Oral Cancer Screenings

Suzanne Haeri DDS in Los Angeles, CA is dedicated to catching a potential problem in your mouth before it manifests into something worse. This is why we offer oral cancer screenings to check for any precancerous or cancerous conditions in the mouth. With the advances in modern technology, dentists are now able to treat a problem prior to it becoming irreversible.

An oral cancer screening is completed with an ultraviolet light that allows Dr. Haeri to view issues that cannot be detected with the naked eye. Precancerous lesions identified under this light are much easier to be removed and are more likely to be cured.

Causes of oral precancer/cancer include:

-Tobacco use of any kind, such as cigarettes, cigars, pipes, chewing tobacco, snuff, dip and vaping

-Heavy alcohol consumption

-Family history of cancer

-Human papillomavirus (HPV)

-Significant sun exposure

Is it time for an Oral Cancer Screening? Call our office today. Suzanne Haeri DDS practices at 1100 S La Cienega Blvd. in Los Angeles, CA 90035. For more information or to schedule an appointment, please visit suzannehaeridds.com or call 310-657-2200.

Digital X-Rays

The advancements in dental technology make it easier for dentists to deliver efficient care and diagnoses to their patients. One such advancement is digital x-rays, which are a staple in dental practices all over the country. Suzanne Haeri DDS in Los Angeles, CA, is always looking to stay up to date with the latest technology, products, and treatments. Digital x-rays allow dentists to look more closely at your teeth than ever before!

A digital x-ray takes an image of your teeth and puts it into an imaging program. With special tools exclusive to this imaging program, Dr. Haeri can take a closer look at your teeth with impeccable accuracy. Digital x-rays emit 80% less radiation than a standard x-ray since they are actually sensitive to radiation. This is a great benefit since the patient is exposed to less radiation. Digital x-rays can be classified as intraoral (inside the mouth) or extraoral (outside the mouth), though intraoral x-rays are the most commonly taken.

Intraoral x-rays allow us to:

-Observe the status of developing teeth

-Monitor tooth health

-Look at the tooth roots

-Find cavities

-Check the health of the bony area around the tooth

-Determine if there are signs of periodontal disease

Is it time for your routine checkup? Call us today! Suzanne Haeri DDS practices at 1100 S La Cienega Blvd. in Los Angeles, CA 90035. For more information or to schedule an appointment, please visit suzannehaeridds.com or call 310-657-2200.

Myofascial Pain Syndrome

If you’ve ever had an issue inside your mouth, you’re most likely aware of the varying degrees of pain that come with it. Mouth pain ranges anywhere from mild discomfort to feeling like your head is exploding, just from a toothache and tenderness. Suzanne Haeri DDS in Los Angeles, CA, is committed to correcting the problem in your mouth and helping you manage any pain associated with it. This includes Myofascial Pain Syndrome (MPS). Dr. Haeri takes pride in educating patients about how to prevent future oral problems. 

MPS commonly occurs in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). The pain is caused by tension, fatigue, or spasms in the jaw muscles. MPS is usually triggered by bruxism, a condition where a person clenches or grinds their teeth during sleep. Nightguards are a great way to prevent bruxism and ultimately the jaw soreness that is felt in the morning. MPS is not limited to just the jaw muscles, it can occur anywhere in the body including the back and neck muscles. 

Other treatments and preventions of MPS include:

-Splint guard, mouthguard, or nightguard

-Mild analgesics

-Physical therapy modalities

-Anxiolytic before bed

Are you suffering from MPS? Come in for a checkup. Dr. Haeri will assess the problem area in your mouth and get you started on a treatment plan. Suzanne Haeri DDS practices at 1100 S La Cienega Blvd. in Los Angeles, CA 90035. For more information or to schedule an appointment, please visit suzannehaeridds.com or call 310-657-2200.

Dental Emergencies

Whether it’s around the house or while you’re playing a sport, things happen sometimes that require you to see your dentist for a dental emergency. Suzanne Haeri DDS in Los Angeles, CA will always offer a helping hand when disaster strikes your teeth! It’s important that you get in contact with our office as soon as possible so that we can get your dental emergency taken care of.

Here are a few scenarios that Dr. Haeri can help you with: 

-Lost crown: try to locate the crown, seeing if it will fit back on to the tooth. If not, use some over-the-counter denture cement to hold it in place and then contact us straight away!

-Dislocated tooth: if your tooth is only partially knocked out, clean the area and keep the swelling down. Over-the-counter pain relievers can help with that. And don’t touch the tooth at all! 

-Missing filling: similar to a lost crown, contact us right away. The earlier you alert us the quicker we can create a replacement. 

-Knocked-out tooth: find the tooth and clean it properly. See if it will fit back into its allotted space. Otherwise, place it in some cold milk or salt-water. 

-Broken or chipped tooth: rinse your mouth while saving as many fragments as possible. Apply ice packs in a fifteen minute cycle to reduce swelling. 

-Unexplained toothache: try cleaning your mouth vigorously. This removes any debris pressed up against or stuck between your teeth. Give us a call if this doesn’t help. 

There are a few other scenarios that aren’t true emergencies that we also treat, like toothaches, a cut tongue or lip, abscessed tooth, or swollen cheeks, lips, and teeth. 

Do you have a question about dental emergencies? We are happy to address any concerns that may come up. Suzanne Haeri DDS practices at 1100 S La Cienega Blvd. in Los Angeles, CA 90035. For more information or to schedule an appointment, please visit suzannehaeridds.com or call 310-657-2200.

Getting Crowns

We offer a variety of cosmetic dental services at the South Carthay office of Dr. Suzanne Haeri. If a patient has small cracks or chips in their teeth, we can provide ultra-thin veneers or naturally colored fillings to give them back a smile they’re proud of. But sometimes, teeth are damaged so badly that cosmetic care isn’t enough. In those cases, we provide patients with artificial crowns that we take care to ensure look and feel just as good as their original teeth. This week, we’re going to discuss the process of getting a crown and why they may be necessary.

 

Artificial crowns, or caps, replace the entirety of the outer part of the tooth above the gum line. They are used if a tooth has lost too much enamel to sustain a partial crown. Often, when a tooth is that damaged, it also requires root canal therapy to remove potentially infected pulp. Following the pulp extraction, the dentist will fill in the empty pulp chamber with a sealant, and then smooth the remaining enamel into a cylindrical abutment. An impression is then made of the patient’s mouth and sent to a dental laboratory, where a custom-fitted and colored artificial crown is fabricated out of a material such as porcelain.

 

While the permanent crown is being made, the patient will wear a temporary version. This could last for about two weeks. Once the new crown arrives at our office, the patient will be able to return to have it cemented in. Artificial crowns are vulnerable to decay, like natural teeth, and can be broken if the patient clenches their jaw in their sleep. However, with proper brushing and flossing, and with protection from night time grinding, an artificial crown can last for over ten years.

 

The dental office of Suzanne Haeri, DDS, is located at 1100 S La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, California, 90035. To schedule an appointment, call 310-657-2200 or visit our website at Suzanne Haeri DDS.

Halitosis

We specialize in cosmetic dental care at the South Carthay office of Dr. Suzanne Haeri. Maintaining a smile that you're proud of isn’t just a function of how it looks, but also of how it smells. We’ve all had moments when we suddenly realized that something we’d eaten was causing us to have bad breath. But what about halitosis, the chronic, lingering unpleasant smell that sometimes seems to come from our mouths for days on end? This week, we’ll take a closer look at the reasons for halitosis, and what can be done about it.

 

Halitosis can generally be traced to oral pathogens. Certain species of bacteria produce an odor when they metabolize food debris left over in the mouth. When those bacteria are on the teeth, they may contribute to tooth decay and gum recession, but there are a lot more of them hiding in the bumps on the tongue. They may not do much substantive harm there, but the white coat they form is probably responsible for a patient’s bad breath. People who wear dentures or retainers may also experience outbreaks of fungus, which emit bad odors for similar reasons, and people with nasal infections may experience discharge leaking onto the backs of their tongues.

 

One of the most effective things you can do to eliminate halitosis is to drink more water. Increasing your saliva output won’t just rinse away food particles and bacteria, it will also counteract the effects of acid. Saliva also contains antimicrobial enzymes for additional protection from infection. Scraping your tongue once a day will also remove build-up, and you can use mouthwash to scour the back of it. Following meals, you might also want to try sugar-free gum or candy to stimulate more saliva production and remove a small amount of debris if you can’t use a toothbrush, floss, or scraper right away.

 

The dental office of Suzanne Haeri, DDS, is located at 1100 S La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, California, 90035. To schedule an appointment, call 310-657-2200 or visit our website at Suzanne Haeri DDS.

Bite Checks

You may be familiar with twice-annual dental check-ups as a way to get your teeth cleaned and your fillings inspected. But that’s not all that happens at a check-up, and even if you think your mouth is free of decay, there are good reasons to keep your appointments. One of the most important aspects of a dental examination is the bite check. At Dr. Suzanne Haeri’s South Carthay dental office, we provide for our patients’ general and cosmetic dental needs, and both of those depend on their teeth closing comfortably and completely together.

 

Bite checks are an opportunity for the dentist to check for malocclusions and damage from temporomandibular joint disorders (tmd). Malocclusions, which are misalignments in the teeth, may also be evident through x-rays, but a bite check would alert us if the patient’s jaws are coming together at an angle. TMD both results from and contributes to swelling in the joints where the lower jaw connects to the rest of the skull. Damage to those joints can result in difficulty opening the mouth, pain radiating from the head to the shoulders, and increased pressure on the teeth, causing them to move out of place, lose enamel, or crack.

 

During a bite check, we would ask a patient to demonstrate closing their teeth together. They should be able to close with the back teeth on both sides fitting into each other, and without the front teeth tilting outward. We can provide veneers to fix minor malocclusions on the front teeth, but teeth grinding induced by tmd will leave distinctive wear patterns, and a patient may need to wear a night guard during sleep to protect themselves from it. Correcting more serious malocclusions may require referral to an orthodontist, but we can still teach patients jaw stretching exercises to reduce the strain in their joints in the meantime.

 

The dental office of Suzanne Haeri, DDS, is located at 1100 S La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, California, 90035. To schedule an appointment, call 310-657-2200 or visit our website at Suzanne Haeri DDS.