Patient Education

Facing Chemotherapy?

Tell Your Dentist Anyone facing cancer therapy already knows—chemotherapy for the treatment of cancer is a serious response to a serious condition. What they may not know is that a dental appointment scheduled at least two weeks before treatment begins can reduce the risk of complication and help preserve salivary glands. The reason is this: with radiation treatment and chemotherapy, changes in saliva occur that can encourage decay and dry [...]

Facing Chemotherapy?2024-09-04T08:41:55-07:00

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 caramel candies, which coat the teeth with a sticky goo that practically begs for cavities. On the other hand, every kind of alcohol—most notoriously drinks with sugary mixes—are chock-full of [...]

Alcohol and Your Teeth2024-09-04T08:41:46-07:00

Open Your Mouth and Say Ahhh

There’s a lot we can learn from looking into your mouth during a routine oral exam. Not only is the oral cavity a mirror of your overall health—it’s a sort of early warning system that helps diagnose everything from malnutrition to diabetes to cancer. If you’re not getting enough Vitamin C or B complex in your diet, there’s a clue: tiny cracks in the lips. Insufficient iron? A burning sensation [...]

Open Your Mouth and Say Ahhh2024-09-04T08:40:02-07:00

The Season and the Sweet Tooth

Food has always played a starring role in holiday traditions. From Thanksgiving turkey to the Hanukkah challah to bouche noel, what we eat defines the occasion (and some of our most lingering memories). It’s no wonder that by January, laments about misplaced waistlines ring out as often as “Happy New Year!” But when it comes to holiday feasting, there’s more at stake than shock at the bathroom scales. One obvious [...]

The Season and the Sweet Tooth2024-09-04T08:40:34-07:00

Anxiety—No Laughing Matter

We’d like to offer one comforting and wonderful fact about today’s dentistry: its virtually painless. Technology, new procedures, and some very sophisticated approaches to anesthesia have all contributed to painless treatment, from cleaning to cavity preparations to root canals. But what if you didn't grow up with modem dentistry, and remember it differently? If you have had difficult dental experiences, you may be among the 150 million Americans who white-knuckle [...]

Anxiety—No Laughing Matter2023-12-22T15:17:59-08:00

The Shading of Your Smile

Regardless of what your smile needs (cosmetic improvement, tooth restoration, even dentures), there’s one thing you’ll want when we’re done: attractive, natural-looking teeth. Getting teeth to look their natural best comes from the shape and color assessments we make throughout the procedure. Color depends of tooth size and thickness, location in the mouth, your skin and eye coloring—even your age. Aren't Natural Teeth “white”? The best looking teeth, like gems, [...]

The Shading of Your Smile2023-12-22T15:17:24-08:00

How Are You Sleeping?

We have informational brochures in our office concerning snoring and sleep apnea. If you suffer from these problems or are losing sleep because of someone who does, answering these simple questions may help you identify your symptoms. A Sleep Quiz I have been told that I snore. I have been told that I snore loudly, every night and in all sleep positions. I have been jolted awake gasping for breath [...]

How Are You Sleeping?2023-12-22T15:17:14-08:00

How Old Is Your Smile?

The concept of dental age is surprising to people when they first ear it. Dental age is independent of chronological age. From a biological stand point, we are youthful until we reach maturity around age thirty, we are adults from thirty to sixty years, and elder from sixty on. From a dental stand point, we are youthful at any age as long as we have close to a full compliment [...]

How Old Is Your Smile?2023-12-22T15:16:41-08:00

What is Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea is a potentially dangerous disorder with fairly benign symptoms—loud snoring at night, and morning headaches or daytime bouts of sleepiness. The cause? Intermittent periods throughout sleep when an individual actually stops breathing. Breathing cessation, or apnea, lasts from seconds to nearly a minute. When breathing resumes—the brain senses lack of oxygen and wakes you up—snoring is loud, sometimes explosive. In the morning, the build-up of carbon dioxide in [...]

What is Sleep Apnea?2023-12-22T15:16:27-08:00

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. And saliva’s a whole lot more important to you than helping you enjoy that special meal. A Few Other Things You Might Find Good to Know About Saliva... It has [...]

Xerostomia (Dry Mouth)2023-12-22T15:16:19-08:00
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