Why are celebrities swarming to cosmetic dentists all across the nation?  For celebrities, their smile is a universal way to communicate and gain favor from fans.  A great smile is a necessary aspect of their professional and personal success and celebrities know that it is just moments away once they arrive at the cosmetic dentist's office.

Drinking wine or coffee can cause your teeth to get telltale stains.  Professional tooth whitening is simple and only takes an hour or two at the cosmetic dentist's office.  A hydrogen peroxide based gel is applied to the teeth and often heat is used to accelerate the process.  In just one treatment, your teeth can be five to ten shades whiter so you are ready to smile for the camera.

If your teeth are more drastically stained or have chips, dental bonding can recreate your teeth painlessly and quickly.  Your dentists sculpts a tooth-colored material around the damaged teeth and applies heat to harden it.  In just one trip to the cosmetic dentist's office, your teeth can look greatly improved.

Finally, teeth that are misaligned or have more noticeable damaged can be made Hollywood perfect with porcelain veneers.  Porcelain veneers are thin, tooth colored shells that are bonded to the front of your teeth to create a white, attractive smile.  The process is quick and painless.

Because there are so many simple, quick and painless ways to transform a smile, celebrities are visiting cosmetic dentists so they are ready to smile with confidence for all their photo ops.

The average time a teen must wear teeth-straightening braces means little when you find yourself at the high end of the averaging spectrum. After all, to get an average for anything, you have to add up all the figures and divide by the number of participants.

However, if your teenage son or daughter is about facing bracing, you might want to let him or her know that wearing time is probably going to be slightly under two years.

This may not be as helpful as it would be if you were talking to a fellow adult, because time seems to pass much more slowly for kids than for adults your teen may whine a bit about it.  To deal effectively with this, stay calm and just keep putting forth the truth that when the teeth are straightened, they'll be straight for a lifetime.

Your teen knows as well as you do that he or she needs straighter teeth. Braces are a good way to reinforce the character-building lesson that good things take time as well as the perfect way to straighten teeth.

If you were with us for the last six issues, you’ll recall Threat #1 to your dental health was Neglect, Threat #2—Under-treatment, Threat #3—Over-treatment, Threat #4—diet, Threat #5—Medications and Threat #6—Overall Health.

This week we’re going to discus Threat #7, “Too Old Syndrome.” 

This threat crawls into your smile and takes up residence when you start to tell yourself things like:

“I’m too old to have work done; I’m too old to have healthy teeth, and I’m too old to deserve treatment.”  

And believe it or not, many of us start reciting this silent mantra as early as our 50s!

The worst part is it’s NOT even true! You see dentists have discovered, through empirical evidence, that improving and taking care of the condition of your teeth is not only beneficial to your health…it actually helps you live LONGER!

Just the other day I had a 96-year-old woman in my office who did not begin restoring her smile until well after retirement. Over the course of her treatment she had dental implants, crowns and a slew of other procedures performed. And today she gives credit for her good health to the treatment she gave herself permission to receive.

But the benefits to healthy, good-looking teeth don’t stop there.  

You probably know as well as I do that an ugly smile affects:

• How people treat you,
• What they think about you,
• Your success at work, and even
• Your romantic life. 

Fair or not, it’s true. You can go to the best salons, wear the best suits and drive the most expensive cars, but if your teeth are ugly, twisted, missing or broken…it’s going to say far more about you than you want it to!

The good news is there’s an easy fix.  Learn how you can get the life you want, by contacting our dental health consultants—(804) 320-6800

If you were with us for the last five issues, you’ll recall Threat #1 to your dental health was Neglect, Threat #2—Under-treatment, Threat #3—Over-treatment , Threat #4—diet and Threat #5—Medications.

This week we’re going to discus Threat #6, Overall Health. Several conditions can contribute to gum disease but diabetes is one of the most significant. How so?

Diabetics, totaling over 20 million Americans as of 2005 according to the Center for Disease Control, are highly susceptible to micro circulatory system problems, which puts them at a greater risk for gum disease.

Why? Because when the micro circulatory system suffers, the little blood vessels and veins responsible for carrying antibodies and oxygen to various parts of the body are compromised. 

When this happens, toxins and other by-products are not removed as quickly or thoroughly as before.  Gum disease is often a common result.

But that’s not the only overall health risk affecting healthy gums. Others include seizure disorders and pregnancy gingivitis.  

Seizure sufferers, who often take medications that can cause gum “growth,” find it difficult to keep their teeth and gums healthy without regular cleaning.

Pregnancy gingivitis, on the other hand, often occurs when pregnant women experience a change in hormonal concentrations causing their gums to swell and become inflamed. 

While pregnant women with this condition typically respond easily to home care, and the condition usually goes away after childbirth, it does pose a significant risk to the baby if not properly treated.  

Why? Because gum disease is a contributing factor to low birth weight in babies, a condition that can have long-term affects on development and the child’s health.

To learn more about how you can avoid these health concerns contact our dental health consultants at (804) 320-6800.

If you were with us for the last four issues, you’ll recall Threat #1 to your dental health was Neglect, either by you or your dentist, Threat #2—Under-treatment, Threat #3—Over-treatment and Threat #4—diet.

This week we’re going to discus Threat #5, Medications.

Ironically, the very medicines that are supposed to help you, could be making your health worse. You see, the single most common problem with medications is the dry-mouth effect they produce.

This probably seems simple enough to fix, right? Just drink more water.

The only problem with that is your saliva, packed full of antibodies, fights the bacteria and the poisons they generate in order to keep your mouth healthy.   

Without adequate saliva you increase your risk of dental decay.

Over time this decay permeates your gums growing steadily worse until your gum line begins receding and the roots of your teeth are exposed. 

Add sweets, soft drinks and other junk food to the mix and you’ve developed the perfect cocktail for major health complications.

The good news is there are two things you can do to help fight this problem.   

1. Use artificial saliva or a saliva increaser, such as Oral Balance.
2. Use strong prescription strength fluoride on a regular basis, something stronger even than what you can get over the counter, in toothpastes or mouthwashes. 

With regular use either one of these will go a long way to protecting your health and your teeth for a lifetime.

For more info, contact our dental health consultants at (804) 320-6800.

If you were with us for the last three issues, you’ll recall Threat #1 to your dental health was Neglect, either by you or your dentist, Threat #2 was Under-treatment and Threat #3 was Over-treatment.

This month we’re going to discus Threat #4, Diet. From age 6 to 96, diet is the most common culprit in tooth decay and other dental problems.

It often starts when we are young children receiving candies, cakes and colas without proper instruction in dental care, like the need to brush your teeth or rinse your mouth out with water after any sweets are consumed. 

The next “danger zone” is the teenage years when children receive less supervision and more independence to decide what they’ll eat after school, at their part-time jobs, etc.

The third at-risk age group is the 22 to 32 year-olds.  During this phase, they are so busy juggling getting their first jobs, moving, buying cars, getting married, etc. that dentistry often gets put off until “later.”  Many times it isn’t until they have children of their own and become more settled that the importance of good dental health sinks in.   

Once this happens, gum disease has often already taken hold and started a downward spiral that cannot be stopped without dental intervention and a renewed commitment to dental care.

By the time it reaches this stage, many adults experience bad breath or bleeding when they brush their teeth. 

Unfortunately, their first reaction is often to begin using mints or to stop brushing their teeth, both of which worsen their condition.

The only thing they DON’T stop is the intake of sweets and sodas that caused the problem in the first place.

Now I’m not saying you must cut out all sweets and sodas from  your diet in order o have healthy teeth. What I am saying is that you should take some precautions during and after enjoying these treats like:        

• Do NOT nurse a soda over the course of hours. This causes the pH level in your mouth to remain high and the sugars to do their worst to your teeth.
• When you finish a soda or sweet treat, rinse your mouth out with water to remove the sugars and return the acidity in your mouth to a normal level.

If you were with us for the last two issues, you’ll recall Threat #1 to your dental health was Neglect, either by you or your dentist, and Threat #2 was Under-treatment.

This month we’re discussing Threat #3, Over-treatment.  

How does a dentist over-treat a patient? By not getting clear on exactly what the patient wants.

For example, let’s say a patient walks into the dentist’s office and tells her, “I want a whiter, brighter, pretty smile.”  

A dentist’s first task would be to carefully evaluate the current health of her patient’s teeth, observing the position of each tooth, look, color, shape and overall condition.

Once those steps are complete, the dentist would likely move on to discussing possible treatments with the patient including selectively straightening specific teeth and then bleaching all of them. 

Now, that could be a relatively simple thing to do.  It would not require a lot of dental care and could range from $1,000.00 to $2,000.00 from start to finish.

Over-treatment rears its ugly head when the dentist doesn’t get clear on the fact that this is  ALL the patient  REALLY wants.   Instead they assume the patient is looking for, or should be looking for, “the perfect smile.”  

Now, over-treatment is not nearly as risky to your health as the others we’ll cover, but it does put the strong-arm on your wallet.

Moral of the story? Get clear on what you want then make sure your dentist is reading from the same page.

Tune in next week for the most common dental threat of all!

Last week we revealed that Threat No. 1 was personal and dentist neglect.

This week, we’re going to discuss Threat No. 2, “Undertreatment.”

By this I mean you’re not getting the care you should for one of three reasons. 

Reason #1: Your dentist hasn’t performed a complete evaluation. Every patient deserves a complete examination and thorough analysis. Next should come a complete treatment plan presented to you in detail. 

For many people with major problems this is not a five-minute look-see clinical exam and a little bit of conversation.  It requires a whole series of X-rays, photographs, molds of your teeth, registration of how your bite works and other aids to help understand and diagnose what is going on. 

Reason #2: Under-planning for the care required.  This usually happens when your dentist is unaware of the different parts and pieces that can affect you as a patient. When that’s the case three things can happen. 

One, decay may not be taken care of and prevented properly.  Two, gum disease goes untreated.

Three, your bite mechanism is poorly assessed or ignored completely.

Reason #3:

Under-presenting.  In this situation the doctor does not tell you the whole story.  Shockingly, the primary reason for this is a fear on the dentist’s part that you will not return if he delivers “bad news.”

Bottom-line? Ask lots of questions and don’t be afraid to seek a second opinion!

Did you know there are seven threats to having a beautiful smile and healthy teeth for life?

And that YOU can easily prevent every single one of them?  Learn about them by joining me over the next several months in a journey to personal beauty.

Threat # 1–Neglect

Personal Neglect includes not brushing your teeth, not flossing, not seeing a dentist regularly, etc. This usually happens for one of three reasons.   One, you haven’t seen a dentist in a long time and are afraid of what they’ll find. Two, you have a real fear of the dentist. Three, you simply don’t want to be lectured.

While there isn’t much a dentist can do about the first reason, there’s plenty we can do about the other two.  

When it comes to a fear of the dentist, great dentists pride themselves on an excellent chair-side manner, listening to your concerns, aiding you through the process in any way they can and even using sedation dentistry where necessary.  

As for the third reason, well that’s why offices like ours employ a strict “no lecture zone” policy. No lectures, just solutions.

Now, that’s the first half of neglect, but did you know there’s another form that is just as important? 

It’s called Dentist’s Neglect and it occurs when your dentist fails to keep you informed about your complete dental health. The most common form of this is advising patients to “just get dentures” when they face big  dental problems. 

Having treated hundreds of patients with dentures, I know the only problem with them is they’re a lot like oral wigs. Oral wigs that can move up to an inch during function! 

My advice? Evaluate the caliber of your dentist and start brushing and cleaning between your teeth regularly. You wouldn’t dream of going without deodorant or not taking a shower every day. Give your teeth the respect and care they deserve.

Can your smile increase your paycheck?  A surprising answer.

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