Category: Patient Education

Are You Grinding Your Teeth?

If you find yourself waking up with a headache or a sore jaw, you might be grinding your teeth. Also known as bruxism, teeth grinding usually occurs during sleep, so you may not realize it is happening. While it is a common sleep disorder, many people also unknowingly clench their jaws and grind their teeth… Read more »

How Regular Exercise Can Keep Your Smile Healthy

Most people don’t need a doctor to tell them that regular exercise is vital to their body’s health and proper function. Nevertheless, an estimated 31% of America’s adult population can be classified as obese, with a greater number suffering from illnesses associated with inadequate physical activity (i.e., heart disease, diabetes, sleep disorders, and a weak… Read more »

Choosing Water Over Flavored Drinks Can Benefit Your Teeth

While beverages like soft drinks, coffee, and tea can be fine in moderation, these drinks can have detrimental effects on your teeth. Darker drinks can stain your enamel, and acidic beverages – like sodas – can leave you more vulnerable to cavities. Water can help clear away accumulating bacteria and food debris in your mouth…. Read more »

How Your Diet Affects Your Teeth & Gums

You may value healthy eating to stay slim and remain in good health. But have you considered how your diet affects your teeth and gums, too? What you eat and drink impacts more than just your waistline: Your oral health is directly affected by your diet, especially if you favor foods and beverages high in… Read more »

Learning the Truth About Tooth Extraction

Ideally, you would retain all of your healthy, natural adult teeth for life; hence the reason they are often called your permanent teeth. Unfortunately, that might not always be an option; accidental impacts, severe dental infections, and more often cause the premature loss of one or more adult teeth. Sometimes, teeth may need to be… Read more »

How Good Are You at Brushing Your Teeth?

Modern advancements in science, medicine, and dentistry have provided an impressive array of means for restoring smiles that need cosmetic or restorative care. Still, the most efficient method of protecting your smile remains the prevention of common dental issues. The cornerstone of prevention is good dental hygiene, and although most of us learned the tenets… Read more »

Why Your Dentures Might Appreciate Dental Implants

As one of dentistry’s longest-standing restorative appliances, dentures have come a long way in mimicking the natural teeth they are meant to replace. Innovative dental porcelain and other materials help create highly-realistic replacement teeth (pontics), while advanced acrylics provide comfortable, customized bases for the lifelike pontics. Still, even advanced dentures need a little assistance when… Read more »

A Healthier Smile: One Resolution that’s Easy to Keep!

2015 is finally here and, if you’re like 45% of people in the United States, you made a New Year’s resolution to lose weight, get organized, pick up a new hobby, or find love. However, the Journal of Clinical Psychology reports that only about 8% of people who make New Year’s resolutions actually end up… Read more »

Do Some Foods Strengthen Teeth?

While your whole body is a marvel, your teeth and other oral structures are especially interesting. Not only are they the strongest and most-used parts of your body, but under the right circumstances, they can also be the most vulnerable. Keeping your teeth clean by brushing and flossing them twice a day (at least) helps,… Read more »

Mansfield Dentists: Stages and Symptoms of Gum Disease

According to the American Academy of Periodontology, nearly half of adults over 30 have encountered gum disease. Gingivitis, the first stage of gum disease, can advance to periodontitis if left untreated which can lead to eventual tooth loss. Gum disease is a chronic condition that is marked by inflamed, painful gums. Gingivitis and other forms… Read more »