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There’s been a lot of hype around the Internet, social media and even on store shelves about using activated charcoal for its teeth whitening affects. Like any trendy new dental hygiene tip, we decided to take a closer look at the charcoal teeth whitening trend, and here is what we want you to know.
We’ve seen posts and articles about using raw activated charcoal or toothpastes with charcoal mixed in to clean your teeth with the expectation that it has natural teeth whitening properties. The logic comes from the fact that activated charcoal is used in emergency rooms to absorb toxins and that the charcoal will do the same thing to your teeth. Some sources also say that the charcoal will remove bacteria and freshen your breath by restoring pH balance.
While it is possible that charcoal may remove surface stains and have other benefits, as dental professionals, we also worry that it may be too abrasive (i.e. rough) for enamel that makes up the outside layer of your teeth and protects them from decay or sensitivity. Regular toothpastes, especially whitening toothpastes, contain abrasives that are known to be safe on teeth. It’s possible that charcoal is dangerously rough on teeth, but we don’t know yet.
The American Dental Association conducted a review of all the available research on the use of charcoal in oral hygiene and came to the conclusion that there isn’t enough scientific evidence supporting or refuting claims that many charcoal products make. They called for more studies to be done in the future to get to the bottom of charcoal’s affect on teeth and advised that dentists tell their patients to be cautious about using charcoal on their teeth.
When it comes trendy tooth care, whether charcoal or any other trend you see online or hear about from a friend, use this analogy: Think of your mouth like the engine of your car. Imagine coming around saying they discovered you can use a cheap household product like rubbing alcohol to fuel your car. The alcohol will make your car run really smoothly for the first few hundred miles, then it might start wearing away at the parts inside your engine so it doesn’t run right anymore. Would you want to fuel up with the alcohol, or stick to good old gasoline?
The truth is, we’re just not sure if charcoal is good for your teeth or bad. Since there’s no proof that it’s safe, we advise sticking to tried and true dental hygiene tools: your toothbrush, floss, fluoride toothpaste and if needed, occasional professional teeth whitening at the dentist.
Caring for a baby or toddler’s dental health is very different that caring for your own or an older child’s. Here are a few pieces of advice for ensuring the littlest members of you family start life with healthy, cavity-free smiles. We want their first visits to the dentist to be enjoyable learning experiences, not fixing cavities!
While many children are soothed by a bottle to suck on at bedtime or naptime, this can do much more harm that good! Placating your child with a bottle of milk, formula, juice or other sweetened drinks may stop them from crying or fussing, it gives the bacteria in your child’s mouth plenty of fuel for causing cavities in his or her brand new teeth. Even after your child is done drinking, the sugar stays in their mouth, pooling around teeth. If a bottle is a necessary part of yours and baby’s routine, we suggest filling it with water instead.
This same logic also goes for sippy cups for toddlers kids. Giving your child free access to milk or juice in a sippy cup is asking for cavities. Give them water only!
Just like adults, kids with balanced diets are less likely to get cavities. A balanced diet means minimizing sugars and starches while including plenty of fiber, protein and minerals. Unfortunately, many of the snacks that are traditionally given to children contain a lot of sugar and starch (which gets broken down into sugar by saliva in the mouth). Snacking exposes your child’s teeth to tooth decay-causing food more often than necessary. We suggest avoiding between-meal snacks as much as possible and choosing healthy snacks like raw vegetables when you do give your child snacks.
The bacteria that cause tooth decay are contagious, just like the other microbes in your mouth. If you have tooth decay, gum disease, or are very cavity-prone, refrain from sharing utensils and cups with your child. And don’t “clean off” a pacifier (soother) that dropped on the ground by putting it in your own mouth. This is bad news for both of you!
When in doubt, ask the dentist for dental health advice! Remember, the dentist is a great resource for dental care advice for patients of any age. Most of the advice that applies to babies and kids applies to grown-ups, too.
Despite being something that we do everyday, we find that patients have a a surprising amount of trouble brushing and flossing correctly. Dental hygiene is key to preventing dental problems like tooth decay and gum disease (not to mention staining), so be careful not to ignore certain warning signs from your main dental hygiene tool: your toothbrush!
Nothing we’re going to mention below is a secret, but they might be something that you haven’t taken the time to consider in your daily dental hygiene routine.
…It’s telling you it’s reached the end of it’s life, or at least it’s effectiveness. When used regularly and correctly, toothbrush bristles eventually start to bend and usually start looking frayed after about 3 to 4 months. A frayed toothbrush is much less effective at getting into hard to reach places (such as between teeth and along the gumline).
If your toothbrush is looking frayed sooner than 3 months, you may be brushing your teeth too hard. Hard brushing is a bad habit that many patients have and it can lead to tooth pain, tooth sensitivity, and damage to your gums. It can also wear down your tooth enamel, making your teeth more vulnerable to tooth decay.
Keep track of how long it takes for your toothbrush to look worse for wear, and if it’s happening too fast, talk to us about changing your dental hygiene habits to be more gentle but still effective.
…It’s also telling you it’s time to get a new one. Many manufacturers include “reminder bristles” in their brush heads, especially in electric toothbrushes. After several months of use, these brightly colored bristles will eventually start to fade to white or clear. Once most of the color is gone, you’ll know it’s time to change your toothbrush. If you toothbrush is turning yellow or some other icky looking color, their may be a problem with your oral health or your habits, and you should talk to us about it at your next visit.
…You may be storing your toothbrush incorrectly. If it’s still wet many hours later, there’s trouble brewing…or rather, bacteria. When your toothbrush doesn’t get the chance to dry out between uses it creates the perfect environment for illness and cavity-causing bacteria to grow.
We suggest shaking out your toothbrush after you rinse it after brushing and putting it somewhere with plenty of airflow. Storing your toothbrush upright can help it dry off between uses. Also, if you’re traveling, be sure your toothbrush is dry before you put a plastic cover on it, otherwise you’re trapping it in a wet environment.
If your toothbrush is wet, there’s another possible culprit other than bad storage: someone else in your household may have mistaken your toothbrush for theirs! Make sure you’re not inadvertently sharing a toothbrush with someone else. This is very bad for your dental hygiene, even for couples who kiss!
Dentistry is a field of healthcare that is always rapidly advancing and improving. The technology that dentists have in our practices certainly has changed and gotten better over the years. We stay on top of the latest breakthroughs to provide you the best care when you visit us, and you could be doing the same at home with your dental hygiene routine. Here are a few ways you can put the latest technology to work for your smile at home.
The data isn’t totally conclusive, but recent studies indicate that an electric toothbrush does a slightly better job at reducing plaque and gingivitis inflammation than a manual toothbrush. There are several types of electric toothbrushes and the most common have vibrating brush heads (like Sonicare or Quip) or rotating brush heads (like Oral-B or Goby). In addition to the possible advantage that this enhanced motion provides when cleaning teeth, many dentists also like patients to use electric toothbrushes because many of them have built-in timers that make sure you brush for the full two minutes that we recommend for optimal dental hygiene.
While dental floss has been around since the 1880s, there are newer options for cleaning between your teeth. Water flossers have only been around since the 1960s, and thankfully they keep getting cheaper and smaller. Also called an oral irrigator or known by the brand name Waterpik, a water flosser is a small machine that uses a pulsing jet of water to gently remove plaque and debris from between teeth. While there’s no definitive answer yet, studies indicate that water flossing may be more effective than using dental floss. This may be especially true for patients with braces or oral appliances like dental bridges. If you’ve had trouble making flossing a regular part of your dental hygiene routine, try using a water flosser instead. Many patients find it more convenient and enjoyable.
A very common mistake that people make in their dental hygiene routine is using a worn out toothbrush. Over time, a toothbrush’s bristles get bent and mishapen, making them much less effective at getting into the nooks and crannies of your teeth. While we recommend that people replace their brushes every three months or so, not everyone does. Some companies have caught on to this trend and now offer subscription services for toothbrushes (and floss and toothpaste) that will automatically send you a new toothbrush at the right time.
If you shop on Amazon, you can set up a subscription through their website to send you a new toothbrush or brush replacement head on a regular basis. Independent subscription services include Boka and Quip. If subscription services don’t appeal to you, we recommend using the calendar app on your phone to set a reminder every three months to go buy a new toothbrush!
Whether you’re in the process of getting dental implants or just exploring them as a treatment possibility, it is helpful to know some of the terms that we use when discussing implants. We want you to be an informed participant in your dental care. Knowing what these words mean can help you feel comfortable and confident during every phase of treatment.
People tend to use dental implant as an umbrella term that includes the implant, crown, and abutment (see definition below). In fact, dental implant only refers to the part that is implanted into the bone of your jaw. The implant is designed to be an artificial tooth root, holding the artificial tooth itself securely in place while you bite, chew, talk, sneeze, and laugh!
This is the piece of hardware that connects a dental implant that’s anchored in your jawbone beneath your gums to the replacement tooth (i.e. crown). Abutments can be metal or zirconia (a white ceramic). Some dental implants include the abutment and are all one piece.
The crown is the part that actually looks like a tooth. Just like a standard crown that covers a broken tooth, an implant crown is made of specialized tooth-colored porcelain or porcelain fused to metal. This is the only part of the tooth replacement that will be visible. The crown is attached to the abutment either using a screw or a permanent dental cement.
This long and strange word is actually what makes dental implants possible. In the 1950s, scientists discovered that bone can grow and fuse with titanium, unlike other metals that the body sometimes rejects. This process of metal and bone fusing together is called osseointegration (“osseous” comes from Latin and means “having to do with bone”). Dental implants have spiral threading along the shaft and resemble screws. This threading creates a texture that bone can bond to securely.
As you may know, your teeth are as unique to you as your fingerprints. So as you can imagine, no two dental implant treatment plans are the same. There is a lot more technology and vocabulary involved than what we described above. If you hear or see something you don’t understand, please ask us about it! We want you to feel comfortable and informed.
If circumstances have left you without your teeth at a relatively young age, it can be easy to feel like you’re the only one. As a result, many patients think there is a stigma against younger people getting restorative dentistry. They think only seniors have dental implants and dentures. Not true!As dental professionals, we don’t want anyone to miss out on a functional and beautiful smile, so we want to guide you past you preconceived notions about restorative dentistry.
Young people can lose their teeth for many reasons. While bad habits like smoking and poor nutrition and dental hygiene during childhood are common reasons, other reasons include accidents, genetic conditions, drug use, and side affects of eating disorders.
Many patients avoid getting help because they are ashamed of their dental condition. Whatever caused you to lose your teeth, hiding your smile from the world and always worrying what people will think is no way to live your life!
No matter what your dental history, never be afraid to ask your dentist about the restorative and reconstructive solutions that may be available to you. Most dentists became dentists in order to help people, not judge them. Give us a chance to bring you all that our training and the latest dental technology has to offer.
There are many people as young as their twenties or thirties who have bridges, partial dentures, complete dentures or implants. These patients have put aside what’s happened in the past and embraced what modern dentistry can do for them today to give them healthier, more beautiful smiles.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the longer you put off dental restoration, the more damage there might be to repair, even if all your troublesome teeth have already been removed. When you lose teeth you also lose bone in your jaw, leading to a sunken or compressed looking facial structure that can make you look much older. This bone loss continues throughout your life unless we do something about it. Traditional dentures can restore the shape of your face, while implant supported dentures & individual dental implants can also help stop bone loss.
If tooth loss is keeping you from experiencing life the way you want to, please talk to the dentist about restoring your smile. We want to show you what’s possible!
Ideally, if you have a toothache, you’d be sitting in our dental chair right away. But the reality is that toothaches don’t always strike at a convenient time, and you will need some relief before you can get into our practice. Here a few remedies that may help with discomfort in the meantime.
Rinsing your mouth with a mixture of salt water can temporarily reduce pain for some kinds of toothache. This remedy works best when the toothache is the result of swelling or inflammation because the salt works to reduce inflammation by causing the tissues to constrict. Stir 2-3 teaspoons (4-5 mL) of salt into a glass of water. Rinse by swishing in your mouth, then spit out without swallowing. Repeat as often as necessary.
A cold compress can relieve a toothache by reducing swelling. The cold can also cause numbness, offering temporary relief. We suggest taking an ice pack (or even a bag of frozen vegetables in a pinch) and holding it against your cheek or jaw where the discomfort is worst. Place a paper towel or washcloth between the cold pack and your face to keep from irritating your skin.
Clove oil can be dabbed on the affected area for temporary pain relief. Clove oil contains a chemical called eugenol which is a natural topical anesthetic. You can buy clove oil at most drugstores or pharmacies. To apply, take a cotton swab or cotton ball, dip it in clove oil, and gently dab it onto the location of the toothache. Not everyone likes the taste or smell, but this home toothache remedy does work.
All of these remedies only address the symptoms of your toothache, not the cause, which could be a cracked tooth, a cavity, or an infection. If you have a toothache, please contact us immediately! The sooner we see you the sooner you’ll have relief.
Of course, the best toothache remedy is to never have one in the first place. That’s why it is so important for you to keep up with your regular dental visits at our office. At your cleaning and exam visits we can spot potential problems long before they become a toothache and fix them before they cause you trouble. For sudden emergencies, such as cracking a tooth on a rogue popcorn kernel, we’re here to relieve your discomfort and get your smile back to normal.
Having braces is a big step toward having a beautiful, functional and healthy smile for the rest of your life. In order to make sure you get the best possible result from your braces treatment, you’ll need to be especially dedicated to your oral hygiene routine. Braces create a lot of new places for food and bacteria to hide and potentially cause problems like decay and bad breath. Here are a few tips to keep your smile fresh and healthy when you have braces!
Contrary to what some people believe, brushing your teeth doesn’t change very much when you have braces. However, it is extra important to be thorough. If you don’t brush your teeth properly when you have braces, you can end up with stains on your teeth around the brackets, which will leave behind a bracket-shaped mark on your teeth after the brackets are removed at the end of your treatment. You should brush after every meal, being sure the bristles get under the arch wire and reach the sides of the brackets. You may have to try out some new angles with your toothbrush to order to get at all the surfaces of your teeth and brackets.
Also contrary to rumors we’ve heard, you can absolutely use an electric toothbrush such as a Sonicare or Oral-B when you have braces.
Flossing is a little trickier with braces, but still absolutely necessary. To floss effectively, you will need to thread the floss under the arch wire as you clean each pair of teeth. This makes flossing with braces a little more time consuming, but it will get faster as you get the hang of it. There are also tools called floss threaders that can help make this process easier. You can find them at drugstores and supermarkets, or order them online.
There are a few other specialized tools that can help you maintain your oral hygiene when you have braces.
Inderdental brushes are thin cone-shaped brushes that sort of resemble a tiny pipe cleaner. You can use these to get to tricky spaces between teeth or along the sides of brackets.
Many patients also find a Waterpik as a helpful addition to flossing. A Waterpik is a small tool that shoots a thin jet of water to gently clean between teeth and other hard-to-reach areas.
And don’t forget to visit us regularly for your teeth cleaning appointments during your braces treatment. There’s nothing as smooth and fresh as a professionally cleaned smile!
TMJ pain is more than a pain in the neck, it can be a pain in the neck, head and face! If you already know what TMJ stands for, chances are you’re among the unlucky folks who have had a problem with this powerful and finicky part of your craniofacial system. TMJ stands for temporomandibular joint, and it’s the powerful joint that controls the opening and closing of your mouth by moving your lower jaw (i.e. mandible).
People with TMJ problems often experience headaches, oral and facial pain, or even neck pain. Many of these symptoms can be identified and treated by a dentist.
Think back to your last dental checkup and you may remember the hygienist or dentist asking you if you ever experience pain or clicking when you open your mouth up wide. They may have also asked you to clench your teeth and then pressed on the sides of your jaw and asked if it was tender. This is how a dental professional checks for TMJ symptoms.
Because TMJ is often linked to teeth grinding and clenching, another way a the dentist or hygienist can check for TMJ symptoms is by looking at your teeth. The TMJ is a very powerful joint, and teeth that are frequently clenched together under these extreme forces start to show distinct signs of wear. The dentist will check for this wear during your routine cleanings and exams. If they see significant signs of a problem they may ask you more questions to see if you may be having TMJ issues. A common treatment for clenching or grinding is a mouthguard (sometimes called a nightguard if you wear it when you sleep). This can protect your teeth from wear and can also help absorb the forces exerted on your jaw, which can reduce or eliminate related headaches or facial pain.
Sometimes TMJ problems can be caused by an uneven bite instead of teeth clenching, though one tends to lead to the other. Particularly if you have jaw pain focused on one side, this may be a sign that you’re biting down more on one side of your mouth and your TMJ is overcompensating. Dentists can help analyze your bite and determine if this may be contributing to your problems.
If any of these symptoms sound familiar to you, discuss them with us and we can take a look to see how we may be able to identify and relieve your TMJ symptoms.
Most of us associate wisdom teeth with adolescence because that’s when they first show up. Wisdom teeth are an extra set of molars that come in between ages 17 and 25. The best thing to do is to have them removed when they first show up, but many people put this off and still have their wisdom teeth as older adults. Here’s what you should know if you’re an adult and still have your wisdom teeth.
Usually any problems with your wisdom teeth are detected by examining them on an x-ray when you’re still a teenager and before they become symptomatic. However, wisdom tooth pain and problems can show up out of nowhere when you’re older if you’ve put off removal.
Wisdom teeth that are partially erupted (have only come through the gums part of the way) can create a pocket between tooth and gum where bacteria can grow. This can cause infections and cysts that can keep getting worse and even spread throughout your body.
Impacted wisdom teeth are teeth that haven’t erupted at all. They are still trapped beneath the gum or bone. Impacted wisdom teeth can put pressure on neighboring molars and cause discomfort.
If you start having symptoms that may be caused by your wisdom teeth, it’s important to tell the dentist right away so we can examine you and discuss a treatment plan of your wisdom teeth need to be extracted.
Some people’s wisdom teeth don’t cause any problems for years. While this sounds like a good thing, it means that when and if the teeth do start having problems (such as mentioned above), the teeth have had more time to grow roots. These deeper roots run close to certain nerves, which can be damaged during wisdom tooth removal, potentially causing permanent numbness. Deeper tooth roots may also mean a longer recovery time. Typical recovery time is about 3 days in younger people, but may be longer with older wisdom teeth.
If you have any concerns about your wisdom teeth or have felt changes in your mouth that may be related, please talk to us sooner rather than later.
