Dr. Bona has many years of experience in dental practice and dental education. After graduation from dental school, he joined his fathers dental practice in the south suburbs. After completing his residency in Prosthodontics, he joined the faculty at University of Illinois College of Dentistry. After several years, in addition to private practice, he continued to teach dental and dental hygiene students.

Because dentistry has been rewarding to him and his family, he contributes to dentistry through involvement in several professional organizations. He served in many leadership positions, including President of the Dental Arts Club, the Independent Dental Organization, the South Suburban Branch of the Chicago Dental Society, and currently is the Vice President of the Illinois State Dental Society, one of the largest state societies.

Throughout his involvement with dental education and societies, he has been asked to present at numerous meetings. He has provided multiple participation courses including the Chicago Midwinter Meeting, the Florida Dental Association, the New Orleans Convention, and several times for the American Dental Association.

A root canal is a treatment to eliminate or prevent pain and infection of a tooth. The inside of the tooth is filled with a soft tissue called pulp that is kind of like skin. It is filled with blood vessels and nerves. It is extremely sensitive and is the source of the hot or cold sensitivity that teeth can have. For various reasons this tissue can become infected and die. Root canal therapy cleans the dead, rotting pulp out of the tooth and replaces it with a biologically inert filling. This allows the tooth to continue to be used pain and infection free for many more years.

Your acute pain may temporarily go away, but the infection wont. It will eventually travel through the tooths roots into the surrounding tissues. If left untreated, it may result in an abscess or even a systemic infection. Thats why you need to take care of it now.

I am often asked this question by patients. Root canal therapy seems expensive (see question #4) and antibiotic treatment is relatively cheap. The problem is that once the pulp in the tooth dies, the tooth is filled with gangrene (i.e. dead, rotten, infected tissue). Antibiotics cannot reach areas of dead tissue because there are no longer living blood vessels to carry the antibiotic to the gangrenous tissue. Just like any other part of the body affected by gangrene the only acceptable treatment is debridement (cleansing and removal of dead tissue) and possibly administration of antibiotics at the time of the debridement. The process of debriding gangrenous pulp tissue is part of the root canal therapy. Treatment with antibiotics may provide temporary relief from the pain caused by bacteria spreading out of the tooth, but they cannot eliminate the bacteria in the tooth. It is like taking antibiotics for an infected splinter. The source of the infection is left behind and it will just come back. Eventually after several antibiotic treatments, resistant strains of bacteria are likely to develop. Elimination of the source (gangrenous pulp tissue) is the only treatment that can provide elimination of the infection. This can only be accomplished by root canal therapy or extraction.

The root canal treatment includes filling the root but it does not include filling the hole drilled into the tooth to access the pulp tissue or replacing tooth structure destroyed by cavities. Also root canal treatment requires drilling a hole through the top of the tooth and down the roots. This process weakens the tooth, especially back teeth. The tooth remains strong enough to last, if reinforced by a crown. Without a crown the tooth is very likely to either break or crack. If it breaks, it often cannot be fixed. If a crack occurs, it can allow bacteria to reenter the root canal space and cause a new infection. Studies show that a good root canal with a good crown succeeds about 90% of the time. This is an extremely high success rate for any medical procedure. However studies show the crown is actually more important than the root canal itself. A bad root canal with a good crown still succeeds about 60% of the time, but a good root canal with a bad crown only succeeds about 40% of the time. A back tooth that has a root canal very likely will not succeed without a crown. Finally, in limited cases (small decay or no decay) a front tooth may only need a filling after a root canal. However, it is uncommon for a tooth with small or no decay to need a root canal.

No. Sometimes when a tooth is prepared for a crown, the trauma of the crown preparation can cause the pulp of the tooth to die. Sometime after the crown is placed the tooth will develop a toothache and will need a root canal. However this is rare. Doing a root canal before every crown to prevent this situation would lead to many, many unnecessary root canals. Most of the time teeth with large but not deep decay can receive a crown without a root canal.

Answer: ZOOM! is the most advanced new chairside tooth whitening system that uses a full-mouth whitening light combined with a revolutionary 25% Hydrogen Peroxide light activated gel to lighten teeth 6-10 shades in about an hour.

Answer: ZOOM is the culmination of extensive research into light technology, chemical reaction to light and years of traditional tooth whitening experience. Combining this proprietary light technology (specially designed for tooth whitening) with a specifically formulated hydrogen peroxide gel in a two part delivery system results in a tooth whitening system that significantly reduces the time it takes to achieve dramatically whiter teeth.

Answer: The proprietary light technology and light activated gel were scientifically designed to work together for faster in-office whitening. Low sensitivity is an important aspect of the ZOOM! procedure.

Answer: Regardless of the type of whitener used, some general facts apply. All bleaching systems whiten your teeth, but when the procedure is complete, the color will fade about half a shade. Use the tray method in conjunction with ZOOM. Whitening will not change existing fillings and crowns. The doctor must discuss with the patient their expectations and point out what work might need to be changed so as to achieve consistent color. Whitening only works on enamel. Teeth which have thin enamel due to chemical or physical abrasion will whiten poorly. This should also be reviewed prior to starting treatment. The dental specialist at our office will review with you the best option so that you get the maximum benefit for your particular existing condition.