People in general usually have one common goal where their teeth are concerned and that is they want them. Bright and white. Sometimes the reason your teeth aren’t as white you like them to be is due to dental pit stains. To know what to do about them, you need to understand exactly what they are.

Simply put they are a discoloration of your teeth that can occur in very tiny holds that form on the surface of your teeth and that discoloration is known as pit stains.

Now, the question of do we need to worry about them as in, will they cause damage to our teeth? The pit stains are dark against the whites of our teeth and very unsightly and often obvious, but they will cause no actual damage to our teeth.

What Can You Do About Them?

Even though they don’t cause any obvious damage to your teeth or your gums, you will want to find a way to fix them. A lot of patients want to turn to home remedies, which isn’t always the best solution. We suggest that sometimes trying a different toothpaste may help clean the brownish looking stains on the teeth. Also, following a very strict oral hygiene regiment will not only help get rid or reduce the brownish looking pit stains, but, will also help with the overall health of your teeth and gums.

Teeth whitening products can help if you find brushing and flossing is not enough. The best option, of course, is simply to call our office and make an appointment to come in and see us for professional teeth whitening to make sure that is not an underlying problem and we can offer you the best solution for the stains.

Whether you are a dentist or a parent, there lies a challenge in helping people prioritize their dental health. From a parents – perspective, getting a child to continuously understand and brush their teeth is a task that is difficult to accomplish.

For the dentist, the challenge involves ingraining in the patients a desire to want to take care of their dental health.

In both cases, the challenge of influencing human behavior can be a large one. It is a well-known fact that the average human being only changes or adapts new behaviors when they feel the need from within or when they are faced with no other option. As such, knowledge of these two determinants will go a long way in helping people prioritize their dental health.

Positive Reinforcement

This applies to children and adults alike. Human beings love to be appreciated for their efforts, large or small. As a parent, positively reinforcing a child for consistently brushing their teeth will boost their desire to keep doing so. From our perspective, small tokens for results seen during check-ups can help our clients want to do better.

Education

Taking the time to teach people who struggle to understand how important dental health is, can be what they need. It could be talking, looking things up online, or even asking for a visit to our office. We will take whatever time we need to make sure to teach people to keep their dental health at the right priority level.

When people understand just how important their oral health is to their dental and overall health, it often helps them make and keep their appointments with us more regularly. If you are not sure if you are taking care of your teeth properly, ask us. You can call and set up an appointment, or you can ask to speak with one of our professionals for a bit more clarification. 

Medications, whether prescribed or over-the-counter, are intended to improve your health and well being. However, at times they end up having adverse side effects on you.

Unknown to most people, several prescription and OTC medications can harm your teeth and affect your oral health. This article will look at various medications and how they might harm your teeth.

How Medications Can Harm Your Oral Health

Many medications and health supplements can result in side effects such as dry mouth, abnormal bleeding, cavities, thrush, tender and swollen gums, and mouth sores among other effects. It is better to be aware of these medications, so that you can monitor the situation and protect your oral health. Here’s a breakdown of certain medications that might harm your teeth.

Medications That Can Result In Dry Mouth

Saliva is very important for oral health. It helps to clean the mouth and the teeth and in preventing tooth decay and gum infections. Without enough saliva, your oral cavity becomes vulnerable to infections. Some medications can result in a dry mouth. They include antihistamines, antidepressants, high blood pressure medications, decongestants, antacids, Parkinson’s disease medications, pain relievers, and sedatives.

Medications That Can Result In Abnormal Bleeding

Aspirins and blood thinners are often used to reduce blood clots and prevent stroke and heart attacks. However, they often result in abnormal bleeding of the gums, especially when undergoing oral surgery.

Medications That Can Result In Soft Tissue Reactions

Certain blood pressure medications, oral contraceptives, immunosuppressive medications, and chemotherapy drugs can result in soft tissue reactions in the mouth. Most of these drugs are usually prescribed. The soft tissue reaction leads to mouth sores, inflammation, and soft tissue discoloration.

Other medications such as antiseizure medications, immunosuppressants, and calcium channel blockers can result in enlarged gums. You should gently brush your teeth and floss when taking these medications. You can also consult us for other dental care instructions. Some medications, especially those that contain sugar, such as antacid tablets, chewable tablets, cough drops, and antifungal drugs also increase the risk of oral cavities.

Steroids, antibiotics, and chemotherapy drugs can also cause oral yeast infections. In case of such side effects, you will find our antifungal mouthwash to be very helpful.

If you notice any oral side effects on any medication you are taking, we advise you to let your doctor know. They may recommend different medications. You can also visit our clinics for preventive and corrective prescriptions. Regular dental hygiene and checkups can also help avoid some of these side effects. Schedule an appointment with us today.

Whenever you feel regular pain, it’s a sign that something is wrong. Lasting dental pain can be a sign of various ailments which need to be treated. Dental pain can come from many different locations in your mouth. Locating the source of your dental pain will help you determine what your particular dental problem is.

The Reasons Biting Down Hurts

One reason people experience dental pain is because a condition called bruxism. Bruxism is the habitual grinding of teeth, and it can cause complications in the jaw muscles. When you constantly apply pressure to your teeth, your jaw muscles become fatigued.

If bruxism isn’t corrected, it’s possible to develop a condition known as TMD. TMD is a condition that affects the jaw muscles. If you feel pain when you bite down below your ear, it’s possible that you suffer from Bruxism.

Another reason you may experience pain when biting down is because of an infected tooth. Infected teeth occur when bacteria in the mouth eat through the enamel and dentin of your tooth and infect the tissue underneath. Once this tissue becomes infected, the only way to remove it is to undergo a root canal procedure. If you feel pain when you bite down, and the pain is located at a single tooth, it’s possible you have an infected tooth.

The final reason you may feel pain from biting down is gum irritation. Gum irritation occurs for many different reasons. If your gums are red and swollen, it’s possible that you may be experiencing the early stages of gum disease.

However, it’s also possible that you just brushed or flossed too hard. If irritation occurs for more than a few days, you need to contact us. Gum disease can lead to infection and tooth loss.

Please contact us if you think you may be experiencing pain from any of these ailments. The sooner we can take a look at them, the sooner you’ll feel better. 

Everybody wants healthy and clean teeth, but keeping your teeth healthy may feel like an uphill battle. Sure, you can brush and floss twice a day to prevent cavities and keep your teeth from becoming yellow.

You may even try to brush and floss three times a day, but still notice your teeth declining in health. Contrary to belief, there are more steps you can take besides regular brushing to make sure your teeth remain healthy.

Avoid Certain Foods and Drinks

If you’re looking for healthier teeth, the best place to start is what foods you eat. Foods and drinks play an important role in maintaining the health of your teeth, and some can even damage your oral health. Avoid foods and drinks high in acids. These items will wear away at your enamel and cause cavities. Fruits like lemons and pineapples are particularly harmful to your teeth. You may also want to limit your consumption of soda.

Sodas pose a triple threat to your teeth’s health. Not only can they stain them if they are dark, they also wear away at your enamel in two different ways. First, they are acidic. Second, their carbonation makes them even more dangerous to your teeth because it also wears away at your enamel.

Avoid Hard Bristled Toothbrushes

Many people think choosing a hard-bristled brush is better for their teeth, however, it is quite damaging. Hard-bristled brushes wear away at the enamel quicker than other types of brushes. Plus, hard-bristled brushes can damage your gums. Hard-bristled brushes are notorious for making minor cuts in the gums, which can lead to the development of gum disease. Instead, you should choose a soft of medium bristled brush.

If you’re invested in your teeth’s health, we can help you. While avoiding certain foods, drinks, and brushes is one step to a healthier mouth, you also need to pay our office a visit for regular teeth cleanings. Please give us a call to set up your appointment today!

Throwing up is a danger to the health of your teeth. Once you vomit, you introduce stomach acids to the mouth. With time these acids can eat into your teeth’s enamel, leading to even more dental conditions.

However, some situations of vomiting can be chronical, but this will still ruin your oral health. Here is how vomiting affects your oral health.

Weakening Your Enamel

Since the acids eat into your enamel, they will typically leave it weaker than usual. With time, the excess eating of your enamel can make your teeth susceptible to chipping and even cavity formation.

You might start noticing issues with your teeth, as they become weak. In case the weakness exposes the region of your teeth that contains your nerves and vessels, you will experience some sensitivity, especially while taking hot or cold foods and drinks.

Even worse, brushing your teeth right after vomiting might actually contribute to the weakening of your enamel. Instead, you should first rinse your mouth with some water and fluoride-rich mouthwash. In some cases, these acids could also lead to your teeth turning yellow.

Effects On The Rest Of Your Mouth

Stomach acids can also eat into your mouth’s skin. You can start feeling pain as sores form on your mouth walls as well as on your gums. In some cases, it might also lead to the formation of sores on your throat, with the risk of chronic sore throat.

The acids could also lead to the inflammation of your salivary glands. Since the saliva plays a huge role in preventing the formation of cavities, the reduced release of saliva increases the risk of cavity formation. Also, you can easily experience dry mouth, which could also lead to halitosis (bad breath).

The short-term solution for keeping up with your dental health would be to stick to a great dental hygiene routine. However, the more sustainable solution should be to get your chronic vomiting issue fixed. In case you notice the above oral conditions, you may want to contact our office and schedule an appointment.

The tongue is one of the most underrated organs in the body. More so when it comes to oral health, people will spend a lot of time cleaning their teeth and obsessing whether their teeth are the root of their bad breath.

However, most people do forget about their tongue and that it does need to be cleaned just as often and as thoroughly as the teeth. The tongue is an important organ both in speech, sensory terms and in the digestion process. It therefore stands that we should do everything possible to keep it as clean as possible. Here are a few reasons why you should always brush your tongue.

Eliminates Odor

When it comes to bacteria in the mouth, the tongue is the repository for most of it. Although some do stay on the surface of the teeth, most of it is usually resides on the surface of the tongue. As such, you will find that the bacteria that brings about bad breath reside on the surface. When you regularly brush your tongue, you remove them, thereby making it less likely that you will have any bad breath issues or halitosis.

Periodontal Disease

This is a disease that is brought about by an infection in the gums, that’s because of deep pockets between the gums and teeth. When there is a serious build-up of bacteria on the tongue, it makes infecting the gums and other parts of the body that much simpler. Since the tongue is moist all the time, it makes sense that it’s a perfect place for bacteria to multiply.

Oral Thrush

Brushing the tongue thoroughly and even reaching the back is crucial to your oral health. It prevents an oral thrush which should be avoided by all terms. An oral thrush is essentially an infection brought about by overgrown yeast in the mouth. This is often characterized by white patches on the tongue. Although antifungal drugs should take care of it, regular brushing should do the trick.

The tongue is a very important organ in the body. For this reason, we should always do whatever we can to keep it healthy and clean. 

Many people are aware that when a person is sick that you stay far away from them until they recover unless you want to catch whatever they have, but not as many people are aware that the same goes for people with poor oral health. People with poor oral health often suffer from infections in their gums, and gum infections, just like a viral infection, can be contagious.

You wouldn’t want to share utensils with someone who is sick with the flu, and you should feel the same way about someone who has infected gums. Though both sicknesses are caused by different organism, they spread in much the same way.

When someone has a gum infection, it’s possible for the bacteria that have caused their infection to spread to other things. This makes utensils particularly dangerous as they usually get the closest to the infection.

What You Can Do

Avoiding utensils used by a person who has a gum infection isn’t enough. It’s common to see family members occasionally share toothbrushes. It’s not recommended to share toothbrushes for many reasons, but one of those reasons is cross-contamination. If a person has an infection in their gums, their toothbrush will certainly have a lot of the bacteria that caused the infection on it. If you were to use this toothbrush, you would put yourself at risk for infection as well.

It’s always important to practice good oral hygiene in your household, especially when it comes to someone within the home having some type of an oral infection. Long-term gum infection is associated with premature tooth decay and loss, and in many cases, advanced gum disease requires major oral surgery. Luckily, we are here to help you. If you think you or a family member may have a gum infection, please come in for a visit. We’ll be able to offer a solution and tips for a speedy recovery. 

Dental implants are used to restore your mouth’s natural structure by using three parts, an implant, an abutment, and a false tooth. The implant portion is fitted into your gum and binds to your jawbone. The abutment acts a connector between the implant and the false tooth.

Dental implants are important as they can prevent further oral problems from occurring like jaw deterioration and the migration of other teeth which can cause an uneven bite.

Many previous people afflicted with gum disease may have dental implants installed to mitigate many of the problems that stem from the loss of a tooth or teeth. Though dental implants reconstruct the tooth and support the jawbone, they must be taken care of just like normal teeth.

If a person with dental implants forgoes proper dental hygiene, is likely that they will develop reoccurring gum disease. This is why it is always important to take care of your mouth.

Ways to Prevent Gum Disease

Gum disease is caused by the buildup of bacteria in the mouth. Eventually, these bacteria can infect the gums and cause the gums to become swollen, red, and infected. If you have dental implants, getting gum disease is still possible and can actually be more difficult to deal with.

When you have dental implants and gum disease at the same time, there is a strong possibility that your body will reject the implants and they will have to be removed. The process of removing dental implants after they have failed is difficult as they are rooted firmly in the jawbone.

Occasionally, gum disease will cause the implant to loosen itself from the jawbone and put a person who is experiencing dental implant failure at greater risk.

When you have dental implants, it is important to continue with good oral hygiene. Good oral hygiene consists of flossing and brushing twice a day as well as making a visit to our office once every six months. We can help you keep up good oral hygiene with a quick call to our office. We will be able to schedule you in for a teeth cleaning appointment at your convenience. 

To those of you that are always on top of your oral health routine we applaud you. Our office would like to make some suggestions for your after-meal routine.

Brushing and flossing after a meal can definitely be good for your mouth. It’s picking the right time to brush to be most effective that some need a little help with.

Your Teeth and Acid

During the course of eating and drinking, your teeth become coated with food particles and acid from the meal. It is important to remove the food particles, but the acid on your teeth makes that a problem. Following your meal, the acid softens the tooth’s enamel for about 30 minutes.

If you immediately start brushing, you run the risk of brushing the tooth’s protective layer right off of the tooth. By waiting about a half an hour to start brushing your teeth, you allow time for the enamel to harden back up. 

Cavity Fighting Tips While You Wait

Now that you understand the purpose of giving your teeth some time before you give them a good brushing, there are some other things to do to reduce the bacteria’s effects in your mouth. Immediately following a meal, rinse your mouth with tap water. Tap water contains fluoride that fights decay.

Follow it up by drinking a glass. This removes acid and bacteria lingering around. By chewing a piece of sugar-free gum, it is also effective at removing food particles and bacteria by causing your mouth to salivate.

By practicing these small tips you can ensure that the enamel on your teeth stays protected. The American Dental Association recommends that you only brush twice per day, for two minutes. Brushing too often can cause dental abrasion.

The removal of protective enamel. If you are going to brush following a meal, use a soft-bristled brush and light pressure. Our office is here to assist in all your oral care needs. For further questions or information, contact us today.