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

dental health

Common Dental Questions, dental care questions and answers, dental health and hygiene tips, cosmetic and restorative dentistry, dental technology, ask a dentist

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.

Are Stained Teeth Unhealthy Teeth?

You want white teeth and a dazzling smile, so should you forego those blueberries so that your pearly whites stay that way?  Or drop that jolt of java from your morning routine because it might stain your teeth?  And, if you unwind with a glass of cabernet sauvignon, surely your purplish lips and tongue must mean that your teeth are also being stained, right?  Do you need to give up all these treats?  If you are concerned about teeth staining and want to learn more about teeth whitening you should contact a dentist who does teeth whitening.  A top Clearwater cosmetic dentist will answer all of your teeth whitening questions and will suggest ways to keep you teeth healthy and white.

What Does Wine Do to Teeth?

Red wine and concord grape juice have been long known to do two things:

#1 – make an indelible stain on clothes or carpeting; and

#2 – prevent the oxidation of bad cholesterol that leads to the formation of plaque in artery walls.

As to #2, if you were looking for an excuse to have that morning glass of grape juice or a  nightly glass of red wine perhaps you have one now.  After all, if a mere beverage can help lower the risk of developing blood clots that lead to heart attacks, you might as well go for it, right?  One important thing to remember is that having stained teeth does not mean that your teeth are unhealthy, and if you have stained teeth there are solutions such as a visit to a top dentist and an in office tooth whitening procedure.

The Anatomy of Teeth

The Tooth Fairy deposits spare change for each tooth she collects from under your pillow while you are fast asleep.  I don’t know what the going rate for teeth which have wriggled free from their gums is these days, but once you read about just how extraordinary your pearly whites really are, you’ll realize that all these years later you were gypped!

Composition of a tooth

If you Google Images to find the composition of a tooth, you might be surprised just how many layers or actual components you will see.

There are four major tissues that make up the tooth:

The tooth is supported in place by:

  • Gum
  • Bone

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.

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.

Drinks That are Good for Teeth

Most of us can guess which drinks are bad for our teeth; soda, energy drinks, and some sports drinks. Which drinks are good for teeth? Good news, they are right in your local stores and restaurants already. There is one thing to keep in mind: If the drink won’t look good on white carpet, it won’t look good on your teeth. That’s just the surface of it, what about helping tooth enamel? Interestingly, drinks that are lighter in color tend to be good for teeth all around. If you are looking to improve your overall dental health with the right drink choices, you’ve come to the right place. Here you will learn the expert opinion of top dentists.

Foods That are Good for Teeth

If you were to sample a group of people in a large crowd and ask them if they were 100% happy with their teeth the answers would vary. Some might say they don’t like the shape of their teeth, they may mention having too many cavities that resulted in bad fillings, or more commonly the whiteness of their teeth isn’t good enough. Across the board the issues would be cosmetic, but there is a deeper issue below the surface of the teeth. It’s important to be aware of the foods that you consume because it does impact the overall appearance of your teeth. Here you will learn about some foods that are good for your teeth.