DentalPortal.com

What will you Find at DentalPortal.com?

Dentalportal.com is the ultimate search engine for finding caring dentists, orthodontists, oral surgeons and other dental professionals in your community. Visitors can be assured to find dental care providers who not only provide a high quality of care for their patients, but also believe in giving back to the community by supporting the Smile for a Child Foundation.

Dental Job Seekers: DentalPortal.com has created a new section where job seekers can find great jobs in the broad range of positions available throughout the field of dentistry. All of the jobs you will find here are listed by dental practices seeking qualified applicants.

For more information about the Smile for a Child Foundation, please visit:

www.smileforachildfoundation.org

Finding the Right Type of Dental Care Provider

Endodontist: Endodontists care for the inner portion of the teeth. They perform root canals and treat diseases of the pulp and nerves inside the tooth.

Holistic Dentistry: is an approach to Dentistry that promotes health and wellness instead of the treatment of disease. This approach to Dentistry encompasses both modern science and knowledge drawn from the worlds great traditions on natural healing. It is sometimes called "Biological" dentistry or "Biocompatible" dentistry. Holistic Dentistry acknowledges and deals with the mind, body, and spirit of the patient, not just his or her "Teeth".

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon: Treat injuries and defects of the mouth and jaw; they often perform complex tooth extractions.

Oral Pathologist: Examine, identify, diagnose and treat diseases of the mouth.

Orthodontics: Design and apply corrective and supportive appliances (braces) to realign crooked teeth.

Pediatric Dentist: Care for infants, children, adolescents and special patients having psychological, physical or emotional problems. Pediatric Dental Practitioners are skilled at handling a child's first visit to the dentist.

Peridontist: Treat diseases of the soft tissue (gums) and bone that surround and support the teeth.

Prosthodontist: design, construct and fit replacement teeth, such as implants, bridgework and dentures.

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Root Canals: is the commonly used term for the main canals within the dentin of the tooth. These are part of the natural cavity within a tooth that consists of the dental pulp chamber, the main canals, and sometimes more intricate anatomical branches that may connect the root canals to each other or to the root surface of the tooth. Root canals are filled with a highly vascularized, loose connective tissue, the dental pulp. This sometimes becomes infected and inflamed, generally due to caries or tooth fractures that allow microorganisms, mostly bacteria from the oral flora or their byproducts, access to the pulp chamber or the root canals; the infected tissue is removed by a surgical intervention known as endodontic therapy and commonly called 'a root canal'.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_canal

Dental Sealants: are a dental treatment consisting of applying a plastic material to one or more teeth, for the intended purpose of preventing dental caries (cavities) or other forms of tooth decay.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dental_sealant

Dental Implant: is an artificial tooth root replacement and is used in prosthetic dentistry to support restorations that resemble a tooth or group of teeth. There are several types of dental implants; the most widely accepted and successful is the osseointegrated implant, based on the discovery by Swedish Professor Per-Ingvar Brånemark that titanium can be successfully fused into bone when osteoblasts grow on and into the rough surface of the implanted titanium. This forms a structural and functional connection between the living bone and the implant. A variation on the implant procedure is the implant-supported bridge, or implant-supported denture.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dental_implant

Dental Restoration or Dental Filling is a dental restorative material used artificially to restore the function, integrity and morphology of missing tooth structure. The structural loss typically results from caries or external trauma. It is also lost intentionally during tooth preparation to improve the aesthetics or the physical integrity of the intended restorative material. Dental restoration also refers to the replacement of missing tooth structure by restoring dental implants.

Dental restorations may be fabricated out of a variety of materials, Common direct restorative materials include dental amalgam, glass ionomer cement and composite resins. Common indirect restorative materials include acrylic, porcelain, zirconia, gold and other metals.

Dental restorations can be divided into two broad types: direct restorations and indirect restorations. All dental restorations can be further classified by their location and size. If decay is spread beyond dentin, in that case root canal therapy is used, and a crown is fit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dental_restoration

Dentures: are prosthetic devices constructed to replace missing teeth, and which are supported by surrounding soft and hard tissues of the oral cavity. Conventional dentures are removable, however there are many different denture designs, some which rely on bonding or clipping onto teeth or dental implants. There are two main categories of dentures, depending on whether they are used to replace missing teeth on the mandibular arch or the maxillary arch. There are many informal names for dentures such as dental plate, false teeth and falsies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dentures

Dental Extraction, sometimes referred to as Exodontia, is the removal of a tooth from the mouth. Extractions are performed for a wide variety of reasons, including tooth decay that has destroyed enough tooth structure to prevent restoration. Extractions of impacted or problematic wisdom teeth are also routinely performed, as are extractions of some permanent teeth to make space for orthodontic treatment.

The most common reason for extracting a tooth is tooth damage due to breakage or decay. Some other possible reasons for tooth extraction are as follows:

• Extra teeth which are blocking other teeth from coming in.
• Severe gum disease which may affect the supporting tissues and bone structures of teeth.
• Severe tooth decay or infection.
• In preparation for orthodontic treatment (braces)
• Insufficient space for wisdom teeth (impacted wisdom teeth).
• Receiving radiation to the head and neck may require extraction of teeth in the field of radiation.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraction_%28dental%29

Dental Braces (also known as Orthodontic Braces): are a device used in orthodontics to correct alignment of teeth and their position with regard to a persons bite. Braces are often used to correct malocclusions such as underbites, overbites, cross bites and open bites, or crooked teeth and various other flaws of teeth and jaws, whether cosmetic or structural. Orthodontic braces are often used in conjunction with other orthodontic appliances to widen the palate or jaws, create spaces between teeth, or otherwise shape the teeth and jaws. Orthodontic patients are usually children or teenagers, but include some adults as well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dental_braces

Tooth Bleaching, also known as Tooth Whitening: is a common procedure in general dentistry but most especially in the field of cosmetic dentistry. Many people consider white teeth to be an attractive feature of a smile. A child's deciduous teeth are generally whiter than the adult teeth that follow. As a person ages the adult teeth often become darker due to changes in the mineral structure of the tooth, as the enamel becomes less porous. Teeth can also become stained by bacterial pigments, foodstuffs and tobacco.

The procedure to bleach teeth uses oxidizing agents such as hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide to lighten the shade of the tooth. The oxidizing agent penetrates the porosities in the rod-like crystal structure of enamel and oxidizes interprismatic stain deposits; over a period of time, the dentin layer, lying underneath the enamel, is also bleached. The effects of bleaching can last for several months, but may be shortened by cigarette smoking, and tea and coffee consumption. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tooth_bleaching

Dental Bridge: otherwise known as a fixed partial denture, is a prosthesis used to replace missing teeth and is not removable by the patient. A prosthesis that is removable by the patient is called a removable partial denture.

A dental bridge is fabricated by reducing the teeth on either side of the missing tooth or teeth by a preparation pattern determined by the location of the teeth and by the material from which the bridge is fabricated. In other words the abutment teeth are reduced in size to accommodate the material to be used to restore the size and shape of the original teeth in a correct alignment and contact with the opposing teeth. The dimensions of the bridge are defined by Ante's Law: "The root surface area of the abutment teeth has to equal or surpass that of the teeth being replaced with pontics" [1].

The materials used for the bridge include gold, porcelain fused to metal, or in the correct situation porcelain alone. The amount and type of reduction done to the abutment teeth varies slightly with the different materials used. The recipient of such a bridge must be careful to clean well under this prosthesis.

When restoring an edentulous space with a fixed partial denture that will crown the teeth adjacent to the space and bridge the gap with a pontic, or "dummy tooth", the restoration is referred to as a bridge. Besides all of the preceding information that concerns single-unit crowns, bridges possess a few additional considerations when it comes to case selection and treatment planning, tooth preparation and restoration fabrication. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_%28dentistry%29

Temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJD, TMJ or TMD), or TMJ syndrome: is an umbrella term covering acute or chronic inflammation of the temporomandibular joint, which connects the lower jaw to the skull. The disorder and resultant dysfunction can result in significant pain and impairment. Because the disorder transcends the boundaries between several health-care disciplines — in particular, dentistry, neurology, physical therapy, and psychology — there are a variety of quite different treatment approaches.

The temporomandibular joint is susceptible to many of the conditions that affect other joints in the body, including ankylosis, arthritis, trauma, dislocations, developmental anomalies, and neoplasia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temporomandibular_joint_disorder

Halitosis, Oral Malodor: (scientific term), breath odor, foul breath, fetor oris, fetor ex ore, or most commonly bad breath are terms used to describe noticeably unpleasant odors exhaled in breathing – whether the smell is from an oral source or not. Halitosis has a significant impact — personally and socially — on those who suffer from it or believe they do (halitophobia), and is estimated to be the 3rd most frequent reason for seeking dental aid, following tooth decay and periodontal disease. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halitosis

Periodontitis: (perio = around, dont = tooth, -itis = inflammation) refers to a number of inflammatory diseases affecting the tissues that surround and support the teeth. Periodontitis involves progressive loss of the alveolar bone around the teeth and may eventually lead to the loosening and subsequent loss of teeth if left untreated. Periodontitis is caused by a convergence of bacteria that adhere to and grow on the tooth's surfaces, along with an overly aggressive immune system response against these bacteria. Periodontitis is very common and in the USA has a prevalence of 30-50% of the population, but only about 10% have severe forms. A diagnosis of periodontitis is established by inspecting the soft gum tissues around the teeth with a probe and radiographs by visual analysis to determine the amount of bone loss around the teeth. Specialists in the treatment of periodontal diseases are known as periodontists and in the USA periodontics is an American Dental Association-recognized specialty.

Although the different forms of periodontitis are all caused by bacterial infections, a variety of factors affect the severity of the disease. Important "risk factors" include smoking, poorly controlled diabetes, and inherited (genetic) susceptibility. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodontitis

Bruxism: (from the Greek βρυγμός (brugmós), gnashing of teeth) is grinding of the teeth, typically accompanied by clenching of the jaw. It is an oral parafunctional activity that occurs to some extent in most humans.[citation needed] Bruxism is caused by the activation of reflex chewing activity; it is not a learned habit. Chewing is a complex neuromuscular activity that is controlled by reflex nerve pathways, with higher control by the brain. During sleep, the reflex part is active while the higher control is inactive, resulting in bruxism. In most people, bruxism is mild enough not to be a health problem; however, some people suffer from significant bruxism that can become symptomatic.

Bruxism often occurs during sleep and can even occur during short naps. Bruxism is one of the most common sleep disorders: 30 to 40 million Americans grind their teeth during sleep. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruxism

Oral Cancer: is any cancerous tissue growth located in the mouth. It may arise as a primary lesion originating in any of the oral tissues, by metastasis from a distant site of origin, or by extension from a neighboring anatomic structure, such as the nasal cavity or the maxillary sinus. Oral cancers may originate in any of the tissues of the mouth, and may be of varied histologic types: teratoma, adenocarcinoma derived from a major or minor salivary gland, lymphoma from tonsillar or other lymphoid tissue, or melanoma from the pigment producing cells of the oral mucosa. Far and away the most common oral cancer is squamous cell carcinoma, originating in the tissues that line the mouth and lips. Oral or mouth cancer most commonly involves the tissue of the lips or the tongue. It may also occur on the floor of the mouth, cheek lining, gingiva (gums), or palate (roof of the mouth). Most oral cancers look very similar under the microscope and are called squamous cell carcinoma. These are malignant and tend to spread rapidly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_cancer