Tag Archives: decay

Emergency Temporary Bridge

This patient broke off her front teeth and delayed treatment due to fear of contracting COVID. I cleaned up the decay and made her a PMMA temporary bridge so she could smile for the holidays.

pmma bridge
before/after PMMA bridge
computer design
CAD/CAM milled bridge

Implant and crown case of the day

On this patient I noticed decay under two 20 year old crowns on teeth #30 and 31.  Removal of the old crowns revealed tooth #30 with deep decay sub-gingival into the root furcation. This tooth was non-restorable.  I recommended extraction and an implant. For tooth #31, I was able to clean out the decay and do a crown build-up and make her a new crown.

decay under old crowns
decay under old crowns
decay-under-crowns
decay on x-ray
under_crown
after removal of crown #30
healing_abutment_crown_build-up
#30 extracted-implant placed, #31 cleaned up
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#30 implant, #31 new crown placed
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implant crown in position
final_implant
screw access channel filled
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finished implant and crowns-looks great!!!
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perfect fit!
Dr_Philip_Gentry
happy patient

implant_gapparfect_crown_&_implant

The first x-ray above shows my initial try-in with a gap between the implant crown and implant. The crown would not fully seat, so I re-did the implant crown. The second x-ray, after re-doing the implant crown, shows a perfect fit!!! Both the implant crowns #30 and #31 fit and look beautiful.

Cavities of the day

This first patient had a large deep cavity on the inside (lingual surface) of her upper lateral incisor. The decay extended under the gum-line and the pulp was necrotic. We discussed treatment options and could have extracted the tooth and placed an implant, but I felt we could save this tooth with a root canal and composite build-up.

decay1
deep decay
decay2
decay extended into pulp
decay3
composite build-up
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root canal

The next patient had a cavity on his upper molar. I quickly and easily removed the decay and placed a composite restoration.

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decay-before and after

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Cavities of the day

This 30 year old patient drinks lemon water all day long. She also grinds her teeth. The grinding causes her teeth to crack and the acid from the lemon juice erodes the tooth causing demineralization of enamel allowing tooth decay.

decaybefore
before-deep decay spreading between her teeth
fillingsafter
after-cleaning out the decay and restoring the teeth with ceramic composite restorations
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happy (and still numb) patient after

Next, his 23 year old patient had a crack in his back upper molar. The tooth had a 10 year old amalgam restoration in it. The crack allowed decay to spread deep under the old amalgam filling. The tooth was not sensitive and the patient was unaware that he had a cavity. I removed the old filling and cleaned up the decay, placed a fluoride base to protect the pulp and restored the tooth with a beautiful ceramic composite.

consult

decay
cracked decayed molar
decay1
deep decay
decay2
decay removed
decay3
composite restoration placed

I enjoy explaining and educating my patients

As Dean’s Faculty, Clinical Assistant Professor in The Advanced General Dentistry Department at The University of Maryland School of Dentistry, I am used to teaching and educating residents and senior dental students. I am always happy to answer questions and show patients exactly what I am doing and explain why.

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X-ray of the patient’s upper left teeth on the monitor
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Showing the patient her cavity and explaining what I am doing
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After photo demonstrating her tooth restored with a ceramic composite restoration
cavity1
Showing this patient his cavity
cavity2
cavity
cavity3
decay removed
cavity4
restored with ceramic composite restoration
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happy (and numb) patient

decay under an old crown

This patient had been taking medications for depression and allergies causing dry mouth.  As a result he developed decay under an old crown. I was able to save the tooth by removing the old crown, cleaning out the decay, and placing a new beautiful all porcelain crown.

decay1
old crown removed revealing decay
decay2
decay cleaned and crown buildup placed
decay3
new porcelain crown