Autumn is in full swing, and that means the cold weather is fast approaching (if it isn’t already here)! You may be tempted to hunker down with holiday goodies and snacks, but you do not want to ignore your health or even your dental health. Even if you are busy during this season, you might be overindulging in sweet and starchy treats for the next couple of months. It can spell disaster for your teeth and gums if you are not brushing and flossing daily. Besides, who wants to start the new year with cavities or gingivitis?

Now is the perfect time to feel gratitude for your teeth and gums because they work hard for us every single day. Your mouth helps you speak, chew and smile with confidence. While seasonal treats can be enjoyed, it will help if you stay on top of your daily oral hygiene routine. But that is not the only reason your smile is your ally!

Improved General Health

Healthy teeth allow you to get the nutrition your body needs. You can do this by eating fresh, crisp produce, grains, and protein that your body needs. Poor oral health, especially periodontal disease, can also lead to general health issues like diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Clear Speech

When teeth are missing – whether from poor oral hygiene or injury – your teeth help you to speak clearly so you can converse with others each day. Unless replaced, missing teeth can harm your smile, affecting your speech and the alignment of your jaw.

Strong Self Esteem

A healthy smile is a beautiful smile, and when you can smile with confidence, the world seems brighter. Conversely, damaged or unsightly teeth can make you feel self-conscious and reluctant to smile. It can affect relationships with loved ones, friends, coworkers and other public interactions.

Better Breath

Healthy teeth and good breath allow you to smile, speak, kiss, and eat with ease and joy. Poor dental hygiene allows bacterial plaque to collect around teeth and under the gum line, leaving your mouth with tooth decay and bad breath. During the holiday season, take the time to brush your teeth at least twice a day, floss once daily, and, if needed, follow up with an antibacterial mouthwash to keep your mouth sparkling and clean.

Save Money

When teeth deteriorate, they can be expensive to treat. It starts with fillings, but neglect can lead to decay and extraction, requiring a root canal or dental restoration. Since your dental insurance encourages and pays for your routine dental cleanings, be sure to take advantage of the benefits before they run out and resets in January.

Don’t Skip Routine Dental Cleaning

At the minimum, dental cleanings should happen twice a year unless you have a problem such as gum disease. While brushing and flossing protect your smile every day, they can’t quite remove hardened plaque or tartar. Using a dental instrument, your hygienist removes tartar and polishes your teeth. Another thing your dental team does is take X-rays to spot potential problems while they are still small. It allows them to be treated and fixed while still being economical and less invasive to repair. Preventative care is key to a healthy smile!

When you do need a dentist to address problems with your smile, you can count on us to provide you with everything from cosmetic dentistry to fix stained teeth and remove excess gum tissue. Preventative care may also include dental sealants, mouth guards for sports or night guards for bruxism. With restorative dentistry, we can replace one or more teeth with fillings, crowns, bridges, dentures, or implants.

Top-Notch Dental Care

Be sure to use your dental insurance benefits for 2020 before it resets at the beginning of the new year. Remember, if you don’t use it, you lose it! This season, express your gratitude for your smile and how hard it works for you (and for your dentist!). Together, we can make a great team and make sure your smile is healthy and beautiful all year round. Now that’s something to smile about!

The post Are You Thankful for Dental Care That Makes Your Smile Look and Feel Its Best? first appeared on Northport Prosthodontics.

Halloween is lurking around the corner, but so is the coronavirus, making traditional Halloween parties trickier. This year, big parties and parades, creepy haunted houses, and gathering in crowds to trick-or-treat are off the table for many, or at the very least, downsized and held outdoors while social distancing. While the traditional ways of celebrating Halloween may look different this year, your family can still stock up on Halloween candy and dress up for some squeamishly spooky fun.

Treat Your Teeth

The problem with sweets is that all that sugary goodness can wreak havoc on teeth and gums. When you snack on sugary treats, be sure to rinse your mouth well with water afterward or brush your teeth if possible. Avoid hard, chewy, or extra sticky candies like the plague to avoid damaging dental plaque!

Eerie Count Chocula

Chocolate is a better choice when getting your sweets on, as it melts quickly and doesn’t stress the chompers like taffy, caramel, or other hard, sticky candies typically do. It’s easier to clean chocolate off the teeth unless they are filled with caramel or nougat fillings. Candy season can also be made more tooth-friendly by drinking plenty of water to keep saliva levels optimal. Saliva helps wash away oral debris to reduce harmful plaque. Supply your child with mini water bottles and sugar-free gum when brushing their teeth is not possible. Help your family stick to a healthy diet in general, so teeth and gums stay strong during the treat-laden holiday season for the next three months.

Frightful Family Fun

To protect your child’s wickedly cute smile during this pumpkin season, you can do what some parents do and limit daily candy consumption! Some spread out a trick-or-treating haul throughout the month and make sure they clean their teeth after eating sugary goodies. Others limit treats to a few days around Halloween itself. Having your family eat their candy right after a meal can help minimize plaque and tartar. Whatever works best for you and your family’s traditions, remember to instill in them the lifelong habit of cleaning their teeth after enjoying sweet treats.

Creating Safe Halloween Smiles

Here are some spooktacular ideas to enjoy scaring your loved ones with some wicked good fun!

Tip: If a costume comes with a mask, consider wearing a safety mask under it. Double the mask, double the protection!

• Go all out this year by making or buying fun costumes for your family and taking lots of pictures to share on social media, send to extended family, or display in an album or on the wall!
• Join friends and extended family in a “virtual costume contest” and award prizes and treats that can be dropped off or delivered by your favorite delivery company (Instacart, Walmart or Amazon).
• Host a cool Zoom Halloween party, complete with scary music, games, or dance party for older kids.
• Buy your child’s favorite Halloween candy, plastic spiders and bats, spooky stickers, Halloween-themed pencils, and mini tubes of toothpaste and flosses and let them trick-or-treat door-to-door INSIDE your house!
• Check out your neighbors’ Halloween decorations while driving around, or masking up and walking around to wave at them from the sidewalk. If the neighbors are game, you can use Facebook or NextDoor to vote on the best decorations.
• Paint scary pumpkins and place them around the house or by your doorstep. For extra spooky fun, paint teeth on them and practice “brushing” with your little ones armed with a new superhero or other character-inspired children’s toothbrush just for them.
• Have a Rotten Witch Teeth guessing contest! Fill a clear jar with candy corn and have your kids guess how many wicked witch “rotten teeth” there are!
• Take your family to a drive-thru Halloween haunt! Instead of Christmas lights, you’re getting spooked from frightful Halloween decorations.
• Have a haunted skull glow-in-the-dark scavenger hunt! Fill plastic skulls with mini dental floss and toothpaste, sugar-free candy or gum, glow sticks, bracelets or necklaces, vampire teeth, or plastic spider rings to hunt for in the yard. If you can’t find skulls, mini plastic pumpkins or mummies are also fun!
• Decorate a Halloween candy tree (artificial or real) with creepy lights and treats, including travel-sized dental floss, glow sticks, toothpaste, and more (see ideas above), so kids can grab their own goodies from your porch or yard.
• Parade your child through the neighborhood to show off their cool costume and wave at your neighbors. When you come home, treat your child to a Halloween toy or goody bag instead of trick-or-treating.
• Have some scary family movie nights or a Halloween night macabre marathon with healthy treats. Spooky apple smiles (cored and quartered apples decorated with blanched slivered almond “teeth”), Clementine pumpkins (peeled and topped with a celery stick stalk), and banana ghosts (peeled bananas with chocolate chips for eyes and mouth) are a fun way to enjoy sweet treats safely!
• Anonymously drop off a Halloween goodie bag or decorated pumpkin on the doorsteps of a few friends, family or neighbors to spread some spooky cheer, contact-free! After dark, tip-toe silently to the front door, ring the doorbell, and then “ghost” them by dropping off a ghoulish goodie and hiding or running away.

Harrowing Halloween Fun for Families

Download one of these fun pumpkin carving stencils like Billy the Bicuspid, Count Bicuspid, Frankentooth’s molar, and more as well as Activity Sheets or Coloring Sheets:

https://www.mouthhealthy.org/en/resources/activity-sheets/halloween

From our dental family to yours, no matter how you celebrate Halloween this year, make it safe, healthy, and fun for all!

The post Healthy Dental Tips For the Spooky Season! first appeared on Northport Prosthodontics.

September is National Gum Care Month, so let’s talk about everything related to gums. This month is a good time to reflect on your dental health and commit to taking better care of your gums. Sometimes, we forget your gums help keep your teeth in their place and functioning at top capacity. When your gums are damaged, you risk losing your teeth!

Protecting your gums is simple; brushing and flossing every day is part of a personal dental hygiene practice as well as keeping routine dental cleanings. This way, tartar can be removed and your teeth polished. Your gums can also be checked for signs of trouble and to treat problems early. Stick to a balanced diet to give your gums the nutrients they need to fight disease.

The Problem With Gum Disease

Treating gum disease is most effective when done in the early stage of gum disease because treatment can reverse the progress of gum disease. Once your gums are fighting serious infection, it’s harder to treat and progressively worsens. Like most things medically related, preventative care supports your oral and general health most effectively. When teeth are lost (other than teeth that are pulled for a purpose like wisdom teeth or tooth extraction procedures), the cause is often progressive gum disease. Gum disease is a common problem in our country, affecting around 67 million Americans.

Two Types of Gum Disease

Gum disease is broken down into two types. The mild version is the early stage, called gingivitis. Over time it progresses into periodontitis, a more dangerous phase. Both are caused by bacterial toxins leading to infection. In the gingivitis stage, you’ll see your gums as red, swollen, painful, and bleeding. In the later stage, you’ll see infection from inflammation in the gums, ligaments, and bone surrounding the teeth loosening teeth that either fall out or need to be removed from bone loss.

Gingivitis

We urge you to tell your dentist right away if you notice that your gums are bleeding, find sores in your mouth, have gum pain or find yourself with an unpleasant taste in your mouth along with bad breath. Having your gums checked and treated right away will help them stay healthier, longer, and with minimal damage.

Periodontitis

Advancing periodontitis involves rapid gum recession. This version often appears with young people having a growth spurt. They may be deficient in vitamins that protect the gums, rather than being overrun by bad oral bacteria. Once gum disease advances because of periodontitis, you may see spurts of infection mingled with improvement as you receive treatment. But gum disease affects the rest of your health, not just your mouth. As a systemic disease, gum disease will spread through your bloodstream to other organs in the body, resulting in inflammation related to diabetes, heart disease and even autoimmune issues.

Preventing Gum Disease

Avoiding gum disease means stopping bacterial plaque in the mouth that leaves a sticky film coating your teeth that you can feel when you run your tongue across them. Brushing twice a day for two minutes each session – followed by flossing – removes harmful bacteria to keep it from building up and hardening into tartar. Some tartar buildup is inevitable around the gum line, and this is one of the main reasons you see your dentist for a professional cleaning every six months. As gingivitis progresses and the gums start to recede from the teeth, bacterial plaque hardens into tartar inside the pockets around the teeth. Without intervention, the bone and ligaments keeping your teeth in position continue to deteriorate until they loosen.

Keep your gums pink and healthy by using a soft-bristled toothbrush (replacing when the bristles start to fray) and enamel strengthening toothpaste. Don’t forget to floss and use an antibacterial mouthwash. Fend off dry mouth by staying hydrated throughout your day and chewing sugar-free gum or lozenges. Be sure to control diabetes if you have it, and quit tobacco use. Limit the sugar in your diet, and incorporate more nutrient-dense and vitamin-rich foods like fruits, vegetables and calcium.

Treating Gum Disease

National Gum Care Month is a great time to see your dentist if you have any concerns about your gums. Once gum disease is a problem for you, you may also need to see a periodontist, endodontist or oral surgeon who can help reverse gum disease. Your smile deserves the best care, so contact our team today!

The post National Gum Care Month Is a Good Reminder for You To Prevent Gum Disease first appeared on Northport Prosthodontics.

The mouth is home to millions of bacteria, some of them good and some bad. In fact, half of the bacteria in your mouth can lead to bad breath! National Fresh Breath Day is observed every year on August 6th to create awareness of oral hygiene in the fight against bad breath. It is a daily battle, and how you handle it makes all the difference in the world of healthy smiles.

How Halitosis Thrives

Halitosis, or bad breath, has quite a few causes, and it’s not those garlicky, oniony foods you like so much. Eating pungent food, dry mouth, gum disease and tobacco use are frequent contributors to why your breath is less than stellar. Halitosis also shows up if you have underlying medical conditions and as a medication side effect.

Thankfully, daily brushing and flossing lessen the bacterial activity in the mouth, so your breath smells better. Cleaning your mouth is especially helpful when wearing braces because they can harbor food particles and oral residue. If you’re out and about and can’t clean your mouth after eating, you can also chew sugarless gum or sugar-free mints. These boost your mouth’s natural bacteria-fighting resource, saliva, which helps rinse away bacteria and bits of food particles. So, what can you do to keep your breath fresh?

How to Keep Your Breath Fresh

• Brush twice a day and floss daily to get rid of bacterial plaque. Replace your toothbrush every 3-4 months.
• Upgrade your toothpaste to one that fights oral bacteria on your tongue, cheeks and gums.
• Keep routine dental cleanings and checkups to remove bacteria buildup under the gum line and tartar that can’t be removed with a toothbrush and dental floss alone.
• Clean your dental appliances daily; this includes cleaning dentures, retainers and mouth guards daily to remove plaque.
• Rinse with an antibacterial mouthwash to kill bad bacteria.
• Since sugar causes bad breath, only chew sugar-free gum, and limit your intake of sweetened drinks like soda.
• Tuck some breath mints into your pocket or bag when you are on the go.
• Prevent dry mouth and wash out the mouth by drinking lots of water throughout your day.
• Snack on raw, crunchy fruits and vegetables like apples, celery, or carrots that scrape away bad breath causing bacteria.
• Give up smoking!
• Take a vitamin C supplement since a deficiency can lead to bad breath.

If you are struggling with bad breath, add a tongue scraper to your daily brushing and flossing routine to remove bacterial plaque. If you wake up in the morning and see a coating on your tongue when looking into the mirror, scraping it off can do wonders for your breath.

Drinking plenty of water throughout your busy day isn’t just good for your body and waistline. Staying hydrated promotes saliva production! Saliva is your mouth’s natural line of defense against oral bacteria leading to halitosis. Conversely, alcohol dries out the mouth, so limiting your consumption is a good idea.

Fun fact: Eating parsley with your meal has antibacterial and antifungal properties that can help your breath smell cleaner. Basil, mint, or cilantro also neutralize odors with their chlorophyll. Eat more plain yogurt since it fights oral bacteria, and chew sugar-free gum with Xylitol to keep your saliva flowing.

Observing #NationalFreshBreathDay

Take this month to check in on your breath to see if it’s as fresh as it can be. If you find that you have chronic bad breath, it may be time to schedule a visit with our dental team to make sure you don’t have an underlying condition like gum disease. Treating the causes of bad breath will help your mouth stay healthier, fresher and more appealing!

The post Recognize National Fresh Breath Day With Fresh Breath! first appeared on Northport Prosthodontics.

The post Dental Implants Are a Solution to Replacing Lost Teeth first appeared on Northport Prosthodontics.

As humans, we are regularly developing habits throughout our lifetime, and they aren’t always good ones. Bad habits are quite common, and a lot of them are formed unintentionally. Many times we develop habits that aren’t good for us without being aware of it, but bad oral habits can cause problems, pain, and cost a lot of money to correct.

Being proactive is the best approach if you want to keep your teeth for your lifetime, so make it your mission to practice excellent oral hygiene, routine dental visits, and good oral habits. Here are eight habits to avoid if you want a healthier smile.

1. Biting Your Nails

If you are always biting your nails, your oral health will pay the price. Not only are you spreading harmful bacteria that hang out under your nails, biting non-edible items like fingernails can crack, fracture, or chip your teeth, and even hurt your jaw over time.

Instead: Apply some bitter-tasting nail polishes and work on lowering your stress levels. Awareness and calming your anxiety can keep your nails (and teeth) looking their best!

2. Brushing Harshly

Scouring your chompers with harsh strokes can leave them hurting instead of clean and healthy. Rough handling can wear down tooth enamel and irritate the gums, which can end up receding the gums, exposing the layer of dentin below.

Instead: Brush at least twice a day for two minutes with a soft-bristled toothbrush and massage the teeth gently. It will clean the teeth surfaces without damaging them in the process.

3. Clenching and Grinding

If you are constantly clenching your jaw and grinding your teeth (awake or asleep), it can damage your teeth and jaw. This habit is called bruxism, and it often arises from unrelieved stress. It wears down enamel leaving teeth and makes them vulnerable to decay. You may also find yourself with painful jaw or joint pain, or even fractured or chipped teeth.

Instead: Practice relaxation techniques to relieve jaw stress and wear a custom night guard while you sleep.

4. Chronic Snacking

Whether you continually snack or sip sweetened beverages throughout the day, both can hurt your teeth. And it’s not just bathing your teeth in sugary pools that can lead to cavities. Snacking on chips and carbohydrate-filled goodies feed your mouth’s harmful oral bacteria, resulting in plaque buildup and tartar that can harm your gums.

Instead: Quench your thirst and protect your teeth with good, clean water. In fact, hydrating with water will also prevent dry mouth by giving your saliva the solution it needs to clear out oral debris and bacteria during the day.

5. Heavy Drinking

Regularly drinking alcohol increases plaque levels in your mouth that ultimately leads to tooth loss. Since alcohol acts as a diuretic, it can reduce saliva flow (which can result in dry mouth).

Instead: Limit your alcohol intake and drink plenty of water in between to hydrate.

6. Ice Chewing

Chomping on ice cubes might feel good on a hot day, but your teeth are not designed for it (especially when it is habitual and leads to cracks and chips). Both your teeth and ice are crystals, so the effect of rubbing them together can cause tooth damage, even potentially damaging dental fillings.

Instead: Consume your beverages through a straw to keep you from accidentally munching on ice. Be sure not to chew on the straw! Also, try chilling your drinks in the refrigerator beforehand.

7. Kick the Tobacco Habit

A tobacco habit not only stains your teeth but inflames your salivary glands so they can’t perform correctly. As if that wasn’t bad enough, smoking leads to bad breath, gum disease, increased loss of jaw bone density, and oral cancer.

Instead: Find a smoking cessation support program that works for you. Your lungs, teeth and gums will thank you!

8. Teeth Are For Chewing

Your teeth are not tools! Do not use them to tear off tags, open a bag of chips or hold your pen.

Instead: Stick to biting and chewing your food with your teeth, and use the correct tools to handle everything else.

When it comes to your habits, we encourage you to take extra care of your smile so it will take good care of you! You will reap the benefits of healthier teeth, longer-lasting dental work and a more beautiful smile!

The post Bad Habits to Avoid If You Want Healthy Teeth and Gums first appeared on Northport Prosthodontics.

Your toothbrush is one of the most important tools you have in your home to keep your pearly whites healthy and beautiful. Used properly twice a day, your toothbrush will help you ward off tooth decay, gum disease and even bad breath. Its job in your daily oral hygiene kit is vital because unchecked gum disease is one of the main causes of tooth loss for adults.

While toothbrushes today have come a long way, your forebears recognized the importance of brushing your teeth. Early predecessors to the common toothbrush include tree twigs, bird feathers, animal bones and porcupine quills.

Toothbrushes Throughout the Ages

– Ancient Egyptians invented the first toothbrushes (or chew sticks) around 3000 B.C., from frayed ends of wooden twigs.
– Ancient Greeks and Romans used toothpicks, and the Greeks also used rough cloths.
– Ancient Chinese made proto-toothbrushes by attaching rough hog bristles to bamboo or bone, and in the Middle Ages, travelers brought these to Europe.
– Late 18th century Englishman William Addis used his time in prison to carve a bone handle, drill holes and stick boar bristles into it with glue to create a toothbrush. He went on to mass-produce his invention after his release.
– In 1938, the DuPont company manufactured the first “toothbrush” using nylon fibers.

Did you know? Toothbrushing became a widespread practice throughout the United States when soldiers came back from World War II, thanks to hygiene habits in the military.

To Brush or Not to Brush

Keeping your teeth clean is about removing plaque from settling on your teeth. Plaque is fed by the sugars and starches you eat, releasing acids that break down tooth enamel and irritate the gums, which become swollen, tender and red. Cleaning teeth properly can reverse gum disease in the early stages (gingivitis) so that the gums don’t pull away from the teeth. Otherwise, gum pockets can form, allowing bacteria and their byproducts to destroy the supportive bone holding the teeth in place, until they fall out or need to be extracted.

Breaking Down the Toothbrush

You have three main kinds: soft, medium and firm. The No. 1 dentist-recommended version is the soft-bristled brush, as it protects tooth enamel and sensitive gum tissue. Smaller brush heads fit into your mouth better than large ones do so you can maneuver easily around the molars in the back. There are all kinds of bristle designs, such as flat bristles, angled bristles, dome bristles or rippled bristles, so pick one that feels right for you.

Toothbrush handles can be thick or thin, so try both and just make sure it’s comfortable to use. You might enjoy using one that has non-slip grip areas or a flexible brush neck. Whatever you choose, we recommend a toothbrush carrying the American Dental Association® (ADA) Seal of Acceptance on the packaging, showing they have been tested and proven to be safe and effective at cleaning your teeth and gums.

Electric vs. Manual Toothbrushes

Manual toothbrushes are simple and effective, but some people prefer an electric version for ease of use. Children don’t always have the manual dexterity or discipline to use a manual toothbrush effectively, so an electric version can help them. Adults, including seniors, who have compromised dexterity can effectively clean their teeth using an electric toothbrush. Making your daily oral hygiene routine easier helps you do it consistently for better oral health.

Caring for Your Toothbrush

Keep your toothbrush upright in an open container so it can dry out between uses. Never allow it to touch another toothbrush to avoid germs (this also means never sharing your toothbrush, even with healthy family members). Rinse your toothbrush thoroughly after every use. The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) advises replacing your toothbrush (or toothbrush head, if using an electric one) every three to four months, or when the bristles are frayed, to brush away food particles and plaque effectively.

Your toothbrush is truly your gateway to a healthy smile; just be sure to brush your front, side and back teeth for at least two to three minutes each session. Your smile will thank you! Call us today if you have any questions or to schedule a visit with our dentist.

The post Your Toothbrush Has Come a Long Way to Keep Your Teeth and Gums Healthy first appeared on Northport Prosthodontics.

Good oral health is essential for a healthy smile. The mouth is home to colonies of microorganisms like bacteria and viruses, and when controlled by daily brushing and flossing, your oral health can thrive. Conversely, consuming a high sugar diet that feeds the bad bacteria creates harmful acids that erode your tooth enamel and lead to cavities. It also happens when you neglect your daily oral hygiene routine.

Gum Disease

But it’s not just your teeth that can suffer. This sticky, bacterial film (plaque) congregates around the gum line. If it isn’t removed daily, it hardens into tartar, irritating gum tissue, and leaving you with gingivitis (the early stage of gum disease). If tartar isn’t removed by a professional dental cleaning using special tools, your gums can recede or pull away from the teeth, causing gum pockets (periodontitis) that allow your teeth to loosen and possibly fall out.

Other factors leaving you more susceptible to gum disease include having a medical condition like diabetes, using medications that leave you with a chronic dry mouth or having a family history of gum disease.

Six-month dental checkups and cleanings are vital since treating dental and oral diseases early can give our team time to spot problems before they grow. We can examine your mouth, teeth, gum pockets, tongue, cheeks, throat, jaw, and neck with the help of X-rays so problems can be addressed quickly and efficiently. What kind of dental diseases are we looking to find?

Dental Diseases

• Cavities: Damage to a tooth from plaque that can leave a hole in enamel that allows decay to spread.

• Gingivitis: Gum disease that makes your inflamed gums bleed and become swollen that can worsen without intervention.

• Periodontitis: Untreated gum disease from an infection that can spread to the bone supporting the teeth and throughout your body.

• Tooth sensitivity: Pain from consuming hot or cold food and beverages, often arising from worn dental fillings or crowns, gum recession, cracks in a tooth, or having thin enamel.

• Oral cancer: Chronic tobacco use or excessive alcohol consumption places you at higher risk for this disease.

Poor oral health is also connected to health problems in the body like heart disease, stroke, low birth rate babies and premature birth. Treating dental problems with fillings, crowns and dental sealants to protect molars are effective methods of treating tooth problems. A root canal can often save a damaged tooth from extraction while dental implants, bridges or dentures can replace teeth that are extracted. No matter what stage a dental problem exists, treatment is available.

What You Can Do at Home

Just as you eat right and exercise to take care of your body, you want to brush and floss daily to care for your mouth. Brushing at least twice a day and flossing once removes harmful bacterial plaque and helps preserve teeth and gums.

Dental Tools

You can boost your hygiene routine with an antibacterial mouthwash, upgrade to an electric or battery-powered toothbrush or use a water flosser to get rid of trapped food particles where brushing can’t. Follow up this daily care with biannual dental cleanings to remove plaque and detect dental problems early.

Nutrition

Follow a balanced diet that gives your body the disease-fighting tools it needs. Fiber-rich fruits and vegetables, leafy greens, lean proteins, and dairies (like cheese, milk and plain yogurt) provide essential vitamins and minerals. Drink plenty of water during the day, and add green or black teas rich in polyphenols to help get rid of bad bacteria in the mouth.

Boost healthy saliva production by limiting caffeinated drinks and alcohol and staying hydrated throughout the day. Saliva washes away harmful bacteria, and with its traces of calcium and phosphate, it replenishes minerals to parts of your teeth that have lost them from plaque. Chewing sugarless gum can also ramp up healthy saliva flow.

The bottom line is good oral health depends on doing everything you can do to prevent tooth decay and cavities from taking over your smile. Give our team a call if you have any concerns about your oral health or schedule a visit. Together we can create your healthiest smile!

The post Good Oral Health Starts in the Home and Continues With Great Dental Care first appeared on Northport Prosthodontics.

More and more people are keeping their natural teeth healthy for a lifetime of beautiful smiles. At any age, a healthy mouth is a valuable asset when it comes to looking and feeling your best. Getting older means taking care of yourself to continue feeling great. Like your body, your dental health requires daily attention to protect teeth and gums. Exercising, eating right, and practicing good daily oral hygiene habits will help you maintain a healthy body and smile so you can live your best life!

Oral Health Conditions

Aging tends to affect the mouth along with the body. Nerves located inside the teeth can narrow, preventing you from feeling cavities. Routine checkups will ensure developing cavities are spotted and treated early so you can keep your teeth healthy without losing them to disease.

Dry Mouth

Since health issues requiring prescription medications tend to crop up over time, you can end up with dry mouth from a lack of saliva production as a drug’s side effect. Healthy saliva flow is needed to rinse away bacteria and oral debris while neutralizing harmful acids. A chronic dry mouth condition can lead to root and coronal cavities and gum disease. It can be combated by staying hydrated with water while limiting alcohol, sweetened or caffeinated drinks.

Gum Disease

Gum disease is more prevalent as you age if you are not practicing good daily oral hygiene. This infection of the gum tissue, which holds the teeth in place, is the most common reason adults lose their teeth, thanks to harmful bacteria prevalent in plaque.

Gingivitis

The early stage of gum disease is gingivitis, and you might notice red, swollen, or bleeding gums when you clean your teeth. At this stage, the disease is reversible with daily oral hygiene and professional dental treatment. If you neglect to treat gingivitis, it will only worsen.

Periodontitis

The more advanced and severe stage of gingivitis is periodontitis. Unfortunately, it tends to affect over half of adults between 65 and 74. It can lead to the breakdown of the gums and bone material holding the teeth in place. The affected gum tissue can pull back from the teeth, revealing the root surfaces of the tooth. Once the root surfaces of the teeth are exposed because of gum recession, they are now more vulnerable to tooth decay. If enough supportive bone is lost, the tooth will fall out.

Oral Cancer

Adults over 40 are more susceptible to oral cancer. If you notice patches of red or white on the tongue, gums, inner cheeks, or other oral tissues, you should have an oral cancer check. Oral cancer can often be successfully treated if detected in the early stages.

What You Can Do at Home

– Brush your teeth with an electric or battery-operated toothbrush along with a cavity-fighting toothpaste and oral rinse to protect those pearly whites (this kind of toothbrush is especially useful if you have a condition such as osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis which prevents ease of movement).

– Floss between teeth with a flossing tool or interdental cleaner/brush to keep teeth and gums healthy.

– Clean full or partial dentures daily and remove them at least four hours a day to let the gums rest.

– Give up tobacco products as they can cause dry mouth, gum disease and tooth decay leading to tooth loss.

– Consume a diet rich in nutrients that support your body, teeth and gums.

– See your dentist regularly to spot developing problems early when they are least invasively treated.

Taking good care of your oral health as you age can help you keep your smile beautiful and strong for a lifetime! Give our team a call if you have any questions or concerns about your teeth and dental health.

The post Aging and Dental Health: Don’t Let Time Rob You of the Healthy, Beautiful Smile You Deserve! first appeared on Northport Prosthodontics.

In honor of February’s Gum Disease Awareness Month – a global public awareness campaign for preventing gum disease – our practice wants to help spread the word about this insidious disease. That’s because it can destroy your smile if it is left untreated. Fortunately, you can take action to help prevent this from happening!

Gum disease is caused by the ongoing attacks of the bacteria that live in dental plaque. Plaque is that sticky, colorless coating you can feel on your teeth before you brush them. The reason you need to brush and floss every day is to remove this bacterial film, which otherwise attacks tooth enamel and gum tissue to break them down. Plaque that isn’t removed daily quickly hardens into tartar, which then needs to be removed at your six-month dental checkup using special tools.

Factors Leading to Gum Disease

As you may have guessed by now, the leading cause of gum disease is poor oral hygiene. However, additional factors can speed up the development of this disease, including:

– Stress
– A high sugar diet
– Chronic tobacco use
– Regular alcohol consumption
– Misaligned teeth (prevents you from cleaning your teeth effectively)
– Fluctuating hormone levels
– Cancer & diabetes mellitus
– Breathing through the mouth which dries out oral tissues

Symptoms of Gum Disease

How do you know if you have gum disease, especially since it’s often painless in the early stage? Watch out for these symptoms:

– Bleeding gums when you brush and floss
– Red, tender or swollen gums
– Chronic bad breath or a bad taste in the mouth
– Tooth sensitivity to hot/cold temperatures
– Gum tissue pulling away from the teeth
– Loose-feeling teeth
– Altered bite pattern
– Loose-fitting partial dentures
– Pus around teeth and gums
– Pain when chewing

All of these are signs that you are dealing with some form of gum disease.

3 Stages of Gum Disease

1. Gingivitis

This beginning stage is when you might start noticing gum inflammation, swelling, redness, and bleeding, especially when you go to brush and floss. The good news is that this stage of gum disease can be reversed since it hasn’t yet reached the supportive bone and connective tissue.

2. Periodontitis

This intermediate stage irreversibly destroys supportive bone and connective tissue. You may feel pockets forming below the gum line. Gum pockets allow the formation of plaque buildup under the gum line, which often requires interventive periodontal treatment, like scaling and root planing coupled with a stepped-up daily oral hygiene routine.

3. Advanced Periodontitis

Should there be no periodontal intervention at stage two, you will likely find yourself in this final stage of the disease. Now the connective tissue and bone material will have been destroyed. It causes your teeth to loosen and shift out of position, altering your bite, speech, and ability to chew properly. Without periodontal treatment, the teeth will likely require extraction.

Gum Disease Prevention: Be Proactive!

Thankfully, there’s a lot you can do to prevent gum disease from attacking your smile!

– Stick to a diligent daily oral hygiene routine, including brushing and flossing at least twice a day.
– Keep all scheduled biannual dental checkups and cleanings.
– After eating (especially snacks), drink water to rinse away food particles and oral debris.
– Limit bacteria-feeding sugars in your diet, and when you do indulge, chew sugarless gum to increase saliva flow that helps rinse away bacteria.
– If you still use tobacco, there’s no better time than now to give it up. Your gums will thank you!

We hope spreading information about this disease in support of Gum Disease Awareness Month inspires you to be more proactive when it comes to protecting your oral health. After all, healthy teeth and gums are essential for a vibrant, beautiful smile!

The post National Gum Disease Awareness Month: How You Can Keep Your Gums Vibrant and Healthy! first appeared on Northport Prosthodontics.