Children | General Dentistry | Oral Health
Your children are watching you, even when you think they aren’t. And they learn a lot from what they see — both good and bad. While it can seem like you’re wasting your time when you try to instill good habits in your kids through lectures and teaching them, some of it gets through. The best way to ensure your kids pick up good habits, however, is to model them yourself. This is particularly true when it comes to good oral health. By holding yourself to at least the same standard of dental care that you’d like to see from your children, you’re sending the message that this is, truly, something that’s important throughout their lives.
General Dentistry | Oral Health
Knowing your options when it comes to dental treatments is an advantage: you’re not just limited to what your insurance will cover or the newest fad that’s being discussed around the watercooler. While the standard treatments to keep your teeth and gums looking and feeling their best are staples — things like teeth whitening, orthodontic devices to better align your teeth and no-frills but necessary cleanings and cavity fillings — there are other services offered that you may not know a thing about but could dramatically change your life for the better.
Dental Benefits | General Dentistry | Oral Health
Nobody likes dealing with acne. Whether you call them zits, pimples, blackheads or just plain blemishes, these unsightly breakouts cause embarrassment. You may be surprised to find out that your breakouts are caused by more than meets the eye. Although acne can have a number of causes, the one that’s often overlooked is the health of your teeth. Rather than stress about your newest bunch of pimples, check with your dentist to see if there’s anything you can do to relieve a breakout that just won’t seem to end.
What Causes Acne?
Acne can have a number of causes, including but not limited to:
- Hormones
- excess oil production
- dry or dehydrated skin
- bacteria
While your teeth have very little to do with how much oil your skin produces, your hormone levels or whether you’re drinking enough water, they absolutely can contribute to the bacterial load on your face. In fact, the same bacteria that causes breakouts — P. acne –naturally lives in your mouth and gastrointestinal tract.
How Teeth Contribute to Breakouts
Most of the time, your first stop in treating acne is a visit to your general practitioner, a dermatologist or even an esthetician. Unfortunately, some cases of acne baffle these providers. In those cases, it might be worth speaking to your dentist — especially if you’re already being treated for tooth pain or other dental issues.
Acne that is resistant to basic treatment may be caused by an abscess or an infected tooth. A basic dental exam can allow your provider to see if any of your teeth are presently infected. If so, you may find that your acne breakout subsides as you begin treating the tooth. This is because both the infection and the acne respond to the antibiotics commonly used in treatment.
What Can Be Done
Maintaining a blemish-free face and healthy teeth both require a normal self-care routine. You probably already wash and moisturize your face regularly. When it comes to your teeth, it pays to have a similar routine. You brush, floss and rinse according to your dentist’s guidelines. But just like the best skin care routine doesn’t always protect against zits, your normal oral health regimen won’t always protect against bacterial infections — some of which can lead to breakouts.
Setting up a dental appointment is your first step in warding off acne caused by tooth decay. Even during a routine cleaning, your dentist can assess your mouth and its needs and figure out pretty easily if anything is wrong. During a cleaning, your dentist or dental hygienist may notice a tooth that has a cavity or other damage. If so, you’ll likely need to make another appointment to receive treatment for it. You may be prescribed a round of antibiotics to lessen the bacterial load in your body in the meantime, and that may help your acne disappear. Is it gone forever? No, so it’s important to keep any follow-up appointments; however, it is the first step in treating the underlying problem. Pretty soon, your complexion and your mouth will be in the best possible shape.
How We Can Help
If you suspect your treatment-resistant acne is being caused by an abscessed or infected tooth, we can help. While we’re not skin care experts, sorting out your oral health can potentially clear up a breakout if the underlying cause is, in fact, something related to your teeth.
The offices of Drs. Krieger and Hur make cosmetic dentistry easy and convenient, often completing procedures the same day! When your smile needs perfecting, but your time is limited, give us a call at 201-560-0606 or email us here and we’ll get you fast-tracked back to eye-catching confidence.
We heard your selfies could be a lot better, so we wrote a “How to Take a Great Selfie” guide to help you show off our great handywork. It’ll be our little secret! You don’t have to tell anyone that your dentist helped you perfect those iconic social media images.
Just click here, enter your email and download the PDF. Nothing could be easier. While you’re at it, go ahead and sign up for our newsletter for more tips for keeping that smile white and bright.
Dental Benefits | General Dentistry | Oral Health
There’s no doubt that snacking is the number one enemy when you’re trying to maintain your figure: sugary sweets, sour confections and baked goods can send even the most well-intentioned diet careening over a cliff. But these lapses in good judgment could be doing more than setting you back a few pounds on the scales; snacking can actually be ruining your teeth.
Brushing | Dental Benefits | Teeth Whitening
If you’re looking at your child’s mouth and notice thick, opaque white lines or patterns on their teeth, or worse, pitting or extreme discoloration that ranges from slightly yellow to dark brown, it’s easy to worry and think it’s an emergency. In most cases, it’s not. Rather, these symptoms are signs of fluorosis, a cosmetic condition caused by overexposure to fluoride during the first eight years of life. Although it looks bad, there’s no loss of functionality, but the blow it deals to your child’s self-esteem can be devastating. Treatment involves whitening and polishing the teeth or masking the staining — something your child’s dentist can do with ease.
With the arrival of spring comes the beginning of baseball, softball and T-ball season. While uniforms, cleats, balls and bats often take the spotlight for necessary gear, there’s one piece of equipment most parents forget to invest in: a mouthguard. Mouthguards, though not glamorous, are arguably one of the most important pieces of sports equipment you can outfit your child with for safety. After all, you’re probably already paying for Invisalign and teeth whitening to make sure your child has the best smile possible. And while commercially available mouthguards from your favorite big-box store might be quick and easy to find, they don’t keep your child’s mouth safe on the field.
Dental Benefits | General Dentistry
Picture it: you’ve taken time out of your busy day to schedule a dental appointment for your stubborn husband or teen. They’re overdue for a cleaning, they haven’t had an exam in far too long, and getting them to go in is, well, like pulling teeth. You inform them of their upcoming appointment and get huffing, puffing, whining and moaning in return. Sound familiar?
Living with a stubborn husband or teen who refuses to go to the dentist is an all too common experience for many women. If simply booking the appointment for them causes grunting and groaning, there are other tactics you can try to get your family member to take their dental health seriously.
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Dental Fear | General Dentistry
You’ve dutifully made your dental appointment for a cleaning or to discuss Invisalign, but you’re still nervous, even though you know your teeth are in the very best of hands. Dental anxiety is common. Whether you’ve had bad experiences in the past or have a phobia, what you’re feeling is totally normal. But fear doesn’t need to rule your life when you step into the dentist’s office. Letting your dentist and staff know you’re nervous goes a long way in helping ensure you have the very best experience possible.
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Brushing | Dental Benefits | Halitosis (Bad Breath)
Crude jokes about oral health aside, you might not realize the profound impact your dental health has on your love life. Whether you’ve been married for decades or are jumping back into the dating game again, your teeth are important to maintaining an active and healthy love life – and the reasons why might surprise you.
When you notice visible signs of aging, whether it’s a new gray hair sprouting or a wrinkle forming that wasn’t there before, chances are pretty good you book an appointment with a professional to help you manage it. What you might not realize is that your teeth can change as you age — and all the salon or esthetician visits in the world won’t help disguise the visible signs of aging if your smile gives you away.
While your teeth naturally change as you grow older, it doesn’t mean you have to live with a close-lipped smile for the rest of your days. There are a few tell-tale signs of aging that show up on your teeth and, thankfully, they’re pretty easy and painless to deal with.
