"Look Mom - no cavities!" remember that Crest advertisement?

Are you one of the people that have never had a cavity in your lifetime, or are you the person that feels lucky to only have a few cavities at each dental visit?

So what's the difference between the "no-cavity" person and the multiple cavity person?  In general the "no-cavity" person has reduced risk factors compared to those who need a lot of dental treatment. These risk factors can include hereditary factors, dietary factors, anatomic factors and personal habits. There isn't necessarily a single reason that will put you at risk for dental problems. It is almost always a combination.

• The grooves in your back teeth, or molars, can be deep or shallow. This is determined by genes. People with deeper grooves are at a much greater risk to develop cavities in the grooves, or chewing surface of the teeth.
• You almost always get your oral bacteria from your mother. If she suffered from a lot of cavities and gum disease, you probably inherited the same troublesome oral bacteria.
• If you have reduced saliva flow, or dry mouth, you are more likely to have dental problems. Reduced saliva flow can come with age, illness, and is a side-effect of some medications.
• If you grind your teeth you are much more likely to have dental problems. Most tooth grinding takes place while you sleep. Tooth damage depends on how hard and how often you grind your teeth. Your level of stress, size of your jaw and chewing muscles can influence tooth grinding.
• Your diet also has a lot to do with dental problems. If you eat a lot of sticky, sugary foods, drink a lot of sugary drinks or consume a lot between meal snacks your dental problems can increase. The oral bacteria turn sugar into acid and that acid causes cavities. If you eat a lot of acidic foods this can cause the enamel to errode as well.

If you brush correctly and often you are less likely to have cavities. If you are a regular flossser your gums will be more healthy and you will have less cavities. You can control a few of these factors and there are things you can do to change the hereditary factors. You can have dental sealants placed to fill in the deep grooves, wear a bite splint to alleviate nighttime grinding, and control your diet.

If you are a "Look Mom - no cavities" person that is awesome. Everyone tries to be just like you! Does this mean you do not need to visit your dental office as frequently ? No, it does not. Your dental history makes you a lower risk for dental problems, but things can change and finding a problem while it is small or much better than finding it later, or too late.

• Medication changes can cause changes in your mouth. Dry mouth is a side-effect of many medications.
• Changes in your diet effect your mouth and can cause dental problems to start occuring.
• Aging. Unfortunately we all get older. Your natural saliva flow decrease as you age and medications usually increase causing changes in your oral bacteria and further reducing saliva flow. This increases your risk for tooth decay.

Moral of this story: Visit your dental office and work with your dentist or hygienist to maintain your smile which helps to maintain your overall health.

For more information visit our website.

How long will this new crown last?

We are often asked this question and in a perfect world your new crown would last for the rest of your life. However, in the same perfect world you would not have to change the oil in your car, replace your roof or mow your lawn.

 Let’s look into this further.

 If you chew every bite of food 10 times before you swallow and at each meal you eat 20 bites you have used your crown 200 times during this meal alone. Now multiply that by 3 meals per day, plus some snacks. You are looking at using your crown 600 times, at least, per day.

 Many dental restorations will handle chewing pretty easily, even at 600 times per day. It is the kernel of unpopped popcorn, cherry or olive pits, tooth picks, ends of pencils and other hard objects we tend to put in our mouths that can do in a restoration, tooth, or crown. Plus, your crown will have to tolerate temperatures ranging from 150 – 170 degrees (for hot coffee or tea) to 20 – 30 degrees (for ice cream and the dreaded ice chewing). Sometimes you may even have ice cream and coffee in the same setting causing your tooth to expand with the heat and contract with the cold in rapid succession. Your crown will also have to tolerate being attacked by acid after each meal, snack or beverage (unless you drink only water), being covered by bacterial biofilm and probably tooth grinding while you sleep.

The mouth is a pretty tough environment. So, what is a realistic expectation for the life of your crown? Well, a lot of it depends on you. If you avoid sweets and sodas, take very good care of your teeth by brushing and flossing regularly, don’t take medications that dry your mouth, don’t grind your teeth at night, or invest in a bite splint while visiting our office regularly in an effort to find concerns while they are small, you could see your crown last for 15 – 20 years. Insurance companies for years have expected crowns to last 5 years before they would pay for a new one. Regular wear and tear will probably wear out your dental work if you live long enough, but you can make your dental treatment last as long as possible if you:

      Brush 2 – 3 times per day with a soft bristled toothbrush, or Sonicare brush.

      Floss or use a Water Flosser once per day.

      Chew sugarless gum, or eat sugarless candy, or mints after meals to stimulate saliva flow. Make sure your sugarless treat is sweetened with Xylitol.

      Avoid sugary, sticky foods and reduce any in between meal snacking.

      Maintain regular dental visits.

      Contact our office right away if you have any problems or concerns

 If you ever have any questions about your dental health contact our office. We are here to take care of you and your health!

 For more information visit our website or send us an email

Stay Healthy ~ Thyroid Cancer: Why Is It on the Rise? Could it dental x-rays be the culprit?

New diagnoses have shot up over the past decade. Here’s what you need to know.
While new cases of some cancers— including breast, lung, and prostate— are leveling off, cancer of the thyroid (an endocrine gland in the neck) is spiking; diagnoses rose a whopping 173 percent between 2002 and 2012, making thyroid cancer one of the fastest-growing types in the U.S.

“Better screening and detection may explain part of the increase,” says Robert Smallridge, M.D., chairman of the division of endocrinology at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla. “Still, research suggests other factors must be at play.” One of the few known causes of thyroid cancer is radiation, and some experts believe excess exposure may be behind the increase. Smallridge is less certain. “The most common radiation sources, such as dental X-rays and airport security scanners, provide extremely low doses,” he says. For its part, the American Thyroid Association says it does not believe that routine dental X-rays, for example, lead to thyroid cancer. Still, a large cumulative exposure over a lifetime may raise your risk. Smallridge recommends always asking your doctor whether an X-ray or a CT scan is truly necessary. He also advises wearing a thyroid collar (a small lead bib that deflects radiation) before dental X-rays. The good news: Thyroid cancer is highly curable and still rare—less than 1 percent of Americans will be diagnosed in their lifetime. To further lower your odds, maintain a healthy weight and load up on vegetables.

reference: Grand Rapids Parade ~ Camille Noe Pagán

What is our office doing to keep you healthy while maintaining the highest level of dental care and diagnosis?

Our office offers digital dental x-rays, commonly called dental films. Digital films are better for you, the patient, because there is 90% less radiation than traditional films and they are better for explaining our findings because you can view the films along with us on the computer monitor. Digital films are also better for the environment, because no harsh chemicals are needed to process this type of film.

When dental films are needed a lead apron with a thyroid collar is used to further reduce any radiation exposure from occurring.

If you ever have a question about the need for a dental film, or your health in general, ask us. This is why we are here. Our goal is to serve you to the best of our ability.

For more information visit our website.

Finding dental decay with Spectra vision

Tooth decay can be extremely painful and puts the teeth at risk. Many extractions and restorative treatments are performed every single day because tooth decay has become too severe for the dentist to save the tooth. Diagnodent^® is a safe fluorescent laser that detects hidden tooth decay accurately, quickly, and in its earliest stages.

All dentists are advocates for healthy, natural teeth. Restoration devices like crowns and bridges are popular because they allow the natural tooth to remain in the mouth. Diagnodent^® accurately exposes areas of tooth decay without scratching, probing or “opening up the tooth.” This provides a greater chance of identifying, treating and retaining a natural tooth without the need for expensive and time-consuming restorations.

How can Spectra vision help me?

Spectra vision accurately exposes more caries than X-rays and examinations. In fact, this revolutionary diagnostic tool is over 90% accurate. Sometimes, caries “go underground” due to fluoridation. This essentially means that lesions that once lay on the surface of the tooth bed down, and remain invisible to the naked eye. Because Spectra vision exposes caries earlier, more treatment options are possible.

Here are some of the other benefits associated with Spectra vision:

• Allows dentists to perform treatment with greater confidence.
• Allows for the investigation of suspicious areas.
• Completely safe.
• Cost effective.
• Empirically measurable results.
• Helps reduce future dental procedures.
• More accurate than any other diagnostic tool.
• No exposure to X-rays.
• No need for invasive investigations.
• No pain or scratching.

What does the Spectra vision process involve?

The Spectra vision process is performed within the scope of a regular dental checkup. It is strikingly similar to having a laser pointer aimed at the teeth. Spectra vision is a hi-tech tool, which first scans a clean tooth surface with a laser beam. This scanning procedure serves to calibrate the instrument by providing information about the tooth structure.

The Spectra vision System is actually measuring the amount of laser fluorescence within the tooth. As each tooth is scanned, the amount of reflected laser light is recorded to produce a digital readout. If the tooth contains little or no decay, little or no laser light will be reflected back to the instrument. However, if a tooth contains caries of any significance, more laser light is reflected back. High readings (compared to the tooth originally scanned) indicate that caries are present within the structure of a particular tooth. The amount of laser light reflected back correlates with the amount of decay within the tooth.

Once the dentist determines which teeth are suffering from decay, a plan can be formulated and treatment options can be discussed. In most cases, the early detection of caries means more treatment options and a greater chance of saving the affected tooth.

For more information visit our website.