What to Know About Gum Disease
It afflicts as many as nine in 10 adults at some point in their lives, as well as teenagers and children as young as five or six years of age. Yet, many suffer from it without even suspecting anything is [...]
Can You Catch a Cavity?
When you have a cold, we all know to cover your mouth before you sneeze and not to drink out of the same glass. We do this because we know that a cold is contagious. Now we know that, chances [...]
MMMMMM! It’s Mouth-Watering
You stand to speak to a crowd of thousands–and your mouth is desert-dry. That’s normal. But under less stressful circumstances, a dry mouth is not normal. In fact, it’s cause for concern. Saliva has a critical role in the health [...]
Got Fluoride?
As we age, wrinkles and graying hair become evident. For adults, there’s no reversing the aging process. But happily, a lifetime of fluoride use can help reverse the demineralizing process! Bacterial plaque continually forms on teeth, producing acids that initiate [...]
Scaling and Root Planing
When Elbow Grease Counts Most periodontal patients in our practice become very familiar with the two primary therapies we rely on to treat gum disease: scaling and root planing. Sounds a little disagreeable, yes. But scaling and root planing are [...]
Pregnancy and Oral Health
How does pregnancy affect my oral health? It's a myth that calcium is lost from the mother's teeth, but you may experience some changes in your oral health during pregnancy. The primary change is a surge in hormones--particularly an increase [...]
Tooth Decay: A Preventable Disease
What is tooth decay, and what causes it? Tooth decay is the disease known as caries or cavities. It is not life threatening and is although it is highly preventable, it will affect most people to some degree during their [...]
The Basics of Flossing
One of the simplest preventive hygiene exercises you can do for yourself is something you've heard of before. It bears repeating: floss. Every 24 hours, bacteria contribute to a new batch of plaque. Brushing, no matter how well or how [...]
Xerostomia (Dry Mouth)
News to Make a Mouth Water… A thick, juicy prime rib of beef surrounded by a baked potato—all the trimmings—asparagus with drawn butter, fresh apple cobbler a la mode. Got your mouth watering? Good. Your salivary glands have been stimulated. [...]
Alcohol and Your Teeth
Dentally speaking, is drinking alcohol a good thing or a bad thing for your teeth and gums? As with everything alcohol related, there are positives and negatives. On one hand, a mixer-free shot of vodka is probably less hazardous than [...]