Articles by Dr. Fascilla
Please read more in-depth about dental issues. Check back for new articles and see the archive list for all articles.
What Type of Face Covering Should I Wear?
With the increase in air pollution and especially with the recent spread of COVID-19, people are seen throughout our nation...
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Clear Aligner Therapy
Advertising campaigns are promoting a new concept in clear aligner therapy and their message is resonating with the public...
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Tooth Banking
If you missed the opportunity to store your baby’s umbilical cord stem cells, you may have another chance to store highly...
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Not All Floss is Created Equal
I’d like to share a recent discovery that I made while trying to demonstrate flossing to my patients. After thirty years...
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National Children’s Dental Health Month
Did you know that February is National Dental Health Month? Throughout the United States...
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Breathe Deeply Even During Cold Weather Months
Does a breath of cold air make your teeth hurt? One of the consequences of aging can be...
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Tonsil Stones
Is it really possible to whiten your teeth with black charcoal? It seems counter...
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Activated Charcoal Teeth Whitening
Is it really possible to whiten your teeth with black charcoal? It seems counter intuitive but it is a popular fad these days that appears to work...
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Dental Applications for Botox
Botox, as familiar to us today as Kleenex, wasn’t in the dictionary a mere two generations ago. It was only in April 2002 that it was...
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Arterial Plaque and Oral Plaque
Recently a conversation arose in the office between a staff member and one of our patients about arterial plaque. This raised the question about...
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September and Dental Health
September is such a wonderful month filled with beautiful blue skies, low humidity and perfect temperatures. For others it’s a new beginning...
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Summer Teeth Quiz
The following is a 5 statement quiz brought to you by the American Dental Association...
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The Value of a Smile
Spring is in the air again and the blue sky, warm weather and budding trees and flowers just make me want to smile. And smiling reminds me of this quote...
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Deepwater Horizon
April 20, 2017 marks the seventh anniversary of the explosion on the off shore drilling rig Deepwater Horizon that created the worst oil spill and environmental...
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Pediatric vs General or Family Dentist
Recently over lunch-time conversation, a dental assistant described a scenario concerning a relative who takes her child to a pediatric dentist. Having also worked for several years in pediatric dentistry, she found it ...
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Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate
With Valentines Day being one of the highlights of February and with so much chocolate being consumed this month, I thought it would be interesting to research the effects of chocolate on your health...
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How to Keep New Year’s Resolutions
By the time this article goes to print, just a few weeks into January, 30% of those reading it will have given up on their New Year’s resolutions...
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What is an E-Cigarette and Are They Safe?
As e-cigarettes become more popular and accessible, a lot of people are asking, “What is an e-cigarette?” It is an electronic cigarette, also called...
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Mouth Jewelry, Oral piercings and Your Health
“Body art” in the form of mouth piercings is a trend that that started gaining popularity in the US in the early eighties and continues today...
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To Floss or Not to Floss
In a letter to the Associated Press, the government acknowledged that the
effectiveness of flossing had never been researched as required...
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Why Water is the Best Beverage for Your Teeth
Whether you consider your glass half- full or half -empty is not as important as whether or not it contains water. Fortunately these days, many are...
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Fun Facts about Teeth for a Healthy Mouth
Did you know that 50% of people say that a smile is the first thing they
notice about someone? Brushing twice a day and flossing daily can help...
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Gum Chewing, Good or Bad?
A patient recently asked if chewing gum was good for you as she had seen
an advertisement stating that it was. There are claims that sugarless gum...
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Cavities Don’t Happen Overnight
One of the most important reasons for seeing your dentist regularly is to prevent cavities. Many times a tooth will not become sensitive...
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It’s Never Too Late to Move Them
For many young people with poorly aligned teeth, wearing braces is just one more adolescent rite of passage. Yet today more adults are also...
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Bonding: The Dental “Face-Lift”
Even perfectly healthy teeth can look less than perfect. Overall appearance can be marred by unsightly stains resulting from coffee, tea, tobacco or...
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Tooth Whitening
People have been trying to whiten their teeth for thousands of years. The Egyptians used a paste of vinegar and pumice that they brushed on...
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The Root of the Problem
Most people aren’t too happy when they are told they need root canal therapy. Although it may sound menacing, root canal therapy is...
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Arestin, An Antibiotic Treatment for Gum Disease
If you have periodontal disease, your dentist will have likely recommended scaling and root planing (“deep cleanings”) to remove the plaque and...
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Why Do Wisdom Teeth Often Need to be Removed?
Wisdom teeth, or third molars, come in behind the upper and lower molars usually between the ages of 17 and 21. Unfortunately, problems...
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What Causes Bad Breath?
There’s no single answer, but advanced gum disease – usually preventable by brushing, flossing and regular dental visits – is a primary...
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Tori or Cancer?
Tori, plural for torus are benign boney growths found on the inside (tongue side) of the lower jaw or on the palate. When found...
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Triclosan in Toothpaste
Triclosan is a very widely used chemical that has been on the market since the mid-nineteen sixties. It was used initially as...
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How Sugar Affects your Teeth
What is it with sugar that makes it so bad for our teeth? From the bread and cereal that we eat to our favorite...
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Socket Preservation
When you need to have a tooth pulled, whether it be due to decay, abscess, gum disease or injury, it is important to do so in a manner...
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3D Dental Imaging
Everyone knows what dental x-rays are. Anyone who has been to the dentist has had x-rays taken. They are very important because they...
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What Are Crowns and Why Are They Used?
A crown is a tooth-shaped “cap” that is cemented or bonded over a tooth completely covering the visible portion of the tooth at or above the...
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Interdental Brushes, An Alternative to Flossing
By and large, the importance of plaque removal is accepted and it is generally understood that reducing plaque buildup is very important...
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Two Studies on Statins and Oral Health
Statins are a class of drugs prescribed by doctors to reduce cholesterol levels in the blood, helping to...
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Pregnancy and Oral Health
The old wives’ tale that a tooth is lost for every pregnancy is simply not true. While it is true that pregnancy may intensify some dental conditions, misconceptions continue to exist about...
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The Cracked Tooth
Have you ever bitten into something and experienced a sharp pain that quickly disappears? It may not happen all the time and you may not even be able to determine which tooth it is. You may also experience...
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"Are Those Instruments New?” A Few Words on Sterilization
Being a dentist, I have on occasion been asked that question as I tear open a package of instruments. Some patients, being new to the office and unfamiliar to our sterilization methods have asked if...
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The Mouth: A Mirror of Health
The mouth is often called the body’s “barometer” or “mirror” of health, because it’s so easy to observe and because so many diseases have oral signs and symptoms...
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Help for Sensitive Teeth
Do you suffer from sensitive teeth? Technically called “dentinal hypersensitivity,” this intermittent sensation affects people when they eat, drink or touch their teeth. At least one in seven adults suffer from...
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How Do I Know if I Have a Problem with Gum Disease
Periodontal (gum) disease often develops silently, with no warning signs. That’s why it’s important to visit your dentist regularly. Your dentist can check your teeth and gums and take x-rays, if necessary....
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Baby Tooth Root Canals
A deep cavity in your child’s tooth may lead to the nerve of the tooth. In such cases, a puplotomy is recommended to save the tooth. A pulpotomy of a baby tooth is similar to root canal treatment of an adult...
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Bonding – A Great Alternative
When you smile, do your teeth appear chipped, cracked, misaligned or discolored? If you are not happy with your mirror image, you may want to consider cosmetic bonding. The procedure is simple, and...
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Holding the Space
If a child loses a baby tooth early in life, your dentist may recommend treatment with a space maintainer. A space maintainer is an appliance which holds space for the permanent adult tooth. Baby teeth...
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Care and Maintenance of Complete Dentures
Complete edentulism is the loss of all permanent teeth. A complete denture is a dental prosthesis that is worn when all of the teeth are missing in either the upper or lower arch ...
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Bridging the Gap
If you’ve ever lost a tooth and have been reluctant to undergo further dental treatment to replace it, you may be interested in an alternative to an implant, a
removable partial denture or extensive ...
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Veneers
Your smile is the key to the professional, polished image that will reflect who you are. Years
ago, if our teeth were less than ideal in color or shape, there wasn’t much we could do without
undergoing major ...
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Removable Partial Dentures
A removable partial denture is a prosthesis or dental appliance that replaces one or more missing teeth. The support for the partial denture is provided by nearby teeth and gums....
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Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Apnea is a term that means without breath. Sleep apnea is a disorder characterized by abnormally low breathing while sleeping....
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Dental Laboratories
A dental lab is a manufacturing facility that produces dental restorations that have been
prescribed by a dentist. Dental laboratories create crowns, bridges, implant restorations....
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Whitening Toothpastes
Patients often ask, “Do whitening toothpastes actually work?” While not as dramatically as other whitening techniques, they do help improve the brightness of your teeth. There are various products available and they work in different ways....
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Making it Fit with a Denture Reline
The underlying bone may shrink quickly during the first six months following the placement of new dentures....
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Dry Socket
A dry socket is one of the most common complications of tooth extraction...
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Closing the Gaps
Many people have gaps between their teeth, called a diastema...
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Teeth That Won't Make You Smarter
Sooner or later, almost everyone will experience the eruption of their third molars, often called wisdom teeth...
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The Whole Picture
There is a type of x-ray machine that takes one large film of all upper and
lower teeth and jaws...
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Zinc Poisoning Linked to Denture Creams
Recent studies are showing that the overuse of Fixadent and the older formulations of Poligrip (prior to May 2010) causes nerve damage...
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Making the Bite Right
Your upper and lower teeth should come together properly so you can chew
your food well.....
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Taking a Bite Out of Sports Injuries
As the new school year begins, so are all sports activities your children are involved in such as football, hockey, soccer, basketball , baseball and lacrosse....
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Toothpaste – A Little Dab Will Do
Magazine and television advertisements for toothpaste usually show generous globs of cavity-fighting material covering the toothbrushes...
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Can Numbness Be Reversed?
Most of us are used to numbness lasting several hours at the dentist after the injection of a local anesthetic...
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ViziLite Plus – Oral Cancer Screening
For the past five years , 2005-2010, there has been an increase in the occurrence of oral cancers. This includes...
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Think Twice Before You light Up
Despite all the negative talk about smoking, statistics show that many...
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Finding the Culprit
It’s that time of year when the cold and flu season are upon us...
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The Root of the Problem
Most people aren’t too happy when they are told they need root canal therapy...
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An Update That Could Save Your Life
If you are always rushing around, and find filling out forms and questionnaires tedious, or a waste of time, take a moment to consider the importance of a dental health history...
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Fluoride – Not Just Kid Stuff Anymore
Everyone knows that fluoride helps to prevent decay in children, but you may not be aware of the many benefits fluoride offers adult users ...
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A Technical Knockout
If you are like most parents, the safety of your children is a top priority.
We hover over them, set goals, teach them right from wrong, but we can’t
prevent accidents from occurring ...
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Toothbrush Abrasion
Does a breath of cold air make your teeth hurt? One of the consequences of aging can be teeth
that are sensitive to breathing cold air, and drinking hot and cold liquids. This common ailment is caused
by the gradual recession of gum tissue which exposes the sensitive roots ...
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Apicoectomy, When Root Canal Therapy Isn’t Enough
Sometimes the infection of an abscessed tooth cannot be eliminated with routine root canal therapy. The canals within a tooth are very complex with many small branches off the main canal. Sometimes, even after root canal therapy, infected debris remains in these tiny microscopic ...
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Canker Sore or Cold Sore
If you are like most people, you may believe that the irritating, painful and unsightly sores that
appear on your lips, nose, cheeks, or inside your mouth are all the same. But cold sores actually have
nothing to do with the common cold, and canker sores are a completely different lesion
...
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Dry Mouth
Xerostomia is the term that means dry mouth. It is the condition of not having enough saliva to keep the mouth wet due to inadequate function of the salivary glands. It is not unusual for us to have a dry mouth on occasion if we are upset, nervous or stressed. Some individuals ...
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Eating Disorders Affect Oral Health
Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by an intense fear of weight gain and the desire to be thinner. It is a self-induced starvation. People with this disorder appear emaciated and do not have the ability to maintain a minimally ...
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Arestin & Periodontal Disease
Gum , or periodontal disease, is a serious infection that can lead to tooth loss if left untreated.
Recent research suggests gum disease can impact your overall health with connections to heart disease,
stroke, diabetes and other health conditions. If you have been diagnosed with this ...
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