Identifying (and Responding to) Sleep Apnea Besides the sound of your house being sawed in half, what happens when you snore? Your tongue's so relaxed, it caves in to the throat, blocking air passages. In rare cases, when snoring is extreme, sleep apnea is the diagnosis. The Greek word apnea literally means without breath. Three [...]
A child learning to ride a bike loses their balance and falls, or perhaps even an adult on a "misadventure" gets in an accident and knocks out a tooth. What do you do? If the tooth is replaced in the tooth socket immediately, the chances are good that this tooth can be maintained for many [...]
Special Concerns for Older Adults Along with those gray hairs and inevitable smile lines, your mouth undergoes natural changes over the years, as well. Among them: Cutting edge of teeth are worn flat by chewing or grinding. Remember to keep regularly scheduled hygiene appointments to check for cavities. Consider dental sealants to prevent decay, or [...]
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 it's large enough to be [...]
Surprising but true: the major cause of tooth loss in adults is not decay, but periodontal disease. More than half of all people over age 18 have at least the early stage of periodontal disease. After age 35, about three out of four adults are affected. Some people seem to be more susceptible to gum [...]
Originally, these ideas held because no one really knew how to maintain a great smile over a lifetime. Unfortunately, "popular wisdom" still prevents some people from recognizing how modern dentistry can keep teeth natural, attractive and pain free. Do any of the following notions sound familiar? If so, get ready for a little relief! A [...]
Maintaining the integrity of your mouth Teeth are tough. Formed from the hardest substances in the body, they're harder even than bone. But they're not indestructible. Throughout life teeth are subject to injury—maybe it will be a blow from a hockey puck in your twenties. Or a luckless chomp on an unseen popcorn kernel in [...]
We have come a long way in the treatment of serious, life-threatening systemic diseases. Part and parcel of healing more aggressive diseases are—more aggressive therapies. And sometimes as a result of forceful care, complications arise that demand attention of their own: oral problems. When an individual is very sick, nutrition becomes more important than ever. [...]
Eating & Drinking Don't let it continue throughout the day. Limit to 4 or 5 periods. This especially includes apple juice, raisins. Residual fruit sugars easily damage baby teeth. Restricting unlimited contact between food and teeth is the most important factor in preventing cavities! Brushing Remember: thorough brushing is more important than frequent brushing. Thorough [...]
There's only one good thing about a visibly damaged tooth: here, clearly, is where the pain's coming from and where our response will be focused. But complaints of "tooth pain" without a clear source or origin—now, that's something else entirely. Say you've been good with your hygiene, faithful in your checkups, and you wake up [...]
