Cold and Flu Season and Oral Health

  COMING DOWN WITH the flu is never any fun, but it’s still no time to let up on your oral hygiene routine. The same applies if you get a cold. With flu and cold season starting up, we thought this was a good time to share some tips for maintaining good oral health through one of these common illnesses. Brushing and Flossing Can Help You Feel Better As well as you can while sick, try to remember to brush and floss as usual. It’s not just about the comfort of maintaining some part of your normal routine, or about getting some small sense of accomplishment out of it — no, brushing and flossing can actually make you feel better! Keeping your mouth as clean as possible is a real boost to your overall sense of well-being. A clean mouth helps you feel rejuvenated and refreshed, so don’t let the simple habits of…

Sugar, Its Many Aliases, and Your Teeth

WHAT COMES TO MIND when you hear the word “sugar”? Probably your favorite type of candy or dessert, maybe your favorite soda. You probably didn’t picture barbecue sauce, granola bars, flavored yogurt, or fruit juice, but all of these and plenty more foods you wouldn’t suspect are loaded with sugar. That isn’t great news for our oral health. Sugar Versus Our Teeth Why are dental health professionals like us wary of sugar? Simple. The harmful bacteria on our teeth and gums like to eat sugar as much as we do. When they’ve enjoyed a tasty meal from the food fragments that remain in your mouth after a sweet treat, they excrete acid onto your teeth. This acid eats away at tooth enamel and irritates the gums, and if we aren’t careful, it can lead to issues like tooth decay and gum disease. Learn to Recognize the Many Names of Sugar If sugar…

Live Healthy and Meditate

Consistent  good oral hygiene absolutely improves your health! Preventing dental disease and periodontal disease strengthens your immune system and allows your body to use its defense system to ward off all other pathogens. This keeps your body strong. This is a busy world and it is easy to engage in the “rat race” and become distracted from what is really important in life. Taking a few minutes a day to meditate can help to re-route your thoughts and come back to reality. Doing so can improve your health and your life as stress is greatly reduced. This must be done on a daily basis to have a true effect on healthier living. This has been known for thousands of years. Focus on your breathing and you will feel renewed and more relaxed. It is impossible to think about stressful daily events when you are totally focused on thin king only…

Why are x-rays important in orthodontics?

Happy family of four in summer park

Radiographs (x-rays) provide dentists of all types and specialists to see things that cannot be seen by the naked eye. All dental x-rays are used with low levels of radiation and are extremely important to evaluate your oral health. Family dentists can view early decay between the teeth and they can observe when bone loss is occurring. Additionally, unerupted teeth can be noted as well as extra or missing teeth. Finally, cysts and tumors are often discovered as they become evident on digital x-ray images. Orthodontists consider a panoramic x-rays (the one that scans the entire lower face) as the most valuable diagnostic tool in orthodontics. The overall dental and periodontal health can be observed as well as root positioning. All children should have a panoramic film by age 7. It shows us when developing teeth need more space to emerge so we can treat most conservatively to avoid the…

Treat (Help) Yourself to a great smile!

MANY ADULTS MISTAKENLY believe that they missed their chance to get braces because they didn’t have them as teenagers. However, the number of adult orthodontic patients has risen dramatically over the last few decades, and today we’re going to debunk all of your excuses for not getting braces and show you why orthodontic treatment is still a wonderful option for adults with dental alignment issues. “It’s Too Late; My Teeth Won’t Move” It may be preferable to start young for orthodontic treatment, but there is no age limit to getting a straighter smile. We can help determine the best treatment for your circumstances. One advantage adult orthodontic patients have over teens is the self-discipline that comes with maturity; adults will often be better at following instructions for their treatment, which means it will go much smoother. Check out how much this woman’s teeth moved in one year with adult braces! “I’ll Be Fine If I Keep My Crooked…