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

Tag: dental health

Sugary Foods

Halloween and Dental Health

It’s almost here… Halloween! The trick-or-treating. The parties. The costumes. The ghouls and goblins. The candy. Oh, the candy. It’s a time of year that can bring your kids loads of fun… and, if they’re not careful, loads of cavities. Naturally, as a parent, you want your children to have the time of their lives choosing their costumes, getting all ready for that big party or night of going to door-to-door with their friends. But you don’t want them to overdo it on the candy, and not just because you don’t want them getting all hyped up on sugar, either. You know that all that extra sugar can lead to cavities. And what’s a cavity? It’s nothing more than tooth decay. If you’re a parent who’s dreading Halloween for its notorious ability to bring on the tooth decay, try following some of these dental health tips to help keep your kids’ teeth healthy no matter how much candy they get.

Reasons Why Flossing is Important

Studies reveal that only four out of every ten Americans floss at least once per day, while an astounding 20 percent of the population never flosses at all.  Unfortunately, foregoing the flossing step is a vital part of maintaining healthy teeth and proper oral hygiene.  Flossing helps to clean those hard to reach places between the teeth.  Without flossing, the likelihood of developing cavities significantly increases as food remains lodged between teeth, fostering a breeding ground for harmful bacteria.  For discerning New Jersey residents who are searching for a top dentist, here is what the dental health experts have to say about the importance of flossing.

The Truth About What Causes Cavities

When considering a visit to the dentist, cavities are one of the top reasons people schedule an appointment.  Studies have shown that cavities impact as much as 90 percent of the population.  Sometimes they are small and go unnoticed, other times they are a large enough to collect food and become quite painful, often sending the patient straight to the dentist’s chair.  In fact, toothaches caused by cavities are one of the single most common reasons for a trip to the dentist.  Cavities are even more problematic for children who are much more vulnerable to them than adults.  This is because young teeth haven’t matured fully yet and are more likely to be exposed to unhealthy, sugary treats more often.  As such, be sure to check with a family dentist to receive quality care for the entire family.  Here is a general rundown of how cavities form and how families can avoid them altogether.  If you have a toothache or think that you may have a cavity you should contact a family dentist near you for help.

Health Benefits of Braces

Braces aren’t just for kids anymore.  More and more adults are getting braces to avoid long-term dental problems that result because of misalignment of teeth or the jaw.  While the primary reason for having braces put on your teeth is for aesthetic reasons, such as straightening the teeth, spacing out crowded teeth and closing gaps in your smile, they can also be utilized for better jaw alignment, especially if you would be destined to suffer the consequences of TMJ, or with tempomandibular joint issues.  If you suffer from TMJ, you know that opening and closing your mouth, or even masticating, (a more technical word for chewing), can cause pain.  Braces can help to correct the jaw defects which cause TMJ, so that means no more headaches, earaches and that annoying, as well as painful, clicking.

Realignment of the jaw will ensure that biting or chewing issues will be eliminated as well as life-long conundrums like tooth decay and gum disease.  If your teeth were crooked or crowded before undergoing the orthodontic process, and then later in life you needed to have dentures, then those plate(s) would be ill-fitting, without the benefit of braces and correction of overbites and underbite issues.

Daily Dental Health Tips

When you visit the dentist, they will have lots of advice on how to protect your oral health. There are several oral hygiene habits that are worth developing and maintaining in your daily health routine. These daily activities can help prevent periodontal diseases and cavities and help you maintain good oral health.

What Teeth say about Overall Health

Next time you visit your dentist you may tell him more about yourself than you realize. Your dentist might learn a lot about your overall health simply by performing a routine dental exam. A client who has teeth that the enamel has worn down on might be stressed out and grinding their teeth during the night. Your teeth, gums and the tissues found in the mouth can share a lot about the state of your overall health. Sometimes the dentist might be the first health care professional who warns you of health conditions. Here are a few things your mouth might be saying about you.

How to Protect Lips from the Sun

Preparing for a day in the sun includes lathering on sunscreen, grabbing a pair of shorts, and putting on sunglasses. As summer approaches there are a few things you need to keep in mind when soaking up rays. The sun provides great warmth from ultraviolet rays (UV).  Spending time in the sun is important, but it’s equally good to be aware of protecting your skin. Our lips in particular are something we might not think to protect. More importantly, men and women are at risk for lip cancer. Let’s cover a few important tips for lip protection before heading to the beach.