Tips for Breaking Bad Oral Habits

Did you know that a lot of little things you do (or don't do) on a day-to-day basis affect your teeth's well-being and may fall under a list of bad oral habits? These include not brushing or flossing enough, eating too many sweets too often, or even using your teeth to open a bag of chips.

 

Bad oral habits die hard, but they can be stopped in their tracks by the following tips:

 

Floss at least once a day. It helps remove bits of food and dental plaque in places your toothbrush can't find, helping to keep your gums healthy.

 

Brush at least twice a day. If brushing is not an option, chew sugarless gum (make sure it's sugarless!) for 20 minutes after a meal or snack. This helps prevent tooth decay. 

 

Clean your tongue. Regularly cleaning your tongue with a toothbrush or a tongue scraper helps remove the bacteria that causes bad breath.

 

Replace your toothbrush regularly. Replacing your tooth brush ever 3-4 months is a good idea. Bristles in your toothbrush that are bent and broken don't do a good job cleaning your teeth.

 

Eat a balanced diet. Snacking on sweets without brushing increases the acid in your mouth… and the likelihood of tooth decay. Munch on vegetables and fruit instead.

 

Regular Dental Visits. Your dentist is trained to do damage control in your mouth before it's too late. You should visit the dentist regularly -- every six months.

 

Adding these to your list one at a time is a good start to kick those bad oral habits. By doing a little self-check on your daily dental care habits, you can be on your way to making sure your teeth, your mouth's health and your overall health are at their best.

Avoiding the Baby Bottle Blues

When it comes to thumb sucking, babies are naturals -- maybe because they practice even before they are born. Children begin sucking on their thumb while in the womb to develop the skills necessary for breastfeeding. Not surprisingly swapping a thumb for a pacifier or baby bottle is an easy transition for many kids.

In a child's first few years, pacifier use generally doesn't cause problems. But constant, long-term pacifier use, especially once permanent teeth come in, can lead to dental complications. Constant sucking can cause top front teeth to slant out, and bottom front teeth to tilt in. It also can lead to jaw misalignment (such as an overbite) and a narrowing of the roof of the mouth.

It is generally advised that children stop or drastically reduce their pacifier use around age 3. If a child is dependent on the pacifier to be calmed and soothed, try giving it to him or her only when absolutely necessary and using positive reinforcement to wean them off the habit.

Many children also use a baby bottle longer than necessary. Apart from the risks associated with the sucking motion, bottles also carry a heavy risk of promoting tooth decay if they contain anything other than water.

Frequently sucking or sipping on milk or juice from a bottle over an extended period of time will increase your child's risk of tooth decay. When sugars and carbohydrates come in consistent contact with teeth they create an environment for decay-causing bacteria to thrive. Tooth decay can lead to painful infection and in extreme cases children may need to have a tooth extraction or dental treatment to extensively repair damaged teeth.

Long-term use of pacifiers and bottles can lead to speech and dental problems as your child gets older. Since children develop at different ages, it is a good idea to speak with your dentist and pediatrician to make sure that your infant or toddler's early oral habits don't cause problems.

Tough Brushing Tortures Teeth

Most dentists don’t go a day without seeing patients who are damaging their teeth and gums by brushing too hard. Some report that as many as two out of three patients brush their teeth too hard. This is a problem. A stiff-bristled toothbrush combined with overzealous brushing teeth can cause serious dental problems over time, including gum disease and tooth sensitivity.

 

People think that if they brush twice as hard, they will do twice as much good, In fact, overzealous brushing can cause significant damage to the periodontal tissues and bones that support the teeth. If you used the same amount of force and brush the side of your arm, you could take your skin off.

 

One way to avoid damaging your teeth and gums is to purchase a "soft" toothbrush featuring rounded bristles which are less abrasive to teeth. You should hold the brush between the thumb and forefinger, not with the fist. When brushing, do not `scrub' the teeth with a horizontal, back-and-forth motion.

 

Instead, start at the gum line and angle the brush at a 45-degree angle. Brush both the teeth and the gums at the same time. Push hard enough to get the bristles under the gumline but not so hard that the bristles flare out. It's also a wise move to limit the amount of toothpaste because it is abrasive.

 

The irony is that dentists want people to brush longer, not harder. Children and adults tend to spend less than one minute at a time brushing their teeth, even though removing plaque from the mouth requires at least two to five minutes of brushing at least twice a day. Remember: brush longer, not harder.

6 Easy Ways to Prevent Cavities in Kids

Kids and cavities seem to go hand in hand. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 28 percent of children ages 2 through 5 have at least one dental cavity, compared to 24 percent a decade ago.

 

Although 4 percent may not seem like a lot, that increase represents thousands and thousands of children and cavities -- as well as a trend in the opposite direction of the last 40 years, when tooth decay was on a gradual decline.

 

So if you have children and cavities are a concern, here are six easy ways to reduce the risk:

 

1. Avoid giving your baby juice or formula at night. The sugar in juice and formula causes the bacteria in the mouth to produce the acids that cause baby bottle tooth decay. Use fluoridated water instead.

 

2. Choose low-fat foods from the basic food groups. Raw fruits and vegetables, nuts, whole-grain breads and low-fat dairy products are great for your child's overall health and their dental health!

 

3. If you must, give sweets only as a dessert. If your child must have sweets, limit it to dessert or following a main meal. Late-night snacking and frequent snacking are a major culprit of cavities in children.

 

4. Invest in a water filter. Instead of spending extra on bottled water, invest in a filter for your sink, or a filtered water pitcher. Fluoridated tap water is an excellent resource to help the battle between children and cavities.

 

5. Don't share cups or utensils. Cavities are contagious. So if you have them, you can pass them onto your child by sharing cups and utensils.

 

6. If you smoke, stop. The University of Rochester's Strong Children's Research Center has discovered a link between smoking, children and cavities. Results from a study show that children of parents who smoke are more likely to develop cavities.

 

A Dream Cure for Dental Anxiety

According to Columbia University College of Dental Medicine, about 30-40 million Americans suffer from some degree of dental anxiety. There’s good news if you’re someone who gets sweaty palms at the thought of going to the dentist. Sedation or “sleep” dentistry can help you get the dental care you need without being crippled by swells of anxiety and debilitating fear.

If you like choices, you'll love sedation dentistry. You can choose from light to mild sedation, which help you feel relaxed and calm but keep you awake and aware, or deep sedation, which puts you to sleep and makes you unaware of treatment. Unsure what's right for you? Consider talking to your dentist about the range of sedation options now available.

Sleep dentistry is a catchall term used to describe a dental office that offers IV dental sedation or general anesthesia or both. This type of sedation dentistry is ideal for people with mild dental anxiety. With IV sedation, you won't feel, hear, taste or smell anything and won't have any memory of the procedure. However, you may be conscious enough to respond to the sedation dentist. General anesthesia is the most complete form of sedation, under which you are totally asleep and unaware.

Conscious sedation dentistry refers to light and moderate forms of sedation, including nitrous oxide and oral sedation. A sedation dentist administers nitrous oxide through a mask and oral sedation through a pill. With conscious sedation, you remain awake and aware but also relaxed.

Dental sedation is not a painkiller. It is designed to relax patients who feel nervous or anxious during dental treatments. With dental conscious sedation, patients remain awake and able to respond to the dentist. Under general anesthesia, patients are completely unconscious. To help with pain, sedation dentists rely on a local anesthetic like novocaine to numb parts of the mouth that require dental work.

 

Seniors Can Keep Their Teeth for a Lifetime

Surveys by the American Dental Association and Oral B® reveal that 7 in 10 respondents 65 years of age and older visit their dentist at least once a year and almost all said they believe that healthy teeth and gums are important. It's great to know that seniors are concerned about their oral health, because dental needs change as we age.

 

Unfortunately, cavities are not just for kids. All throughout our lives, carbohydrate-containing foods team up with bacteria in the mouth to produce cavity-forming acids. Seniors often have receding gums that expose the sensitive roots of the teeth to cavities. These cavities should be filled as soon as possible to avoid further damage to the teeth. Seniors should try to brush teeth at least 2-3 times a day and floss once daily. To reduce the risk of cavities, it is recommended to use fluoride toothpaste and a mouth-rinse containing fluoride.

 

Periodontal disease or gum disease is the main reason people lose their teeth. Gum disease is caused by plaque, a bacterial film that continuously forms around the teeth. Although gum disease is often painless until it is very advanced, some signs of gum disease include: bleeding gums after eating or brushing your teeth, persistent bad breath; swollen gums; loose teeth; a change in the fit of partial dentures; or permanent tooth loss.

 

The effects of gum disease become cumulative as we age. Your dentist or hygienist can clean the plaque and tartar under the gumline to help reduce the damage of gum disease. As with cavity prevention, daily brushing and flossing are essential. Regular dental cleanings and dental exams are important. Seniors with gum disease should see their dentist 3-4 times a year.

 

Seniors who have worn dentures for many years may find that they don't seem to fit as well anymore. Loose dentures make it difficult to eat and speak (they seem to make a "clacking" noise), and do not support the face as well. Your dentist can sometimes remedy the problem by relining the denture, but a new denture should be made every 5-7 years, or when the dentures cannot be used comfortably.

Braces: Looking Good and Feeling Great

It's been proven that people are captivated by beautiful smiles, so it's understandable why you'd want to get dental braces for cosmetic reasons. But straight teeth don't just look better; they're healthier, too.

 

When teeth are properly aligned, they're easier to clean ... and when your teeth are clean and dental plaque-free, you're less likely to need a tooth filling or gum disease treatment. Wearing braces can also help prevent excessive wear of your teeth and help you chew better.

 

Today's braces have come a long way from the stereotypical "tin grins" of TV and movies. In addition to traditional metal braces for straightening teeth, there are now a variety of braces designed with your comfort and appearance in mind:

 

Clear Braces -- Porcelain dental braces feature tooth-colored brackets made from a glass-like composite material that appears translucent.

 

Gold Braces -- Gold braces are actually stainless steel braces overlaid in gold.

 

Lingual Braces -- Similar to traditional metal braces, lingual braces are placed behind the teeth so that they're virtually unnoticeable.

 

Mini Braces -- Mini braces are 30 percent smaller than their traditional metal counterparts but just as strong.

 

Removable Braces -- Removable braces are mouthguard-like devices made of clear plastic. Invisalign® dental aligners are the most common type of removable braces.

 

No matter which type of dental braces you choose, orthodontic treatment can bring about a major improvement in your appearance and your quality of life. In approximately 24 months — the typical active treatment time for traditional braces — most people are able to achieve the smile of their dreams.

 

Are dental braces right for you? Ask your dentist during your next dental checkup.