stick to soft foods only. Staying hydrated is important after dental surgery, but avoid using straws or allowing liquid to slosh around the extraction site. Any kind of sucking or swishing movement in your mouth can dislodge the clot and lead to dry socket. 

Avoid sugary, caffeinated and alcoholic beverages while your mouth is healing, and most importantly, avoid any kind of tobacco use. Tobacco use is the main cause of dry socket, because it prevents good clotting and introduces bacteria into the mouth, along with slowing your body’s natural healing processes. The inhalation and exhalation of smoking a cigarette or other tobacco product, or chewing tobacco, also can disturb the blood clot and pull it out of place.

Follow the aftercare instructions for dental hygiene closely to help prevent dry socket. These include avoiding the area with toothbrush, floss or mouthwash for the first 48 hours after an extraction, and refraining from brushing for several days. Instead, you can rinse your mouth gently by tilting your head back and forth, using lukewarm saltwater or an antibacterial mouthwash. Be careful not to disturb the area until a good clot forms in the socket and your healing is well underway. 

If you have any questions after a tooth extraction or concerns for your MPDG dentist to address, contact our offices anytime. 

 

Invisalign vs. Smile Direct Club

It’s not uncommon to look in the mirror while you’re getting ready in the morning and find yourself being less than enthused about any crooked teeth you may see reflecting back at you. The desire to have straight teeth and a beautiful smile is shared by a large portion of the American public, as has been shown by a boom in the number of companies offering clear aligner products. 

The clear aligner industry is essentially dominated by two companies — Invisalign, which was founded in 1997, and Smile Direct Club, established in 2014. Clear aligners can create generally straighter teeth, but they also treat many different smile issues such as gapped teeth, crowding of teeth, open bites and cross bites, and even overbites or underbites. Before you make the decision to get clear aligners, it is important to find out which product is the better option. 

Invisalign Vs. Smile Direct Club

Which brand of aligner is best for you may depend on what problems you’re trying to fix, and how much risk you’re willing to take by handling your own aligners, versus having your treatment overseen by a dental professional. While both Smile Direct Club and Invisalign can handle simple cosmetic straightening cases, Invisalign also has aligner options that can treat more complex dental needs. 

Comparing the two in terms of treatment isn’t quite apples-to-apples as a result. Smile Direct Club promises a treatment time of six months at a typically lower cost than Invisalign, which can take up to 18 months to complete. But the shorter, cheaper option might not be the best one for your oral health and long-term smile improvement. 

Differences in Fitting

While the companies have similar products, the process of getting your fitted clear aligners is completely different between them. If a customer doesn’t live near one of Smile Direct Club’s SmileShops, he or she would have to order the product and have it sent to their home. Then, customers will have to make their own dental impression at home. Sometimes the customer doesn’t have complete success in that process, and the end result is a clear aligner that doesn’t properly fit.

Invisalign takes the at-home human error out of the equation. Your Monterey Peninsula Dental Group dentist will take complete 3D scans of your teeth right in the office. Those scans will result in a complete model of your teeth, which is then processed into a set of correctly-fitting, BPA-free clear aligners. To do this, Invisalign uses an advanced form of 3D printing that actually makes them the largest worldwide user of the technology. 

Invisalign aligners also have the option to use small attachments between your aligners and the teeth in need of straightening, which are placed by your dentist, and allow them to tweak and customize how the aligners are moving your teeth. Smile Direct Club aligners don’t have this feature, which can lead to aligners slipping and improper pressure on the teeth. If you have any existing dental issues, at-home aligners not only might not work to straighten your teeth, but they could do your bite and smile harm. A qualified dentist can use your dental history to individualize your clear aligners and get the most out of the treatment. That’s why we always recommend Invisalign to MPDG patients and carefully help them through the process in our office. 

As for the aligners themselves? Well, there’s not much difference; they are made from similar materials, and the process by which they straighten your teeth is essentially the same. But, there are some key differences in how supervised and personalized your treatment will be, and that can have real effects on the results you get from your aligners. 

Dentist Supervision

The fitting process isn’t the only place Smile Direct Club and Invisalign differ. With Smile Direct Club, you get your aligners mailed to your home and you switch them out as you progress through the treatment plan. Invisalign, however, has a more hands-on approach that involves your dentist helping create an individual care plan with personalized attention to ensure your teeth are properly moving in the right direction. 

The involvement of your dentist is really the largest difference between the two companies and their products. With Smile Direct Club, you have the opportunity to arrange for a phone consultation, but personal attention beyond that is minimal. That leaves the customer to determine if the clear aligner is pushing their teeth too far, or even causing damage in the mouth. 

Invisalign doesn’t leave customers with those kind of worries. The continual involvement of your dentist in your treatment plan means you’ll always have a professional available to regularly check on your progress and give you peace of mind. Get in touch with us to find out more — We work closely with Invisalign as a preferred provider, and recommend their products to our patients who are seeking a straighter, more beautiful smile. 

How Are Invisalign Aligners Made?

If you’re looking at Invisalign as an option for straightening your teeth, you may be wondering just what exactly it is you’d be wearing in your mouth for months to come. 

Invisalign aligners are made individually for each patient based on digital scans taken from their own teeth and bite. The teeth-straightening system works by gradually moving from one set of aligners to another over the course of the treatment, and reshaping your smile along with them. In the same way that traditional metal braces are tightened or adjusted to guide teeth into a new shape, Invisalign aligners will put gradual pressure on your teeth to move them into their new places. 

Sometimes, your dentist may apply small tooth-colored protrusions to your teeth before you begin using Invisalign aligners. These are called SmartForce attachments, and allow your dentist to straighten teeth that are difficult to move or need multiple directions of force to be moved. They attach to the aligners and allow them to exert force more precisely on teeth that might present a more complex problem. The attachments allow Invisalign aligners to do more and help address issues that otherwise might call for metal traditional braces. 

What They’re Made Of

The clear, removable aligners are made from a patented material from Invisalign called SmartTrack. It’s called this because it’s made with small blue indicators that can tell you or your parents whether you’ve been wearing the aligners long enough each day to accomplish your goals. (Invisalign patients usually need to wear the aligners for at least 20 to 22 hours a day to stay on track with their progress.) 

SmartTrack is an extremely durable, BPA-free hard plastic material that is clear, and fits closely to your teeth. These qualities make the aligners near-invisible, which looks more pleasing than metal braces typically do. The material is chosen for comfort while wearing, and to fit your teeth tightly. It is tough, but light and flexible, and capable of gently moving your teeth during treatment.

How Aligners Are Made

The process starts at your MPDG dentist’s office, as he or she will create a custom treatment plan for you. A detailed digital scan is taken of your teeth with a scanner designed specifically for that purpose. That’s used to create a 3D image of your bite and smile. The images allow your dentist to map out a thorough, exact treatment plan that will gradually move your teeth into the desired new shape. At this point, you’ll also know about how long Invisalign treatment will take for your needs — it can be different for each person.

Your aligners are made by Invisalign at a lab, using an advanced 3D printing process. (An interesting fact for you — Invisalign is actually the world’s largest user of this kind of cutting-edge 3D printing.) When they’re ready, they’ll be sent to your dentist, who will then check to make sure they fit correctly. The aligners are trimmed to fit your gumline comfortably, based on the scans of your teeth taken earlier. 

Over the course of your treatment plan, you’ll switch through several sets of aligners. Each set helps you progress toward your end goal of having straight teeth. You can usually expect to move on to the next set of aligners every few weeks, but the timing is an individual process that depends on the condition of your teeth and what problems your dentist is treating with Invisalign. 

Our Invisalign Experience

Monterey Peninsula Dental Group is proud to be an Invisalign Preferred Provider. This means we’ve gone through certification with Invisalign to prove we are well-versed in using the Invisalign system, and have continually and successfully treated many cases with it. In fact, we are a top Invisalign provider for the Monterey Peninsula. It also means our staff is familiar with helping our patients through the billing and insurance process with Invisalign and can answer all your Invisalign questions. Get in touch with us to find out more about whether Invisalign might be right for your dental goals.