For many families, dental insurance – or any insurance coverage – can be confusing. Our family received new medical insurance cards a few weeks ago, and I had the pleasure of reading through my benefits booklet for our family’s new plan. It made me realize the significant differences between medical and dental insurance. Knowing how dental insurance works can be …
Facing Dental Emergencies: Handling Teeth Injuries with Calmness and Care
Summer weather has finally arrived, and with the change of seasons comes a change in activities. Both adults and children are outside more, enjoying the welcome change of pace of summer. With added activity, it’s a great time to remind patients of what to do if a dental injury occurs. Whether on the ball field or on the playground, we …
The Juicy Scoop on Sugary Drinks
Last week, the American Heart Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics announced that on average children consume enough sugary drinks each year to fill a small bathtub. For children, and many adults, excess sugar consumption is not found in what they eat, but in what they drink. It’s widely understood that pop is bad for you, but did you …
Sensitive Teeth: Common Causes and Available Treatments
Do hot or cold drinks bother your teeth? Do you notice that sweet or acidic foods cause tooth pain? Do you experience tooth sensitivity when you simply breathe in cold air? In order to properly treat hypersensitivity, it’s important to get to its root cause. Just as there are many considerations in overall health conditions, there is not one blanket …
Teeth Grinding: Identify the Signs, Symptoms & Causes
What do your teeth have to do with stress? In dentistry, we often say that the state of your mouth indicates your overall health. Bruxism, the term used to describe habitual teeth grinding, happens for many reasons, but stress is a common contributor. In the United States alone, 30-40 million people are affected by bruxism. Bruxism also includes clenching your …
Brush Like An Adult: How to Best Brush
Hopefully you have been brushing your teeth for years, but how do you know if you are using proper brushing technique? Most of us learned to brush our teeth as young children and have used similar brushing habits throughout our lives. Let’s stop and think about that. You could be a 65-year-old adult brushing with the technique of a 10-year-old! …
What are Dental Implants? Do I need one?
Despite improvements in oral healthcare, most people will lose at least one adult, permanent tooth in their lifetime. It’s tempting to think that all of your problems are over after having a tooth pulled. You may even think that losing a tooth is only a cosmetic issue, but failing to replace a missing tooth can cause many different issues. It’s …
Dental X-rays…Do I need them?
For some patients, dental x-rays (radiographs) seem like an unnecessary step during the preventative, recare dental visit, but this is an important step for dentists to be able to diagnose, treat decay and address other concerns. Unfortunately, dentists do not have the superpower ability to see between your teeth or below your gums and bone. This is where x-rays come …
Baby Teeth Basics
My wife and I had our first child almost three months ago, so many of our conversations now revolve around how to best care for our daughter, including caring for her dental health. Here are some quick tips for parents and grandparents caring for the precious young people in their lives. When do kids get their first teeth? On average, …
Your Teeth are Strong but They Can’t Heal on Their Own
The average person will eat 35 tons of food in their lifetime. When I hear that, my first thought is, “That’s a lot of chewing!” It’s no wonder why our teeth were designed to be strong. Tooth enamel (the outer covering of each tooth) is stronger than bone. In fact, thanks to the strength of enamel, our teeth can actually …