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By Applewood Dental
June 16, 2018
Category: Oral Health
Tags: tooth decay  
TakeTheseMeasurestoLowerYourChildsToothDecayRisk

As a parent you’re always on the lookout for dangers to your toddler’s well-being: sharp corners on furniture, uneven walks or the occasional stomach bug. But a situation could be brewing in their mouth you might not be aware of until it’s become a full-blown problem.

The silent danger is tooth decay, which could be developing as early as infancy. Undiagnosed and untreated, it could ultimately cause premature loss of primary (“baby”) teeth with adverse effects on the eruption of incoming permanent teeth.

Tooth decay arises from certain strains of mouth bacteria, often passed down from parent to child. These bacteria produce acid as a byproduct after feeding on carbohydrates (especially sugars). The more food available, the more acid they produce. This wreaks havoc on tooth enamel, the teeth’s outer protective covering by softening and dissolving its mineral content. This gives decay an opening to infect the interior of a tooth.

Combine inadequate hygiene practices (especially brushing) with poor dietary habits, and you have the conditions for a perfect disease storm in your child’s mouth. That’s why you should begin oral hygiene as soon as you notice their first teeth. Wiping them with a clean, wet cloth is sufficient in the beginning, but you should start daily brushing (with fluoridated toothpaste to strengthen young enamel) by their first birthday.

You should also practice good dietary habits. For example, avoid giving an infant or toddler a bottle filled with juice, milk or formula to sleep with through the night — the constant sipping bathes the mouth in sugars bacteria feed on. Instead, use plain water. You should also focus on nutrition from the get-go to help build overall good health as well as strong teeth and gums.

As an added measure, begin regular dental visits by their first birthday. A checkup and cleaning every six months will help us detect early tooth decay and lessen its impact. We can also provide sealants and topical fluoride to give added protection against decay.

Catching and treating decay early before it gets too far is the best way to prevent early tooth loss. Your child’s future dental health might depend on it.

If you would like more information on your child’s dental care, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Taking the Stress out of Dentistry for Kids.”

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By Applewood Dental
June 11, 2018
Category: Oral Health
Tags: gummy smile  
FindingtheRightSolutionforYourGummySmile

Even with picture perfect teeth, you may still be unhappy with your appearance. The problem: too much of your upper gums show when you smile.

There’s no precise standard for a “gummy smile”—it’s often a matter of perception. As a rule of thumb, though, we consider a smile “gummy” if four or more millimeters of upper gum tissue show while smiling. In any event if you perceive you have a gummy smile, it can greatly affect your self-confidence and overall well-being.

The good news is we can often correct or at least minimize a gummy smile. The first step, though, is to find out why the gums are so prominent.

There are a few possible causes: the most obvious, of course, is that there’s more than normal gum tissue present. But the cause could be the front teeth didn’t fully erupt in childhood and so the gums appear more prominent. Other causes include the upper lip moving too far upward when smiling (hypermobile) or an elongated upper jaw that’s out of proportion with the face.

Finding the exact cause or combination of causes will determine what approach we take to minimize your gummy smile. If too much gum tissue or not enough of  the teeth show, we can use a surgical procedure called crown lengthening to expose more of the crown (the visible part of a tooth), as well as remove excess gum tissues and reshape them and the underlying bone for a more proportional appearance.

A hypermobile upper lip can be treated with Botox, a cosmetic injection that temporarily paralyzes the lip muscles and restricts their movement. But for a permanent solution, we could consider a surgical procedure to limit upper lip movement.

Surgery may also be necessary for an abnormal jaw structure to reposition it in relation to the skull. If, on the other hand it’s the teeth’s position and not the jaw causing gum prominence, we may be able to correct it with orthodontics.

As you can see, there are several ways varying in complexity to correct a gummy smile. To know what will work best for you, you’ll need to undergo an orofacial examination to determine the underlying cause. It’s quite possible there’s a way to improve your smile and regain your self-confidence.

If you would like more information on improving a gummy smile, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Gummy Smiles.”

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By Applewood Dental
June 06, 2018
Category: Oral Health
Tags: oral health  
JuneIsMensHealthMonth

Each June, as we celebrate Father’s Day, we get a chance to pay tribute to the important men in our lives. One of the best ways to do that is by encouraging them to stay healthy—and June is a great time for that, since it’s also Men’s Health Month. So let’s take this opportunity to focus on one important aspect of maintaining good health: preventive dental care.

Preventive care includes all the measures we can take to stop disease before it gets started. One facet of prevention is encouraging people to make healthier lifestyle choices: for example, quitting tobacco, getting more exercise, and improving their diets. You can start by eliminating foods that have added sugar (like many soft drinks and processed foods) or acids (like some fruit juices and sodas, both regular and diet)—and by limiting snacks to around mealtimes, so your saliva has time to neutralize the acids in your mouth that can cause cavities.

There’s increasing evidence that having good oral health promotes better overall health—and coming in for routine checkups is essential. While some men avoid the dental office until they have a problem, that isn’t a wise decision. In fact, a routine dental visit is not only one of the greatest values in preventive health care—it’s also one of the best ways to maintain good oral health. Here’s why:

Tooth decay is among the most common chronic diseases—yet it’s almost 100% preventable! A routine office visit includes an oral exam and a professional cleaning that can help stop tooth decay before it gets started. But when decay is discovered, it’s best to treat it right away, before treatment gets more complex—and costly!

The major cause of tooth loss in adults is gum disease. If your gums bleed or show other signs of disease, we can help you get it under control with instruction for more effective oral hygiene, and/or appropriate treatment.

Routine exams include not only a check for tooth decay and gum disease—they also include screening for oral cancer. This isn’t just for older folks: Recently, the fastest growing group of oral cancer patients has been young non-smokers. The sooner it’s treated, the better the chances of a successful cure.

Good at-home oral hygiene is necessary to keep your teeth in top-notch condition. If you have questions about proper brushing, flossing, or everyday care of your mouth—this is a great time to ask. Our staff is happy to show and tell you the best practices for maintaining excellent oral health.

If you would like more information about oral health and hygiene, please call our office to schedule a consultation.

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By Applewood Dental
June 01, 2018
Category: Oral Health
UsetheSamePreventionStrategytoDefeatToothDecayandGumDisease

Archeologists can tell us quite a bit about our primitive ancestors. For example, because of their coarse, abrasive diet and a primitive understanding of oral hygiene, their teeth had a rough go of it. They simply wore out faster — a contributing factor, no doubt, to their short life spans of thirty or forty years.

But thanks to improvements in lifestyle, healthcare and diet, people live much longer today. And so do their teeth, thanks to advances in dental care and disease prevention. While teeth still wear to some degree as we age, if we care for them properly with daily oral hygiene and regular dental visits, we can keep that wear to a minimum. Teeth truly can last a lifetime.

Unfortunately, it's still all too common for people to lose their teeth prematurely. The main reason: the two most prevalent dental diseases, tooth decay and periodontal (gum) disease. Tooth decay arises from high concentrations of mouth acid that erode enamel, teeth's irreplaceable protective shell. Gum disease is an infection that damages the bone supporting tissues as it infiltrates deep below the visible gum line.

While they occur by different mechanisms, the two diseases have some commonalities. They both, of course, can lead to tooth loss. And, they're both triggered by oral bacteria found in dental plaque, a thin film of food particles built up on tooth and gum surfaces. Multiplying bacteria feed on plaque and produce acid as a by-product. And certain bacterial strains infect gum tissues.

Both of these diseases can be treated successfully, especially if detected early. But the better approach is to prevent them in the first place. This introduces another commonality — they share the same prevention strategy of daily, comprehensive brushing and flossing for plaque removal, regular dental cleanings and checkups, and a sharp eye for any signs of disease like bleeding gums or tooth pain.

With diligent dental care and close attention to your oral health, you increase your chances of avoiding the full threat of these diseases. And with healthy teeth, you have a better chance of living a long and healthy life.

If you would like more information on minimizing tooth wear, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “How and Why Teeth Wear.”

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By Applewood Dental
May 27, 2018
Category: Oral Health
Tags: x-ray  
The21stCenturyPromisesBetterDentalDiagnosticswithConeBeamImaging

X-rays revolutionized dental care in the 20th Century. The same could happen in the 21st Century as cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) becomes a fixture beside the traditional x-ray machine.

CBCT made its debut in dental offices about a decade and a half ago. It utilizes the same invisible energy as traditional x-rays to create images of the face and jaw. But unlike traditional x-rays, which can only depict structures in the two dimensions of width and height, CBCT can create three-dimensional images in amazing detail.

The CBCT's x-ray projector rotates around a patient's head. As it emits a cone-shaped beam of x-rays, the device simultaneously collects anywhere from 150 to 599 distinct image views. It transmits these views to a computer that assembles them into three-dimensional images that can be viewed on a computer display.

From the data file of images, dentists can re-format a variety of views and angles of teeth, jaws and other facial bones at various levels of magnification. Because of this wide range of views, all in striking detail, CBCTs are highly useful among other things for diagnosis of malocclusions (bad bites), the size and location of infections, obstructions at possible implant sites, or jaw problems prior to surgery.

Because they expose a patient to higher doses of radiation than a standard x-ray machine, they're normally limited to more complex oral situations. That means you'll still undergo standard x-rays for most of your dental treatment needs. CBCT radiation levels are lower, however, than medical CT scans, which use a fan-shaped beam that can expose a patient to ten times the radiation of a CBCT. For dental care, a CBCT machine also produces greater image detail than an MRI.

Depending on your needs, CBCT may one day be a part of your dental care.  With their range and accuracy, it could play a major role in helping you attain good health.

If you would like more information on cone beam diagnostics, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Getting the Full Picture with Cone Beam Dental Scans.”

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