DIY? DON’T TRY. WHY DENTAL CARE IS BEST LEFT TO THE PROFESSIONALS

Your teeth are valuable property. They chew your food, help you speak, and make your smile pretty. Tooth loss can be a massive inconvenience. Turning to social media, some people have discovered at-home methods of replacing lost teeth and a plethora of videos and advertisements for tooth replacement products.

It is exceedingly difficult to find anything from a real dentist on the use of DIY tooth replacement products because no dentist is going to risk a professional reputation endorsing them. Their quality cannot compare to real dental work and can be hazardous to the user’s health. Read on to learn about the dangers of these products.

Types of DIY “Tooth Replacement” Kits

There are a few different methods these products use. They usually fall into these categories:

Melted Polymers

These kits come with beads the user melts and manually molds into the shape of a tooth. The kit usually includes coloring agents to help match the replacement to the color of the user’s teeth.

Moldable Wax or Paste

Moldable wax functions like melted polymers, but it does not require melting. The paste is intended to cover chips and cracks. After applying it to the tooth, the consumer uses their tongue to smooth it before it hardens.

Orthodontic Wax

This is the same stuff used to cover the pointy parts of braces, so they don’t irritate the lips. When used for tooth replacement, a tooth-sized chunk goes into the vacant spot in the smile.

Why They Don’t Work

All these options are weak substitutes for professional dental care. Teeth are intricate organs, and a believable replica crafted by hand would be a rare work of art. It is extremely unlikely that anyone would be fooled by these cheap substitutes.

Product reviews have no medical credibility and you should not put anything in your mouth without FDA approval. Research the ingredients in these products before you consider using them. Some of them do not recommend eating while wearing them.

The One and Only DIY Solution

A dislodged healthy tooth can be saved if you act quickly, hopefully within thirty minutes of losing the tooth. The steps are as follows:

1. Upon locating the tooth, hold it by the crown. Never touch the root.
2. Clean the tooth in a bowl of lukewarm water without scrubbing. Cold or hot water could damage healthy tissue in the root. Do not wrap it in a cloth that could abrase the root.
3. Place the tooth root-first back in the empty socket, biting down on gauze to keep it in place. If this is impossible, hold it in the cheek. If that is impossible, keep it in a cup of milk. Keeping it in a vial of HBSS (branded “Save-a-Tooth”) can prolong the opportunity to reimplant it by up to 24 hours.
4. Immediately get to the dentist. The dentist can secure it in place so the root can reattach.

Implants, fixed bridges, and removable partial dentures can all look and feel like natural teeth. Don’t waste your money on cheap imitations of proper dental care. The DIY options aren’t going to fool anyone.

About the Practice

Oyler Family Dentistry brings compassion and comfort to dentistry in Greendale, IN. Led by Drs. Brian C. Oyler, DDS, and Larry Hagan, DDS, the team continuously raises the bar in personal dental care. Services include preventative and general dentistry, restorative dentistry, cosmetic dentistry, emergency dentistry, orthodontics, and dental implants. For more information about how professional dentistry outclasses DIY at-home kits, contact the office online or dial (817) 221-1014.