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With hundreds of millions of diagnoses worldwide, diabetes is a major concern for all medical professionals, and dentists are no exception. We know that diabetic patients need to take special precautions when it comes to their health care, so we created this quick guide on what diabetes means for your dental care.
Higher levels of blood sugar increase the likelihood of getting infections throughout the body. For diabetic patients, the risk of developing periodontitis—the most severe form of gum disease—is much higher than for the general population. In fact, diabetes is believed to be one of the leading causes of gum disease. Furthermore, infected gums can increase blood sugar levels and therefore worsen diabetic symptoms, creating a vicious cycle as the two conditions feed into one another.
To prevent gum disease, it is essential that you consistently brush and floss. Inflamed gums that bleed when you brush or floss are not normal and you should tell us about them as soon as possible!
Diabetes is also known to increase the amount of sugar your saliva contains. While it may seem gross to most, saliva is actually one of the most important parts of a healthy mouth! Saliva’s power to remove leftover food particles and kill bacteria is your first-line defense against oral disease. Oral bacteria loves to feed on sugar, so excess sugar in your saliva puts you at a greater risk of developing infections and poor oral hygiene. Additionally, diabetes—and even some medications used to treat it—can cause dry mouth (xerostomia), which means you may not be producing enough saliva in the first place!
Two of the most common problems encountered by diabetic patients with deficient saliva are tooth decay and bacterial or fungal infections. While you are probably already aware of cavities, you should also look out for a fungal infection known as thrush. This most often presents itself as red or white patches or sores inside your mouth and on your tongue.
Your best weapons against these dental enemies are hydration (six to eight 8-ounce glasses of water every day) and maintaining stable blood sugar levels. If you have dry mouth, you can try chewing sugarless gum to help stimulate saliva production.
If you have diabetes and must undergo a dental procedure that your mouth will need time to recover from, it is extremely important to discuss the risks with your dentist. You may need to take special precautions or wait until your blood sugar levels are lower before receiving any dental treatments. Diabetes restricts blood circulation, making it more difficult for your body to repair itself. This can lead to infections and a variety of other complications.
We think it is important to remind you not to stress out over these things; all of them can be avoided with thorough oral hygiene. If you have diabetes, we encourage you to talk to us about your options so we can give you the specialized care you need.
Whether they’re in the “Terrible Twos”, the “Tantrum Threes”, or the “Fearsome Fours”, caring for a toddler’s teeth is a combination of first-time experiences and learning. Here are a few tips to get you started on ensuring healthy smiles for your child at this precious and chaotic age!
The American Dental Association recommends that a child visit the dentist for the first time before their first birthday. A child doesn’t have to have their teeth to need a dentist. Oral health is about gums and other soft tissues too! Plus, the earlier you bring your child to the dentist, the more comfortable they will be with the concept once they get older and more willful and opinionated.
While sugary drinks or treats can put an end to a tantrum or soothe a child at naptime or bedtime, they can spell trouble for teeth. “Bottle rot” is an unlovely term for when a child gets tooth decay from too much time drinking sugary drinks from a bottle or sippy cup. And by sugary drinks we don’t just mean soda pop. Both juice and milk contain natural sugars that can cause tooth decay just like sugar-added drinks. Children can be put to bed with a bottle or get free access to a sippy cup, as long as all it contains is water.
If the idea of paying for braces in the future is already making you cringe, you should know that you can prevent some orthodontic issues by weaning your child off their pacifier as early as possible. Prolonged use of a pacifier can affect how teeth grow in and even change the shape of the face. The sooner your child stops using a pacifier (or sucking their thumb), the more likely you’ll be able to avoid the types of problems that require the help of an orthodontist. Your child may still need an orthodontist in the future, but you’ll know his/her “binky” didn’t cause it.
This is a great age to set a good example. Your toddler is going to be watching a lot of what you do and will likely want to imitate you. If you make oral hygiene seem like a fun, grown-up thing to do and make a routine of it, your child may be more likely to adopt good habits early. The dentist or dental hygienist should be happy to provide guidance on how to care for your child’s teeth at every age. Get tips and tricks from your smile experts!
It may seem like magic to have a dental procedure and not even feel it, but how does this numbing process actually work? Let’s take a look at the interesting science behind one of the dentist’s best tools for patient comfort.
The most common dental anesthetic is lidocaine. It’s what we call a local anesthetic, that is, a pain blocker that only works in a particular small area, as opposed to general anesthetic, where you are “put to sleep”. There are several other similar drugs that also end in “-caine” that are sometimes used, depending on the situation (dentists no longer use novocaine). All of these drugs work by preventing the pain sensation from ever making it from your mouth to your brain. But how does the drug block these signals?
The sensation of pain happens when sodium molecules attach to receptors on your nerve cells. When enough of these receptors are activated, a pain signal travels from one nerve cell to another, all the way to your brain. Lidocaine works by preventing sodium from attaching to the nerve’s receptor. Think of it like a spam blocker on your email account: the lidocaine blocks the message from ever getting to your inbox (your brain).
So why isn’t this effect permanent? Your body has natural defenses that will breakdown chemicals that are foreign to it. Lidocaine takes between 1 and 3 hours to wear off because that’s how long it takes for the body to break it down and eliminate it. We know that the numbness can feel really strange at first, so rest assured that it will be gone soon!
We should note that while lidocaine is extremely safe, you should share your entire medical history with us when we ask. Even conditions that don’t seem related to your oral health can change how drugs like lidocaine affect you. Please ask us if you have questions.
The last thing any dentist wants to do is cause discomfort. If you think about it, that’s the entire purpose of our job: preventing discomfort related to oral health. But sometimes the things we need to do to keep your smile healthy can cause temporary pain, so we numb you up beforehand to prevent this.
An endodontist is a type of specialist dentist. Like many healthcare terms, the word “endodontics” comes from Greek, and actually means “inside tooth”. Dentists who are endodontists specialize in the care of the inside of the tooth. Your family dentist may recommend that you go to an endodontist if the inside of your tooth becomes infected or injured.
While the outside of your teeth is made of enamel, a glass-like material, the inside of your tooth is made of softer stuff. The layer under the enamel is called dentin and is more porous than enamel. Next is the pulp, which is what we call all the blood vessels and nerves that nourish your teeth and give them sensation. The pulp lives in a hollow space (or spaces) in the middle of the tooth called the root canal. The term root canal is often used synonymously to describe the treatments dentists use on the pulp of a tooth if it becomes inflamed or damaged.
All general and family dentists are qualified to diagnose and treat endodontic issues. Many root canals can be taken care of in your general dentist’s office, but sometimes due to the severity of your condition or other factors in your oral health, your dentist may refer you to an endodontist. These dentists undergo an additional two years of dental education, studying the latest advanced techniques in root canal treatment to help them provide the best possible result in complex cases.
A common cause for needing a root canal is tooth decay. When cavities get really bad they can get deep enough that they go through your enamel and dentin and expose the sensitive tissues of your tooth pulp to bacteria. In the warm enclosed space of the root canal, bad bacteria multiply and cause swelling in the soft tissues nearby, which the patient might identify as a toothache.
However, you may need a root canal even if you don’t have tooth decay if your teeth have suffered an impact. Say you were playing a sport and got hit in the face by accident. After some ice and inflammation reducing medications, the pain in your mouth diminishes or goes away. But a week later you notice one of your teeth is darker than the others. This may be a sign that the nerve tissue (pulp) inside that tooth’s root canal has been compromised. The the endodontist will need to perform root canal therapy in order to save the tooth. (By the way, endodontists are also experts at putting a tooth that has been knocked out completely back in its socket!)
If we’ve recommended that you see an endodontist, please know that it’s our way of ensuring that your smile gets the best care possible!
Some foods that are genuinely good for your overall health can actually damage your teeth when eaten too often. Here are a few particularly popular culprits. We’re not saying to avoid these foods completely, but you should know which ones to consume in moderation.
In case you didn’t know, it’s not sugar itself that causes tooth decay, it’s the acid that bacteria turns sugar into by digesting it. Acid is the enemy of tooth enamel. Lemon juice is quite acidic, so consuming it too often can actually weaken your enamel just like eating too much sugar. Lemons are rich in vitamin C. Without enough vitamin C in your diet, you can get scurvy, which ironically can cause your teeth to loosen and fall out. So, lemon is good for you in moderation, but try to avoid adding it to your water and sipping on it all day. You’d be giving your teeth a constant bath in cavity-causing acids!
Blueberries are known for being rich in antioxidants, vitamins and inflammation-fighting compounds. They’re also nature’s candy and totally delicious. But if you’ve ever dropped a fresh, juicy berry on light clothing, you also know that they create a pretty stubborn stain. What’s true of your favorite cotton shirt is also true of your tooth enamel. If you eat blueberries too frequently, you can contribute to staining and darkening your teeth. So if you’re trying to keep your smile bright after a teeth whitening treatment, we recommend limiting your blueberry intake. After all, the best teeth whitening is avoiding staining foods and drinks all together!
While not nearly as bad for your teeth as soda pop or carbonated energy drinks, carbonated water is not without guilt when it comes to tooth health. All carbonated drinks, including popular sugar-free, calorie-free flavor-infused waters, contain acid created by the carbonation process. All those fun fizzy little bubbles can actually damage your teeth over time if you drink too many carbonated drinks.
Wondering if the latest health fad or superfood is bad for your teeth? Feel free to ask the dentist or dental hygienist at your next visit. We’re always happy to share our dental expertise!
We all know that the only tried and true method of preventing cavities is regular brushing and flossing. However, that doesn’t stop researchers and dental patients alike from seeking other “life hacks” to maintain shiny smiles. Of course, the best way to promote good oral hygiene is to control what we put in our mouths in the first place!
As consumers are becoming more health-conscious, companies are seeking alternative sweeteners to sugar. As a well-known contributor to tooth decay and other health problems, sugar is always facing new competition. For certain products like chewing gum, the American Dental Association will only award its Seal of Acceptance to sugarless varieties.
With this incentive, many chewing gum manufacturers are now using sugar substitutes to satisfy your sweet tooth (without putting holes in it!). One of the most common sugar alternatives in chewing gum is xylitol. Unlike many other sweeteners, xylitol is not artificial and can be found in a variety of plants. Many claim that it effectively prevents the growth of cavity-causing bacteria and it has quickly become a popular ingredient in products on store shelves worldwide.
However, the American Dental Association says that the benefits of xylitol may be exaggerated. In recent studies of the sweetener, there has not been enough evidence to prove that xylitol prevents tooth decay. Despite anecdotal reports of success, we can’t say for sure that this sweetener has special teeth cleaning properties.
Don’t let this leave a bad taste in your mouth—there’s still good news! All forms of sugar-free gum, including xylitol-flavored gum, are still much better for your teeth than gum with sugar. The advantages are twofold: First, oral bacteria have a harder time surviving without sugar to feed them. The other benefit of chewing sugarless gum is that it increases the flow of saliva. Saliva is essential to preventing tooth decay because it washes away food particles and remineralizes your teeth to keep them strong.
While we can’t say xylitol is a dental care savior, feel free to pick up some sugar-free gum the next time you’re out shopping—your teeth will thank you! Just remember that a sugar substitute is never a substitute for thorough brushing and flossing.
As dental professionals, we feel like broken records telling people to reduce the amount of sugar in their diets to reduce tooth decay. We know we’ve gotten through to some of you and you have made important changes, such as cutting back your sugary latte or soda pop consumption to just one per day followed by a thorough tooth brushing. But some of you who have made these positive changes are still shocked when we tell you that you we’re still finding new cavities.
We assure you, the dentist isn’t making it up when new cavities appear. What we’ve realized is there’s a gap in the information we’re giving you about sugary treats. Here’s the missing piece: it’s not always how much sugar you consume, but how you consume it that leads to tooth decay!
This is what the dentist knows that all patients should know too: sustained sugar consumption, even in moderation, over a long period of time can damage your oral health.
For example, you stop by the coffee shop on the way to work and pick up your favorite caramel latte and sip on it gradually from 8am until 11am, at which point you brush your teeth. Sure, your teeth are nice and clean now, but for the previous 3 hours you’ve been continuously bathing your teeth in sugar, providing a feast for the bacteria in your mouth. And those bacteria aren’t going to politely wait until you brush your teeth at 11am to start making holes in your tooth enamel or get under your gums and become gingivitis.
This same concept holds true for soda pop or a baggie of fruit-flavored candies. If you’re going to enjoy any sugary treats, make sure you consume it fairly quickly to avoid exposing your teeth to sugar for a long period of time. Of course, brushing right afterward is still a good habit. But if you don’t have access to a toothbrush right away, drinking plain non-carbonated water can help flush away at least some of the sugar.
So remember, moderation is important both in terms of quantity of sugary treats and how long it takes you to eat or drink them!
While they may seem like a small detailed compared to extravagant period-piece gowns or ornate whole-head alien makeup, teeth can make a huge impact in a Hollywood costume. To prove it, here are some famous silver screen chompers and the stories behind them.
One of the most memorable qualities of Mike Myer’s groovy super spy are his unsightly teeth. Myers and his makeup artist worked with dental lab technician Gary Archer to create the look, which consisted of a temporary denture-like device made of acrylic. Austin Powers’s big yellow crooked smile seems to play into the stereotype that British people have terrible teeth, but they’re actually more of a commentary on how dental care has evolved since the 1960s, and not just in Britain: as Powers’ companion Mrs. Kensington says, “Since you’ve been frozen, there have been fabulous advances in the field of dentistry.”
Besides beaded braids, eyeliner and a grimy tricorn hat, Captain Jack Sparrow’s most iconic quality may be his multicolored smile. A grin from the pirate franchise’s hero, played by Johnny Depp, is full of gold teeth. This costume detail is actually a fairly accurate portrayal of what a pirate may have looked like in the 1700s. Gold has been used to repair teeth for centuries because it is stable and won’t corrode in the warm, moist environment of the mouth. It’s also true that pirates probably didn’t have great teeth, and not just because dentists didn’t exist yet. Scurvy, a disease caused malnutrition, particularly a deficiency of Vitamin C, can cause tooth decay and tooth loss.
As for achieving the look for his costume, Johnny Depp went to a real dentist and had actual gold teeth created. What’s more, the actor surprised the public by keeping the gold teeth after the first few movies were already in theaters. It turns out he knew that more sequels were in the works and would rather keep the gold teeth than go back to the dentist to have them removed.
The modern wave of cinematic television and movies has turned vampires from black-cloaked specters with unfortunate hairdos into genuine heartthrobs, and the vampires on the HBO series True Blood were no exception. For the most part, besides their fangs, very little set the vampires of the series apart from their mortal companions.
But special effects artist Dan Repert and series creator Alan Ball decided to do things a little differently. Instead of being visible all the time, True Blood‘s fangs appeared whenever the vampire’s mood warranted it, folding down from the roof of the mouth with a telltale sound. This design was based on snake fangs, which only fold down when a snake attacks or feeds. This effect was created by having each vampire actor do “fang” scene twice, once without false fangs on, and again with the false fangs on. The two takes were then blended together digitally at the moment the fangs appeared. Watch carefully and you’ll also notice that the fangs appear on the second incisors, rather than on the canines as in most traditional portrayals of vampires.
While Hollywood effects artists jobs may be to make mouths weird and ugly, we’re very grateful that a dentist’s job is to make smiles beautiful and healthy!
Teeth whitening is a fantastic investment in the appearance of your smile. White teeth are associated with youth and health, and can make a big difference in your self-esteem. If you’re going to put time and money into getting whiter teeth, make sure you make the most of it with these tips!
If you’ve noticed your teeth starting to get yellow, chances are you know the culprits: the food you eat. (You should know by now that tobacco also stains your teeth, but if you’re a tobacco-user, we’ve got other things to talk about before we talk about whitening your teeth!) The most obvious tooth-staining foods are coffee, tea and red wine, but berries, soda and chocolate can also cause stains. Pretty much, if it would stain your favorite white shirt, it can stain your teeth. So don’t go right back to eating these foods after your teeth whitening treatment! Teeth can actually be slightly more vulnerable to staining right after whitening than they were before. That’s why many recommend eating only “white” foods afterward (think white bread, pasta, cauliflower, potatoes, etc.).
The biggest concern that most people have when getting their teeth whitened is sensitivity. Indeed, tooth sensitivity is the main side effect of whitening, but this sensation is temporary and usually goes away in a few hours or days. A bigger source of disappointment may be how white your teeth end up. Outside of bad habits, the biggest factor in tooth color is actually genetics. If your mom, dad, grandmother, and uncle all have bright white teeth, chances are you can too. But if the rest of your family has yellowish teeth despite never touching tobacco or coffee, the affects you can expect will certainly be whiter, but maybe not as white as a more genetically fortunate friend.
You should also know that there are certain types of tooth discoloration that whitening can’t really fix, such as fluorosis spots or internal staining that can happen as a result of taking certain antibiotics. That’s one of the reasons it’s a good idea to have a professional teeth whitening at the dentist. The dentist will be able to tell you what to expect and whether you’re a good candidate for the treatment.
After teeth whitening treatment, you may be sent home with custom whitening trays and several tubes of whitening gel. This is to provide you with an opportunity to keep your pearly whites just as white over the next few weeks and months. If your teeth whitening treatment didn’t include custom whitening trays from the dentist, you can still maintain your white smile using over-the-counter treatments. However, keep in mind that these are less powerful, require more diligence and patience, and are not as good at getting around the sides of your teeth.
A toothache is your body’s way of telling you something has gone wrong in your mouth. There is no convenient time or place to get a toothache, but we always strive to see our toothache patients as soon as possible. But chances are you won’t be at our office when a toothache strikes, so here are a few things NOT to do between when you notice the discomfort and when you see the dentist.
Spoiler alert: it won’t just get better on its own. It’s possible that if you use home toothache remedies you can reduce your discomfort, but that doesn’t mean that you’ve fixed the underlying problem that caused the toothache in the first place. If there is a singular truth to oral health it is this: nothing ever gets better by putting off seeing the dentist.
Yes, there is a right and wrong way to take painkillers when you have a toothache! The best option is to take ibuprofen (Advil) consistently and don’t stop when the pain starts getting better. Taking the indicated dose regularly until you see the dentist will prevent swelling from coming back and causing more discomfort. We should note that not everyone can take ibuprofen or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) due to health concerns. Chances are you know if you can’t take NSAIDs, but please ask your primary care doctor if you aren’t sure.
There are a few symptoms that may accompany a toothache that are serious and may require a visit to urgent care or the ER. These include a fever, severe swelling, eyes swelling shut, trouble breathing or swallowing. All of these are signs of a serious infection or injury that could be life-threatening in extreme and rare situations. Please don’t take a chance: if you have these symptoms, go to the hospital first and call us after.
Even if it’s a Sunday night or a national holiday, don’t hesitate to call us. If you don’t get someone on the phone right away, you can leave a message about what’s going on and your phone number, and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. The sooner we know about your situation, the sooner we can help!
