Dental Info

Whitening strips are among the most popular health and beauty products. Brightening up your pearly whites is a great way to give your smile a boost, and with all the over-the-counter options, there’s no reason not to pick one up and try it out. Your St. Augustine dentist Dr. Jeremy Gordon wants you to be informed about every aspect of dental health, so here’s a guide to which whitening options can give your teeth a bright new shine. If you have any questions or would like to visit Gordon Dental Associates for a consultation, don’t hesitate to give us a call.   Teeth Whitening : The Basics Nowadays, there are three basic types of in-home teeth whitening : toothpaste and mouthwashes, whitening strips, and gel trays. While whitening toothpaste and mouthwashes are the least expensive products on the market, they are also the least effective at creating a noticeable change in the short-term. This is because they don’t have a significant amount of the active ingredients in most white...

Your smile is more powerful than you may know. Scientists have studied many aspects of smiling, such as how it affects your brain, your health, and your overall experience of life. Even the situation you’re in and the people around you are influenced by your smile. The findings may surprise you. Or, if you’re someone who smiles often, they may just confirm what you already know. Dr. Barry and Dr. Love in Columbus love a good smile and want to help you smile more—to let us convince you to smile more and to maintain that smile with a healthy dental routine , keep reading! Smiling & Your Health The physical act of a smile can benefit both your mental health and your physical health. Experiencing an emotion connects all the parts of yourself: body, mind, and spirit, so the physical act of smiling can improve your overall experience of life. Studies show that smiling makes your brain function better to fight stress and to prevent stress from building in the first place. Smiling a...

Although you may think of general health and dental health as two completely unrelated categories, they are much more connected than the average person suspects. Just as the information you share with your general practitioner assists them in keeping you healthy, your Seattle dentist Dr. AJ Gollofon depends on your input for optimal dental health. When it comes to overall health, your dentist needs to see the big picture to best assist you with keeping your teeth vital. Most patients might not think to inform their dentist about their general physical health, but would be surprised at the potential impact that information can have on their oral care. Our dental team likes to go above and beyond for our King County patients, but we depend on your participation to make sure you get the quality dental care you deserve. Here are a few reasons why: Diabetes and Dental Health 750,000 Americans are diagnosed with diabetes every year, but few diabetes sufferers realize the full extent of t...

Are you or a loved one suffering from the toothache blues? Don’t wait around in pain for the problem to resolve itself. Although we do enjoy spending quality time with our patients at Dubuque Periodontics, we don’t want any Dubuque residents to have to undergo unnecessary dental procedures. A toothache can indicate a much more serious problem that should be addressed immediately – but there are a few things you can do in the meantime for temporary relief from toothache pain. Home Remedies: Painkillers – This one might be obvious, as painkillers are one of the fastest, most effective ways to temporarily relieve mild to moderate pain and inflammation. Salt Water – Salt has natural antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic properties. Add a spoonful of salt to a warm cup of water. Gargle the dissolved solution several times daily. Cold Compress – Just like any other injury, a cold compress can work wonders at reducing the swelling, inflammation, and pain of a toothache. Clo...

Whiter, brighter teeth are on the top of everyone’s smile wish list – and for good reason! White teeth look young and healthy. The good news is that teeth whitening is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to improve your smile, and the results are almost immediate. If you’re already taking good care of your oral health, whitening your teeth will truly put the polish on all of your efforts. Teeth Staining 101 Your unique smile and lifestyle determine the color of your teeth. The hard, outer surface of every tooth is called enamel. Enamel is usually white or off-white, but health and environmental factors can make it turn yellow, brown, or gray. Your mouth may do the talking, but your teeth can say a lot about your habits and health. Coffee, tea, red wine, soda, sports drinks and tobacco are the biggest causes of stains in healthy teeth. Limit these to preserve your natural pearly whites. One dark or discolored tooth may be the sign of a more serious problem. It’s important to see ...

We love to talk about the fun and interesting sides of oral health, but today, there is something much more serious on our minds. We care about the health of everyone in Portland, and as dental care professionals, we feel it is our duty to educate you on how to be as safe and healthy as you can be. While you have probably heard of the human papillomavirus and oral cancer, most people don’t know that they are linked. Here is some information from Dr. Case about the topic. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Family Dental Health. What is HPV? Human papillomavirus refers to a family of nearly 200 strains that infect the epithelial skin cells and mucous membranes, such as the inside of the mouth, tongue, tonsils, throat, vulva, vagina, cervix, penis (through the urethral opening), and the anus. HPV is transmitted primarily through sexual contact (oral and genital) and it is one of the most common viruses in the country. According to the CDC, 8 out of 10 Americans will...

Most of us were taught when we were kids that sweets like chocolate will rot your teeth. While this may remain true for some types of our favorite sweet snack, that doesn’t mean we have to take it off the menu altogether. In fact, recent studies have found that dark chocolate , containing high percentages of cocoa, may actually be beneficial to your dental health. Dr. Colleran at Michael Colleran, DDS wants San Luis Obispo residents to know the facts so they can satisfy their sweet tooth safely. How does it work? Dark chocolate is known to contain high levels of antioxidants, which work with our bodies to fight bacteria and disease. Dark chocolate can contain up to four times the antioxidants found in green tea! High levels of antioxidants found in saliva have been proven to help fight periodontal (gum) disease and slow tooth decay . What about the sugar? Yes, chocolate does contain sugar, which is bad for your teeth. However, that is why we are recommending dark chocolate, wh...

Sore jaw? Restless nights? Play sports? If any of these apply to you, you might be surprised to hear that you could use a mouthguard! Functions of Mouthguards Mouthguards are solid pieces of plastic that keep your teeth and jaw in a specific resting position. The basic function of a mouthguard is protection. Mouthguards help prevent accidental mouth injuries, ease pain from grinding your teeth, and can even help patients with trouble sleeping. They usually only cover the top row of teeth, but can sometimes be made to cover the bottom row too. You can buy a mouthguard pre-made, custom-made, or use the “boil and bite” method for something in the middle. Custom mouth guards from your Charlotte dentist offer the highest level of protection and the most comfortable fit, but no matter where you get your mouthguard, actually wearing it is the most important part. Types of Mouthguards All mouthguards look and function mostly the same, but they might be slightly different based on the ne...

If you have a crooked tooth, odd spaces between your teeth or a poor bite, you might be considering all of your orthodontic options. Orthodontics is a specialty in dentistry that realigns your bite and teeth for the best possible look and function. Did you know that our ancestors actually had naturally larger jaws? This meant they had more room in their mouth for all of their teeth to fit comfortably. But over time, due to genetic changes, human mouths are smaller than ever before. One out of every five people will have a problem with how their teeth fit and line up in their mouth! Invisalign® is one great option for the modern human who wants straighter teeth, without unsightly metal brackets and wires. If for any reason you aren’t fully comfortable with your smile, Drs. Wagner, Cannon, Lawler, and Nelson in Las Vegas want you to know your options. Read more below about orthodontics and Invisalign. Malocclusion When your mouth is closed, your top teeth should rest comfortably on...

What is the Oral-Systemic Link? You’ve always heard that it’s important to take care of your teeth. Brush and floss every day, and see the dentist for good oral health. But did you know that your oral health could directly affect your overall health? And the road goes both ways—problems with your overall health show signs in your mouth, too. Did you know that gum disease increases your risk of heart attack by 50%? Did you know that plaque buildup in your mouth can be an indicator of and contribute to plaque buildup in your arteries? These mouth-body connections are called the “oral-systemic link.” Dr. Brickey and Dr. Provine , your Salt Lake City dentists, explain the important ways your body systems work together for better or worse. Gum Disease Infection in your gums can significantly increase your risk for heart disease, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, low birth weight babies, bacterial pneumonia and more. In fact, gum disease is directly linked to at least 52 other systemic dis...

Living in a land of antibacterial gels, soaps, plastics, and even fabrics, it might surprise you to hear that tons of bacteria live in your mouth every day, and they aren’t all bad! In fact, some play an important role in keeping up your overall health. Some oral bacteria, however, can cause serious problems and must be fought with good oral hygiene . Gwinn dentist Dr. Gwendolyn Buck of Northern Trails Dental Care would like to help you understand the role bacteria play in your health and wellness. What are Bacteria? Bacteria are very small organisms made of just one single cell. That’s compared to over 37 trillion cells in the human body! Bacteria have their own DNA and they need sources of energy (food) just like you do. Nearly 700 different kinds of bacteria can live in your mouth, but most people only have 34-72 types present at any given time. What Do Bacteria Do? Of all the bacteria in your mouth, some are good, some are bad, and some simply neutral. The good bacteria – cal...

Bite. Crack. Ouch! A cracked or broken tooth is a real problem. Unlike other bones in your body, a broken tooth will not heal itself and needs to be cared for immediately. Depending on the extent and location of the damage, your dentist will likely recommend an inlay, onlay, or crown .  All versions of the same idea, these restorative dentistry treatments are custom-made covers to protect your tooth and restore it to its full, healthy, and functioning condition. Another reason you may need an inlay, onlay, or crown is due to extensive tooth decay breaking down your tooth that requires more than a simple filling to fix. Here’s how these options compare: Fillings : only fill a small, center portion of the biting surface of your tooth; is not a treatment for extensive damage Inlays : fill a larger portion of the biting surface than a filling contained within the cusp Onlays : fill and cover the biting surface of your tooth including up and over the rounded ridges (cusps) Crowns...

Yesterday was bring your child to work day  and my new assistant Grysel brought her daughter to visit . She is quite personable and loves dancing, but was quietly sitting in the business office "working" on her iPad on coloring projects. After awhile she popped her head into our treatment room to see whats going on. I remember when my son was younger we used to dress him up as Doctor David and introduce him as part of the team and I suggested we suit up Fabiana as well. We scrounged up a uniform, mask and gloves and put her to work. Seeing as she has a strong interest in dance and entertainment we assigned her a new job as our "dance coordinator". I suggested we make a short video of a performance between patients and she enthusiastically performed an impromptu dance to what we had on pandora. What a trooper, she nailed her performance in one take! Towards the end of the day I asked her if maybe she would now consider being a "dancer"/ "dentist...

Social media is a powerful solution in opening the line of communication. Using social media connects you to all potential patients. Each platform can serve a different purpose and target a variety of demographics. In the dental profession, you have no need for Snapchat or Tumblr… utilize the more informational formats such as Facebook and LinkedIn. While planning on how to effectively use social media marketing, it is important to follow these guidelines: Establish your target audience and use relevant marketing in terms of content, imagery, and information . In order to find your target audience, you want to think about who your biggest customers are and what age range they fall under. Once you’ve established this, you want to utilize social media with content, imagery, and information that will appeal to your target audience. This can be done by announcing giveaways and sharing information that your audience will care about or that will impact them. Ask intriguing questions i...

Contrary to all those commercials touting tooth pastes for sensitive teeth, treating the symptom usually is not as effective as finding out the cause and addressing the cause. This post will try to explain the ten most common causes of tooth sensitivity and what can be done to get rid of the sensitivity. A cracked tooth . Teeth with internal cracks can cause sensitivity to cold, hot or intermittant pain on chewing. The cure for this is usually crowning the tooth or having endodontic treatment. Some badly cracked teeth can even require extraction. A tooth with a large cavity can have the same symptoms as a cracked tooth may have sensitivity after eating sweets. Fixing the cavity may make this sensitivity go away. Teeth that need a root canal may exhibit quite a bit of sensitivity including any of the previously mentioned symptoms. Teeth that are traumatized by too much biting pressure . This can occur when a tooth bites down hard on something that causes a temporary injury to...

I have a rather needy dog who craves my attention, especially when I am sitting on my "easy"chair composing my blog posts or watching continuing ed dental videos on my laptop. She likes to sleep on my lap while I am doing this which sounds nice, but since she is a bull dog she weighs about 50 lbs  which is  unusually heavy for a lapdog. Still I like having her rest on my legs while I am working on my posts and in fact she is doing so while I am writing this post. She used to sit a my feet and bark at me while I was trying to work, but one day I lifted her up and put her on my lap and that made her happy. This became our routine.  Because she is not the neatest dog ( Bulldogs can be messy.. they slobber, scratch and do other things I won't mention) I covered our chair with some throw away soft fabric that happened to be decorated with batman insignias.  Often when I return home I find her sound asleep in what is now called the "Bat Cave".  It  seems to...

Last night at our Study Club we saw a presentation about the Gentle Wave Endodontic System by two of our members, who are endodontists, Doctor Radu Buruiana and Corina Buruiana-Oades .  I found the presentation extremely interesting because it facilitates minimally instrumented and shaped root canals. This seems like it is a step in the right direction since for years it has been clear to the endodontic community that using irrigation to dissolve the organic matter in the canal system and sealing it afterwards is what make endodontics work. Dentists instrument and shape canals in order to help the irrigants reach all parts of the system and to facilitate the filling of the canals with gutta percha.  The problem has been that aggressively shaping the canals can change the shape of the canal system in such away as to make it more likely for problems to develop later such as root fracture or over enlarging the apical foramen ( which can make it difficult to properly seal). ...

Dentists decide to open a bite for a number of reasons, including a loss of vertical dimension (patient has lost teeth and bite collapsed), prosthodontic convenience (no room to prep teeth for crowns) and to allow for  the creation of longer teeth using crowns (teeth are short but in occlusion).  If a patient has short worn teeth and dentist wants to restore them to a more normal appearance, they have only a few options. The patient can undergo crown lengthening by removing supporting bone around the teeth that need to be lengthened or the bite can instead be opened. Bite opening can be a good option, especially if a patient may need close to a full arch restoration. Opening the bite usually requires modifying at least one arch in the mouth and sometimes can involve multiple restorations in both arches. Usually a dentist will take study models and have a wax up proposal done on the study models to envision how a patients teeth would look if the bite was opened by one or tw...

The American Dental Association reports that the percentage of dentists owning private paratices has declined since 2005 . The trend was not surprisingly most pronounce among dentists under 35 years of age (lower by 16%). The fact that our youngest dentists have put off or declined owning a dental practice is not surprising since most are more burdened by debt from their educations. That being the case the ADA graphic shows that in the 44-54 year old group approximately 90% of the respondents have managed to become owners of their dental practices( lower by 4 % since 2005). Although I find this trend alarming, we dentists have been probably faring better than our colleagues who are pharmacists or  physicians, who seem to have more fully embraced working for corporations  as opposed to owning their businesses. Still the writing is on the wall. Younger dentists are finding it more difficult and possibly undesirable to own their own practices and are more and more often cho...

They say not everything natural is good for you. Nature has many poisons that humans have experimented with and learned the hard way to avoid. Tobacco is a popular plant that we’ve learned can really do a number on your health. Using tobacco is a personal and communal practice that can be really hard to avoid, even if you know it’s bad for you. Working with your doctor and dentist will be essential if you’re concerned about your health and want to stop using tobacco. What Is Tobacco? Tobacco is a green, leafy plant that has long been grown, dried, and used by cultures around the world. It’s usually smoked but is sometimes chewed or inhaled. Tobacco is known to affect the way people think, feel, and behave by interrupting your brain’s normal communication with the rest of your body. The tobacco plant contains the addictive stimulant nicotine, which is why a smoking habit is so hard to break. Cigarettes contain 2,000 ingredients known to be toxic and harmful to the human body. Effect...

In today’s calorie-obsessed culture, it can be hard to hear the truth among all the other health-conscious noise. Seattle residents are frequently misinformed and misled about the health benefits of trends such as cleanses, sugar alternatives, diets, organic vs. nonorganic, and a myriad of other common topics. Today Dr. Gollofon would like to clear up any misconceptions about dental health and diet soda. If you have any questions, please contact us . Are Diet Sodas Healthy? The short answer: no. Originally conceived as low-calorie alternatives to one of America’s first commercial legacies, diet sodas have become extremely popular amidst our country’s never-ending battle to lose weight. There’s only one small problem – diet sodas are only marginally better than regular soda. Compared to water, diet soda has zero nutritional value and contains many ingredients that are harmful outside of moderation. Diet Soda & Dental Health Diet soft drinks are not good for your teeth. Although...

Nicknamed for the fact that they come into your mouth and your life by the time you are mature and supposedly “wise”, wisdom teeth are simply the last set of molars that grow furthest back in your mouth. If you’re experiencing some specific pain in your gums and jaw, you may be wondering if you have impacted wisdom teeth. Dr. Berglass takes care of wisdom teeth from all around Charlotte! Let us tell you more about impacted wisdom teeth and what to do if you have them. What are Impacted Wisdom Teeth? Your wisdom teeth are the third and final set of molars you’ll get. They usually come in when you are between 17 and 21 years old. Sometimes they appear later in life, while some people’s wisdom teeth never grow in at all. (Does that mean those people never become wise? Hard to say.) As with other teeth, wisdom teeth are expected to break through the gums and become totally visible when they emerge. However, in some situations, they remain deep in the jawbone or never break thro...