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Cosmetic Dentistry
It's impossible to overstate the emotional, social and professional benefits that smiling with confidence can give you. If you find you cover your mouth when you smile, or even hold back your smile because you don't want to show your teeth, you should consider what cosmetic dentistry — the art of smile enhancement — can do for you.
The first step in any smile makeover is a thorough dental examination, to make sure that your cosmetic problems really are just that, and not a sign of underlying dental disease. Once your health has been established, your smile can be cosmetically...
Aging and Dental Health
Today, Americans are not only living longer — we're also retaining our natural teeth longer than ever before. But this rosy picture isn't free of thorns: Older adults tend to require increasingly complex dental treatments; are often more prone to contracting certain diseases; and sometimes find it challenging to keep up with daily oral health practices.
Yet maintaining good oral hygiene is critically important as we age. When problems occur in the mouth, they can cause difficulty chewing, swallowing, speaking and smiling — basic functions which can affect both physical and social well-being. It's possible that medications prescribed for other...
Interdental Cleaning Devices
Almost everyone understands the importance of regular brushing and flossing to their oral health. You've heard it many times before, at office visits and checkups: Proper oral hygiene is your first line of defense against tooth decay and gum disease. Yet, while most of us brush regularly, many people don't floss as often as they should… or at all!
Why not? Sometimes, it's because we don't have the manual dexterity to handle the floss, or because braces or partial dentures get in the way; or, perhaps we just never got in the habit. Yet proper cleaning of the interdental areas...
Nutrition and Oral Health
You probably already realize that maintaining a balanced diet offers a host of benefits to your overall health. But did you know diet also directly affects the health of your teeth and gums? It all starts before birth, as a baby's teeth begin forming in the sixth week of pregnancy and mineralizing in the third or fourth month. During this time, an expectant mother needs to take in lots of calcium (the major component of teeth) along with vitamin D, phosphorous and protein. Dairy products including milk, cheese, and yogurt have all of these. Broccoli and kale also have calcium,...
Orthodontics
What a difference straight teeth can make! A great-looking smile can boost your self-confidence and have a positive impact on social and professional opportunities. Orthodontic treatment is the original smile makeover tool — and you will be happy to know that you're never too old to take advantage of it. But it isn't all about looks: Properly aligned teeth help you to bite, chew and even speak more effectively. They are also easier to clean, which helps keep your mouth free of tooth decay and gum disease.
The amazing thing about orthodontics is that it harnesses the body's natural ability...
Covid-19 Dental-Related Complications
The pandemic has had a monumental impact on a variety of aspects of life, and dental health is not an exception. Unfortunately, many people have reported symptoms associated with COVID-19 that have impacted their oral health. There are a variety of reasons why this can happen, but the most common reasons are due to the avoidance of seeking routine dental care during lockdown, as well as side-effects from prolonged mask wearing and pandemic-related stress.
What is Mask Mouth?
When wearing a mask has a negative impact on oral health, this is called mask mouth. Mask mouth develops due to a...
Elastics (Rubber Bands) in Orthodontic Treatment
Orthodontic elastics, also referred to as rubber bands, are small stretchy loops of latex that help move teeth into proper alignment during orthodontic treatment. Their purpose is to create additional force for tooth movement in any of the three dimensions — up or down, back and forth, side to side — that is more difficult using braces alone.
Elastics attach to tiny hooks on traditional braces or buttons created for this purpose on clear aligners (Invisalign®). The bands may stretch from upper jaw to lower jaw, or be connected to teeth in the same jaw. These connection points are carefully...
Bone Grafting
Do you think of bone as a hard, rigid material that never changes? In fact bone remodels itself all the time: Your body is constantly depositing new bone cells and removing old ones. In the case of the bone that supports your teeth, this process can be helpful or harmful. For example, the jawbone's adaptability allows an orthodontist to move teeth into a better position with braces. But in the case of losing a tooth as an adult, the bone changes that result can have serious consequences.
When teeth are lost, the bone that used to surround them begins to...
Blood Thinners and Dental Procedures
Millions of people regularly take anticoagulant or antiplatelet medications (sometimes called “blood thinners”) to help prevent heart attack and stroke, and to manage a variety of medical conditions including cardiac arrhythmia and stent placement. While these drugs have proven, life-saving benefits, they can also cause side effects such as increased bleeding. So it may be a cause for concern if you're taking one of them and you need to have a dental procedure.
Anticoagulants are among the more widely used pharmaceuticals today, particularly for heart patients. Some common prescription anticoagulants include heparin, warfarin (Coumadin and generics), clopidogrel (Plavix) and dabigatran...
Smile Makeover
Smiling with confidence makes you feel great. A beautiful smile is also an important social and professional asset. Yet there are many people who avoid showing their teeth in public or in photographs because they don't like what they see. If that describes you, then why not start the process of getting the smile you've always wanted with a smile makeover?
A smile makeover goes beyond simply responding to dental problems as they arise. It's a comprehensive smile-rejuvenation plan that's uniquely suited to your own facial features and aesthetic preferences. The results can be quite dramatic — both in terms...
Howie Mandel
The comedian and TV host talks about life, his 40-year career, and why he loves going to the dentist
It’s an understatement to say that Howie Mandel has a lot going on. He’s the longest-running judge on NBC’s America’s Got Talent, and he judges the newly launched AGT: The Champions as well as hosting the adorably funny Animals Doing Things on Nat Geo WILD. His Deal or No Deal game show has been relaunched on CNBC, bigger and better than ever with new high stakes rules and the chance for viewers to win $100,000. Besides all that, he has a...
Nitrous Oxide for Children
Some children are just too fearful to receive necessary dental care. In that type of situation, conscious sedation with nitrous oxide may be recommended to help make your child's experience of dental treatment stress-free.
Nitrous oxide, a colorless gas with a slightly sweet odor, has been used in medicine for about a century. It's a safe and effective method of administering conscious sedation, which means that a child (or adult) will stay awake during the procedure, but feel completely relaxed — even happy. All bodily functions remain normal during the administration of nitrous oxide, and its effects wear off quickly...
Laser Dentistry
They are inside your laptop computer and your DVD player, present on the factory floor and the supermarket checkout line. And now, lasers are finding increasing use in dentistry. Someday soon, you may have a routine dental procedure performed with the aid of a powerful, yet highly controllable beam of laser light, instead of a drill or a probe.
What are dentists currently using lasers for? These devices have been proven to help in the detection and treatment of oral diseases. They can be used for treating gum disease, detecting cancer, and pinpointing tooth decay in its early stages. They...
Thumb Sucking and Your Child's Teeth
Sucking on a thumb or finger is a completely normal habit that some babies develop even before they're born. It's soothing, and it also helps babies make contact with and explore their environment. If sucking habits go on much past the age of 3, however, it's possible that bite problems may arise.
In a normal bite, the upper teeth grow to overlap the lower teeth. But it's possible for the pressure of a thumb, finger or pacifier resting on the gums to interfere with normal tooth eruption and even jaw growth. Some thumb-suckers develop an “open bite,” meaning the teeth...
Oral Surgery
The word “surgery” often brings to mind a stay in the hospital, general anesthesia, and perhaps a lengthy recovery period. However, the experience of having oral surgery is usually very different from that. Oral surgery is often performed in a dental office setting, under local anesthesia, with minimal recovery time. Oral Surgery can range from routine procedures such as tooth extractions and implant placement to more complex jaw realignment surgeries and emergency care for facial trauma.
Oral Surgery Procedures
Oral surgery procedures may be performed to relieve pain, treat an infection or trauma, restore function or improve a person's appearance....
