Southlake Family Dentistry Blog

Get Your Healthy Smile Ready for Spring

April 1, 2018

Filed under: Blog,Dental Health — Tags: , , , — southlakedental @ 3:43 pm

With spring and summer on their way, lots of warm-weather events will be coming up. These might include prom, graduation from high school or college (your own or your child’s), family reunions, and weddings. It’s natural to want to look your best, so now is the time to get your healthy smile ready for these events! Check out a few ways to boost your self-esteem and feel more comfortable with your smile.

Teeth Whitening

If you are hesitant to smile for photos because you don’t think your teeth are as white as they could be, talk to your dentist about teeth whitening. There are many products on the market that you can use to make your teeth whiter and brighter, ranging from whitening toothpastes to gels, strips, and bleaching trays. Most are available over the counter and others are available from your dentist. Give the office a call to ask about what we have available and what we recommend.

Braces for Adults

Many adults wish that they had had orthodontic treatment as pre-teens or teens, but it’s not too late. There are several options that adults might prefer; instead of metal braces, many people choose ceramic braces, lingual braces, or Invisalign. Your dentist might fabricate braces or they might refer you to an orthodontist. If you are concerned about how your teeth fit together, be sure to ask about the options available.

Veneers

Dental veneers are thin pieces of porcelain that fit over the front teeth to reduce spacing and eliminate minor imperfections. These can make you feel better about your smile. Veneers are a permanent dental appliance, so it’s important to be sure that they’re right for you. Your dentist will help you make that decision.

As always, brushing, flossing, and seeing your dentist every six months will also help you keeping your healthy smile looking great. Give our office to schedule an appointment if you are overdue.

Tooth-Friendly, Healthy Foods for Spring

March 15, 2018

Filed under: Blog,Dental Health — Tags: , , — southlakedental @ 3:11 pm

Spring has sprung, and with it comes the start of garden season. While most fruits and vegetables are excellent for not only your overall health but also your dental health, there are some healthy foods that are particularly good for your teeth. Check out this list of tooth-friendly foods that are excellent for planting this spring.

Greens (Kale, Spinach, Collard Greens and Cabbage)

Greens are good for teeth because they are chock-full of minerals and vitamins that your body needs for strong teeth and bones. These include magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, vitamin C and beta carotene. Early spring is the right time to plant most leafy greens, so get them in the ground soon to benefit from these delicious tooth-friendly foods later in the season.

Carrots and Celery

These both physically scrub plaque and bacteria off of the teeth when eaten raw. If you can’t brush your teeth after lunch at work, for example, chewing on some carrot and celery sticks can clean your teeth and stimulate your gums. In addition, carrots are a good source of beta carotene, which your body needs to make tooth-strengthening vitamin A.

Bell Peppers, Broccoli and Strawberries

These three foods contain a lot of vitamin C. Vitamin C reduces inflammation, which leads to healthier gums. They also, along with grapes and other types of berries, contain antioxidants, which also reduce inflammation and help you fight off the bacteria leading to gum disease.

Of course, no matter what you’re eating, it’s also important to brush twice daily and to floss once per day. In addition, you should see your dentist every six months (or more frequently if you have gum disease or other conditions that warrant more than two visits per year) for a cleaning and a dental checkup.

If you have questions about tooth-friendly foods, give our office a call to schedule an appointment.

Do You Need a Mouthguard?

March 1, 2018

Filed under: Blog,Dental Health,General — Tags: , , , , — southlakedental @ 5:08 pm

Have you ever considered wearing a mouthguard? If you’re like many dental patients, you probably associate mouthguards with the safety gear that football players wear. If you’re not a football player yourself, you’ve probably never considered that you might need a mouthguard. But mouthguards can benefit other patients as well.

Athletes

Football is a rough sport, but it’s not the only one that poses a danger to your mouth and teeth. The American Dental Association recommends mouthguards for athletes participating in a number of different sports.

Basketball, handball, racquetball, baseball, softball, and soccer, are all sports that carry the risk of getting hit in the mouth by a fast-moving projectile. Track, acrobatics, skiing, surfing, martial arts, skydiving, and track and field events all come with the risk of impacts or falls that could cause a mouth or tooth injury. If you participate in any sport where a mouth injury is possible, wearing a mouthguard can protect your teeth, tongue, and gums and potentially save you a lot of money in dental bills.

Nighttime Teeth Grinders

Do you ever wake up with a stiff, sore jaw or a headache? Are your teeth chipped or worn down? You may be grinding your teeth in your sleep. This is called bruxism, and it can damage your teeth, cause pain and difficulty speaking and chewing, and contribute to conditions like Temporomandibular Joint Disorder (TMJD).

While daytime teeth grinding might be a bad habit that you can overcome with willpower, there’s not much you can do to stop yourself from grinding your teeth in your sleep. Nighttime teeth grinding can be caused by many things, including stress or certain medications. A mouthguard designed for wearing while you sleep can protect your teeth from nighttime tooth grinding.

Your dentist can create a custom mouthguard that fits the precise size and shape of your mouth and is optimized for your needs, whether you’re an athlete or a person suffering from bruxism. Talk to us about whether you need a mouthguard at your next appointment.

Swollen Gums: What Should You Do?

February 15, 2018

Filed under: Blog,Dental Health — Tags: , — southlakedental @ 5:06 pm

If you want to keep your natural teeth for the rest of your life and maintain a healthy smile, taking good care of your gums is a good place to start. If your gums are unhealthy, you’re at greater risk for tooth decay, root infections, and tooth loss. Therefore, it’s important to be on the lookout for gum problems, like swollen gums. Take a look at what you should do if your gums seem swollen.

Assess Any Recent Changes

Gum swelling can occur as a side effect to a new medication or a reaction to a new toothpaste or mouthwash. Have you recently started taking a new medication or switched to a different brand of oral care products?

If it’s a reaction to your toothpaste or mouthwash, you should be able to solve the problem by switching back to your regular brand. If you’re taking a new medication, you should ask your doctor or pharmacist if gum swelling is a side effect of your medication and what you should do about it.

Consider Your Diet

Swollen gums can also be a response to nutritional deficiencies. A lack of vitamin C in particular can cause gum inflammation. Have your grocery trips been a little light on the produce lately? If so, making an effort to work in more fresh fruits and vegetables can help.

Have Your Dentist Check For Gum Disease

Swollen, inflamed gums are often a sign of gingivitis, the earliest stage of gum disease. Gum disease is caused by bacteria that’s found in the plaque that builds up on your teeth. You can get rid of this bacteria by brushing your teeth two or three times a day and flossing at least once a day. Gingivitis often occurs when patients aren’t diligent about their oral hygiene.

If you have swollen gums, it’s important to step up your oral hygiene routine, and you should also make an appointment with your dentist as soon as possible. The earlier gum disease is spotted and treated, the more effective your treatment will be.

Don’t ignore swollen gums, as they can signal a more serious issue. Talk to your dentist about the things you can do to improve your gum health.

Tips on Getting Used to Your New Braces

February 1, 2018

Filed under: Blog,Dental Health — Tags: , , — southlakedental @ 8:06 pm

Getting new braces can be more uncomfortable and frustrating than you might have expected. The good news is that in most cases, patients with new braces get used to them within a week or two. The bad news is that they might have a good deal of discomfort until then. Here are some tips on getting through this time.

Use the Mouthwash Your Orthodontist Gave You

When you get your new braces put on, you were probably given a sample of mouthwash designed for mouth sores. Unfortunately, many people with braces get sores on their inner lips as they get used to the appliances. If you are one of them, you’ll want to go and buy a bigger bottle of the mouthwash that you were given. It will clean out the sores and make them heal more quickly.

Use the Orthodontic Wax… But Not Too Much

Your orthodontic will give you orthodontic wax to cover any sharp parts of your braces that are irritating your lips and cheeks. Using the wax will bring you some relief… but it will also delay the point where you can comfortably go without the wax. It will take a bit of discomfort to get past this. Try to take the wax off for an hour or two each day in the beginning and to stretch that time out each day until you are comfortable most of the time without the wax.

Take an Over-the-Counter Pain Reliever

If you are experiencing soreness in your teeth and jaw, this is a good sign that the braces are doing what they’re supposed to do. Usually the discomfort is the strongest the first few days after you have new braces put on and a day or two after you have them adjusted. Taking acetaminophen or ibuprofen should keep you comfortable until it passes.

Be Careful Eating

Finally, your braces might make it more likely that you’ll bite your tongue, cheek, or lip while eating. Chew carefully and slowly, particularly in the early days when you’re getting used to your new braces. In time, this will become second nature.

If you are having a lot of pain or you have a sore that you are afraid has gotten infected, give us or your orthodontist a call. Otherwise, just know that some discomfort is normal and that it will pass.

How to Stop Forgetting to Floss

January 15, 2018

Filed under: Blog,Dental Health — Tags: , , — southlakedental @ 1:21 am

Flossing your teeth: It’s something you know you should be doing, but it’s so easy to forget. After all, if you’re doing it in the morning, you’re probably in a hurry and it’s the easiest thing to put off until bedtime. By the time that time comes, you might be ready to drop. How can you find a way to stop forgetting to floss? Check out these tips.

Set a Reminder on Your Phone

If the problem is that you’re truly forgetting and not just procrastinating, put technology to work for you! Most people have their phones within an arm’s reach all day and into the night, so set a reminder an hour or so before your typical bedtime. As long as you’re done eating for the night, go right then and brush and floss. You will still have an hour left to watch a television show, surf the Internet, wash the dishes, or whatever else you might do right before bed, but your oral hygiene regimen will be done.

Get an Accountability Partner

Having someone else encouraging you to floss might be all you need to make it a habit. While you might feel strange asking a friend to take on this role, your spouse or partner is the perfect person to keep you on track. After all, they should be flossing, too, and you can remind them. Another option is to ask a child, either your own or another one in your extended family. Many kids will take their commitment very seriously and will take joy in reminding you every evening to floss your teeth.

Give Yourself a Reward

Rewards work when it comes to establishing new habits. Yours can be whatever will motivate you to keep up the good work. Some people are happy to simply mark an X on a calendar or put a sticker or a checkmark on a chart. Seeing a fully filled-out week or month can be satisfying. If that doesn’t do it for you, pick anything you’d like: a new pair of shoes? Fresh flowers to put on the table after a full week of flossing? One caveat: Try to avoid making a sticky, gooey dessert your reward of choice… but if that’s what you pick, be sure to brush and floss well after you indulge!

Please call to make an appointment if you are due or if you need tips on your oral hygiene regimen.

2018 New Year’s Resolutions

December 28, 2017

Filed under: Blog — Tags: , , , , — southlakedental @ 5:57 pm

Do you have a list of new year’s resolutions that you’d like to make? Over half of Americans make resolutions on any given year, and the majority have to do with health and fitness. If you are struggling to decide on a new year’s resolution, check out these three good habits that can positively impact your dental health.

Resolution #1: Floss Daily

You already know you should be flossing each day. If you don’t, your dentist or hygienist surely reminds you during each cleaning. And if you are experiencing any swelling, tenderness, or bleeding of your gums, you likely have gingivitis, which is the earliest stage of periodontal disease. Why not make it your new year’s resolution to get into the habit of flossing every day?

You can do this by connecting your flossing to something else that you’re already doing. If you are currently finding it hard to remember to floss, then connecting it to brushing your teeth (which you’re presumably doing before bed) isn’t working. How about promising yourself that you’ll floss immediately after dinner? (This can also stop you from eating dessert later.) Or floss while watching television or before you allow yourself to surf social media each evening.

Resolution #2: Watch Your Diet

Are you addicted to sugar? Many Americans are, and many of them don’t even know it. If you find yourself craving sweets every day or if you wake up wanting to eat something sweet for breakfast, chances are great that you have a bit of a sugar addiction. Breaking the addiction is a matter of cutting back and getting through a difficult day or two of intense cravings. Once you get over that hump, though, you’ll find that sugar isn’t on your mind nearly as much.

When you cut down on sugar and other processed carbs, you’ll find that you have more energy and you might even lose weight. Another benefit is that you’ll be less likely to develop dental cavities. Without sugar sitting on your teeth, bacteria in your mouth will be less active an won’t multiply as quickly.

Resolution #3: Stop Smoking

Smoking negatively affects most of your body, and your mouth and teeth are no exceptions. It’s a difficult habit to give up, but when you do, you’ll notice drastic health differences. You’ll be cutting your risk of heart attack, lung diseases, and certain cancers within a matter of days or weeks. You’ll also enjoy better oral health. Your dentist or doctor can give you some tips on how to quit smoking.

Whatever your new year’s resolutions, we wish you success! Best wishes for a happy and healthy new year.

Infection Control in the Dental Office

December 13, 2017

Filed under: Blog,Dental Health — Tags: , , — southlakedental @ 9:25 pm

It’s cold and flu season, so infection control might be on your mind. While you might ramp up your handwashing this time of year, your dental office follows the same precautions all year long. Have you ever wondered how infection control is handled in dental offices? Read on and find out!

Spray Down the Room

After you leave the exam room, your hygienist or assistant will make sure it’s ready for the next patient. Anything that was covered in plastic (such as the seat) will have the plastic changed. Anything that wasn’t will be sprayed down with an antimicrobial sanitizing agent and then wiped with paper towels. This removes any debris and kills bacteria and viruses that might have been left behind.

Change Personal Protective Equipment

Every time a clinical staff member (dentist, hygienist, or assistant) enters your exam room, they will don fresh gloves. The protective equipment is to protect not only the workers but the patients as well! If you don’t see the staff member put on fresh gloves, feel free to ask or to request that they do so in front of you.

Sterilize the Equipment

The instrument and equipment that go into our patients mouths is all sterilized before being put on a tray to use on someone else. We have cold sterilization processes for plastic instruments and hot sterilization processes for glass and metal equipment.  Most instruments go through an ultrasonic cleaning procedure first. Then the cold sterilization process includes a solution that the instruments soak in overnight, and the hot sterilization includes a run through the autoclave.

Good Hygiene

In the dental office, hygiene is not limited to cleaning teeth! Our staff members wash their hands in between patients as well as after using the restroom, after eating, and after leaving the operatory area. Long hair is pulled back and good personal hygiene is expected and enforced. Our goal is to keep everyone healthy, so that includes minimizing bacteria and germs that are introduced into the office in the first place.

If you have questions or concerns about sterilization and sanitization procedures, please don’t hesitate to ask! We would be happy to discuss our processes with you so you can be assured that we take infection control and our patients’ health very seriously.

Staying Healthy During Cold and Flu Season

December 3, 2017

Filed under: Blog,General — Tags: , , , — southlakedental @ 7:37 pm

‘Tis the season for holiday greetings, mall Santas, and getting together with family and friends. While all of these are wonderful, the winter season often features something not-so-wonderful: symptoms of coughing, sneezing, sniffling, headaches, and fevers. Unfortunately, cold and flu season is upon us. We want all of our patients to stay healthy, so here are our best tips for staying healthy this winter and beyond.

Get a Flu Shot

If you are able to safely get a flu shot (your doctor will be able to tell you if it’s right for you or if you should skip it), please strongly consider doing so! The influenza vaccine can protect you, your family, and members of the community from an illness that kills approximately 36,000 Americans every year. It’s recommended for almost everyone over the age of 6 months, and even during the seasons when it’s not a perfect match for the viruses circulating in your area, it can reduce your chances of being hospitalized with the flu. Note that the flu shot can’t give you the flu; it might make you achy and give you a fever for a day, but you won’t be contagious or at risk for the complications that influenza can cause.

Wash Your Hands

Following the flu shot, the most important and effective way to stop the spread of illness is simple handwashing. Make it a habit to lather up after getting home from being out and about, before preparing food, and, of course, after using the restroom. If you work with the public, wash more frequently; you might also consider using an antibacterial gel for times when you can’t access a sink for a full wash.

Quarantine Yourself

If you notice that you’re getting sick, stay home if at all possible. Preventing the spread of colds and the flu through the community does everyone else a favor. Cough into your sleeve or a tissue, wash your hands often, and don’t share utensils, glasses, or towels when you’re sick. If you can’t stay home, at least minimize your interactions with others, particularly those who are under the age of 5, elderly, or immunocompromised.

Keep Up With Your Healthy Habits

One final way to keep yourself healthy is to follow the rules of a healthy lifestyle. Don’t smoke, exercise daily, get outside each day for fresh air, get enough sleep, and eat healthy foods. These will all help you stay healthy all year long and are especially important during cold and flu season.

What You Need to Know About Dental Insurance

November 15, 2017

Filed under: Blog,Insurance and Financial Information — Tags: , , , — southlakedental @ 5:09 pm

It’s that time of year again: Millions of Americans will be choosing their healthcare and dental insurance plans for 2018. If you are doing the same, read on to learn a bit about dental insurance and how to choose a plan that will be right for you.

Preferred Providers and In-Network Dentists

If you have a dentist who you like, the first item to find out is which dental insurance plans they accept. While you can go to out-of-network dentists with some plans, you’ll save the most money if you choose a plan that your dentist participates with. If your dentist doesn’t participate in any of the plans that are available to you, then you’ll need to decide if you should see them out of network or if you should choose a new dentist. Keep in mind that while you can see any dentist you want (with a higher out-of-pocket expense if they’re not participating) with a POS or PPO insurance, a dental HMO, sometimes called a DMO, generally won’t pay for you to see an out-of-network dentist at all.

Deductibles and Maximums

Most dental PPO plans have a deductible and/or a maximum. A deductible is a fee that you need to pay the first time you see the dentist each calendar year. Sometimes the deductible is waived on preventative care (cleanings and checkups). A maximum allowance is the amount of money that the dental insurance will pay per calendar year.

It makes sense to think about how much work you’re likely to need. If you need a lot of treatment, then choosing a plan with a low maximum might not be in your best interest.

Coinsurance and Copays

If you have a dental PPO plan, you will have coinsurance for each procedure. This is a percentage of that plan’s UCR (usual, customary and reasonable fee) for the procedure. This is outside of any deductible that you need to pay. If you see a dentist out of your plan’s network, the UCR might be substantially lower than the fee your dentist charges. For example, if your dentist charges $200 for a filling and your plan’s UCR is only $120 and your coinsurance is 50%, then they will pay only 50% of the $120, or $60. You would then be responsible for the rest of the fee, or $140. (If your dentist is in-network, then they will accept the UCR, so you’d only need to pay the additional $60 left after the insurance paid $60.)

DMO insurance plans assign you a copay for each procedure. You have to see an in-network dentist if you want the procedure paid for. If the procedure copay is $40 for a filling, then that’s all you pay; it doesn’t matter what the dentist’s normal fee is, because the insurance will cover the rest of the contracted fee.

Dental insurance can be confusing, so be sure to talk to your HR representative or an insurance coordinator to learn more about what type of plan would best meet your needs

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