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Detox water (also known as skinny water) is promoted as a great all natural way to cleanse the body and lose weight. These do-it-yourself fruit and herb infused water concoctions are supposed to be great for your overall health, but there’s one problem: detox water can be really bad for your teeth!
Perhaps the most common ingredient in detox water recipes is lemons, though other citrus fruits such as limes, grapefruit, and oranges also make an appearance. Citrus fruits are acidic: they contain citric acid. However, what you might not know is that lots of other fruits are highly acidic too, including pineapples, mangoes, peaches, pomegranates and even blueberries. Some recipes even call for apple cider vinegar, which is also acidic.
Acid is one of your smile’s greatest enemies. Acids can eat through the hard outer enamel layer of your teeth, causing spots, cavities, and a great place for tooth decay-causing bacteria to start an infection. (Fun fact: It’s actually acid that links sugar to tooth decay. The existing bacteria in your mouth consume the sugar and excrete acid as a byproduct, right onto your teeth. Lovely, right?)
So, it turns out, depending on the ingredients, detox water is a nice tasty erosion-causing acid bath for your teeth. Okay, that may be a little dramatic, but detox water certainly puts your teeth at higher risk for tooth decay than plain clean water.
The truth is, detox water (like most flavored drinks) are fine in moderation. Unfortunately, moderation is not what a lot of detox water lovers recommend. A lot of instructions for detox water suggest sipping it all day long. That means repeatedly subjecting your teeth to an acidic environment!
Drinking detox water is okay, and will probably benefit your health by keeping your better hydrated (other health claims are dubious, but that’s another story). Your dentist just asks you to be sensible about it. Just like we recommend not snacking between meals, we also suggest not drinking detox water between meals. This will give your teeth “time off” from being covered in acids, sugars, etc. Most dentists will tell you that the only thing you should be sipping on all day is water. Consider drinking a detox water with breakfast, then brushing your teeth and going about your day with a fun, well-designed bottle of fruit-free water instead.
If you have a detox water habit you just can’t shake, there are some steps you can take to reduce its impact on your teeth. One way is to use a straw, which helps keep the liquid from hitting your teeth directly. You can also flush your mouth with plain water every time you drink the detox water, to help wash away the acid and any sugars. However, remember that the primary way that detox water “draws out toxins” and improves your health is by encouraging you to consume more water. When it doubt, regular fluoridated tap water is your smile’s best friend.
Dental implants are one of the greatest innovations of modern dentistry. They are true prosthetic replacement teeth, consisting of an artificial titanium tooth root with a porcelain crown attached. Over 3 million Americans have dental implants, and that number is increasing by 500,000 people per year (source). With dental implants becoming a more and more popular solution to replace missing teeth, it’s fair to ask: how long do dental implants last?
The short answer is that dental implants can last a lifetime. Here’s the long answer.
Anyone who has had to have a crown or a bridge replaced or dentures re-fitted knows that not all dental restorations last forever. These three types of restorations can each fail for their own reasons. In the case of crowns and bridges, they can fail if the original tooth structure they’re attached to gets compromised due to decay. Most dentures eventually need to be refitted or replaced when bone loss causes the jaw to change shape.
Luckily, if you get dental implants, you don’t have to worry about the same risks. One of the reasons that implants are considered the best and most advanced option for replacing missing teeth is they are not subject to the same failure problems as standard crowns, bridges, or dentures. That isn’t to say that dental implants work perfectly all the time, but recent studies have shown that dental implants have a 98% success rate (source).
Many dentists conservatively estimate that implants will last about 25 years. The reason we can’t guarantee they’ll last a lifetime is there haven’t been very many long-term studies of dental implants yet.
Dental implants in their modern form were invented a little more than 50 years ago. In 1965, a Swedish scientist named Per-Ingvar Brånemark placed the first dental implant in the mouth of a man named Gösta Larsson. When Larsson died in 2006 at the age of 75, his original implants were still in place. They had lasted over 40 years!
Just like your natural teeth, the health and longevity of a dental implant depend on looking after your oral health. Dental implants are cared for just like natural teeth with daily brushing and flossing and regular dental checkups. Smoking can make it much more likely for dental implants to fail, as can pre-existing gum disease (periodontal disease). These health factors should be taken into account before a patient decides to have dental implants placed. If you’re interested in replacing missing teeth with dental implants, come see us and start a conversation!
Among the many changes that women experience in their bodies when they become pregnant, changes to their oral health may be among the most surprising and perplexing. Pregnancy can put women at higher risk of certain oral conditions, such as gingivitis and cavities, so it’s good to know what signs to look out for and how to prevent problems.
There’s an old saying that “You’ll lose a tooth for every baby.” It was once believed that pregnancy caused tooth decay so severe that a woman should expect at least one of her teeth to decay beyond repair or fall out each time she got pregnant. Thankfully, with our modern understanding of dental health and dental technologies, this ominous adage is now far from true.
One of the most common signs of pregnancy-related oral changes is bleeding gums. Women may notice blood when they brush or floss. In addition, the gums may be swollen and tender. This inflammation is caused by hormonal changes and is known as pregnancy gingivitis. While pregnancy gingivitis is fairly common, it can progress into irreversible periodontitis (gum disease) if good oral health habits aren’t followed. This is particularly serious because studies have linked periodontitis to complications such as low birth weight, premature birth, and preeclampsia.
Pregnant women are also more prone to cavities and tooth decay. Scientific studies have found that this is due to hormonal changes that cause saliva to become more acidic. This acidity makes teeth more vulnerable to decay, which is caused by the acid excreted by bacteria. While there isn’t a way to prevent this chemical change, pregnant women can reduce their risk of problems by avoiding sugary foods and being especially vigilant about keeping their teeth clean through regular brushing and flossing.
With all of these pregnancy-related changes, it is particularly important that your dentist knows you’re pregnant as soon as possible. Even if you just suspect you’re pregnant or are trying to get pregnant, you should tell your dentist as soon as possible, especially if you’re already at risk for periodontitis. Your dentist will offer you advice on your oral care during pregnancy and may choose to delay certain planned treatments or procedures until after your baby has arrived.
While most people finish losing their primary teeth (also called baby teeth or milk teeth) by age 12, there are some adults who still have at least one baby tooth! Still having a baby tooth is actually not that uncommon, and depending on a patient’s individual situation, there are a number of options for what to do about it.
The usual cause of a retained baby tooth (i.e. a baby tooth that didn’t fall out on its own) is the absence of an adult tooth to replace it. Kids start losing teeth when their adult teeth (permanent teeth) grow in behind them and start pushing the baby tooth out. However, sometimes the adult tooth never develops, leaving the baby tooth in place while other adult teeth grow in around it. While it isn’t exactly known why permanent teeth sometimes fail to develop, it probably has something to do with genetics, as retention of baby teeth tends to run in families and is slightly more common in women (source).
For patients, the most common concern regarding a retained baby tooth is aesthetics. That is to say, having a baby tooth among your adult teeth can look pretty strange because baby teeth are so much smaller. This is especially true if the tooth is one of your front teeth that shows when you smile.
For your dentist, the concern about your baby tooth may be more clinical in nature. These baby teeth can still fall out even after you reach adulthood because they sometimes have shallow roots and therefore aren’t very secure in your mouth. Without an adult tooth to take its place, this lost baby tooth leaves a gap that can cause problems with the function of your bite and the alignment of your other teeth. Your adult teeth will tend to shift toward the gap, causing them to become crooked.
If it looks like your retained baby tooth doesn’t have a strong and deep root structure, your dentist may recommend removing it. After the tooth is removed, there are a few options. The best option is a dental implant, which is a prosthetic tooth with a metal tooth root. Dental implants function just like natural teeth. However, if there has been bone loss where the baby tooth used to be, there might not be enough bone to anchor an implant into. In these cases, the dentist may recommend a permanent bridge or partial denture to fill the gap.
For many adults with a retained baby tooth, that tooth is just as healthy and secure as their adult teeth. The only difference is its size and shape. The most common aesthetic solution to make your baby tooth match the others is dental bonding. This is when the dentist uses a tooth-colored material (a composite resin) to build-up the tooth so it is the appropriate size and shape. This material is permanently bonded to the baby tooth, allowing it to look natural and function normally.
There are a lot of considerations that go into deciding what should happen for an adult with a baby tooth. Your dentist will do a full evaluation of your situation, including diagnostic x-rays, and help you decide on the best course of action.
Most dental patients come into the office twice a year for a teeth cleaning. However, some patients are told that they need to get a deep cleaning instead, and that they need to see us more often than twice a year. While a regular teeth cleaning is a routine procedure, it’s important to know that a deep cleaning is very different and is actually a treatment for an oral disease.
If you pay attention when you visit the dentist, you may hear our staff and hygienists referring to your appointment as “a prophy”. This is short for “prophylactic”, which is a word that comes from Greek and means “treatment to prevent a disease”. We call a teeth cleaning prophylactic because the purpose of a cleaning is to prevent disease or dental problems in a patient that has otherwise healthy teeth and gums.
A deep cleaning is often referred to as “soft tissue management” or “periodontal therapy”. That’s because a deep cleaning is actually a treatment for periodontal disease (or gum disease). Your dentist will recommend a deep cleaning if you are showing signs of developing gum disease or if you have already been diagnosed with gum disease.
A deep cleaning is not just an extra-thorough version of a prophy teeth cleaning. Regular teeth cleanings involve removing plaque and debris from the visible part of the teeth and polishing your teeth. A deep cleaning includes going below the gumline to remove disease-causing bacteria and cleaning the tooth roots so it is harder for bad bacteria to grow there.
If left untreated, gum disease eventually leads to tooth loss and other health problems associated with chronic oral disease. So if your dentist or hygienist tells you that you need a deep cleaning, it’s not like they’re offering you the “Deluxe Car Wash” versus the “Basic Car Wash”. What they’re telling you is that we need to create a treatment plan to manage the health of your gums so that we can keep your smile as happy and healthy as possible!
Despite what some people seem to think, a hygienist’s greatest desire is not to scold patients. A dental hygienist’s greatest desire is to see healthy mouths free of tooth decay and dental disease. As the professional at our practice that you see the most often, your dental hygienist is on the front lines of keeping your smile healthy, so you better make sure to stay on his or her good side!
Here are a few things you shouldn’t do if you want to stay on your dental hygienist’s nice list.
Rumors have been flying around about a study that says flossing doesn’t prevent gum disease, but flossing is still vitally important for your dental hygiene. Think flossing doesn’t matter? Tell that to your dental hygienist when she finds a popcorn kernel between your teeth from when you went to the movies three weeks ago! When debris is allowed to build up between teeth, it can become a breeding ground for bacteria that cause tooth decay. Relying on your hygienist to clean between your teeth every few months isn’t enough! You still have to floss daily if you want healthy teeth and gums.
We get it, it’s super strange to leave your mouth wide open for a long time. But please try to keep it open as wide as you can for as long as you can! Hygienists depend on being able to see inside your mouth in order to do their jobs thoroughly and spot problems like tooth decay, signs of bruxism, gum disease and more. If your hygienist keeps having to ask you to open your mouth, that’s a sign that you’re making things very difficult for him or her.
This one is more about common courtesy than your dental health, though we’re all for extra brushing. If you brush in the morning and before bed, you might not bother to brush your teeth right before your dental appointment. But we guarantee that making the extra effort to brush your teeth right before your professional teeth cleaning goes a long way with your hygienist. Also, if you know you have a dental appointment that day, avoid stinky foods like onion and garlic that may linger on your breath hours later, even after brushing! It’s just the polite thing to do.
This may be the most important thing to avoid. The hygienist is a trained dental professional who, along with the dentist, is part of a team dedicated to keeping your healthy and treating problems in the most conservative and gentle way possible. Much of the time, the hygienist is the first person to spot signs of trouble, such as tooth decay that needs repair or bleeding gums that are a sign of gingivitis or gum disease. If your hygienist says you need to come in for cleanings more frequently than twice a year and that you need to cut back on sugary drinks, this is his or her way of reducing your risks for dental problems and disease. Following your dental hygienist’s recommendations could eventually make the difference between losing or keeping all your teeth!
As dental professionals, most of what we do is about relieving and preventing pain. However, sometimes post-procedure pain is an unfortunate but unavoidable step on the road to a healthy and functional smile. If you end up needing a dental procedure, we will give you specific recommendations for how to relieve any pain as part of your post-treatment instructions. In the meantime, here is an overview of pain relievers in relation to your dental health care.
Over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers are medications that don’t require a prescription from a doctor to buy. One category of these is called non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, or NSAIDs. These medications relieve pain and reduce inflammation at the same time, which can help improve the condition that is causing the pain. Examples include ibuprofen (Advil or Motrin), naproxen (Aleve) or aspirin. Another common over-the-counter pain reliever is acetaminophen, known by the brand name Tylenol. Each of these pain relievers differs slightly, so your dentist will likely recommend the type that is best for your situation. You can buy these medications right off the shelf at drugstores and many grocery and convenience stores.
As you might expect, pain relievers that require a prescription from a doctor are stronger and may be used to treat more intense post-operative pain. Some prescription pain relievers are just stronger doses of OTC medications, such as ibuprofen or naproxen. Other prescription pain relievers are opioids, such as hydrocodone and oxycodone (a.k.a. OxyContin). Opioids come with a risk of addiction because they are narcotics, so they must be taken according to instructions and with great care. If you have a history of substance abuse, you should talk to your dental surgeon or doctor about whether you should take opioids for your dental pain.
If you’ve been under the care of an oral surgeon for wisdom teeth removal, tooth extractions, or another procedure, you know that sometimes the oral surgeon will prescribe post-operative pain management medications beforehand. Most of the time, these prescription pain relievers are offered “just in case”. Depending on the procedure, some patients will not experience a level of pain that cannot be alleviated with over-the-counter medications. For your comfort, the oral surgeon will provide prescription painkillers in the event that over-the-counter medications are not effective.
Simpler procedures may also have residual pain that can be handled with over-the-counter pain relievers. For example, pain from swelling after treatments that involve the manipulation of gum tissue can usually be handled by over-the-counter medications like ibuprofen.
If you have concerns about dental pain or which medications are right for you, be sure to discuss this with the dentist. We are happy to provide post-procedure pain management recommendations, no matter which treatment we’ve done on your smile.
Like every other part of our bodies, our mouths change as we age. As the carefree days of youth fade you may be faced with new challenges when it comes to your oral health, or you may start to pay for bad habits from your younger days. And even if you’ve taken good care of your teeth & treated problems as they arise, some old solutions may age as well and need to be repaired or replaced.
Perhaps the most notable change as we age is the color of our teeth. Over time, the hard outer layer of your teeth called enamel, gets thinner. Because enamel is semi-transparent, this makes it so the dentin underneath shows through, which makes teeth appear duller and yellow. A lifetime of teeth staining habits, such as smoking tobacco or drinking red wine, coffee or tea can also eventually lead to discolored teeth. A dentist may be able to help whiten your teeth with a professional teeth whitening treatment. Discuss your goals for brightening your teeth with your dentist so that we can recommend the best option based on your overall oral health.
While fillings are one of the most common procedures that dentists perform and patients receive, fillings don’t last forever. Over time tooth fillings can get worn down and no longer be properly seated on your tooth. This can lead to tooth decay as bacteria and other debris get in between the filling and your tooth. One of the first signs of a filling that’s gone bad is tooth sensitivity to hot or cold. If you experience any new or strange sensations with your fillings, tell the dentist so we can examine your fillings.
Chronic dry mouth is more common in seniors, especially those undergoing cancer treatments that use radiation. Hundreds of medications also have dry mouth as a side effect. Saliva naturally helps flush away food particles that can become food for tooth decay-causing bacteria and also helps reduce acids that can cause decay. If you mouth isn’t producing enough saliva, you are at a much higher risk for both tooth decay and bad breath. Don’t hesitate to talk to your dentist about your medications and your symptoms so you can find a solution before your dry mouth has a negative impact on your oral health.
In most cases, dentures are an affordable and natural-looking solution to missing teeth. However, many denture wearers will notice that while they have a perfect fit when they first get their false teeth, over time the dentures can start to feel loose or uncomfortable. This is due to bone loss in the jaw under your dentures, which causes the ridge under your gums to change shape. Most of the time, re-lining dentures can fix this problem. However, sometimes dentures need to be replaced. A permanent solution to this problem would be dental implants, either to support dentures or to support individual crowns. Dental implants can prevent the bone loss that makes dentures fit poorly and restore your mouth to its natural appearance and function. If you are having trouble with your dentures, bring this up to your dentist as soon as possible. We don’t want you to live in discomfort!
As dental care professionals, our ultimate goal is to ensure as many of our patients as possible keep all their teeth for a lifetime. We know that disease and accidents sometimes makes this impossible, but we want our senior patients to have beautiful and functional smiles even if they’ve lost teeth. The most common cause of tooth loss is gum disease or periodontitis, which weakens teeth, gums and the jawbone. Lack of teeth can affect your quality of life in many ways, including difficulty speaking clearly, trouble chewing and eating, and a reluctance to smile or show your teeth in social situations. All of these are problems that can be alleviated with the appropriate preventive and restorative care. If your missing teeth are affecting your quality of life, talk to the dentist about whether bridges, implants, or dentures can help.
The answer: Bone loss.
A common legend says that an astronaut who returned to Earth after an extended stay on a space station had bones so weak that he broke his arm lifting a tea cup. While this story may be an exaggeration, astronauts do lose bone density at a about ten times the rate of osteoporosis when in space (source) due to the absence of gravity.
What does gravity have to do with your bones? All the bones in your body get built up or broken down (resorbed) based on the amount of stress they’re under. For most of the bones in your body, their major stressor is gravity. However, for the bones of your jaw, their stress comes from biting and chewing. But when someone loses their teeth, this stress goes away, which can lead to jawbone being resorbed by the body.
While dentures are an aesthetic and functional replacement for teeth, they apply biting and chewing pressure to your gums, instead of directly to your jawbone like a natural tooth does. Because the roots of natural teeth are embedded in your bone, so when you bite or chew something, that force is transferred through your tooth into the bone of your jaw.
This bone loss explains why you can get a new set of dentures that fit perfectly right after they’ve been manufactured, but as time goes on, they fit more and more poorly, until they are loose and uncomfortable. The dentures themselves have not changed, but the shape of the bone under your gums has.
For this reason, many believe there is no such thing as truly affordable dentures. Even the best, highest quality dentures will eventually need to be replaced due to the biological reality of bone resorption. However, it’s important to note that bone loss in your jaw will happen even more rapidly if you don’t replace your teeth with anything at all. If you’re missing teeth, dentures can help you speak, eat and look normally again. Any dentures that allow you to get some of the normal function of your mouth back are affordable dentures!
For a permanent solution to bone loss after tooth loss, dental implants are the best option. That’s because implants act as an artificial tooth root that transfers biting and chewing force directly into your jawbone, just like a natural tooth. Because your bone is still under stress from the implant, it won’t be resorbed by your body. While dental implants are more of a financial investment at first, they’ll never have to be replaced like dentures, so you only have to pay for them once. Plus, they can be maintained just like real teeth, with daily brushing, flossing and semi-annual visits to the dental hygienist.
Dental implants have allowed for the invention of a new type of denture: the implant-supported denture. This type combines the affordability of dentures with the bone-stimulating qualities of implants to create a tooth replacement solution that is much more stable than traditional dentures that are held on with adhesives. This makes implant-supported dentures the most affordable dentures there are, both in terms of your wallet and your oral health!
There are many ways to replace missing teeth & restore your smile, & bridges are a good permanent solution. They can replace one or more missing teeth, including molars, & cannot be removed, unlike dentures.
Bridges are called bridges because they create a “bridge” between teeth. The false tooth, called a pontic, is connected to the surrounding existing teeth or implants. The teeth or implant where the bridge is attached is called an abutment.
There are four major types of bridges:
Traditional bridges are held in place by dental crowns placed over the two existing teeth on either side of the gap. That means that for this type of bridge, there must be natural teeth on both sides of the gap. Your dentist will file down the existing teeth to place a crown over them so that the bridge can be attached to these new crowns.
In cantilever bridges, the pontic is only supported by one crown, instead of two. These are not as popular because sometimes the bridge can act as a lever & can have complications, like fractured teeth or loosened crowns.
In Maryland bridges, the pontic is held in place by a metal or porcelain framework that is bonded to the back of the surrounding teeth, kind of like little wings. This type of bridge is nice because your surrounding teeth don’t need to be filed down.
These bridges are useful when more than one tooth is missing. An implant is placed for every missing tooth, & a bridge is attached to the new implants. If an implant can’t be placed for every tooth, then a pontic can be suspended between two surrounding implant crowns instead. These bridges take a bit longer, since implants can take up to five months to place.
Bridges are a long-lasting way to restore your smile & prevent other dental health problems, like bad bites, gum disease & TMJ disorders. Bridges can last up to 10 years with proper care, so practice good oral hygiene to keep your teeth & gum free of decay, & avoid eating hard foods & ice. Keep your bridges clean with proxy brushes, floss threaders & antibacterial mouthwash, & by flossing underneath the false tooth.
Talk to your dentist to find out if dental bridges are right for your smile!
