Your toothbrush is your most powerful weapon for a healthy mouth! Whether you use a manual or electric version, your toothbrush is responsible for clearing away food debris, plaque and bacteria twice per day. Without your toothbrush, you’d be susceptible to oral health conditions ranging from bad breath and cavities to gum disease, infections and even tooth loss.

Now that we’ve established the importance of your toothbrush, what are you doing to take care of it? Keeping your toothbrush in good condition and free of germs is critical if you want it to do its job. Here are five proper care and maintenance tips for your toothbrush to ensure your toothbrush is not doing more harm than good. (more…)

You may be familiar with deep cleaning your house or your car, but what does it mean when your dentist says your teeth need a deep cleaning?  A deep cleaning refers to scaling and root planing, which is a special type of cleaning to reverse mild to moderate gum disease. Therefore, if a deep cleaning is suggested, there’s a good chance your dentist has noticed signs of periodontal disease. (more…)

A good night’s sleep is important. In fact, your body can’t survive without sleep. But what if your quality of sleep is poor and you’re waking up several times a night without even knowing it. This is an unfortunate but common situation for those who have sleep apnea. According to the National Sleep Foundation, an estimated 18 million Americans suffer from a serious sleep condition called sleep apnea. Considering the critical role that sleep and breathing play in our body’s overall function, untreated sleep apnea does not go unscathed. (more…)

Dental implants are the gold standard in teeth replacement. Unlike any other type of restoration, they offer a replacement for the missing tooth as well as the missing tooth root. This ensures your prosthetic tooth (or teeth) is securely anchored into your jawbone for a confident and durable smile. Implants involve the surgical placement of a titanium post into the jaw. The implant will fuse to the surrounding bone and form a firm foundation for a dental implant restoration to be attached on top. Depending on how many teeth you are replacing, the implant restoration can involve a custom crown, bridge or denture. (more…)

You can have healthy, well-aligned teeth and still have a dingy-looking smile. Staining and discoloration on your teeth are very hard to avoid, especially as you age. Whether it’s coffee, red wine or smoking, daily habits can sabotage the brightness of your smile over time. Unfortunately, yellow and stained teeth can make you less approachable and look much older than you really are. (more…)

When you have a cavity or minor area of damage within a tooth, a dental filling is often the means to repair it. While fillings can vary in material (amalgam versus composite), they all have a certain lifespan or finite period of time until they begin to fail. There is no concrete rule on how long you can personally expect your filling to last, but there are some warning signs that may suggest you need a replacement. Once your filling starts to fail, it is important to act promptly and make an appointment with your dentist. (more…)

When it comes to keeping healthy teeth and gums, there is no replacement for daily brushing and flossing and regular dental visits. However, nature also provides us with some very helpful ways to protect and boost your oral health. Check out the following plant-based remedies in preventative dental care:

Oil of Oregano to Halt or Slow Decay
Not all cavities must be treated right away. Sometimes a small area of decay needs to be monitored more closely to make sure it doesn’t grow or spread. Oil of Oregano is a natural antiseptic that has been used to not only prevent tooth decay but possibly slow cavity growth. (more…)

Dry socket is a very painful dental condition that you won’t have to worry about until you get a tooth extracted. In fact, wisdom teeth extraction is one of the most common procedures associated with dry socket. While you will certainly be given a list of instructions for avoiding dry socket after tooth removal, it is important to understand exactly what the condition entails and the risks involved.

While most extraction procedures involve a simple oral surgery and smooth recovery, they do pose the risk of dry socket. Dry socket, also called alveolar osteitis, is a condition that can develop if the blood clot after tooth removal does not form or gets disturbed. This can create significant pain for the patient. Fortunately, there are ways to prevent this as well as treat dry socket if the condition occurs. (more…)

Are you flossing every day? A staggering number of Americans neglect this important oral hygiene task. Perhaps if more patients understood the cause-and-effect relationship between flossing and health, it would keep them motivated. Flossing helps prevent bad breath, gum disease and tooth decay. But did you know that flossing may also protect you against oral cancer?

We know that oral cancer risk factors include alcohol consumption, tobacco use, HPV, sun exposure, genetics and a weakened immune system. However, current research also includes poor oral hygiene as a potential risk factor for mouth cancer. In fact, recent studies have discovered that people who floss at least once a day are invariably less likely to develop oral cancer. The study compared behaviors of individuals who developed oral cancer and those who did not. Researchers saw that people who did not develop cancer went to the dentist once a year and flossed at least once a day. (more…)

For a cosmetic dentist, one of the quickest and most effective ways to create a beautiful smile is to use veneers. Veneers are typically shells of porcelain that are bonded on the front surface of the teeth to hide imperfections. This cosmetic dental solution offers remarkable versatility, as veneers can address mild to moderate malocclusion, teeth with unsightly gaps, broken teeth, chipped teeth and even teeth that are extremely discolored. A highlighted advantage is that multiple flaws can be fixed in one procedure – saving time and money for the patient. (more…)