Healthy Smile: I Catch Food Next to This Tooth

by Jeffrey Gross, DDS, FAGD of The Healthy Smile

We can not avoid eating and creating a situation where food impaction, as we call it in dentistry, can occur. Certain types of food will never lodge in between our teeth, and other types always lodge somewhere in the mouth. I wrote extensively on the importance of proper oral hygiene and its vital role in keeping our teeth healthy. Brushing, flossing, and water irrigation are our tools to eliminate food that sticks in between our teeth. It is time-consuming and tedious for many people to keep up with this process. Food that gets lodged in our mouth is the most significant cause of tooth decay and gum disease.

I knew that our patient of the week needed to spend more time cleaning that area of his mouth and felt that he was doing a good job. When I saw him for a routine check-up, I noticed a small hole in that area. When I took an x-ray, I found two large caverns with extensive decay. Decay of this magnitude requires several appointments to correct the damage. Sometimes, the cavity that forms from packing food is so intense that the only remedy is removing the tooth followed by some replacement.

As we get older, often the gums shrink downwards, and spaces appear. Most teeth are wider at the top than at the bottom. When the gums drop-down, a space appears between the teeth. The space was always in the mouth. In a younger individual, gum tissue filled that spot. The space at the gum area is an ideal spot to collect food. We teach someone who has many spaces like I just described to use special brushes to get into and clean those areas. The question that I want to address involves the appropriate treatment for someone who has only one or two spaces where food lodges easily?

The short answer is that I will make the tooth wider near the gum area, so there is no room for food to lodge. The challenge to that solution is that if a filling encroaches upon a gum area, the gum will respond with inflammation. Placement of a filling in that situation is almost impossible to do well—the contour of the filling is essential to the health of the gum tissue. Too much pressure on the gum area will result in periodontal disease in that area of the mouth.

A better approach involves using a dental crown that is custom-made for the tooth outside the mouth. When we can view the tooth in such a setting, the exact shape which will create a situation of health is a real possibility. The dentist can direct a computer or a technician to create this proper shape. When the width of the tooth towards the gum area fills that space, then the food trap problem is over.

Suffice it to say food entrapment is detrimental to the health of your teeth and gums. Food that lodges at the gum area becomes invisible and will cause severe decay and gum disease. Very few people clean their teeth so nicely to prevent the untoward consequences of long-term food entrapment. The patient who told me about the spots where he catches food required a root canal treatment to save his tooth. As if that’s not enough, minor gum surgery was necessary due to the decay resulting from the food lodging between those teeth.

The moral of the story is don’t hesitate or procrastinate if food sticks between your teeth. Ask your dentist for a solution to the problem. Whether it be a crown or moving the teeth together, there is usually a solution to help you. If you would like to get an opinion from me, please call 440-892-1810. I look forward to hearing from you.

Jeffrey Gross, DDS, FAGD is an Ohio licensed general dentist and is on the staff of Case Western Reserve School of Dental Medicine.

The Healthy Smile • 27239 Wolf Road, Bay Village, OH 44140 • 440-892-1810 • www.jeffreygrossdds.com