In practice, patients usually visit the dentist when they feel pain, and this is where the vicious cycle of connecting this unpleasant feeling with the arrival at the dentist's office begins. A visit to the dentist can be more pleasant if you come to dental check-ups regularly every 6 months to one year, depending on the dentist's assessment of how prone you are to dental caries and tartar. With regular check-ups, we can detect existing caries in time and prevent major problems that can cause pain.

Dental tartar is formed by the mineralisation of plaque that has accumulated on surfaces of the teeth. Dental plaque is formed as a by-product of bacterial metabolism, and poor oral hygiene contributes to its formation. If tartar is not removed, periodontal disease may develop. This may cause a decrease in bone density, and with the progression of the disease, patients may lose their teeth. Dental tartar is removed using an ultrasonic instrument, which in no way can damage hard dental tissues, but only demolishes the "fortress", which is built by bacteria.

Professional teeth whitening carried out by professionals cannot damage tooth enamel. Dentists know how often the procedure can be carried out and with what concentration of bleaching solution. With many methods of unprofessional whitening at home, many things can go wrong. Hard dental tissues can be damaged irreparably if you are not familiar with the means and method of dosage if you want to achieve the desired results faster. After the teeth whitening procedure in the dental surgery, the teeth may be sensitive to the cold for a while, and then the condition normalises. Most often, teeth are sensitive if you have poor fillings or if your enamel is already damaged and if your cervical line is exposed. Another advantage of teeth whitening in the dental surgery is the protection of the surrounding soft tissues from the application of the gel on the tooth surfaces. This prevents the formation of unpleasant wounds on the mucous membrane.

The first two weeks after you have bleached your teeth, you should avoid pigmented foods and beverages. The pores in the enamel are more open, so they are more exposed to repeated penetration and deposition of molecules that cause dark colours. These are, for example, coffee, red wine, tea, beets, turmeric, tobacco smoke, red berries, and the like. For example, you can drink pigmented beverages using a straw.

The first step is to choose a toothbrush. In most cases, the best choice is a medium toothbrush with straight bristles of the same length. The exception is people who have a very pronounced receding gum or those who have had surgery in the oral cavity. In this case it is recommended to use a soft toothbrush. The second step is to find at least 2 minutes of time twice a day. The third step is the proper brushing technique. Tooth brushing is carried out with circular movements with a slight pressure on bristles of the brush. In doing so, the bristles partially adhere to the dental surface, and partially touch the gums. The bristles of the brush are slightly inclined at an angle of 45 degrees to the gums. Care should be taken to brush all tooth surfaces, not just those that are clearly visible from the outside. And, of course, in the end, it is necessary to clean the interdental spaces with interdental brushes of the appropriate size, and the interdental surfaces with dental floss. The elderly and the children should use electric brushes as they have weaker manual skills.

The panoramic radiograph is a panoramic 2D image showing all the teeth of the jaw together with the associated alveolar bone and surrounding structures. Based on radiological results, the dentist can detect the presence of carious lesions even in places that are not visible to the naked eye. Caries is detected in the scan as an area with a lower degree of mineralisation than other hard dental tissues. In this way, caries can be seen under the old fillings. The panoramic radiograph also shows inflammatory changes along the tooth roots, indicating the presence of chronic inflammation of the tooth pulp, which is often asymptomatic, and pathological changes such as cysts and tumours of the jaw.

According to the World Health Organisation, caries is one of the most common diseases of modern times. It is caused by bacteria from dental plaque that have accumulated on the surfaces of the teeth due to poor oral hygiene. Due to the microbial metabolism, acidic metabolic products are formed, the activity of enzymes increases, which leads to the process of demineralisation, that is, the destruction and loss of hard dental tissues. When you have a check-up at the dental surgery, the dentist can detect carious lesions based on the examination of the oral cavity and the study of a panoramic radiograph. Local changes in the colour of the teeth and the discontinuity of the surface (collapsed enamel, cavity) can be detected by examination, and the change in the hardness of the tissue by tactile examination (probing) and checking the texture of the surface (fine roughness, softening of the tissue, entrapment, or deterioration of the probe in the cavities of the chewing dental surfaces).

Caries under old fillings is also called secondary caries, because it occurs later, because of leakage and weakening of the material with which we filled the cavity after we had removed the caries. When there is a crack in the transition between the tooth and the filling, the bacteria can again get the necessary “food” for their life needs and the cycle of caries begins. Caries often occurs under the fillings, even if the previous carious lesion has not been completely removed. Recently, the industry of manufacturing dental materials has increasingly advanced, and it is possible to find quality materials on the market for as beautiful and long-lasting fillings as possible.

The loud and clear answer is YES! Milk teeth are the first set of teeth that we have, and they lose their role when the permanent teeth are ready to come through. Although they have a shorter lifespan, they play a very important role and must be kept in the oral cavity until they are replaced by permanent teeth. It often happens that children do not brush their teeth regularly, and as a result, they have caries. Many parents, not knowing that milk teeth need to be repaired, come too late when the milk tooth hurts and when complications already appear. When inflammation around the milk tooth can endanger the permanent tooth, the milk tooth should be removed prematurely. When permanent teeth begin to come through, this premature loss causes problems and “congestion” in the dental arch. This is due to the fact that the milk tooth has to keep the place for the permanent tooth, so an orthodontic anomaly occurs, which means that the permanent tooth begins to grow outside its place in the dental arch.

Endodontics is a branch of dental medicine that deals with the treatment of root canals in which the dental nerve is located. If we do not notice a tooth affected by caries in time, bacteria and their metabolic products from caries reach the nerve, causing inflammation called pulpitis. Inflammation of the pulp is accompanied by symptoms such as pain and a strong sensitivity to hot or cold. The pain can be spontaneous and can also occur when chewing. Pulp can be sensitive even if it is only irritated by a deep caries that has not yet affected it. Based on symptoms, sensitivity tests and X-ray analysis, the dentist can assess the condition of the tooth and whether there is a need for root canal treatment. Before starting treatment, an X-ray of the teeth is also recommended, so that we can assess the appearance and curvature of the root canals. Endodontic surgery consists of opening the pulp chamber, removing and cleaning its contents, that is, “removing the nerve” and filling the root canals.

With successful root canal treatment, the tooth has been saved and remains in its place in the dental arch. Treatment of the tooth relieves pain and prevents the infection to spread to the bone around the top of the tooth root. If the inflammation has already affected the bone after a successful endodontic treatment, bone healing is visible on the X-ray after 6-12 months. The alternative to treatment in these cases is tooth extraction, which causes the loss of one tooth and changes in the dental arch in the form of rotation and inclination of the tooth, as well as the growth of antagonistic teeth from the opposite jaw towards the empty space, which after a certain time becomes more pronounced and leads to the loss of space, which complicates the prosthetic replacement of the missing tooth. If possible, endodontics is a better option.

The supporting structure or periodontium anchors the teeth into the bone and transfers and distributes the strong bite forces of each individual tooth to the corresponding part of the alveolar bone. The supporting tissues consist of alveolar bone, cement, periodontal ligament, and gingiva (gums). Teeth are held in the bone by connective fibres called periodontal ligaments. What we see from the outside is called the gum or gingiva. Due to poor oral hygiene, plaque builds up on dental surfaces and bacteria strengthen and create perfect conditions in which they can destroy soft tissues and bones around the teeth. A chronic, progressive, and incurable disease called periodontitis develops. This is a very common disease, often genetically conditioned and associated with certain systemic diseases such as diabetes, and often with external factors and habits such as smoking and poor oral hygiene. Signs that there is something wrong with the gums that each of us can easily notice are, for example: frequent bleeding and discoloration of the gums, gum recession, bad breath, and a feeling of increased wobbling of the teeth. The goal of periodontal treatment is to stop the progression of the disease and thus preserve your teeth as long as possible.

From an evolutionary point of view, we are eating less and less solid and raw food, so our jaw has adapted in shape and size, so it is not uncommon that third molars, the so-called wisdom teeth, never grow out. Wisdom teeth do not appear in the dental arch because there is no dental embryo at all or because there is simply no space in the dental arch. In some cases, the wisdom tooth can partially peek out with the crown, and the rest is covered with gums. All this makes it difficult to maintain oral hygiene and creates a dental pocket, which can often get inflamed due to the accumulation of food residues and bacteria. Such inflammation is called pericoronitis and can be very unpleasant, accompanied by pain, swelling, redness of the gums, and sometimes general symptoms such as fever, general weakness, difficult opening of the jaw and enlarged lymph nodes can also occur. Sometimes wisdom teeth are placed more horizontally and with their position they press on other molars and can threaten them, but sometimes they simply grow slightly outside the dental arch, or the crown is facing the cheek and can cause unpleasant wounds on the mucous membrane. If you also suffer from such disorders, it may be time to pull out the wisdom teeth but come for check-up beforehand and get a professional opinion and a detailed assessment of the condition based on an X-ray image.

Loss of teeth can cause real "confusion" in the dental arch. The more time it passes from the moment you have lost your tooth, the more pronounced and visible the changes are. The adjacent teeth lean towards the empty space, the antagonist tooth from the opposite jaw “grows” into the empty space, the bone at the place of the removed tooth is slowly resorbed, and the ridge at this point is thinned. Accordingly, it is increasingly difficult to replace the lost tooth. For example, more extensive drilling of adjacent teeth is necessary to correct the inclination, which is why it is often necessary to treat these same teeth, the bone has lost its volume and there may no longer be possible to place the dental implant or there is no longer enough space for this.

Dental crowns are a type of prosthetic replacement that provides long-term care for a weakened tooth and protects it from strong bite forces. Since the dental crown covers the entire surface of the tooth, unlike the fillings, it represents a new tooth surface. A dental crown is made if a tooth has a large filling or if you had root canal treatment.

Tooth bridges are a type of prosthetic replacement consisting of several parts. Existing teeth on either side of the empty space to be filled become the carrier of the tooth bridge. Together, they carry an intermediate link, which is an imitation of the crown of the missing tooth. Tooth bridges are made in the case when the caries on the adjacent teeth has already been removed and such teeth would need prosthetic care.

A dental implant is a special, biocompatible titanium screw that is installed in the jawbone. It imitates the root of the tooth and serves as a support for the dental crown. It is an ideal solution to compensate for the loss of one tooth in cases where the surrounding teeth are healthy and there are no signs of their prosthetic rehabilitation. It is also an excellent option for replacing many teeth or for the case of complete toothlessness. In this case, it is not necessary to place an implant for each lost tooth but depending on the assessment and condition of the bone, several implants may carry several dental crowns that fill the dental arch. Typically, 4-6 implants should be installed in a single jaw, bearing in mind that many supports bring a better redistribution of strong bite forces. Dental implants can also serve as an anchor for classic dentures that can be removed from the mouth. Such dentures are more affordable than fixed ones and significantly improve the quality of life compared to conventional dentures.

To place a dental implant, a certain volume of bone, which surrounds it, is required. Based on a thorough CBCT analysis, the dentist can accurately assess whether sufficient bone volume is available. It is also possible to assess if it is possible to replace the lost volume with different natural or artificial materials. The procedure itself is called bone augmentation and can significantly increase the cost and extend the duration of therapy. If a long time has passed since the loss of the tooth and ossein cannot be adequately replaced, the dentist will suggest the best method to replace the lost tooth, and there are many options today.

Dental Centre Vrbani is located in the village of Vrbani III in the immediate vicinity of the Point shopping centre. You can reach us very fast and easily if you take a tram line 5 or 17, get off at the station Vrbani, from where you have to walk a few minutes to the east along Palinovečka Street. You can find us on Palinovečka 19 G-H. You can also find us through the mobile application "Google Maps". Just enter the name of the dental surgery and the application will get you to us as quickly and easily as possible. 

During our working hours you can contact us by phone and make an appointment for the first check-up. Our friendly staff will tell everything you need and explain you how to reach us. Outside working hours, you can contact us by e-mail and we will answer your questions as soon as we arrive at the office. 

The best way to get all the necessary information about the condition of your teeth, methods of rehabilitation and associated costs is to make an appointment for the first check-up. Your dentist will examine you carefully and, depending on your wishes and options, suggest an appropriate treatment plan.