ASK A DENTIST

I need to get a root-canal treatment, which has been pending for a long time but I kept postponing it. Is it okay to go to the dentist now considering the covid situation?

You may undergo root canal treatment in the clinic, but try and make sure that adequate precautions are being taken. Best practices include a rubber-dam for isolating dental aerosols, protective glasses for the patient, N95 or equivalent masks for the dentist and assistant, disposable gowns, head and preferably shoe coverings. Please also make sure that the dental clinic is not too crowded. Ask for a mouthwash, preferably hydrogen peroxide, before you start in case you have not been offered one. Avoid touching any surfaces or things that you don’t need to. You can check with your clinic if your patient form can be filled up online. Also, take all receipts, prescriptions and claim forms electronically rather than as hard copies to minimise spread. Think of the above as guidelines and tips rather than rules because some of them cannot be practised fully. However, the more of these guidelines you follow the safer you can be. Stay safe.

I am wearing dentures for a number of years and I miss eating chewy foods that I love. What options do I have?

If you are wearing full dentures for a number of years, we assume that some amount of jaw bone might be already resorbed. For many people, the dentures get loose since there is not much jaw bone support to grip the dentures well. This means your dentures are possibly rocking when you bite, making it difficult or sometimes even impossible to chew even moderately hard foods like an apple or meat. Several options are available for you. If your dentures aren’t fitting very well then it might be time to get a relining done of your old dentures. If there are several problems like worn out teeth on the denture then it might be time to get new dentures made which might be a second option. A third option might be to convert your dentures to implant retained dentures. A final option and probably the most natural one would be to replace the dentures completely with an implant supported fixed bridge.

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