With a good hygiene routine at home and a regular schedule of preventive dental care, you can prolong the beautiful, healthy appearance of your smile and prevent most chronic dental issues. However, teeth stains are not like most chronic dental issues; even when your teeth are healthy, stains can still show up on their surfaces thanks to exposure to foods, beverages, and more. Fortunately, teeth stains can typically be erased as easily as they appear with a fast and effective professional teeth-whitening treatment. If your smile could use a pick me up due to a change in your teeth’s appearance, then ask your dentist if you should consider teeth-whitening. (more…)
Would You Know if You Had Sleep Apnea?
Patients with sleep apnea are not always aware of their condition. Their bodies wake up repeatedly at night to restart breathing, but patients typically remain unconscious, unaware of the disturbance. Sleep apnea is typically marked by bouts of extremely loud snoring, and many patients only learn of their disorder when their partners complain of the noise. If you believe that you may have sleep apnea, then your dentist may be able to help you diagnose the issue and receive appropriate, customized treatment. (more…)
Why Your Dentist Urges You to Quit Smoking
For most people, the fact that tobacco use is harmful to your health is not news. After all, tobacco companies have been embroiled in legal battles regarding the deadly product that they sell for years. Because your mouth is the window to the rest of your body, attention should also be paid to the effects that tobacco has on your oral health. Today, we take a look at those effects, and why your dentist urges you to quit if you use tobacco products. (more…)
Tooth Restoration vs. Full-Mouth Rehabilitation
With the right restorative dentistry treatment, your tooth can successfully recover from most issues such as a crack, fracture, progressive cavity, and more. However, when you have several teeth that need to be restored, or your compromised tooth is coupled with bite misalignment or other issues, then you may require more than a single restoration. Full-mouth rehabilitation is a custom-designed, highly personalized treatment plan to correct all of your smile’s issues in a conservative and effective manner. Each plan is comprised of a combination of restorative and/or cosmetic treatments to address each patient’s unique needs and preferences, and your dentist will work closely with you to determine what your treatment plan should entail. (more…)
Can Bonding Repair My Chipped Tooth?
A tooth can be damaged in a number of ways, like a fracture in its crown, or a broken piece that has completely separated from its main structure. Some of the more common types of tooth damage, however, are not so severe. For instance, teeth can often become slightly worn or chipped, which may affect your smile’s appearance as much as it does your tooth’s integrity. In many such cases, your dentist can repair your chipped tooth with minimal changes to your tooth structures, such as with cosmetic tooth bonding. Unlike a dental crown or porcelain veneer, tooth bonding can reestablish your tooth’s whole, healthy appearance without having to permanently alter the tooth’s structure. (more…)
Can Porcelain Veneers Give You a Better Smile?
Taking good care of your smile is about more than just preventing and treating issues like tooth decay and gum disease. It also entails maintaining a level of pride in your smile’s appearance and showing it as often as you can. For many patients, however, that pride is limited due to cosmetic blemishes such as stains, chipped surfaces, uneven spacing, and more. The good news is that cosmetic smile improvement may not be as challenging as many patients expect, especially with the help of one or more porcelain veneers. (more…)
A Look at Impacted Wisdom Teeth
Every tooth in your smile is unique, including wisdom teeth. Some patients may not grow their last four molars at all, while others may develop more than four. Certain patients experience little or no discomfort in their wisdom teeth, while others may grow third molars that can’t erupt properly for any number of various reasons. Even impacted wisdom teeth can vary in their nature, exhibiting a variety of personalities that can determine the severity of each patient’s condition. (more…)
Oral Cancer at a Glance
According to the Oral Cancer Foundation, approximately 42,000 patients are newly diagnosed with oral cancer every year. Within the same amount of time, it may claim close to 8,000 lives. To keep an eye out for oral cancer, you should frequently perform self-examinations for the telltale signs of oral cancer, as well as attend routine dental checkups and cleanings (which include a thorough oral cancer screening). Today, we explore what to look for in your oral cancer screening, as well as some of the more interesting facts concerning the potentially deadly disease. (more…)
Is It Possible to Prevent Cavities?
Tooth decay, the dental disease that causes cavities in your teeth, is the most common chronic dental health issue for both children and adults. Surprisingly, they’re also among the easiest to prevent. Tooth decay and cavities develop from a combination of factors, such as inadequate hygiene, excessive sugar intake, and infrequent visits to the dentist’s office. By understanding those factors and how you can address them, you can significantly increase your possibility of preventing cavities from ever forming. (more…)
How Your Dentist Treats TMJ Disorder
As the hinges upon which your jaw opens and closes, your temporomandibular joints (TMJs) largely dictate how well your bite functions. When the joints are damaged or forced out of alignment, the impeded movement can generate debilitating levels of discomfort. For many patients, restoring symmetry to their bites can help relieve the discomfort that stems from TMJ disorder. Fortunately, treating TMJ disorder can often be accomplished with a small, comfortable oral appliance that you only have to wear at night. (more…)
