This is good news for you and for me, your family dentist.  This could be just the thing to fill those empty seats; the fear of the drill certainly causes more dental health problems for people.  Those who neglect regular check-ups due to anxiety over the drill open the door for minor problems to further develop into more serious dental troubles.

Many people feel like the waiting room chair is an interrogation chair. This new liquid will help your family dentist keep those chair full.

This new almost magic method is the use of peptide fluid.  The solution is applied directly to teeth in the first stages of tooth decay, when the acidic environment caused by sugars and bacteria has created small pores in the tooth enamel.  This liquid seeps into the small pores and becomes a gel, creating a structure that attracts calcium to the damaged area.  As impossible as it may sound, this liquid actually gives the tooth the ability to regenerate its enamel and repair itself.  This is a potentially great breakthrough in the dental science!  The peptide liquid has been successfully tested on a small sample of people and may be available to a family dentist to use in daily practice within a couple years.

Many people mentally connect dental treatment with pain.  More often than not though, this is not the case.  This new treatment method could go a long way to destroying that mindset, helping a lot of people stay as healthy as possible.  In the meantime, call us up, schedule a check-up, help this family dentist keep you smiling and pain free.

Source: Science Daily

Lots of young adults use these drinks to improve performance and maintain energy levels, thinking they are a better alternative to soda, but they can be just as if not more damaging due to the frequency of their use.  Statistics show as much as more than 62 percent of teens in the United States (no reason to think it’s not the same here in Columbus) drink at least one sports drink a day, and energy drinks are becoming more and more popular as well.  The environment these drinks create for teeth, one of high levels of acidity, damages the outer enamel of the tooth.  This damage is irreversible and can lead to more cavities, greater tooth sensitivity, and possible tooth decay on a greater level.  All of this leads to more visits to your family dentist.

Using lots of sports drinks and energy drinks can lead to more visits to your family dentist.

Take some advice from your family dentist and limit your teen’s intake of such drinks.  If they are used, encourage your child to rinse their mouth with water afterwards to help their mouth work to remineralize the environment.  Also, they can chew sugar free gum to promote saliva production, the mouth’s greatest weapon against tooth decay.  The common response may be to brush the teeth after using a product so high in sugar, but brushing right after is actually not a good idea.  Your teen should brush their teeth around an hour after exposure so they the acid is not being rubbing into the teeth.  Help your family dentist by being smart with your choices this summer, and help to keep those kids smiling for years to come.

Source: General Dentistry Journal

That’s right, you heard correctly!  The dental drill may not be long for this world.  The use of the dental drill is bound to the results of tooth decay.  When a tooth has decayed, your family dentist must use the drill to remove the decay and also shape the remaining tooth for a filling or root canal.  New technology being developed would remove the need for a drill as your family dentist could identify tooth decay at its very beginning.  This would allow measures to be taken that would stop the decay and keep the drill away from your mouth.

The common dental drill could soon be replaced. Photo: wikipedia

This new technique uses a small laser to identify harmful bacteria, those responsible for caries, to be identified very early.  Once identified, your family dentist could re-mineralize the tooth, essentially stopping the decay in its tracks, before a cavity can be formed.  The new technique uses the laser to identify bacteria by the way the light is scattered when it hits the teeth.  Each microorganism in your mouth is shaped differently, has a different make up.  It will then naturally scatter light in a unique pattern.  This new technique identifies the bad bacteria by its specific light pattern and in doing so informs your family dentist of what care is needed. 

If this new technology and dental technique can reach its potential, then the days of cavities, fillings, and root canals could also be numbered.  This could go a long way to helping bring an end to tooth decay, and that can make everyone smile!

Source: Science Daily

Saliva is the mouth’s great protector against cavities.  It works by raising the pH of your mouth, counteracting the acidity created by sugary foods.  You might remember this idea from our Easter candy blog.  This new candy works the same way.  It raises the pH in your mouth, and just like all candies, it also stimulates saliva production in the mouth.  Once the candy is soft enough, it is crunched into the teeth.  An amino acid in the mouth then bonds with the candy, creating a layer of armor on the teeth themselves.  Then, when the bacteria in the mouth break down that protective layer, the acid is neutralized, protecting the teeth.   It’s almost like having a trip to the family dentist in your pocket…almost.

BasicMints, the candy your family dentist might actually give you.

In a study, children who used to of these dental mints each day for one year had a decrease in cavities by almost 70 percent!  These little candies work to fight tooth decay with the body’s natural biochemistry without adding any additional fluoride, making them another great weapon in the daily routine against tooth decay.  It may not be too long until the vending machines in family dentist offices across the world are stocked with nothing but BasicMints.

Remember, watch out for those sugary foods, and brush at least twice a day, floss every day.  Keep those teeth and that smile healthy.  If it’s been a while since your last appointment, come and see us soon.  And if you don’t have family dentist here in the Columbus / Reynoldsburg area, give us a call.  We’d love to meet you and help you keep that smile bright for years to come.

Source: Science Daily

A massage, even for your teeth never sounds bad!

The Swedish study showed, not surprisingly, that people that brushed their teeth three times a day showed a large increase in protection against cavities, thanks to an increase in fluoride.  However, many of us may not be able to brush our teeth in the middle of the day.  That is where the massage method comes into play.  This method entails simply rubbing toothpaste onto the front of your teeth and gums; that’s it!  I can remember doing this as a small child when I was learning how to brush my teeth.  Who knew that it could be so effective!?

Keep your family dentist and yourself smiling: brush twice a day and massage once a day...and don't forget to floss.

Our goal is to help you find ways to keep your mouth healthy between visits to the family dentist, and this massage method is definitely a way to do that.  It is also a great way to use those random travel size toothpaste tubes you have sitting around the house.  Instead of leaving it sit in your overnight bag for who knows how long, pull it out and stow it at your desk or in your glove box.  After lunch or that afternoon trip to the drive through, give those teeth a nice fluoride massage.  Your mouth and your family dentist will thank you for it.

The ADA has reviewed the study and notes that the results rely on the individuals’ memories of having dental X-rays taken years earlier.  Studies have shown that the ability to recall information is often imperfect.  Therefore, the results of studies that use this design can be unreliable because they are affected by what scientists call “recall bias”.  Also, the study acknowledges that some of the subjects received dental x-rays decades ago when radiation exposure was greater.  Radiation rates were higher in the past due to the use of old x-ray technology and slower speed film.  The ADA encourages further research in the interest of patient safety.

As part of the ADA’s recommendation to minimize radiation exposure, the ADA encourages the use of abdominal shielding (eg: protective aprons).  In addition, the ADA recommends that dentists use E or F speed film, the two fastest film speeds available, or a digital x-ray, which is the newest technology, which we have and have had for seven years.

Dental x-rays are valuable in helping us detect and treat oral health problems at an early stage.  Many oral diseases can’t be detected on the basis of a visual and physical examination alone, and dental x-rays are valuable in providing information about a patient’s oral health such as early-stage cavities, gum diseases, infections or some types of tumors.  How often dental x-rays should be taken depends on the patient’s oral health condition, age, risk for disease and any signs and symptoms of oral disease that the patient might be experiencing.

The ADA encourages patients to talk to their dentist if they have any questions about their dental treatment.  As a science-based organization, the ADA fully supports continuing research that helps dentists deliver high-quality oral health care safely and effectively.

So please, if you have any concerns, talk to me!  But, I can reassure you that we have the best technology that reduces radiation exposure to extremely low levels.

Help Your Family Dentist and Make This Basket A Little Healthier

It is no secret that sugar is bad for your teeth.  Whether you live in Columbus, Reynoldsburg, or around the world in Australia your family dentist has probably been telling you about this your whole life.  Now I don’t expect you eliminate all candy and chocolate from this weekend’s celebrations, but do you family dentist a favor make that Easter basket a little more tooth-friendly.

Instead of a basket full of chocolate bunnies, chocolate eggs, and marshmallow baby chicks try substituting some fun non-food items.  Fill that basket with stickers, small games, trading cards, sunglasses (spring is here and summer is right around the corner), stuffed animals, and other things like flavored lip balm.  If you do add some sweets try to be creative and not only go down the chocolate flavored road.  Try sugarless gummy bears, sugar free gum, and dried fruits to please that sweet tooth.  Also, try to avoid hard candies and other sweets that stay in the mouth for long periods of time.

Another helpful hint is to limit that candy consumption to a certain time.  Your mouth naturally fights the effects of sugar, but it takes about three hours for saliva to return your mouth to its natural state.  Letting you or your children eat candy throughout the day is actually worse than having a little more in a single sitting.  Also, after a small sweets feast, do your teeth a favor and help them fight that sugar and bacteria by brushing your teeth.  You could even slip a small tube of toothpaste in that basket as well.

After That Chocolate Have A Good Brushing

Following these tips and being proactive this Easter will do a couple things for you: one, it will help keep those regular trips to the family dentist easy.  Second, it will definitely make your family dentist smile, as you help us to help you keep that smile looking great.  And if you don’t have a local or family dentist, give us a call to set up an appointment and come see us.  We would love to meet you and make you a part of our family here in Columbus.

A cup a day may not keep the dentist away, but it may help the visit!

As usual, the tea promotes good oral health by getting in the way of the plague bacteria in your mouth.  Drinking it seems to keep the bacteria from doing what it wants to do, mainly stick to your teeth.  The study showed that black tea can stop the growth of the bacteria that causes cavities.  It can even kill the bacteria!  It also slows down the acid bad bacteria produces, keeping teeth safer.  Bacteria also like to use sugars to from a glue to stick to your teeth.  When exposed to black tea, the bacteria lost its ability to make this glue.

The study actually had people rinse their mouths with black tea for 30 seconds five times over a 15 minute period.  Now this isn’t exactly how you and I drink it, but the idea is similar.  Taken slowly and made a regular part of a daily routine, there is reason to believe that drinking black tea can actually help you develop fewer cavities.  Your dentist already stresses the fact that you should brush your teeth twice a day to maintain good oral health.  Spacing a cup here and there in between brushing each day may be a way to help maintain the health you’re brushing for.

Take care of your teeth morning, noon, and night.

Afternoon tea time is usually between the hours of 2:00 and 5:00pm.  So today after your lunch has settled, think about a nice cup of chai, just not that latté from Starbucks. Oh, and go light on the sugar!

Let Us Serve Your Family Dental Needs

The University of Maryland’s School of Dentistry is spearheading this movement, teaming up with a local Trauma Center, working to train dental students to respond to medical emergencies quickly and correctly.  The main teaching tool of this new training is a specialized mannequin, called “Sim Man.”  This simulator is very high tech; observers are able to change the body’s vital signs based on real time feedback given by the mannequin.  Sim Man is also able to evaluate the dental students’ techniques.  For example, the mannequin can tell if CPR compressions are strong enough or deep enough.

Sim Man is Becoming a Valuable Dental Training Tool.

The training is not an isolated program either; it involves a team, consisting of a dentist, an assistant, and an additional medical professional.  This later medical help arrives after the dental professional has begun the emergency treatment and emergency medics would have been called.  The training involves whether or not the dental professional can effectively treat his patient in an unexpected emergency and if he or she can then pass off the patient to those who will continue the medical treatment.

One of the main results of this specialized training is to create something like a mental muscle memory for future family dentists.  While medical emergencies such as heart attacks may not be common place, they do happen.  Having dental workers who can react with a sense of calm, quickly assess the situation, and initiate the needed treatment will only increase the odds of saving lives.

This is a very serious issue and if you notice any of the warning signs and symptoms of periodontitis you should see you family dentist immediately.  Some of the signs of this disease are swollen gums, gums that are bright red, gums that hurt when touched, bleeding while brushing or flossing, extra spaces forming between the teeth, chronic bad breath, and loose teeth.  If you have any of these issues, see a dental health professional right away.  If you live in Columbus or Reynoldsburg, Ohio come see us and let us help you in treating this issue.

The treatment for periodontitis is concerned first with cleaning out the bacteria from the pockets around the teeth and then to prevent further destruction of the bone and tissue in the mouth.  Initially the plague and tartar is removed, and this must be done by a dental health professional. 

Dental Scaling Can Only Be Done By Your Family Dentist

After that treatment consists of medications designed to prevent further growth of bacteria.  This may consist of prescription mouthwashes, gels and other devices used to release antibiotics into the mouth, and other pills to suppress similar growth by the harmful bacteria.

If the periodontitis is advanced enough, your family dentist may have to undertake more advanced methods to restore your dental health.  This may include surgeries and even bone and tissue grafts to help assist the bones and tissues of the mouth to maintain health and hold the teeth securely.  This disease is a very serious problem and if left unchecked it could cause irreversible damage, leading to tooth loss.  Again, if you are experiencing any of the warning signs mentioned above, make an appointment with your local dentist as soon as possible to have it checked out.  Let us help you keep that smile looking great for many more years!