Preventative Dentistry

An Ounce of Prevention…

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. You've heard that a million times—because it's so true! Our office really wants you to avoid painful, costly dental procedures. The way you can do this is through regularly scheduled dental exams. The idea is to discover a problem when [...]

Nighttime Grinding

And the Stress Factor Dentists and researchers aren't completely agreed about the cause of nightly tooth-grinding, or bruxism. But they are aligned on two points: at least partly, it's related to daily stress, and it's happening to more people. It may sound funny, but it's no joke: without food to [...]

X-Rays From Our Perspective

X-Rays are critical to the practice of dentistry. And the benefits are profound. But dentists are sometimes guilty of dismissing patient concerns, as in, "Don't worry, you'll be fine." We do believe the judicious use of X-Rays is in our patients' best interests. But patients deserve to know why. Radiography [...]

Fluoride, the Story

Sifting Fact From Belief Dental researchers call it The Fluoride Story—the most dramatic turn-around of a population's dental health in history. So far. The Fluoride Story began as one of many smaller, ongoing stories. And we have research to thank. In university laboratories in the US and Canada, in dental [...]

The Perils of a Bad Bite

No, we're not talking about being attacked by a junkyard dog. That's perilous enough. The bite in question here is your own bite—the way your lower teeth and your upper teeth come together. A bad bite can be responsible for several woes you might not necessarily connect, like headaches, unsightly [...]

Bruxism, the Unknown Habit

It's such a common habit, yet most of the time we never know we're doing it. Not cracking your knuckles or biting fingernails, but intense clenching and grinding of your teeth—known in dental terminology as bruxism. The reason this phenomenon goes unnoticed so often is that "grinders" usually perform when [...]

Don’t Share Your Toothbrush!

One of the tenets of good dental health is obvious—Brush your teeth after every meal. This can help keep your mouth healthy throughout a long life. Another rule should be just as carefully observed: Do NOT use someone else's toothbrush. Sharing toothbrushes can shorten your life. Be safe, not sorry. [...]

Bad Oral Habits Explained

Tooth-related habits, too, can be conscious (brushing and flossing) or unconscious—chewing on pencils, for example. Dental habits become bad when teeth are expected to do things they're not cut out for—opening bottles, chewing off the little plastic tags on new clothing, trimming nails, and so on. And bad dental habits [...]

To Prevent Cavities…

Don't filter out fluoride! In the years since fluoride first was added to city water supplies, dentists have seen tooth decay in kids cut in half. Fluoride really works! If you've got youngsters at home, make sure they get all the decay-fighting fluoride they need. There's nothing wrong with home [...]