Author: CdA-AdmiN

You can’t go on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter without seeing selfies everywhere. Some of the most popular pics that get the most likes feature a bright, beautiful smile that doesn’t need a filter to whiten it. Want to increase the number of likes you get? Your dentist can help with that!

Veneers

For a smile makeover with the most change, veneers are a popular choice. Shells of thin porcelain are attached to the teeth to change the look of the tooth completely. This is very popular for people with stained, chipped and fractured teeth.

Dental Bonding

For smaller issues like chips, cracks, and fractures, dental bonding can help. Using a tooth-colored resin applied to the teeth, your dentist will shape it to match the look of a natural tooth, harden it, and buff it to match the natural shine of a tooth. Bonding is an option for repairing stained teeth and closing small gaps as well.

Clear Braces

Need to straighten your teeth but don’t want to deal with bulky metal braces? Clear aligners to the rescue! They work just like braces but use clear aligners to move the teeth into position step by step. The best feature for clear braces is the ability to remove them whenever you need to, so your selfie game doesn’t have to stop while you are straightening your teeth.

Teeth Whitening

For those with already straight teeth, a professional teeth whitening can help the teeth shine. While there are many over the counter options available, none can match the ease and quickness of professional whitening.

Complete Smile Makeover

No matter the issue, the team at Dr. Cabrera Dental Associates, can help. Our complete smile makeover is designed to correct many issues and help you get your dream smile. Before you know it, you will be posting #nofilter pics with tons of likes.

The deep grooves in the chewing surfaces of our back teeth are perfect hiding spaces for destructive bacteria. The application of sealants is a same day procedure that provides long-lasting protection against enamel erosion.

What Does a Sealant Do?

Bacteria occur naturally in our mouths. After we eat, food debris lingers in the deep crevices where decay-causing bacteria feast and thrive. The acid produced when these critters consume leftover particles erodes tooth enamel. As a result, when the protective outer cover is broken down, cavities form.

Dental sealants are a durable coating that is applied to the deep crevices of premolars and molars. It is difficult to reach back teeth with a toothbrush and clean the area thoroughly. This thin layer of protection helps reduce decay and cavities.

Adhering Sealants

The application of sealants involves adhering sealants to the teeth surfaces for long-lasting cavity control. The same day procedure is fast and painless. First, your teeth are cleaned to eliminate any plaque, bacteria and food debris in the deep crevices. Then, a gel is applied to the back teeth to prepare the bonding surfaces for the dental sealant. Next, the area is rinsed clean and the protective layer is painted onto each tooth being treated. The material is hardened with a curing light. When properly placed, dental sealants are long lasting cavity protection that will help safeguard your oral health.

Long Lasting Cavity Protection

When dental sealants are applied early in life, patients avoid getting the cavities they may have developed in childhood without the added protection. With good oral hygiene habits, a sealant can last for many years. Over time, you will avoid painful symptoms of decay, and save money you would have spent on reparative dental treatments.

A brilliant and contagious smile comes from great oral hygiene habits. If you don’t practice proper dental care, you leave yourself at risk for a host of medical problems including infection, gum disease, diabetes, stroke, heart conditions and more. Routine teeth cleanings and exams can prevent or treat budding issues and help maintain your good overall health.

How to Achieve Optimal Oral Health

There are quite a few steps you can take to promote better oral health:

• Teeth Brushing: The easiest way to clean your teeth is to brush properly. Start by positioning the brush head at a 45-degree angle at the gum line. With a gentle circular motion brush all tooth surfaces, both inner and outer. Be sure to also clean your upper palate and tongue to remove bacteria build up. Brush at least two times per day. After every meal, rinse with water to loosen and remove food particles and wash away some bacteria.
• Flossing: Although, flossing is often viewed as a miserable chore, one so many avoid, it plays a vital role in the tooth cleaning process. Proper flossing removes leftover debris, harmful bacteria, and plaque in hard to reach mouth areas. Even water or mouth rinse cannot reach under the gum and between tight teeth.
• Avoid Tobacco: There are countless reasons to quit smoking or never start using tobacco products. First, you will protect your mouth against foul odor and teeth staining, and second, you reduce the risk of oral cancer and periodontal disease.
• Limit Sodas, Coffee, and Alcohol: Beverages that are high in phosphorus can rob the body of essential calcium stores. In addition, these types of drinks contain dyes, corn syrup and other additives that can cause discoloration, tooth decay, and more oral health issues.
• Eat Calcium and Other Vitamins That Are Good for The Body: Be sure to get all the essential nutrients you need by drinking lots of calcium-rich milk, yogurt, cheese, fortified orange juice, broccoli and other quality foods. It also helps to add a daily multi-vitamin supplement to your diet.
• Visit Your Dentist: Keep up with twice yearly dental exams and professional teeth cleanings, or as recommended by your dentist. Preventative care is important for lifelong oral health.
• Use Mouthwash: A good mouth rinse is not absolutely necessary but can be a helpful accompaniment to brushing and flossing. Antibacterial rinses like Listerine are worthwhile because they help rid you of harmful mouth bacteria and freshen your breath.
• Have a Painful Tooth Examined: Never ignore persistent tooth or jaw pain. Early intervention is very important, so we can diagnose and treat the problem before it worsens.
• Think About the Long-Term: If you take good care of your smile now, you will avoid high dental bills later and poor health. You can potentially avoid medical conditions like heart disease, diabetes, systemic infections, tooth problems and gum disease.
• Clean Your Tongue: Scrape your tongue every day to remove bacteria build up. You can use a professional tool or use the bristles on your toothbrush to clean the surface. The rough top surface is a breeding ground for mouth bacteria. If you don’t keep the area clean, it can lead to bad breath and other dental problems.

Outdoor activities like extra-curricular sports are a fun way for kids to stay fit and healthy. Millions of children participate in some kind of sport. Many of these sports are very physical sports like football, soccer, basketball, and baseball. Unfortunately, each and every one of these sports can potentially end up in an injury to your child’s mouth. Many injuries leave children with chipped teeth, missing teeth, damaged gums, or injured tongues!

What is a Mouthguard?

There is one simple solution to all these unfortunate injuries. A mouthguard is a simple piece of plastic or rubber that your child just holds in their mouth between their teeth. It guards the teeth against knocking together or even biting down on their tongue. The guard provides a high level of stability and protection to a child’s mouth when properly used. To put the importance of mouthguards into perspective, studies show that children are up to 60 times more likely to suffer damage to their teeth or mouth than children who properly use protective mouth gear.

Think of a Mouthguard as a Safety Tool

Parents always encourage their children to wear helmets while riding a bike, and they absolutely require that their kids wear seatbelts in a car. Think of a mouthguard as the same level of protection. You can show your kids professional athletes on television who wear mouthguards to show them that it isn’t something silly or unnecessary. It is a very important piece of protective equipment. If a child happens to sustain a hit to the face with a baseball, all the force behind that ball is focused on a very small area. Without a mouthguard, this can very easily lead to damage to the teeth, or even complete tooth loss.

It’s important to understand how much a mouthguard can really help your child, and it may be even more important for your child to understand that as well.

As we get older, many things change. Some are amazing changes that we embrace, and some are not so good. But as we age, it’s important to work side by side with professionals that can help us along the way. One of the changes that we must embrace is the aging of our teeth and having a dentist that understands these changes and wants to help is important.

For some reason, a lot of people incorrectly assume that all teeth will fall out eventually. With proper oral hygiene and consistent visits to your dentist, this does not have to be the case, especially as modern techniques and advances are incorporated into the field of dentistry.

Care for Your Smile as You Age

As we get to be above 50 years old, it becomes incredibly important to pay close attention to the gums. Surprisingly, gum disease—not tooth decay—is the number one reason for tooth loss in adults. Our resistance to infections decreases and our gums, unfortunately, become more prone to gum disease.

By following a consistent routine of brushing twice a day, flossing once a day and visiting your dentist regularly, your teeth and gums can remain healthy. Depending on each individual smile, our team can design a plan to help you restore your smile or keep it healthy.

Understand the True Value of Your Smile

Besides just being able to laugh and smile, the health of your teeth is important. The way we talk, the way we eat, and the way we interact with others are all affected by the health of our smile. Taking care of your smile is important for your overall health and success.

You’re Never Too Young or Old for a Beautiful Smile

Technology and techniques are always evolving, so even those that have had dental work or received dentures in the past decade could get something better! Even small things like metal filings can be improved upon with tooth colored fillings. At any age, you can have the smile of your dreams!

For decades the only option for correcting smiles with spacing issues, misalignments, and crooked teeth were traditional metal braces. Due to the metal, wires, and brackets, the term “metal mouth” was created. Luckily for those interesting in correcting their smile in 2017, new treatment options are available. Sure Smile is one of the newest advancements in orthodontic treatment, allowing patients to correct their smile without the unsightly appearance and uncomfortable side effects. Wondering what other benefits there are to Sure Smile? Here are just a few:

Improve Overall Health

Recent research has shown that our oral health and general health are more linked than we once thought. Poor oral health is thought to increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, and even diabetes. When teeth are overcrowded, misaligned, crooked, etc. it can increase a patient’s risk of tooth decay, gum disease, and even tooth loss. The removable Sure Smile aligners can help correct these dental issues by allowing you to maintain your oral health better. 

Improve Oral Health

As discussed above, dental issues such as overcrowding, alignment issues, and crooked teeth can affect not only your appearance but also the functionality of your smile. When areas are hard to reach while cleaning, debris, plaque, and bacteria can get stuck, creating the perfect environment for decay and infection. This can ultimately lead to dental decay and gum disease. Sure Smile allows the patient to clean their teeth and gums better, decreasing the risk of decay and gum disease.

Improve Dental Hygiene

Traditional metal braces and even newer “Fastbraces” take up a lot of room on your teeth, allowing you to only clean the visible portion; flossing is often problematic as well. Sure Smile, however, is designed to be removable, allowing patients to properly and thoroughly clean and floss their teeth every day.

Improve Diet & Nutritional Intake

Patients that opt for traditional braces often have to make some dietary changes throughout treatment. Due to Sure Smile’s design, the aligners be removed for eating, drinking and even cleaning. This allows patients with Sure Smile to keep a diverse and nutritious diet even during their orthodontic treatment.

For many decades, traditional braces were the only option available for straightening teeth. But since the early 2000s, clear aligners have become an alternative for orthodontic treatment.

Traditional Braces

Traditional braces are made with metal brackets that are glued to your teeth and interconnected by wires or small rubber bands. While they are visible, there have been improvements to make the brackets close to the color of your teeth or, in the opposite direction, get them in your own choice of colors for a more personal touch.

ClearCorrect Clear Braces

ClearCorrect aligners are also known as clear aligners, or clear braces, because they only consist of BPA-free clear plastic. They are worn over the teeth, similar to a mouth guard, to move them into place gradually. Once your orthodontist makes a 3D image of your mouth using x-rays, impressions, and pictures, a set of trays are configured to align your teeth over time.

Traditional Braces vs. ClearCorrect Braces

• Maintenance – While the end goal is straight teeth, the path to get there is very different between the two. The largest factor besides the color difference is the fact that ClearCorrect is removable while metal braces are not. This is incredibly helpful during meal times. Food can easily get trapped in traditional braces and will require a thorough cleaning after every meal.
• Treatment Time – The average treatment time for someone with traditional braces is two years, while the average time for a ClearCorrect user that wears their clear aligners for 22-24 hours a day is 6 to 18 months. ClearCorrect works if the person wearing it does so consistently.
• Dentist Visits – Traditional braces also require monthly visits to the orthodontist to get an orthodontic treatment which involves tightening the wires connecting the brackets to shift the teeth. For ClearCorrect wearers, just change to a new aligner tray every two weeks and visit your orthodontist every 4-6 weeks.
• Treatment Cost – For many people, the cost is going to be the determining factor. Traditional braces, on average, are less expensive than ClearCorrect. However, the pros of using ClearCorrect greatly outweigh the cons and in many people’s opinion is worth every additional penny.

It can happen to anyone – bad breath. Whether it’s due to those onions on your pizza or a medication that makes your mouth dry, there are steps you can take to control bad breath.

Proper Brushing Technique

You already know that brushing helps keep your teeth clean, but are you doing it correctly? If not, you may be missing some residue on the surface of your teeth that can give you bad breath. First off, you should be brushing at least twice a day. Brush all surfaces of teeth, including the gum line and the inside portion of the teeth near the palate and tongue. Bacteria especially like to linger on the surface of your tongue, causing bad breath, so be sure to brush there, too (or use a tongue scraper). Also, make sure that you’re replacing your toothbrush about every three months. When your toothbrush becomes frayed, it’s not as effective as you need it to be. For fresh breath, you need clean, fresh dental tools.

Regularly Clean Dental Appliances

If you wear dentures (partial or whole) or a retainer, make sure that you’re keeping them clean just as you would natural teeth. On a daily basis, remove the dental appliance to clean it of all food particles and plaque.

Stimulate Saliva Production

A dry mouth can be the cause of halitosis (bad breath). Chewing sugar-free gum or enjoying fibrous vegetables such as celery can increase saliva production. Additionally, drinking water regularly can help your mouth stay hydrated.

Use Mouthwash

In addition to freshening breath, mouthwashes offer extra protection by killing off bacteria that can cause bad breath.

Kick the Tobacco Habit

Besides just giving you bad breath, tobacco can damage your gums, cause cancer, and stain your teeth, so it would be good for your health overall to give it up.

Choose Foods Carefully

You’ve probably noticed that some foods are naturally quite harsh on your breath. Pungent flavors include onion, garlic, and vinegar and can linger in the mouth long after you’ve finished eating. Sugary, sticky foods can also stay around longer and be difficult to remove, so limit your consumption of these.

If you find that taking these steps do not help your bad breath, pay a visit to the dentist, who can tell you if it’s due to an underlying condition.

The American Dental Association recommends that you visit the dentist every six months, but is that really necessary? The truth is that your dentist provides many important services that are necessary for good oral hygiene. Here are just a few things that happen at your dentist visit that can ensure healthy teeth and gums.

Dental Cleaning

At your appointment your dental hygienist will thoroughly clean your teeth, including areas that might be hard for you to reach on your own. This will clear out any plaque from between your teeth and under your gums to make sure there are no dental conditions such as tooth decay that could grow worse with time.

Thorough Dental Examination

Even if your teeth look and feel fine to you, your dentist has access to technology that can detect potential problems while they’re still in their early stages. Oral health issues such as periodontal disease can worsen very quickly and are hard to combat once they’ve advanced. Catching these problems early will cost you less money and cause you less pain in the long run.

Screen for Oral Cancer

One of the biggest part of regular dental visits is that your dentist will screen you for oral cancer. Cancer is a devastating disease that can spread before you even notice any symptoms, and oral cancer can happen to anyone—smoker or not. Your dentist will check your mouth for any signs of oral cancer so you can begin treatment immediately if needed.

While visiting the dentist on a regular basis might feel like a hassle, it’s well worth it for the benefits to your teeth in the long run. If you want to have a happy, healthy smile for life, be sure to factor regular dental visits into your long term plan.

With Halloween fast approaching, dentists everywhere are warning kids to brush their teeth and eat candy in moderation. But is sugar really the culprit when it comes to causing cavities? Believe it or not, the answer is a bit more complicated than you think.

What Causes Cavities?

We all know that cavities are caused by tooth decay, but how do they actually form? When you eat a food that contains sugar, the bacteria lingers in the mouth in the form of plaque. This plaque can wear away your tooth enamel and lead to tooth decay and cavities if left untreated. In this sense, sugar does cause cavities.

However, this isn’t just true of candy and soda, the foods we typically associate with cavities. Any food containing sugar can cause tooth decay, including fruit. So how do we avoid cavities?

Dental Cavity Prevention

The key to preventing cavities isn’t to cut out sugar completely—that’s just not realistic for many people, and plenty of foods that contain sugar can be good for you. To your teeth, it makes no difference if you chow down on an apple or eat a candy bar. The end result will be the same.

The real secret to healthy smiles is to remove the plaque and bacteria as soon as possible through good oral hygiene. If you brush and floss right after eating sugary foods, it prevents the bacteria from building up and causing lasting damage.

If you suspect you have a cavity or have any questions about proper oral hygiene, it’s a good idea to talk to your dentist. He or she will also be able to detect early signs of cavities at your regular dental checkups so you can change your hygiene routine before it’s too late. To make an appointment with a dentist, give Dr. Cabrera Dental Associates a call today!