Dental Info

 Although this is an unusual  event, it can happen. Interestingly, patients who experience changes in their bite either do not notice or just don't complain to their dentists. Even though patients don't complain, a change in their bites can be evidence of a deteriorating oral condition.There can be several possible causes. Patients with TMJ problems can definately have an altered bite. This may be due to muscles of mastication that are inflammed and functioning in an imbalanced way or can be caused by skeletal remodeling of the mandibular condyle that cause the two ramuses to be different lengths. Musclar problems tend to cause different types of changes in the bite than skeletal.  When the muscles are inflamed a patient may not be able to occlude in their usual comfortable bite but instead my be biting slightly more anteriorly. One way to deal with this sort of issue is to make the patient wear a deprogammer  24/7 for a couple of weeks to see if the patients bite ...

Many patients have unused money in their FSA account (Flexible Spending Account). This money is a lose it or use it proposition. If it is not used for a appropriate medical bill it will not be usable going forward and the money will be lost. These accounts are subject to the rules of the company that is sponsoring them and sometimes a detailed bill is required to insure that the money is being used for an acceptable medical (or dental) procedure. Starting in October patient often discuss what sort of treatments they might have that could use up the amount that is left in their account. Often we can use these funds for fillings, crowns, periodontal treatments,  night guards or implant restorations. Some plans are quite flexible and only require that we submit a receipt of funds for undisclosed dental services. More and more my patients use a FSA credit card to pay for their end of the year dental services and no explanation  of the services provided is required. If you hav...