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Dental Hygiene

Back to School: Oral Hygiene Tips for Kids

It’s time for kids to go back to school, so it’s a great time to brush up on oral hygiene tips for keeping your kids’ teeth healthy.

According to the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, more than 50 percent of children will be affected by tooth decay before age 5. In addition, a report from the Office of the Surgeon General notes that more than 51 million school hours are lost each year to dental-related conditions. You can help your child stay healthy by following these oral hygiene tips and starting the school year off right!

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Dental Hygiene

Is Lip Balm Good for You?

We all know that it’s important to wear sunscreen to protect your skin from the harmful effects of the sun, but have you considered the importance of protecting your lips? What do you think about Lip Balm? Is Lip Balm Good for You?

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Dental Hygiene

How Sugary Drinks Affect Teeth

Many people know that candy, cookies, and other sweets have tons of sugar in them, but it’s important to know that drinks are culprits for unnecessary sugars too. In fact, sugary drinks are the top source of added sugars in kids’ diets! Beverages like sports drinks, sodas, fitness waters, and fruit juice have many teaspoons of sugar in them and also harmful acids. Read on to learn How Sugary Drinks Affect Teeth!

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Dental Hygiene

7 Common Dental Myths

How many of Myths have you heard before? I would like to share the truth about these common oral health myths I hear from patients almost every day. Read on to learn about Myths and how to keep your mouth healthy.

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Dental Hygiene

Eat Your Fruit Don’t Drink It

We need to eat our fruit, not drink it. This is especially important for our children. While we like to think that fruit juice is a convenient way to get all the health benefits that fresh whole fruit provides, fruit juice delivers high levels of sugar and high levels of enamel-damaging acid. Whole fruit offers fiber and other nutrients that juice does not. Fruit juice can lead to cavities, weight gain, as well as unhealthy weight loss. Juice also can cause diarrhea when toddlers drink too much of it.

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Dental Hygiene

Caregivers’ Guide to Dental Health

When you are a family healthcare provider at home or in a care facility with your loved one, you have a lot on your mind. Doctor appointments, medications, and your loved ones’ comfort can seem more urgent than the person’s oral health. It’s important to remind caregivers to make sure the patient’s oral health is not neglected.

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Dental Hygiene

Teeth Grinding and Bruxism

Is Teeth Grinding Bruxism?

Bruxism is the medical term for teeth grinding and/or clenching of the teeth. Over time, bruxism can wear down tooth enamel, which can make teeth sensitive to food, drink, and teeth brushing. In addition, bruxism can lead to TMJ problems, jaw muscle pain, chipping of teeth, and damage of restorative dental work. People who grind their teeth often do so at nighttime and are usually not aware that they are grinding their teeth. Most of the time, your dentist will notice signs of bruxism during your routine dental exam.

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Dental Hygiene

7 Ways to Calm Dental Anxiety and Fear of the Dentist

Learn Ways to Calm Nerves Before a Dentist Visit

Many patients have a fear of the dentist and are looking for ways to calm down before coming in for an appointment. I know my colleagues and teams take pride in making our patients feel comfortable before, during, and after a routine cleaning or more involved procedure.

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Dental Hygiene

Do I Really Need X-rays Every Year?

Why Do Dentists Encourage X-rays?

Dental X-Rays have become a common adjunct to a routine dental exam and are a standard of care practice, helping detect early signs of tooth decay, monitor jaw and tooth formation for adolescents and observe overall oral health not visible to the naked eye.

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Dental Hygiene

Why Does My Dentist Take My Blood Pressure?

You may be wondering why a dentist took your blood pressure at a routine cleaning or prior to a dental procedure.

In recent years, many dentists, especially oral surgeons, have begun to take their patients’ blood pressure as a best practice.

Known as the ‘silent killer,’ hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a cause of about 60,000 deaths per year. Hypertension affects about 30% of Americans and often goes unnoticed because it is asymptomatic in most cases.

For many individuals, maintaining routine cleanings at the dentist is more common than visiting their physician for annual physicals and wellness testing. Dentist appointments are a unique opportunity to serve as a wellness to check this subject every six months. Adding this service to a dental visit allows dentists and patients to have a baseline of their blood pressure in just a few moments.