Dr Kelvin Chua Ke Bin

When a person is having wisdom tooth infection, they would normally experience pain and swollen gums. At times, when the wisdom tooth is not growing properly, it may cause trapping of bacteria around the area that may potentially spread to the throat area. Rinising with mouthwash or salt water may sometimes help with minor cases. Other times, wisdom tooth removal may be warranted to prevent more severe problems like teeth decay or jaw bone loss. The dentist will normally need clinical examination and radiograph before advising you on the complexity of the wisdom tooth removal, if it is needed.

congratulations on the completion of your orthodontic treatment! Our teeth are constantly moving, and people tend to notice that the teeth may "move more" during orthodontic treatment, or within a few months after orthodontic treatment. The reason is because during orthodontic treatment or after, the periodontal ligament that cushions/holds the teeth in place likes to move back to its old position. Several of my patients will feedback that upon not wearing the aligners or retainers for a few hours, the teeth may shift slightly, and upon wearing it again it feels tight on the teeth.

Hi, prior to gum contouring, your dentist will analyse your smile, and see how much gum contouring can improve the problem of a gummy smile. After which, the dimension of the teeth will be measured to decide how gum should be contoured. Gum contouring is normally a 1-2 hours procedure, unless bone needs to be removed, which may then take up to 3-4 hours. It is usually done under local anaesthetic, even though it can done under sedation. The procedure can be done in the traditional way with a scalpel or with a dental laser. During the procedure, you shouldn't feel anything as the gum is numb.

fluorosis stains by themselves do not pose any health issue. I do have patients bothered by the aesthetics appearance of it. Fluorosis stain is a form of "internal stain" - polishing may not be effective to remove internal stains. Polishing is only effective to remove external stains (coffee, tea stains etc) To eradicate or minimise fluorosis stain, we will need to stick something over the teeth to cover them, or to remove the stain mechanically or chemically. I've found that the protocol below enables me to satisfactorily manage fluorosis stain for patients. 1.

thanks for the question. Firstly, there are several reasons for the teeth to appear squarish, which prompt people to seek treatment in order to have a set of teeth with nicer dimensions. With the right diagnosis, dentists will be in a better position to advise the chances of relapse. They key term to predict whether the gum will relapse after gum contouring treatment is "Biological Width". The gum needs to be about 3mm away from the bone underneath. A good way to predict whether the gum will relapse is through a technique called "bone sounding".

Generally there are a few methods to create space to align teeth. The main ways are: 1. Extraction 2. File the teeth (IPR) 3. Push the teeth forward (buccal expansion) 4. Push the back teeth back (distalization) There are pros and cons of each options. You are right to point out that excessive filing may lead to sensitive teeth. Most of our enamel at the area where filing is done are about 0. 6-1. 5mm thick. Based on my experience, if the filing of enamel is done is a meticulous and measured way, it is very rare for patients to experience sensitivity.