Does It Matter Where A Dentist Graduated From?

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The answers given by Dr.A are intended as non-professional advice, for entertainment only if you will. Please do consult with your dentist of record or your physician before making any decision regarding your dental or medical health.




I would like to find out where my dentist went to school without having to ask him outright. For physicians, their medical school is listed with the information about their license activity. For dentists, this is not true in California. I don't know what other states do.

I am one of those folks who have had both fabulous and truly awful dental work. One of the ways to increase the odds of good care is to know the dentist's background and training. Can you provide any help in this regard? I do hope so. If you can not, where do we write?



Dr.A - The dentist's year and school of graduation, and disciplinary record should be available at your state's dental association. If not made public on their site, then by all means call them. You can find your state's association by googling it.

Let me take this opportunity to discuss a dentist's abilities. If you are looking for a dentist that has recently graduated, then maybe the quality of the program at the school from which that dentist graduated from might make a difference. However, all dentists must continue to enroll in continuing education classes to keep their licenses active with their particular state association and department of health.

After a few years of continuing education and clinical experience the dentist's alma mater should not make a difference on the quality of work. What you should be looking for is how long a dentist has been working out of school, and if there are any disciplinary hearings on their professional record.



The answers given by Dr.A are intended as non-professional advice, for entertainment only if you will. Please do consult with your dentist of record or your physician before making any decision regarding your dental or medical health.






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Can Food Debris Hide a Tooth Cavity on X-Rays?

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The answers given by Dr.A are intended as non-professional advice, for entertainment only if you will. Please do consult with your dentist of record or your physician before making any decision regarding your dental or medical health.



Q. I have seen 2 dentists in the past 3 months who have both assured me that my teeth are in good condition and that I have no cavities. Prior to these visits, I had last seen a dentist more than a decade ago. I feel certain that I have at least 1 cavity. My certainty stems from the following:

Last year, while eating I suddenly heard and felt a crunch in my mouth. Upon inspection I found that it was a piece of silver filling, a finding corroborated by a jagged edge on one of my left molars that could be felt with my tongue. Secondly, when sucking on the tooth, a decidedly unpleasant taste appears, despite the fact that I floss regularly.

So my question is:

Is it possible for food debris to become so compacted in a cavity that is not attended to, that the cavity cannot be detected on x-rays?




Dr.A - If your observations, mainly the broken piece of amalgam and the jagged tooth filling, are correct then I would have to assume you have a broken filling and that it needs replacing. Now, for two dentists to say otherwise, I would also have to assume that there's nothing of significance that can be detected. As you can guess, I cannot give you a solid answer as to what is really going on with your tooth with the limited information you have given me.

Is it possible for food to block out a cavity on the x-ray? No. When reading x-rays there are two types of structures, those that show up white (radio-opague) and those that show up black or not at all (radio-lucent). Anything hard or mineralized, such as bone, tooth enamel, etc will show up as a varying degree of white depending on how dense the structure is. Anything soft, mushy, or empy space will show up black as x-ray beams pass through unobstructed.

So as you can imagine, food debris that is compacted in a hollow cavity cannot show up on the x-ray, therefore, the cavity will still show as a black hole or hollow, and the dentist should be able to detect it.

Sorry, but it is difficult to analyze your case without seeing the x-ray and clinically observing the tooth. What you should do is visit your dentist (or both dentists) again and complain of the said symptoms; the ragged edge and foul taste. Make sure you make the appointment for that reason only so that the dentist's full attention is on that one problem.




The answers given by Dr.A are intended as non-professional advice, for entertainment only if you will. Please do consult with your dentist of record or your physician before making any decision regarding your dental or medical health.




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Cranberry Juice and Your Teeth

Dr.A's Dental Diet
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Various studies have shown that certain components found in Cranberry Juice disrupted the adhesive properties of bacterial biofilms found in the oral cavity.

Biofilms are a way for bacteria to stick to each other and protect eacth other from harm. These bacterial congregations are sticky, and make it hard for their removal. In essence, drinking cranberry juice has been found to act as an anti-bacterial agent, breaking up these biofilms on teeth.

Having said that, don't go out and drink just any cranberry juice. Remember, many juices contain a lot of added sugar. Drink only those juices with no extra sugar. Also, take care not to drink too much. All fruit juices contain a high amount of natural sugar.

Cranberry juice can stain your teeth, so make sure you rinse with water after drinking.







Dr.A's Dental Diet
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