Nasty teeth cleaning

As a dentist, my life is pretty easy. I have a great job, and all my coworkers are amazing people. We are all pretty close and enjoy spending time together outside of work. There have been some very interesting stories to come from us all spending time together as well as in the office. I enjoy doing the regular cleaning. I have some clients who remember me every visit. That is a great feeling because it makes you realize that you are making a positive change in their oral health. As a dentist, I have seen some pretty nasty things due to poor lack of oral health, and I do my best to guide them on how to fix that poor hygiene. Helping the kids is always the best because of their vivid imagination as well as how easy it is to work on their teeth. 

One of the worst visits I had was an older woman, maybe in her fifties. She was telling me that she was having sensitivity in her gums and did not know why. I told her I would happily take a look at it and do the best I could to help relieve her discomfort, but I did tell her to prepare for the worse as it sounds like gum disease. When I got her on the chair and laid her back, I almost jumped out of my skin at the sight of her teeth. They were a yellow practically brown color, and her gums had almost receded all the way up to where they start. 

I began by asking her how often she brushes and if she smokes cigarettes, drinks a lot of coffee, alcohol, or tea. She told me that she did all of the above. I then asked how often she brushes and flosses. Not to my surprise, she responded by telling me she brushes her teeth maybe once a week and has never flossed. I could tell by how much gunk was jammed between her teeth she did not floss. I took a step out of the room to think about how best to clean these near tooth loss teeth. Once I came up with a plan, I went back in to begin attacking these teeth, trying my best to save them. 

I started by doing my best to scrape off all the almost brown plaque and got between her teeth with my tools to get the gunk from there as I knew the floss would not help. After about thirty minutes, things were looking better. Her teeth were more yellow than brown now, so that was a good start. I then grabbed the cleaning drill and began going to town on her teeth. After this was done, her teeth were less yellow. I then applied some fluoride to hopefully protect her teeth. When I was done, we had a heart-to-heart about her oral health. I told her she needed to brush more, at least twice a day. I also told her she needed to get some mouth was since she can not touch her gums without any pain. Finally, I said she needed to get some floss and do that every night. It seemed like she wanted to take my advice.

I have not seen that woman in here again, and it’s been almost a year. I hope that she is well and is taking care of her teeth, as I told her. It would be nice to see her again and see how her teeth are looking if she reverted back to her old habits of not brushing or flossing. I sure hope not. 

Are winter drinks really bad for you in the long run?

Here’s a lot more sugar than you would think in each winter drink that we all seem to love.  I know the Starbucks trips have been attacking my waist and wallet, but they may also be attacking my dental health as well.  That means they are actually harming my body and that is a big issue.  

The onset of fall has a lot of implications for different people. For some, it merely signals the end of hot weather and sunburns. For others, it’s the beginning of a lot of camping trips, wearing hoodies, and going to corn mazes. Even still, some people have one thing on their mind, and it’s the fall drinks that become mega-popular during this time of year.

There’s something to be said about that last item. From a college-aged student’s point of view, fall drinks are all the rage at local coffee shops. They’re tasty, they’re seasonal, and they give an extra boost of caffeine every morning when most needed. But from a dentist’s perspective, a lot of these drinks are actually pretty unhealthy for your dental health. Considering flavored coffees are already on the “do not drink frequently” list agreed upon by other health professionals, seasonal specialty coffees are no better off. Read on to see some common drinks you’ll want to drink this time of year and alternatives to enjoying them!

We all love the Pumpkin Spice and they are all the rage among younger crowds when they’re around for a limited time each year. And we get it. They’re tasty. But have you ever stopped to think how much sweetener goes into each and every cup of this coffee? There’s a reason they’re extremely sweet, and it’s not a healthy one. They are so filled with sugar you might as well just kiss your teeth goodbuy.

When it comes to cold winter drinks my mother always sends me a big batch of chai latte mix.  It is so good and let's face it I’m a big fan of chai lattes. They’re quite the tasty drink without being the most popular out there for whatever reason. I find them to be satisfying on the palate without being too overbearing like other sweet drinks, yet there’s a spice to it that is unlike any other coffee or tea you know. Unfortunately, these drinks can have more grams of sugar than a Snickers bar because of the added sweeteners. 

To best enjoy chai lattes, I suggest making your own at home. That way, you know exactly what’s going into it and you’ll undoubtedly save a few bucks in the process.

There is also a huge camping cider that I really love.  Bad news for big fans of apple cider: it’s no better than the above-mentioned drinks when it comes to sugar. While it’s an iconic drink for the fall season, we recommend you have this every now and then, and definitely no more than a cup of it each time you do happen to pick some up. With a ton of grams of sugar per cup, you’re better off drinking this fall favorite in moderation.

So be safe this year when working on enjoying those winter drinks.  Maybe try to drink a little less and keep your teeth a little healthier.

Brushing Routines for December

It just turned December here in 2020.  It has certainly been a wild ride this year with all the coronavirus and riots taking place in the United States.  But this is the time of year that people tend to forget all of those things and simply focus on family and being together.  It is a time of year that we all see each other and take time to spend with the ones that we love.  It is a time of year that we tend to eat a bit more and drink a little too much.  This also means it is the worst time of the year for our mouths and dental health.  The extra time we spend with family usually means we eat nice foods and lots of sweet desserts.  It can really add up over a whole month of celebrating or even more if you count Thanksgiving in as well.  That is a lot of time to be putting extra punishment on our mouths.  So I wanted to go over some things we can do as a routine this month to help keep our dental health safe and on track.

This is the year to make sure your dental routines are on point.  It is super important to put these in place in order to protect your mouth from cavities, plaque, and tooth decay.  That is the big problem that can happen from a bad routine.  So if you have a family that means that a lot of people could end up needing dental work and let's face it that is very time-consuming and also very expensive. So making sure your teeth are protected is worth a little extra work. I want to get into the most basic and yet the most important part of the season's routine.

 

The first thing you and your family should implement is a pumped-up brushing schedule.  This month we move our teeth brushing from 2 times a day to the extra three times a day.  That is one more than the American Dental Association recommends, but we do it for a special reason.  We make sure to brush for the full 2 minutes and on our third brushing at the end of the day we add in some special whitening toothpaste. 

I like to use the charcoal toothpaste for whitening.  It is all-natural and also does not provide any side effects like sensitivity.  It is a great way to add in a brighter smile this week and that allows us as a family to feel better when talking to people and also to look better in pictures.  The black toothpaste is also a fun add-on for our family that helps us want to brush our teeth for that third time because it is fun to have a fully blacked out mouth.  If you have seen the movie the Patriot then you know what I am talking about.

 

Not brushing your teeth may be the most important routine to have, but drinking lots of water on a scheduled basis is also great.  Water allows your mouth to rinse itself and keeps you on track for getting those nasty tooth decaying particles out of your mouth. It also keeps saliva flow going strong.  These are all great things to do this time of year to protect your dental health.

Sensitive Teeth are No Fun

There are a few things in life that I am truly not a fan of.  Being in pain is most definitely one of those things.  When it comes to living a happy and joyful life, I have found that it is simply easier to not have to go through pain.  It is much easier to find joy and peace when my body feels good and is not hurting.  That is why I am working hard to improve on aspects of my body this year to get over those painful areas and to keep them from happening.  One of the areas that I am focusing in on, is dental hygiene in my life.  I have indeed suffered from sensitive teeth before and I really do not want to experience that again. So I want to go over a bit about my experience with it and how to hopefully avoid it in the future. 

 

My hope is to no longer end up feeling the pain of sensitive teeth and that is usually due to the bad hygiene that people do in their lives.  I am pretty sure that if you are experiencing pain or sensitivity when you are drinking hot or cold beverages then you may be on this list of sensitive teeth.  It may be an issue that you need to go beyond just upping your dental routine and you may be at risk of your teeth currently being exposed. 

 

The reason this all hits home to me is that the first time I felt my teeth get sensitive was a scary time.  When I was in high school my sister was preparing for a prom and asked if I wanted to go in on the price to splitting some crest white strips.  The idea was that we both get white teeth, but since when she wanted to do it we didn't have enough time for her to finish the whole batch I could split it and use the other half leftover.  It all seemed like a really good idea at the time.  I tried to work on my teeth for a long time, but they were getting yellow and these seemed like a great idea.

 

So we opened the package and it required one whole set of strips a day.  We ended up just doing them at night and getting them on our teeth.  It was a strange feeling, but after a few days, we started to see massive improvements in our teeth.  I saw for myself though that my teeth had not only gotten very white, but super sensitive.  The fact is that hot of cold drinks hurt my mouth and it was like having my teeth get doused with fire.  I was actually hurting and couldn't even finish half of the crest white strips taht I had purchased.  The issue is that sensitivity means pain in my opinion and I didn't want to have that ever again.

My solution was to instead of using a fast-acting whitener to instead use a toothpaste that works slowly and protects my teeth from tooth enamel erosion as well.  I used a charcoal-based toothpaste and that was a much softer and less painful solution.  Instead of pain, I chose to get white teeth slower but safer for my own mouth.  So, protect your teeth and be wise.

Tips For Dental Health in the Holidays

This is a great time of the year.  With the Holiday season coming we are all getting ready to be with family and enjoy each other company.  I love the extra time spent with family and friends and also all the yummy treats that come along with it.  Let's face it Fall starts with Pumpkin Spice Latte's and ends up with new years toasts.  Between these months are simply lots of get-togethers and lots of snacks and drinks being consumed.  That is why I think it is important to keep up with your dental routine and maybe even adding to it this season.  It is important to prevent issues from happening and all these extra get-togethers can bring on a lot of tooth decay and plaque. So I wanted to go over a few tips to help keep you and your family healthy this year.

 

The first tip that comes to mind is a good one and one that I plan on trying to work into my holiday season.  I think it is wise to cut back a little on all the sweets this year.  I love seasonal snacks and drinks and it would be blasphemy to not actually indulge a little, but it is better to not go all in if you can help it.  I think that maybe not eating as many sticky or gummy sugary treats is a worthwhile investment for your teeth.  Especially, if you know you are close to some big cavities or feeling sensitivity.  It may simply be wise to cut back a good amount on the snacks.  2nds or thrids of pie may not be necessary for every single meal!  

 

Add in some water between your sweet or alcoholic drinks.  It is really smart to keep drinking water during this time of year.  It is a great thing to stay hydrated because it helps your dental health in a few different ways.  Drinking water helps to rinse your mouth from all those things that may cause plaque to build up or to eat away at your tooth enamel.  That is why taking some drinks of water in between those snacks and meals is a great thing to do.  It also has a secondary benefit of keeping you hydrated.  This allows your body to produce the right amount of saliva which helps to clean your mouth.  I always think of saliva like natural mouthwash and that is a really great way to double down on dental health. 

 

The next tip I think is really important is to start flossing during this time of year.  With all the extra treats and sweets, many things may get stuck in your teeth that you are not seeing.  With these foods and drinks being more sweet, sugary, or acidic it is wise to get all that out of your mouth.  I honestly hate flossing, but I did find floss sticks to help me get over my hatred of it.  I now don't have to touch the string or get my fingers in my mouth with flossing sticks.  So think about giving those a try at the end of the day for the next few months.

I think it is also important to brush your teeth an extra time per day during this time of year.  You can protect your teeth more and maybe even keep them a bit brighter.  It really is wise to be as preventative as you can when it comes to your health and this is a great way to do it.

Shopping for a toothbrush in 2021

I know that the world is crazy.  After seeing our entire economy go eCommerce overnight I know that 2021 is going to be a wild ride.  So why not go crazy when it comes to little things.  I know collectors that spend thousands of dollars on a simple pocket knife so why not go all out when it comes to your dental health. In the first world, people can be found overindulging in a plethora of ways.  Many people living in the best of situations like to have something because it gives them status.  The status symbol can then be used to feel better about oneself or project an image that individuals wants to be seen as. For this the average American may take their vehicle or home and try and one up other people by size or rarity. Some people collect different pieces of property to have and to hold.  What I never expected was to see the idea that a toothbrush could be a status symbol.  But some people are more than happy to drop 5k on a toothbrush and that blows my mind. 

I mean honestly, what do you get for 5k in a toothbrush.  Is it amazing or guaranteeing a perfect dental look?  Is there a difference between the cost and quality of a toothbrush? That would make the whole price difference between a 5 dollars toothbrush and 5k brush make sense.  If the benefits from an extremely expensive toothbrush were ultimate cleanliness which led to having dental health well into your late years of life the cost may be justified.  Especially when surgery, cavities and crowns are considered the alternative.  Five thousand dollars would be a small price to pay in the long run for dental health but if it is all for show then well that is all it is.

When I looked into it I found that it was really all just for show.  Collectors or people who like to flex will spend money on stupid things to feel powerful.  So what is the expensive item and who makes it.  Reinast is a German Luxury Toothbrush.   A small group of dental hygienist decided to create the ultimate toothbrush made of titanium.  In Dusseldorf Germany the creation came into being. The company understands the cost is a bit much and they put a quote from the novel Dorian Grey to help calm peoples emotions on the topic. “Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming...Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated.”  Indeed this is a little wild but the company understands that this toothbrush is simply a status symbol.  They go on to tell about how it is a fully functional toothbrush intended to protect your dental hygiene, but in reality it is most likely no more useful than the 5 dollar toothbrush you pick up at the local store. 

We all know that it means it was a waste of money.  So is it really worth spending all that money on a toothbrush just to say you can?  Maybe it is, and maybe it is nice to have a titanium toothbrush to use for 2 to 4 minutes a day and if that makes you happy go for it.  Don't waste your money unless you like to flex that way.