Did you know that a poor oral health has a negative effect on the entire body? When you have dental conditions such as gum disease, cavities or dental restorations that are failing, the chances of developing or worsening existing systematic illnesses double.
The same bacteria that cause dental plaque can travel into the bloodstream and trigger clots that increase risk of heart disease. Some of these conditions are: Endocarditis, cardiovascular disease, pregnancy or birth, diabetes, HIV, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease, among others.
It is essential that you visit your dentist at least twice a year for checkups and dental cleanings so your overall health could be tuned- up!
Dental visits could detect the early signs and symptoms of systemic diseases. Resolve to practice good oral hygiene every day. You're making an investment in your overall health, not just for now, but for the future, too.
Straightening teeth is often considered a cosmetic treatment, but it can also improve your health! Here are 5 reasons why straightening your teeth could have a dramatic effect on your oral health:
1: Receding gums
Receding gums may be due to teeth positioned outside the natural contour of the jaw. By properly aligning the teeth, the health of the gums spontaneously improves. In this before and after picture, you can see how the receding gums improved after the Invisalign treatment aligned the teeth properly.
2: Wear and fracture
The upper and lower teeth work as a box and a lid, with the upper teeth being the lid. If the opposite happens the box does not close properly and shortening of the teeth by wear, and or chipping occurs. Aligning the teeth properly reduces the excessive friction and protects the teeth from further damage.
3: Open bite and wear of the back teeth
Nature designed the front teeth to bite into food and the back teeth to chew on the food. This distribution of the roles also allows the front teeth to protect the back teeth from excessive wear as the back teeth are subject to much more force due to their proximity to our jaw joint. When the front teeth don’t come together properly, not only is the biting capacity reduced, but their protective function against the wear of the back teeth is eliminated.
4: Daily flossing and brushing
Crowded teeth prevent proper home care and increase the chance of plaque (bacteria) and calculus (stone formations) accumulations around the teeth leading to loss of gums and bone due to the crowding. This is very well documented in the scientific literature that crowding increases the bone loss around teeth.
5: Spaces
Spaces between teeth can lead to food accumulation causing gum disease. By closing the gaps between teeth, the health of the gums is improved. However due to the loss of the bones and gums that occurred in the past, some missing gums remain, as the picture illustrates. Early treatment prevents this outcome.
If you are considering get a straighter smile than it's definitely worth booking an appointment with an experienced cosmetic dentist near you. They will be able to discuss your options from traditional metal braces to aligners and Invisalign, breaking everything down from the process to the cost for these teeth straightening devices.
The story always goes something like this: stop smoking, stop drinking coffee and alcohol, don’t eat chocolate, eat vegetables and fruits, exercise and drink a lot of water and you prevent this or that type of cancer.
Really?! It is like a dogma, where anything that makes us happy is bad for us…
This is the naked science about Oral Cancer:
Tobacco use
The bad news: tobacco is the most common cause of oral cancer. The risk of cancer is 5 to 10 times higher for current smokers than for people who have never smoked. This applies to all types of tobacco use, such as cigarettes, cigars, pipes and smokeless snuff, and chewing tobacco. The risk of oral cancer also increases with the number of cigarettes smoked per day.
The good news: quitting smoking will reduce your risk by 50% in 5 years. In 20 years your risk will be equal to someone who has never smoked.
Alcohol use
The bad news: alcohol is a risk factor for oral cancer and the risk increases with the number of alcoholic drinks per day. The risk is about twice as high in people who have 3-4 drinks per day and 5 times as high in people who have 5 or more alcoholic drinks per day compared to people who don’t drink alcohol.
The good news: It has not been proven that stopping alcohol use will decrease the risk of oral cavity cancer or oropharyngeal cancer (this is not the good news). Your best bet is to stay below the 3 alcoholic drinks per day, on average per week.
Tobacco and alcohol use
Here there is only bad news: Using a combination of alcohol and tobacco increases your risk of oral cancer two or three times more than for those who only use one of the two.
The really bad news: For those who smoke two or more packs of cigarettes per day and who also drink 4 or more alcoholic drinks per day, the rise of oral cancer increases by 35 times compared to those or do neither.
Chewing betel quid or gutka (betel quid mixed with tobacco) increases the risk for oral cancer because betel quid contains a cancer causing substance which is areca nut. The risk is related to how long and how often chewing has occurred. Don’t do it.
Personal history of head and neck cancer
If you already had cancer in the head and neck areas, then the risk for oral cancer increases.
Bottom line:
Quitting smoking is the ONLY proven way to reduce your risk.
It would strongly help to:
Any parent who has been the focus of a small child's effort to get their attention can relate.
"Mommy, Daddy, Mommy, Daddy, Mommy, Daddy Mommy, Daddy, Mommy, Daddy, Mommy, Daddy, Mommy..."
They understand the pressure to give in.
In the same way, our body's immune system is not resistant from caving in under the constant pressures of irritants and toxins introduced into the body. These irritants can come in many forms, but the biggest culprit is tobacco smoking.
1: When was the last time you made a tooth on an implant?
Implant dentistry involves surgically placing an implant into your jaw to replace the missing root of your tooth and making a tooth on the implant. Some dentists only know how to place an implant into your jaw but do not know how to make a tooth on the implant. This might mean that they won’t know where to correctly place the implant. Unfortunately if your implant is placed incorrectly in your jawbone, the tooth over the implant will neither look nor function correctly.
2: What kind of connection (abutment) are you making on my implant?
There are two kinds of connecting elements between the implant and the tooth, the first is a custom abutment, and the second is a generic, off-the-shelf abutment. Always demand that a custom abutment be made.
Everyone’s gums are shaped differently and so most of the time, a generic abutment wont fit properly. This leaves space for cement to settle where it shouldn’t and often it’s too deep in the gum to remove. This is the leading cause of implant failure.
Custom abutments are made to measure, which makes removing and cleaning any excess cement easy and predictable. If someone quotes a cheap price, it is likely that they are using a generic and less expensive abutment.
3: How long has the implant model you are going to give me been in use?
In implant dentistry, the newest treatment option is not necessary the best. Would you take blood pressure medication that just came on the market or one that has been in use and proven to work for decades?
With dental implants, a good outcome has to be proven over a long period of time, as the implant must function in your mouth for decades.
Ask that the company, brand and particular implant model have been in clinical use at least 15 years. Why so long? Companies will discontinue implants if they are proven to not work according to recognized standards. That being said, it takes many years for all the flaws of a particular model to be recognized. If a brand or implant model has been in use over 15 years, it is likely a safe option.
4: How long has the implant manufacturing company been in business?
We expect the implant to be functional for decades. Over this period of time, the tooth/abutment on the implant may need to be changed. Is the manufacturing company going to be around to get the parts needed for repairs?
Are you going to be stuck with an implant that no one knows how to service and that has discontinued parts? It is best to use an implant made by a company that has been in business for at least 20 years.
Fortunately, the top 5 dental implant companies have been around for at least that long. If someone quotes a cheap price it is likely that they are using an implant from a newer company. It is also possible that they are using a “clone” implant, made to look similar to one of the top implant brands but without the years of research to support its longevity.
5: How many years did you study dental implants in a formal setting?
There is no official American Dental Association specialty in implant dentistry. All licensed dentists are allowed to place and restore implants.
The most efficient and comprehensive way to study implant dentistry is within the confines of a dental school or hospital based “Implant Program”. Training implant dentists spend at least two years performing implant procedures under the direct supervision of experienced implant dentists. The same supervision concept is used when student dentists are taught how to make fillings, caps, etc.
Fortunately, this learning format has been used for many years to train general dentists and specialists alike in implant dentistry. A note of caution, however, some specialist dentists claim an expertise in implant dentistry without having had any formal training in the field.
Let us begin by defining nutrition as the process by which living beings use food to get nutrients for energy, growth, development, and maintenance of the body cells. Bad breath or halitosis is an unpleasant odor caused by waste from bacteria inside your mouth, decaying food, other debris and poor oral hygiene.
It is very common that certain foods may result in a temporary bad odor, such as garlic, onions, curry and other spices. Furthermore, the use of tobacco and dry mouth increase the chance of halitosis. The malodor is just as unpleasant to you as the others around you.
For a healthy body and a healthy immune system, it is essential to have all types of antioxidants present. That is why proper diet plays a major role in keeping everything in balance. Practicing good oral hygiene will result in lowering the possibility of bad odor in the mouth. This includes flossing, scraping your tongue to remove the bacterial build-up, food debris, and dead cells from the surface of it, proper brushing techniques and rinsing if applicable.
If you suspect that you may be suffering from bad breath, do not hesitate to ask your dentist, he or she can help determine its source.
For further reading please refer to http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/bad-breath/symptoms-causes/dxc-20192379
Many people opt for sugar-free drinks in order to spare their teeth from decay and damage. However, a new study by researchers from Melbourne University found that sugar-free drinks are equally as harmful to teeth.
The researchers, led by professor Eric Reynolds from the Oral Health Cooperative Research Center, investigated how 23 sugar-free drinks affected oral health and found that most caused the tooth's enamel (the outer layer) to soften by a whopping 30 to 50 percent. These drinks included soda, flavored juices and flavored mineral waters.
Just how do they cause this damage?
Plaque on teeth forms from the sugar people eat. Bacteria feed on this plaque and as they do, an acid is produced that destroys teeth and causes decay. In the same way, sugar-free drinks containing acid cause damage to teeth by stripping the enamel.
Continued consumption of these beverages can cause dental erosion to further progress, sometimes to the point of exposing a tooth's inner soft pulp. Reynolds blamed the citric acid or phosphoric acid content of such drinks for the dental erosion.
"Many people believe soft drinks labeled sugar-free are completely safe for teeth, but unfortunately we're finding these aren't much better than the sugar-filled versions because of their potential to cause erosion of dental enamel," said Reynolds.
Reynolds also said one in three children suffer from dental erosion.
"We've seen bad erosion in the teeth of children aged 2 to 3 years old, and signs of erosion in permanent teeth of older children," he noted, adding that if children will keep drinking these beverages, they "are likely to need extensive dental treatment by the time they reach their teens."
Sugar-free candies, particularly orange or lemon flavored ones, likewise contain acids from the flavoring and destroy the teeth in the same way.
Sports drinks are not off the hook, either. After investigating eight sports drinks, the researchers found that six of them "caused significant enamel surface loss and enamel surface softening," according to a briefing paper about the study.
Reynolds recommends a very simple way to avoid dental erosion: "To give your teeth, or your children's teeth, the best chance, water is always a better choice."
The study was published in the Australian Dental Journal.
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The story always go something like this: stop smoking, stop drinking coffee and alcohol, don’t eat chocolate, eat vegetable and fruits, exercise and drink a lot of water and you prevent this or that type of cancer. Really! It is like a dogma, where anything that makes us happy is bad for us…
This is the naked science about Oral Cancer:
Tobacco use
The bad news: the most common cause of oral cancer is tobacco use (risk factor for tobacco use is 5 to 10 times higher for smokers than for people who have never smoked). This applies to all types of tobacco such as cigarettes, cigars, pipes and smokeless snuff and chewing tobacco. The risk of oral cancer increases with the number of cigarettes smoked per day.
The good news: quitting smoking will reduce your risk by 50% in 5 years. In 20 years your risk will be equal to someone who never smoked.
Alcohol use
The bad news: alcohol is a risk factor for oral cancer and the risk increases with the number of alcoholic drinks per day. The risk is about twice as high in people who have 3-4 drinks per day and 5 times as high in people who have 5 or more alcoholic drinks per day compared to people who don’t drink alcohol.
The good news: It has not been proven that stopping alcohol use will decrease the risk of oral cavity cancer or oropharyngeal cancer. So just make sure you are below the 3 per day alcoholic drinks on average per week.
Tobacco and alcohol use
Here there is only bad news: alcohol + tobacco = risk factor for oral cancer 2 to 3 times more than in people who only use tobacco or only alcohol. The really bad news: 2 or more packs of cigarettes + 4 alcoholic drinks per day = risk factor of 35 times higher compared to people who never smoked cigarettes or drank alcohol.
Betel quid or gutka chewing
Chewing betel quid or gutka (betel quid mixed with tobacco) increases the risk for oral cancer because betel quid contains a cancer causing substance which is areca nut. The risk is related to how long and how often chewing has occurred. Best advice: don’t do it.
Personal history of head and neck cancer
If you have already had cancer in the head and neck areas, then the risk for oral cancer also increases.
Bottom line:
Quitting smoking is the ONLY proven way to reduce your risk.
It would strongly help to:
Cross-training is all the rage in the fitness world. It makes sense for a healthy, toned body. It also makes sense when it comes to healthy teeth and gums.
It is important to disrupt or remove the sticky bacterial film which forms on our teeth on a daily basis. Just as we use different exercises to tone different parts of the body, we need a multitude of tools to reach all the nooks and crannies found around our teeth and gums.
In my experience, flossing 7 days a week is the most difficult habit to add to your daily routine. If 7 day flossing is too overwhelming, how about committing to 2 or 3 days?
And, on the days when you don’t floss, use one of the other available plaque removal tools like Soft Picks or a Rubber Tip Stimulator by GUM?
Dental floss is the only tool which disrupts the plaque where the teeth touch each other (where cavities start). Soft picks are user friendly, feather-like toothpicks which remove food particles and plaque between teeth. A rubber tip is a metal handle with a rubber point on the end which is used to trace the gumline where plaque accumulates due to the normal anatomy of the tooth which is widest in the middle. This deflects the bristles of your toothbrush and leaves plaque at the gumline where the tooth is more narrow.
Undisturbed plaque cranks out acids and toxins which cause cavities and gum disease.
Why not give oral care cross-training a try? Get in there and shake things up with a few different oral care tools (not all in one day but varying them during the week).
Switch up the routine and you’ll see the results for yourself.
Questions about oral care? Contact us or book an appointment for a check up & cleaning to remove plaque to help prevent cavities.
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Over the past decades, we have gotten accustomed to a standard one-hour visit to the dentist. X-rays are taken, an exam is done by the dentist and teeth are cleaned by the hygienist. A routine dental visit may be appropriate for established patients, but today, a full dental exam consists of a lot more.
Has the world of dentistry really changed that much? Yes!
The past ten years have seen many positive changes in the world of dentistry thanks to breakthroughs in research, modern technology and more efficient practices. This could effectively change the future of dental disease for patients.
Let’s go over the components of a comprehensive exam and understand the different aspects:
X-rays of the entire mouth:
X-rays can identify many aspects of oral disease, including cavities between the teeth, bone loss or periodontal disease, infections, bone lesions, unusual dental growth and unerupted teeth
Diagnostic Imaging of entire mouth:
Pictures allow for the magnifications of dental conditions and the evaluation of existing restoration and potential new cavities under filling
Caries risk assessment:
This is the evaluation of snacking habits, oral hygiene habits and the existence of current cavities among other items to make an assessment of the likely hood of future cavities.
Gums risk assessment:
This is the measurement of the gums in millimeters, and evaluation of the color, aspect, and bleeding propensity of the gums to form an assessment for future gum problems.
Oral cancer screening and head & neck examination:
This is the examination of the cheeks and gum to identify early lesions that may need follow up to detect and prevent oral cancer.
Comprehensive oral evaluation:
This is the evaluation of all the above information to put together a plan to fix current issue and most importantly, to put together a customized prevention plan. This ensures that caries, gum disease and oral cancer are prevented in the future. This may include antibacterial mouth rinse, fluoride applications, diet/snacking recommendation and advice of a healthy balanced diet where fruits and vegetable are represented. Also this may include and awareness of risk factors for oral cancer such as smoking and frequent alcohol intake.
Oral hygiene instructions
Dental cleaning
Same day treatment plan and cost estimate (except in large cases requiring another appointment at no charge)
In total, we spend 1 h 40 minutes on your appointment. (50 minutes with the doctor and 50 minutes with the hygienist)
At Making You Smile we believe in prevention and we will spend a lot of time with every new and existing patients to customize a prevention plan to fit their oral health needs.
