Your dental health contributes to the overall health of your body.  Maintaining optimal oral health can help reduce your risk of contracting serious diseases.  Our dentists use a humanistic philosophy to develop treatment plans that consider the whole person.  We want you to live as healthy a life as possible, so our practice focuses on resolving dental health problems that could affect or be affected by your overall systemic health.

Preventing Dental Diseases

Three out of four adults are affected by gum disease.  Ninety percent of these cases could have been prevented with good oral hygiene and professional dental care. 

You can greatly reduce your risks of gum disease and other oral health problems with:

Good Oral Hygiene
You must clean your mouth thoroughly at least twice each day, by:

1.  Brushing properly with a soft toothbrush
2.  Using dental floss or another device to break up the naturally
     forming bacterial plaque which, left alone, leads to tooth decay,
     periodontal disease and eventual tooth loss

Watch the video below to learn just how important flossing can be!

Regular Dental Visits
Dental office visits are recommended at least once every 6 months, although every 3 months is a better idea.  Regular cleanings and exams can help with:

1.   The diagnosis and early treatment of dental disease
2.   The identification of missing, extra, or malpositioned teeth which
      can adversely affect the function of teeth and jaws
3.   The recognition of the effect of some systemic diseases in the
      mouth and conversely the effect of oral diseases systemically

Flouride
You can decrease decay throughout your lifetime with the use of fluorides:

1.   Through public water supplies, bottled water or oral supplements
2.   Applied topically with toothpaste, brush-on gels or mouth-rinses

Nutrition
Proper nutrition is critically important to dental health as well as general health.  Cavities can be prevented by:

1.  Controlling the amount and length of time carbohydrate debris
     collects around the teeth
2.  Reducing the amount and frequency of sugar consumption

If your diet is low in certain nutrients, it may be harder for the tissues of your mouth to resist infection. This may be a contributing factor to periodontal (gum) disease, the leading cause of tooth loss in adults. Although poor nutrition does not cause periodontal disease directly, many researchers believe that the disease progresses faster and is more severe in patients whose diet does not supply the necessary nutrients.

To make sure that you are getting enough nutrients for good general and oral health, you should choose foods from the four basic food groups: fruits and vegetables, breads and cereals, milk and dairy products, and meat, fish and eggs. When you do snack, avoid soft, sweet, or sticky foods (such as cakes, candy and dried fruits, that cling to your teeth and promote tooth decay). Instead, choose dentally healthy foods such as nuts, raw vegetables, plain yogurt, cheese, popcorn and sugarless gum or candy.

To have a diet that promotes dental health, you must develop sensible eating habits.  Together, a balanced diet and daily brushing and flossing, can reduce the risk of or even prevent dental disease.

Diabetes
Diabetes can reduce the body's resistance to infection, making it more likely those people will develop gum disease. This may make it more difficult for diabetics to control their blood sugar.

Heart Disease
When bacteria dislodges from infected teeth and gums, it can enter the bloodstream and increase clot formation.

Respiratory Ailments
The bacteria that grows in your mouth can travel to the lungs, causing respiratory diseases such as pneumonia.  There is an even greater risk of this for people with gum disease.

Eating Disorders
Eating disorders can wreak havoc in your mouth.  Stomach acid from repeated vomiting can erode your teeth and purging can cause swelling in the mouth and bad breath.  Disorders such as anorexia and bulimia can also affect the health of your mouth due to severe nutritional inadequacies.

Medications
Antihistamines, decongestants, painkillers, and antidepressants can cause drymouth.  Drymouth is cause for worry because your natural saliva helps protect your teeth and gums against bacteria that causes cavities. 

Stress
Stress can cause habits that negatively affect your health.  Stressed people have been shown to brush and floss half as often as happy, relaxed people.  Also, stress and anxiety can cause bruxism, or the grinding and clenching of teeth.  This can lead to tooth fractures and other problems.