Smile with Confidence: A Comprehensive Guide to Dental Health and Care

Monthly Archives: February 2016

How to Keep Teeth Healthy as You Age

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful older people are works of art.” How true! If you care for yourself, mind, body, and spirit, you just might live to be a hundred… without looking it. So how do you go about caring for yourself in order to age gracefully? How about starting with your teeth? Did you know that, if not properly cared for, your teeth can make you look older even more than your skin? In a recent survey on perception of age, participants were shown photos of adults ages 40 to 90. When asked how old they thought the people in the pictures were, those with bad teeth were thought to be as much as 20 years older than they actually were in reality! But a younger, more attractive appearance isn’t the only reason to keep your teeth healthy as you age. It’s also been learned in recent medical studies that tooth decay may be directly linked to some medical conditions, including heart disease and diabetes. That’s why dental offices recommend the following tips for keeping your teeth healthy as you move from one stage of your life into the next.

The First Cavity

All parents dreams of perfect dental checkups for their children. Every time you send your child off to the dentist, you hope to hear that all-important phrase, “Look, Ma, no cavities!” Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world, and that means that your child may, at times, return from a visit to the dentist with news of one or more cavities. So what do you do when you hear those words… ‘I have a cavity’… for the first time? Is there anything you, as a parent, can do about this cavity, or anything you can do to prevent the next one? The good news about cavities is that they’re virtually always preventable. And, yes, there is a lot you, as a parent, can do to help your child’s next and subsequent dental checkups be cavity-free. Here are some tips from dentists about cavities, how to react to your child’s first cavity, and concrete steps that you, as a parent, can take to prevent further cavities.

How to Treat a Toothache Naturally

Most people have experienced a toothache at one point or other in their lives. A toothache can cause a dull, constant ache that’s hard to live with, or excruciating, pulsating pain that’s impossible to live with. Either way, if you have a toothache right now, it goes without saying that you just want that pain gone. So what do you do about it? If you’re smart, you schedule an appointment with your family dentist. After all, there’s something going on inside your mouth that needs to be examined and treated by a knowledgeable professional. Of course, scheduling that dental visit doesn’t help you at this very moment, does it? Unless you’re running off to the dentist right now, you’re probably going to be experiencing pain for at least another day or two. So, is there anything you can do about that toothache pain right now, at home, that will alleviate your discomfort until you’re sitting in your dentist’s chair? Absolutely.