Is there any dental procedure more dreaded than a root canal? Well, maybe an extraction. But when it comes to procedures people desperately want to avoid, a root canal is at the top of the list.

While Dr. Egger offers skilled root canal treatment at his office in Mount Pleasant, MI, he always encourages his patients to improve their preventative dental care. There are three ways you can help reduce your risk of needing a root canal—are you practicing them now?

1. Book Professional Cleanings Every 6 Months

Professional dental cleanings offer a deeper level of plaque removal than regular brushing and flossing. You also get a fluoride treatment that strengthens your teeth and helps prevent decay and disease.

By scheduling routine teeth cleanings, you can avoid cavities that could eventually cause the need for a root canal.

2. Brush 3 Times a Day

Many people have gotten into the habit of carrying their toothbrushes to work. It’s a good idea! Brushing within 30 minutes of eating or drinking anything but water can lower the risk of cavities or plaque buildup.

Make sure that you brush with an ADA-approved toothpaste for 2 minutes at a time.

3. Avoid Hard Foods and Candy

Hard foods that require a lot of bite force can lead to fractures in your enamel. When this protective layer of a tooth is damaged, bacteria can enter and, ultimately, infect the root. Stick to softer foods that aren’t hard to chew.

Never Ignore Warning Signs

If you experience pain or sensitivity in any of your teeth, it’s a good idea to book an appointment with the dentist. Even minor discomfort can indicate a cavity, and it’s always best to get a filling as early as possible.

Quick intervention can spare you the cost and stress of more extensive dental work, so don’t hesitate to book an appointment!

Get the Support You Need From Dr. Egger

Since 1996, Dr. Egger has operated a solo, family-friendly practice in Mount Pleasant, MI. From general dentistry and preventative care to advanced periodontal disease, he prides himself on helping everyone get the level of dental support they deserve.

If you would like to make an appointment, please schedule a consultation online, or call 989-773-3560.

No matter how well you take care of your teeth, there is always a chance that bacteria can make its way into your teeth. When that happens, you may have to take more serious measures to ensure the safety and well-being of your teeth. In some situations a root canal may be suggested, This dental procedure has been utilized by people all over the world for many years. In this blog, we are going to talk about what root canals are and what problems they address.

What Is a Root Canal? 

All teeth have roots that are anchored to the jawbone. Within these roots are nerves and blood vessels that are transported through canals to the pulp, which is the center of the tooth. The problem arises when bacteria makes its way to the pulp of the tooth, either through a crack in the tooth or if the tooth is decaying. Bacteria can make their way through the roots to the gums, which can cause major toothache.

A root canal procedure can help address this issue. By using local anesthetic and nitrous oxide, a hole is drilled into the tooth and dead pulp and bacteria can be extracted from the tooth. The inside of the tooth is cleaned and the roots that lead down to the base of the tooth and blocked with dental putty. To finish the operation, either a dental crown or dental filling is placed upon the tooth for preservation.

Symptoms of Tooth Infection 

• Severe throbbing in the tooth that can spread to the jawbone
• Pain or discomfort with food or drinks that are hot or cold
• Pain when chewing or biting
• Swelling in the face or cheeks
• Bad breath

Get Your Root Canal With Dr. Eggers 

If you are experiencing any of the symptoms listed above, you may need a root canal. The treatment can drastically improve your symptoms and ensure the safety and integrity of your teeth. If you are interested in learning if a root canal can benefit you, Dr. Kenneth Eggers in Mount Pleasant, MI is here to provide you with world-class dental care. With nearly 30 years of experience, Dr. Egger has the skills and experience to make sure that your root canal procedure is handled with precision and care. Contact us today at (989) 7773-3560 or visit us online at mountpleasantmidentist.com to schedule your consultation.

When you come in to see us for a regular cleaning and exam with Dr. Egger and our team, our talented hygienists do some “scaling” on your teeth to remove plaque and tartar all the way down to the gumline and across the entire surface of each tooth. This keeps your teeth and gums healthy.

But if your home hygiene hasn’t been quite up to snuff, or if you haven’t kept up your twice-yearly exams and cleanings, plaque and tartar could have started to work their way up under your gums. This is the beginning of gum disease. At this point, the plaque and tartar are probably just irritating your gums, but the issue needs to be addressed to keep things from spiraling downward toward full-blown periodontitis.

Dr. Egger will now need to do a little work under the gumline. This is called root scaling and root planing. It sounds kind of scary, but these two procedures are linked together and are really not a big deal. Plus, they keep our patients from Mt. Pleasant and the surrounding areas from moving into the more involved treatments necessary for later stage gum disease.

When does a patient need root scaling and planing?

Root scaling and planing are non-surgical procedures whose job is to address and cause periodontal disease to retreat. Healthy gum tissue fits tightly around each tooth. The accepted measurement from the top of the gumline to where the gum attaches to the tooth should only be from one to three millimeters in depth. The problem comes when plaque and tartar accumulate around and under the gums, below the gumline. This is the start of periodontal disease and deeper pockets will form around the teeth. These harbor even more bacteria, worsening the situation. The depth of these pockets can now be four millimeters or more. Root scaling and planing is the first option to treat the advancing gum disease.

How root scaling and planing are done

The goal is to get the gums to heal and reattach themselves firmly to the teeth, as they did when they were healthy. The first step Dr. Egger uses is root scaling. If possible, Dr. Egger uses a diode laser for both scaling and planing. This is done below the gumline on the roots of the teeth. All plaque, bacterial toxins, and tartar deposits are removed. Next, root planing is done to smooth all the rough areas on the surfaces of your roots. When these surfaces are smooth, bacteria, plaque, and tartar don’t adhere to the root surface, allowing your gums to heal.

Afterwards

After a period of time, you’ll be asked to return so that Dr. Egger can ascertain the effectiveness of our efforts addressing your periodontal disease. He checks to see if your gums that were red and swollen have become firm and pink again. Bleeding should be reduced, and the pockets that were growing should have shrunk back down. If these signs all point to good progress, you may not need any additional periodontal work, but if the conditions have become more severe, Dr. Egger may need to enlist the services of a periodontist to intervene to halt the progression of bone loss.

Obviously, the way to avoid all of this is to practice good home dental care, and to keep your twice-yearly exams and cleanings with Dr. Egger. Is it time for your next appointment? Call us at (989) 773-3560 to schedule your time.

There’s no shortage of misinformation thrown around these days. Whether it’s outright lies on Twitter or false news stories circulated on Facebook, it’s hard to know what’s the real story.

In the dental world, root canals are the topic of misinformation. There’s more skewed information out there about root canals than news about so-called “elections” in the old Pravda newspaper in Moscow. Everyone believes a root canal is such a painful procedure that they’d rather avoid it at all costs. In fact, many people deal with the real pain caused by the infection in their tooth, rather than face the perceived pain of the root canal.

Since Dr. Egger performs his own root canals at his Mt. Pleasant practice, rather than sending you to an oral surgeon, we’d like to set the record straight.

It starts with plaque

This whole process starts with bacteria. When we eat, tiny food particles lodge on or between our teeth. If you don’t brush regularly or efficiently these foods break down into sugars and attract bacteria. Those bacteria are in the film on the teeth called plaque. Left to its own devices, the bacteria eventually begin to cause decay as they create acids that begin to penetrate the enamel of your teeth. If those acids eat through the enamel, the bacteria are now into the interior of the tooth, the pulp. Now your tooth is infected.

And that can be really painful. That’s because your tooth is full of nerve endings.

At this point, there are only two things to do, extract the tooth or do a root canal. A root canal will let you keep your natural tooth. Plus, you won’t have to deal with filling the gap left by your extracted tooth with either a bridge or an implant.

Root canal procedure

In a root canal, after the area is completely anesthetized Dr. Egger makes a small hole in the top of the tooth to access the infected pulp. He removes all the infected matter and the tooth root, which usually is also infected. Now the tooth is completely empty, and it has no feeling, as the nerves in the root have been removed. Everything is disinfected and then the tooth is filled with a rubber-based material called gutta percha. Then the hole is usually filled with composite resin and capped with a crown. Your excruciating pain from your infection (not your root canal) is gone and you can happily keep your tooth, maybe for the rest of your life.

And how painful was the root canal procedure? Most people equate the pain to that of having a routine cavity filled.

So, let’s get past the rumors and urban legends. Root canals aren’t any more painful than having a routine filling placed. It’s the pain necessitating the root canal that made you want to scream.

If you think you have an infected tooth, give Dr. Egger at (989) 773-3560, and let’s get onto the business of saving that tooth with a root canal.

Root canal. Mention those two words in casual conversation with someone and watch the reaction on their face. It will probably involve some look of discomfort, maybe even horror! Ah, root canals, the dental procedure right out of medieval torture.

Puhleeeeze. The reality of the modern root canal performed by Dr. Egger is far different than the preconceptions. Modern root canals don’t involve any more pain than having a typical cavity filled. And they will usually save your tooth.

Let’s get past the myths about root canals.

Myth #1 — The treatment is painful.

It isn’t true that a root canal is painful. This misperception of the procedure and the pain “supposedly” involved must come from long ago when anesthesia and dental practices weren’t as advanced as they are now.

Usually, people now associate the pain PRIOR to having the root canal with the procedure. This pain is coming from the infected pulp inside the tooth and this is what the root canal seeks to remove. An infection in a tooth can be very painful because the infection has progressed far enough to impact the nerves in the tooth root. A root canal removes the infected/decayed tissue, including the nerves in the tooth, and relieves this extreme pain. Modern technology has made it possible for a root canal treatment to be almost “painless.”

Myth #2 — Tooth extraction is a good alternative to a root canal procedure.

Extraction used to be a viable alternative, but those days are long gone. Dr. Egger strives to keep the natural tooth if at all possible, and a root canal procedure can do that. By keeping your natural teeth, you can continue to eat whatever you want. Also, root canal treatment is a cost-effective method of treating a tooth with infected pulp. The success rate in keeping the tooth, if there is enough healthy tooth remaining, is very high with root canals.

Myth #3 — The procedure causes illness.

This is nothing more than a dental “urban legend.” There isn’t a shred of evidence that root canal treatments cause various illnesses in the body. It is a safe and effective procedure that eliminates bacteria, prevents reinfection, and salvages your natural tooth. The fact is, if you don’t remove the infection in your tooth, then the infection can spread to other areas of your body.

If you have serious pain in a tooth, you may need a root canal to remove the infected pulp and save the tooth. Call Dr. Egger at (989) 773-3560 and let’s check it out.

This Root Scaling Isn’t for Your Yard

There are plaques you want to get, like MVP of the softball tournament down at Softball City before it closed in 2000. And there is plaque you don’t want to get, especially under your gums — dental plaque. When you develop dental plaque under your gums, Dr. Egger needs to remove it with root scaling and planing.

Who needs root scaling and planing?

When you come in for your twice-yearly cleanings with Dr. Egger and our team these involve scaling your teeth. You may not know that term, but that’s what happens when Sheila or Jan use a dental pick and remove plaque and tartar. These cleanings usually don’t go below the gumline.

But if your home hygiene program has been poor or if you’ve missed a couple cleanings/exams with us, that plaque may have started to sneak its way under your gums. This is the start of periodontal (gum) disease. If left alone, that plaque under your gums will start to wreak havoc.

Root scaling and planing will now be necessary.

What’s healthy and not?

Healthy gum tissue fits tightly around each tooth. But if plaque has developed under your gums, the tissues that support your teeth will begin to pull away from the teeth, creating pockets where bacteria can have a party. You’ll know this has happened because your breath will reek, your gums will bleed easily, and you’ll be able to see pockets where the gums are pulling away from the plaque on your teeth.

What is root scaling and root planing?

To get rid of that bothersome plaque we need to go under the gums. Root scaling is first. You’ll be given some local anesthetic to alleviate any discomfort. Then Dr. Egger will use a pick to go below the gumline and break off any plaque, bacterial toxins, and tartar deposits from your teeth and the root surfaces.

After all of that junk is removed, next up is root planing. For this, we smooth all the rough areas on the surface of your tooth roots. Bacteria, plaque, and tartar don’t like smooth surfaces much, so root planing helps keep the bad stuff off, and it allows your gums to heal and reattach themselves more firmly to your roots.

Home hygiene is important

How can you avoid these gum issues? A good home hygiene routine, along with keeping your twice-yearly exams/cleanings with the team at Dr. Egger’s, is usually enough to keep any plaque from developing under your gums.

Is it time for your next exam and cleaning? Remember, we’re closed on Fridays in the summer. Call us at (989) 773-3560 to make your appointment.

A Menu of Dr. Egger’s Most Common Services

Whether it is with or without anxiety, patients are always focused on their procedure. Maybe it’s a routine cleaning; perhaps it’s the need to have a filling placed. To keep everyone up to date, here’s a list of our most common services, treatments, and procedures at Dr. Egger’s practice.

Oral health exams: X-rays, oral cancer screenings, along with a visual examination of the teeth, gums, and jaw are involved here. We look for signs of decay, disease, misalignment, spaces, and other issues.

Prophylactic cleanings: We remove minor plaque and tartar buildup to reduce the risk of gingivitis and cavity formation. Every six months is the right interval.

Gum disease intervention: To head off gum disease, Dr. Egger usually only needs to do some scaling of the teeth. This sounds serious but is just scraping off tartar below the gum line where it builds up and begins to cause gum irritation. For more advanced cases, he uses a diode laser to remove diseased tissue and remove bacteria, and Arestin to help with healing.

Fluoride treatments & dental sealants: Usually for children, but occasionally requested by adults, fluoride helps prevent tooth decay. We apply a topical gel twice a year. Sealants are long-term plastic filling applied to the deep grooves in the molars. It can last for decades.

Dental implants: Dr. Egger is a big fan of dental implants for tooth replacement. Why? Because once they are accepted by the jawbone, implants function and look just like natural teeth. Plus, they can last the remainder of the patient’s life.

Root canals: When decay reaches the inner pulp of the tooth, it’s time for a root canal. This cleans out the interior of the tooth, removing the infected tissue and nerves and replacing it with rubber-based substance. The tooth is then usually capped. Root canals save teeth from needing extraction.

Extractions: Pulling teeth. Dr. Egger doesn’t remove wisdom teeth, but most regular extractions can be handled in-house. 

Fillings & crowns: A cavity is merely an area of decay in a tooth. Usually, routine fillings address decay before it damages the interior of the tooth. You can opt for metal amalgam or composite fillings. Crowns are what used to be called caps because they are placed atop the damaged tooth to return strength and functionality.

Dentures: Dr. Egger designs and fits full or partial dentures to replace a group of teeth or all of a patient’s teeth. Today’s dentures fit better, are more comfortable, and are easier to manage than those of previous generations.

Is it time for your regular cleaning and exam? Call Dr. Egger at (989) 773-3560 to make your appointment.

Stuff happens to your teeth. You may have been playing a little pond hockey with Henrik Zetterberg and a puck came up and bonked you in the mouth. You may have been playing a Turkey Bowl over on the Central Michigan fields and butted heads with another player by accident. You may have had braces when you were in high school. All of those scenarios can cause trauma to a tooth. The tooth wasn’t knocked out, but it was rocked. Or in the case of braces, moving the tooth may have caused root damage. You may not even know it when the trauma begins, but it can eventually threaten the life of the tooth.

And there are the more obvious issues, things such decay that has invaded the interior of a tooth. Or a previous filling that has again started to decay around it.

These are all cases where the tooth may be in danger of needing to be extracted, as damage has entered the interior pulp of the tooth. And because only little kids with wiggly baby teeth like to have a tooth pulled (hello, Tooth Fairy!), most of us will do what’s necessary to save the tooth.

That something would be a root canal with Dr. Egger.

What is a root canal?

While unfairly associated with medieval torture, root canals are a tooth-saving life raft. Every tooth has one or more roots that anchor the tooth into the jawbone. Nerves and blood vessels run through several tiny channels or “canals” in the root into the pulp at the center of the tooth. When a cavity or fracture allows bacteria to get into the interior of the tooth the pulp is likely going to become infected. Now things get bad. The bacteria will spread through the interior and down into the root canals. From there it can also begin to infect the surrounding gum tissue. Plus, it will inflame the nerve and surrounding tissue in the roots causing extreme pain.

That pain if where people confuse the pain of the infection with the pain (non-existent) of a root canal.

Dr. Egger uses a root canal to:

• Get rid of the pain
• Reduce swelling
• Stem the infection
• Remove the decayed stuff in the interior of the tooth
• Keep the remaining healthy tooth structure intact
• Restore function and appearance of the tooth

How it’s done

Dr. Egger drills a small hole in the top of the tooth. Then he inserts a series of small round files into the interior of the tooth to scrape out and remove the dead pulp, bacteria, nerves, and other tissue. The tooth interior is now empty and is then thoroughly disinfected to make sure the infection is gone. The tooth is now filled with a rubber-like substance known as gutta-percha. It is then sealed with a filling and usually topped with a crown to return strength to the tooth. Unlike the rumors you may have heard, root canals are painless. They are done after the tooth and gums are local anesthetized. The damaged tooth can then usually live a long life despite not having anything inside it (except gutta-percha). That’s OK — we only need the living tissue in the tooth when the tooth is developing when we are kids.

Do you have a tooth with extreme pain? Call Dr. Egger at (989) 773-3560 to make an appointment.

 
There are certain things that you don’t want to get inside parts of your body. You don’t want those earwig things from Star Trek to climb into your brain through your ear. You don’t want “the” alien to jump on your face and climb into your mouth, taking up a cozy residence in your abdomen.

And you don’t want decay and infection to make its way into one of your teeth. When such an invasion is relatively minor, Dr. Egger can address things by removing the decay and placing a filling. But when the infection is more extreme, a root canal is the only way Dr. Egger can save your tooth.

What is a root canal?

Every tooth has one or more “roots” that keep the tooth anchored into the jawbone. These roots hold the nerves and blood vessels that run through tiny channels, also known as canals. These canals feed the pulp at the center of the tooth. See, now you know what a root canal is.

The problem comes when bacteria makes its creepy way into the pulp of your tooth. This can happen if the tooth becomes cracked. Or it can happen when decay gets through the enamel. Once inside, the pulp, clinically called dentin, becomes infected. Not satisfied with just getting in, the bacteria spreads down into the root canals and can even make its way out into the gums. While there, it tortures the nerves, creating the signature tooth pain that can be akin to medieval torture.

Now your tooth is in danger. Dr. Egger is going to have to perform a root canal to save it.

Wait, you said a root canal is just a passageway in the tooth root for the nerves and blood vessels. True, don’t ask us why cleaning out decay from the root canal is called a root canal. It just is.

Evict the invaders

To save the tooth, Dr. Egger drills a small hole into the top. He then goes in to remove all the infected pulp, the nerves, and any stray bacteria he finds. He does this with the help of tiny round files. His job, should he choose to accept it, is to remove all the infection and everything else from inside the tooth. Next, the empty tooth is thoroughly cleaned with a topical antibiotic to kill any malingering bacteria. Now the fun part — he fills the empty tooth with a rubber compound called gutta percha. If you play golf, you may recognize that term. Yes, it’s what the original golf balls were made of. The final step is to place a filling or a dental crown over the drilled hole to seal up the tooth.

Now your tooth can keep on keeping on. A tooth that has had a root canal may seem fragile since it is hollow, but it isn’t. The tooth could last the rest of your life.

The myth

There is some mythology surrounding root canals. People think they are extremely painful. Untrue. Root canals remove the source of pain, the infected nerves. Root canals are no more painful than having a regular filling placed. People mix up the pain that merits having a root canal done with the actual procedure. The infected tooth can be seriously painful, but not the root canal to save it!

If you have tooth pain, you may have an infected tooth. Call Dr. Egger at 989-773-3560 to make an appointment.

Dr. Egger doesn’t like to take any monkey business from dental plaque. He beats up on it much like Gordie Howe used to beat up on losers from the Rangers. One of the ways he handles plaque is with root scaling and planing.

Who needs root scaling and planing?

When you come into our office for your twice-yearly cleanings and exams, those involve scaling your teeth. You may not know that term, but that’s what happens when the hygienist takes the dental pick and removes plaque and tartar. These cleanings usually don’t go below the gumline.

But if you have been doing a less-than-stellar job with your home hygiene or have missed a couple cleanings/exams with us, that plaque may have started to sneak its way under your gums. This is the start of the periodontal (gum) disease. If left alone, that plaque under your gums will start to wreak havoc.

That’s when Dr. Egger needs to do a little root scaling and root planing.

What’s healthy and not?

Healthy gum tissue fits tightly around each tooth. But if plaque has developed under your gums, the tissues that support your teeth will begin to pull away from the teeth, creating pockets where bacteria can have a party. You’ll know this has happened because your breath will reek, your gums will bleed easily, and you’ll be able to see pockets where the gums are pulling away from the plaque on your teeth.

What are root scaling and root planing?

Now it’s time for Dr. Egger to teach the plaque who’s the boss. Root scaling is first. You’ll probably be given some local anesthetic to alleviate any discomfort. Then Dr. Egger uses dental picks to go below the gumline and break off any plaque, bacterial toxins, and tartar deposits from your teeth and the root surfaces.

After all of that junk is removed, next up is root planing. For this, Dr. Egger smoothes all the rough areas on the surface of your tooth roots. Bacteria, plaque, and tartar don’t like smooth surfaces much, so root planing helps keep the bad stuff off, and it allows your gums to heal and reattach themselves more firmly to your roots.

Home hygiene is key

Of course, all of this could have been prevented had you been better about your home hygiene, and had you kept your twice-yearly cleanings/exams with us.

Is it time to book your next appointment? Call Dr. Egger at 989-773-3560.