STORY:   TOOTH TRAUMA

SCRIPT #569

AIRDATE:   Monday, August 16, 2004

Daybreak and Midday

DHC #19   Timecode:  52:18

                                                                                                A childhood tooth injury can become a life

                                                                                            long problem.  Trauma to a baby tooth

                                                                                            may also lead to problems with the

                                                                                                permanent tooth underneath.  Dr. Linda

                                                                                                Niessen explains the result is often a

                                                                                                brown tooth.  More in today’s Dental

                sovt:   1:37                                                             Health Check.

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NANCY WALTERS WALKING IN                  (VOICE-OVER)

SUPER:   Garland :02-07                                    Nancy Walters was only three years old

                                                                                                when she fell and damaged her front baby

                                                                                                tooth.

                                                                                                By age ten, the permanent tooth began

                                                                                                to discolor. Now, 25 years after the

accident, Nancy has chosen cosmetic

dentistry to correct the problem.      

SUPER:   Nancy Walters    :21-26                      (“I was just real self conscious about my

                    Tooth Trauma Patient                     smile.  I’ve had bleaching before and it just

                                                                                                didn’t work.  It would lighten the tooth up

but then it would go right back to the grayish color.”)

ON CAMERA                                                                       (STAND-UP BRIDGE)

SUPER:   Dr. Linda Niessen                :29-34    Trauma to the front teeth can damage

                Baylor College of Dentistry                                both the baby tooth and the developing

                                                                                                permanent tooth underneath, because

                                                                                                both depend on the same blood supply.

SUPER:     Dr. David Anderson                          (“Blood products that can be absorbed

                           Dentist                :39-43                              within the tooth and the other thing is

the tooth is non-vital, or the nerve has died in the nerve has died in the tooth.  It doesn’t have the reflective qualities that a natural tooth would have.  It becomes duller.  It’s going to look darker.”)

X-RAYS                                                                 A root canal can save the tooth and delay

or prevent any discoloration.  This is an x-ray of Nancy’s root canal that lasted more than 15 years.

CLOSE-UP OF VENEER                                      Now the solution is covering the brown

tooth with the newest type of  porcelain veneer.

DR. ANDERSON                                                  (“Because the veneer is so thin, and when \

we have a dark tooth behind it, what we need to do is block out the darkness and then

we can veneer on top of that.  And the bonding that we have now compared to several years back, is much better, much

stronger.”)

NANCY WALTERS                                                            (“Oh I love my teeth.  I always ask people

                                                                                                which tooth do you think it is.”)

ON CAMERA                                                                       (STAND-UP CLOSE)

So if you‘re walking around with a discolored front tooth, look into a veneer

as one option to improve your smile.

For Baylor College of Dentistry, Texas

A & M System, I’m Dr. Linda Niessen,

Channel 8 News.                   

For viewer inquiries:

Dr. David Anderson’s Practice

2645 Arapaho, Suite 113

Garland  972-495-8100