5 Reasons to Consider Cosmetic Dentistry
If you’re always hiding your smile away, or are hesitant come picture time, maybe it’s time to consider cosmetic dentistry to let your pearly whites shine. From stains and chips to uneven or worn teeth, there are several procedures that help transform the look of your smile. Afterward, you might just find yourself smiling all the time.
1. Get Pearly White Teeth
Discolored teeth might make you feel less than confident when flashing a smile. But, whether it’s stains from your morning cup of coffee or their brilliant white has just dulled over time, you can get pearly white teeth again. Thanks to teeth whitening treatments, you’ll restore your smile. And professional treatments work best with healthier benefits for your teeth and gums overall.
2. You Want a More Even Smile
Do you have a tooth or more that stands out and not because they’re looking great? Then, it’s a great time to consider cosmetic dentistry. Severely discolored, cracked, chipped, and worn down teeth might make you avoid smiling. But dental veneers are custom-made to cover up imperfections and give you back your gorgeous smile.
These thin coverings are made to look like your real teeth, so no one can tell the difference. Plus, they can disguise gaps and uneven spaces.
3. Get Your Confidence Back
Your teeth should never take away your confidence. Smiling has a major impact on confidence. From boosting your mood to interacting with others, a confident smile changes how you feel about yourself and how others see you. Having simple cosmetic procedures on your teeth help you get your confident smile back. After all, when your smile looks great, you feel great.
4. Cosmetic Dentistry Encourages Better Habits
Sometimes, discolored and damaged teeth come from poor oral hygiene habits. You might feel like once the damage is done, there’s nothing you can do about it. But that all changes when you see the dramatic results after a cosmetic dental procedure.
Seeing how your smile is supposed to look helps encourage you to start a better oral health journey with regular brushing, flossing, and checkups.
5. Make Your Teeth Feel Better
Chips and cracks in your teeth can lead to sensitivity, mealtime discomfort, and pain. They can make it difficult to eat and drink what you want. With a mixture of tooth-colored fillings and veneers, not only does the sensitivity and pain disappear, but your smile looks wonderful once again.
At Avon Dental Care, we want to help you get your smile back. Find out more about our cosmetic dental procedures and how easy it is to smile with confidence again.
3 Ways to Ease Your Child’s Fear of the Dentist
It’s common among both children and adults to be anxious about seeing the dentist. As a parent, you can help relieve this fear to make dental appointments more comfortable. Start preparing your child well before their dental appointment so they’ll be ready for their visit.
How Can I Help My Child Enjoy Dentist Visits?
1. Clean Their Teeth
You should clean your child’s mouth morning and night from the time they’re born, and especially when their teeth start to come in. This serves two purposes. First, it gets your child used to someone looking in their mouth and touching their teeth. Second, it means they’re much more likely to have healthy teeth, making every trip to the dentist shorter, more pleasant, and pain-free.
2. Practice
When your child is very small, you can practice the position your dentist will use to examine your child by setting them on your lap, facing you, then leaning them gently back. As they get older and start to pretend, play dentist with them. Take turns being the dentist and patient to help normalize the process, let them know what to expect, and give them a sense of control.
3. Take Them in Outside of Their Appointment
Part of the reason the dentist can be scary for kids is that it’s an unfamiliar environment full of strangers. Call your general dentistry office and ask them when a good time would be to bring your child in to look around. They can get acquainted with the office and meet the team, so when they return for their actual appointment, it’ll all be familiar.
To help your child get used to the dentist, visit Avon Dental Care. Serving Lorain County, OH, for over 20 years, they offer advanced dental care to the whole family, with modern treatments, including dental implants. Whatever your dental need or concern, they can help. Schedule at 440-937-2273 or learn about their services online.
My Dentist Said My Gum Disease is Killing Me!
While it sounds dramatic, believe it or not, it’s the truth. Dental infections from gum disease have been shown to directly affect heart and blood vessel health.
There are several studies showing that bacteria from gum disease enters the bloodstream and causes inflammation. This inflammation results in the plaques of atherosclerosis. When bacteria populate these inflamed plaques, they can break off and travel to the heart, brain or lungs resulting in heart attacks, strokes, and pulmonary embolism.
C-reactive protein is also important in maintaining stability in diabetic patients as well. The higher the inflammation, the less effective insulin is in controlling diabetes and preventing the ravages of this disease.
Quite literally, what you don’t know about your dental health may be killing you. If you notice bleeding gums, broken teeth, or have had high blood pressure, heart issues or diabetes, talk to your dentist.
Elimination of gum disease and abscesses is one of the ways to decrease C-reactive protein and inflammation in the blood. Ask your dentist. We can help. You can reach us at 440-937-2273.
Pregnancy and Oral Health
TRYING TO GET PREGNANT?…DON’T FORGET TO FLOSS!
It’s true! Researchers are finding links between pregnancy and dental care. Women with periodontal gum disease have a harder time getting pregnant. Studies show it can take on average, two months longer for women to get pregnant if they have abscessed teeth or gum disease.
Research in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology showed a correlation between oral health of the mother and problems in the pregnancy, including—organ failure in the developing fetus, preeclampsia, and miscarriage. Studies also indicate that infections in the mother’s blood can lead to long-term disabilities of the child.
It is believed that the blood supply and hormones in pregnancy allow infection agents to more easily get into the bloodstream and affect the developing baby.
If you have broken teeth or notice that your gums are bleeding, and you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant, a trip to the dentist should be in your plans. They can improve your oral health and help you have a healthy pregnancy. If you want details or would like to schedule an appointment, call Avon Dental Care at 440-937-2273.
written by Dr. Thomas Hughes
Maintaining Your Dental Health in These Times
Maintaining Your Dental Health in These Times.
The coronavirus is upon us and has affected all areas of our life including our dental health. With all dental offices unable to see patients due to federal and state mandates, your dental health is more important now than ever. There are some things you can do at home that will help you prevent problems until you are unable to return to your dentist.
Dentists can take care of dental pain, swelling and bleeding, but because they are not currently permitted to perform routine cleanings, your home care is essential. Good dental health will prevent infections that could lead you to a greater susceptibility to the virus.
Brushing your teeth is critical to oral health. Whether you use a manual toothbrush or an electric one, the bristles only clean the areas that they touch. Slow down and spend at least two minutes to clean with a brush. That’s how long it will take to clean all the exposed surfaces of your teeth. Another thing is to use a soft touch. Scrubbing your teeth is only going to damage your tooth surface. You are trying to remove the sticky gelatinous plaque—it takes a soft touch only!
Now you are ready for dental floss. Whether you floss before or after brushing, the movement against the tooth removes the bugs. By making a “C” shape as you move the floss up and down on the tooth, you will remove the plaque. Hard deposits called tartar (or calculus), can’t be removed with floss, and you will need our help to remove those after things return to normal. For now, just do your best.
Removing the plaque protects not only the visible enamel but promotes gum health as you gently massage the tissues. Flossing loosens food and removes plaque from the areas in between and behind the teeth and is equally important to your overall dental health.
Mouthwashes can help to remove food debris and freshen breath, but don’t really remove the plaque that causes decay and gum disease. It is a nice follow up to good homecare, but doesn’t do much by itself. Fluoride rinses like ACT or Fluorogard are effective at preventing cavities between the teeth.
Water picks are likewise effective to loosen food particles, but they don’t remove plaque. Toothbrushing is the only way.
Not only does brushing and flossing prevent decay and gum disease it decreases inflammation of the gums. Inflammation is associated with whole body disease like heart attacks and strokes, and can make you more susceptible to infections, including coronavirus.
During these times, your dental care is still important. At Avon Dental Care, we are committed to keeping you healthy now and in the future.
If you have pain or swelling or bleeding, the dental board is allowing us to see you for emergencies. We can get you comfortable and plan more definitive care later.
Call us if you are in pain. We will be sure to contact you as soon as we can return to a normal schedule. We are all in this together, and we can help. If you need advice or information, call us at 440-937-2273. You are our top priority. Stay safe and healthy.