Dr. Brian Hale

A crown is a dental restoration that covers the surface of your entire tooth. In years past, dental crowns always had to be constructed with a metal foundation. Modern technology has allowed these crowns to be created from pure porcelain, ceramic, or aesthetic reinforced resins.

A dental crown on your front tooth is necessary when a good portion of the tooth is gone or a majority of your biting edge is gone. This can be the result of:

• Large old fillings
• Tooth fracture
• A large area of tooth decay

There are still instances on the back teeth when the durability of a metal crown makes it the restoration of choice. But for crowns that show, wouldn’t you prefer a crown that looks as natural as your tooth enamel?

Porcelain crown has several benefits. Like all crowns, they cover and protect your tooth. But in addition, a porcelain crown is:

• Strong and durable
• Beautiful, with the life-like translucency of natural teeth
• Healthier for your teeth and gums because the edge of the natural-looking porcelain doesn’t need to be hidden under the gum line

A porcelain crown is precision-crafted in a dental laboratory, so it usually takes at least two appointments to restore your tooth with this natural-appearing crown.

If you are considering cosmetic dentistry in San Antonio or the surrounding area, please call or e-mail us today to schedule your initial consultation with Dr. Brian Hale.

Although you remain awake during the sedation process, sedation dentistry is sometimes categorized as sleep dentistry. But this term is misleading.

Patients who are sedated during a cosmetic dental procedure are just that: sedated. Because of the effects of the sedation medication, you will feel sleepy. But you will not actually sleep during the procedure.

If you have complex medical problems, and cannot receive sedation, an anesthesiologist may administer a medication that induces a deeper sleep—where you are unaware of what is going on around you and are actually sleeping during the procedure. This is not sedation dentistry, but instead going under a general anesthesia.

Dental Anxiety

Some children and older patients have a natural fear of the dentist. Others who have had a traumatic dental experience may be unwilling to seek treatment. Often times, these patients find that their anxiety is eased when they undergo procedures while in a sleep-like state.

Dental sedation is a technique that can be used when a patient suffers from dental anxiety or dental phobia. Depending on the extent of the anxiety or phobia, varying degrees of dental sedation can be administered including:

• Oral sedatives
• Intravenous (IV) sedation
• Nitrous oxide sedation
• General Anesthesia

These techniques enable fearful patients, who might otherwise avoid the dentist, to receive dental treatment they need.

If you are considering cosmetic dentistry in San Antonio or the surrounding area, please call or e-mail us today to schedule your initial consultation with Brian Hale, D.D.S.

Dental implants are considered the best treatment option to replace missing teeth. Unlike fixed bridges that use adjacent teeth as anchors or dentures that rest on the gum line, dental implants are long-term, effective replacements that are surgically placed in the jawbone.

Nearly 70% of adults ages 35 to 44 have lost at least one permanent tooth resulting from:

• An accident
• Gum disease
• A failed root canal
• Tooth decay

By the age of 74, more than 25% of adults have lost all of their permanent teeth. Decades ago, the only choice for these patients would have been a fixed bridge or removable dentures to restore their ability speak clearly, eat and smile with confidence.

But dentures are known to slip or cause embarrassing clicking sounds while eating or talking. Removable dentures can also lead to bone loss in the area where the tooth or teeth are missing.

Because they use your adjacent teeth as anchors, fixed bridges can cause damage to otherwise healthy teeth. For these reasons, removable dentures and fixed bridges often must be replaced every 7 to 15 years. This has left more and more patients and oral surgeons turning to dental implants.

Dental implants are composed of titanium metal that “fuses” with your jawbone through a process called "osseointegration." With this surgical process, dental implants will never:

• Slip or shift
• Make embarrassing noises, indicating you have “false teeth.”
• Decay like teeth-anchoring fixed bridges

If properly cared for, dental implants can last a lifetime.

If you are considering cosmetic dentistry in San Antonio or the surrounding area, please call or e-mail us today to schedule your initial consultation.

Two dental words that bring up feelings of dread and anxiety, but wait I bring good news! What could possibly be good and what do they have in common you might ask?

First let me assure you that the old memories of a ‘metal-mouth’ being the only option with orthodontic treatment are long gone. Today we treat virtually all of our orthodontic cases with the Invisalign system; you know those clear Aligners that you wear for two weeks at a time over the course of several months. Not only will your orthodontic treatment be faster, more comfortable, and invisible compared to traditional braces, but you no longer need to alter what you eat (or even having to avoid your favorite foods altogether!) or have such a difficult maintenance routine; perhaps you remember or have heard the horror stories of floss-threaders, broken wires, cheek wax, and the like!

Okay, so what does having straight, pretty, teeth have to do with TMD? Well, very often TMD and all of its horrible symptoms like pain, clicking, headaches, ringing ears, neck and back pain and the rest, are because of the jaw joint (TMJ) being out of position because the teeth are not in the correct place. You see every part of the body is interconnected. To paraphrase the famous children’s song Dry Bones, the thigh bone really is connected to the knee bone. In some cases, by positioning the teeth and stabilizing the occlusion we can alleviate those horrific TMD symptoms.

So for some patients the connection between orthodontics and TMD is everything; the only way to tell is to have a thorough neuromuscular bite evaluation. You may find that orthodontic treatments will give you more than a beautiful smile but a healthier you!

‘til next entry,

Dr. Hale

A transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator is an electronic device that produces electrical signals that stimulate nerves through your skin. It is usually connected to the skin using two or more electrodes. There are also battery-operated TENS units that consist of a pulse generator, transformer, frequency and intensity controls and electrodes. In dentistry, the TENS is used as a method of pain relief for patients suffering from temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD), a very painful, but common, condition relating to a misalignment of the jaw. TMD causes a whole host of symptoms including:

• Jaw pain
• Jaw tightness
• Facial pain
• Neck and shoulder pain
• Ringing in the ears
• Popping and clicking of the jaw
• Severe headache
• Limited jaw movement
• Teeth clenching
• Teeth grinding (bruxism)
• Tender, sensitive teeth

Highly trained neuromuscular dentists such as Dr. Brian Hale use the TENS machine to help their TMD patients find some relief from these painful, chronic symptoms. By aligning the jaw in its optimal position, dentists are able to treat TMD, which, in turn, dramatically improves the lives of their patients.

Muscles of the face and neck are often 'programmed' (propriocepted) to control head and mandibular posture in a way that accommodates occlusion (occlusion is your “bite”), even though that particular occlusion may be less than ideal. Dr. Hale wants to relax these often tense muscles to find their true resting state and establish the occlusion at that position. It is extremely difficult to voluntarily overcome this proprioception, so 'TENS' is used.

If you think you may suffer from TMD and would like to learn more about how TENS can help alleviate your painful symptoms, please contact our office today to schedule your initial appointment. We serve patients in San Antonio and surrounding areas of Texas.

Welcome to our blog!

Welcome to the first-ever Blog at DrBrianHale.com. Whether you're an existing patient or someone stopping by for a short "Cyber Visit," we're happy to have you! We like the blog format as another way to communicate with you that is hopefully fun and informative. Stay tuned for future entries with announcements, technical updates, and ‘behind-the-scenes’ insights. Also, we’ve opened up the blog for comments from you; we love hearing from our patients!

‘Til next entry,
Dr. Hale