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…
early orthodontic treatment
Why are x-rays important in orthodontics?
Categories: Brace Yourself Blog
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…
The Daily Grind of Bruxism
Categories: Brace Yourself Blog
MOST PEOPLE GRIND OR CLENCH their teeth briefly when annoyed or in a tense situation. That level of teeth-grinding isn’t really something to worry about. It’s when you do it far more frequently, often without even realizing it (you might even do it in your sleep!), that it can potentially become a serious problem. The medical term for this kind of teeth-grinding is bruxism. Bruxism: What and Why The main causes of bruxism is stress and an imperfect bite. Symptoms of Bruxism: Frequent headaches from all the strain Enlargement in your jaw muscles (because you’re giving them quite the workout!) Shifting teeth Flattened chewing surfaces of teeth Exposed dentin and increased tooth sensitivity Chipped/cracked/split teeth Tooth loss Your Next Steps Depending on which type of bruxism you have, there are a variety of treatments or approaches to either reduce the grinding or the damage it causes. Relaxation Particularly for stress-related bruxism, relaxation techniques such…
Why See An Orthodontist?
Categories: Brace Yourself Blog
Did you know that an orthodontist must become a dentist FIRST? All orthodontist are dentists, but not all dentists are orthodontists. Extra training and education that makes an orthodontist qualified to safely and effectively adjust a patient’s dental alignment, which is why it’s so important to choose an orthodontist to straighten your smile. This is especially true with Invisalign treatment where the diagnosis needs to be thorough and complete to set up a great treatment sequence! We have treated over 1,500 patients with Invisalign and we are committed to excellence to optimize your smile and dental health! Trust your team at Dr. McSurdy’s office Dr. David W. McSurdy graduated from Perkiomen Valley High School and then went to receive his Bachelor of Science degree from Lafayette College. He completed his dental training at Temple University School of Dentistry and continued on for his specialized training in orthodontics at Fairleigh Dickinson…
Our Team’s Thanksgiving Traditions
Categories: Brace Yourself Blog
THANKSGIVING TRADITIONS COME in all shapes and sizes. From the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade to breaking the wishbone to getting together with those wacky yet lovable relatives, traditions vary from family to family, and that includes the families of our practice’s team members! Unusual Thanksgiving Traditions Dr.McSurdy enjoys brining the turkey before he roasts it. In the past, he has also tried to deep fry a turkey (in 45 minutes) in the freezing cold. Lastly, he enjoys having a turkey bowl with his neighbors. Favorite Thanksgiving Memories Dr.McSurdy’s favorite memories on Thanksgiving include it snowing on Thanksgiving (twice), watching football with a fire in the fireplace (every year), eating dinner with his family and enjoying his wife’s great tasting turkey and sausage filling. Traditions In Our Practice Every year in our office we host a potluck. Each team member makes a side dish and we share our food together at lunch.…