Never Accept Slippery Dentures
Patients come to us from all over Plano, TX and the surrounding area to get fantastic dental care for the entire family. We offer solutions that are unique and completely beneficial to you: our patients!
When it comes to something like dentures, we want our patients to know first and foremost that we are behind you every step of this journey. We place dentures, and we believe that for some patients, dentures are the best solution.
However, that isn’t the case for all patients. In fact, most patients benefit from a more stable and secure solution. Dental implants offer a major improvement over dentures, and we would love to take time today to explain exactly why that is!
Let’s take a look at the real problem with dentures, why they remain popular, and what you can do to improve your denture experience.
Why Are Dentures Slippery?
The most common complaint about dentures is that they are slippery! Slippery dentures means that your teeth just won’t stay in place! You can use denture adhesive, but you’ll never actually feel like your dentures are supposed to be a part of your mouth. Why is that?
Loss of Bone
When you lose your natural teeth, your jawbone no longer has a reason to supply a foundation. Just as the roots of trees and plants keep soil from eroding, the roots of your teeth keep your jawbone from losing mass and fading away.
Your dentures are made to fit your gums and jawbone structure, so when your jawbone fades, your dentures become loose. You can have them adjusted, but it is a lifelong process to keep a good fit for your dentures.
No Real Stability
The result of a loss of bone density is that you have no real stability. Your dentures slip and slide and get lifted off of your gums. You can’t even enjoy the food you can eat because your teeth won’t allow it. As a result, your body suffers from poor nutrition, and your health declines. All as a result of your dentures’ lack of stability!
Why Do So Many People Wear Them?
If what we say is true, why do so many people still purchase and wear dentures? There are few factors working here that we would like to hit. Most have to deal with the fact that people just don’t know any better!
Don’t Know Other Options: If you don’t know that there are better options than dentures, why would you look for them? Most dental offices in the country only offer dentures as a total restoration option. If you don’t see the alternatives, you won’t know to ask for them!
Familiarity: If everyone you know wears dentures, why would you not also wear dentures? We are creatures of habit. So when your parents, family members, neighbors, and friends are all wearing dentures, you probably will as well.
Easy Cost: Even for patients who know of the alternatives, the prices of dentures is very attractive. Patients don’t realize the future costs of purchasing more dentures, having poor health, being uncomfortable, etc. They only see that initial price tag and look no further.
Implant Retained Dentures
The good news is that there ARE other options and through education, more and more people are turning to dental implants for their smile restorations. There are many benefits to this decision, but we would like to highlight three of our favorite reasons to choose implant retained dentures over traditional dentures.
Save Your Bone
As we mentioned earlier, the jawbone needs something to hold it in place. Dental implants offer just that! The implant is placed directly into the bone, and the bone actually fuses with the titanium implant through a process called osseointegration. Your bone will remain stable, and your profile will retain its youthful look!
Eat What You Want
Never pass on your favorite foods because of your teeth again! Implant retained dentures hold your teeth securely in place so that you can chew and enjoy your food once more! The immediate improvement will be obvious to you! Your nutrition doesn’t have to suffer just because you are wearing dentures!
Feel Confident
You’ll never have to worry about your dentures slipping out of your mouth, your smile being crooked, or having an embarrassing moment while you chew your food. Implant retained dentures make all the difference for your confidence level! You’ll feel like you finally have your smile back, and nothing is better than that!
Contact us today to set up a consultation or appointment where you can learn more about implant retained dentures. We would LOVE to help you get the smile you’ve been missing.
Why Regular Denture Fittings Are Necessary
When you first get your dentures, you will feel fantastic! After all, you’ve been living with a problem smile for quite some time, and the dentures will greatly improve that situation. You’ll finally be able to enjoy some foods again, and your spirits will be high. It won’t be long before you discover that the fit of your dentures isn’t all that you thought it was. This event will begin your dentures’ lifetime of routine fittings.
It’s surprising to us that some denture wearers don’t take the time to have fittings done. Every patient, at some point, will need the fit of their dentures adjusted because when you don’t have teeth, your jawbone changes shape. By avoiding these appointments, the patient is choosing to have ill-fitting dentures, which will lead to painful sores from dentures that slip all the time. Dentures that aren’t fitted properly will not be comfortable to wear and will make things like chewing and speaking very difficult.
The Wise Path of Denture Fittings
When your natural teeth are gone, there are no roots to hold your bone in place, and so it begins to lose mass and change shape. This changes the fit of your dentures, causing the need for an adjustment. We can check the fit of your dentures at each of your routine appointments, or you can call us if you notice a change in fit before you are scheduled to return. We will adjust your teeth so that they fit close to your gums once again, leaving you with your confident smile!
Denture patients who refuse to come in for appointments will soon suffer the consequences of poorly-fitting dentures and all of the discomfort that comes with that. Contact us today to set up your next appointment. Let us know how your dentures are feeling, and we’ll take a look as well. If any improvements can be made, we will take care of them!
Understand Your Mouthguard Options
If you or someone you love is involved in athletics of any kind, you will need to invest in mouth protection of some sort. Even sports that don’t involve much contact, like running and biking, can pose a considerable risk to your smile. There are all sorts of mouthguards on the market, but not all are worth investing in. Take a look at our buyer’s guide below, and find out what kind of mouthguard would be best for the athlete in your home!
Stock Mouthguards
The stock mouthguard is the least expensive mouthguard available. You can find these almost anywhere, and many people get suckered into buying them because of their convenience and price. The problem is that these mouthguards offer no customization for your smile. They are big, bulky, and make it difficult to breathe and speak. Athletes hesitate to wear them because they are so uncomfortable.
Boil and Bite Mouthguards
Another type of mouthguard is the boil and bite. This mouthguard is one step up from the stock, but it is not much improved. There is some customization, but this guard is still much too bulky for an athlete. Being able to breathe and communicate is essential, and any mouthguard that limits that ability should be left on the shelf.
Custom Mouthguards
A custom mouthguard is on the top of the list for effective comfort and protection. We make them here in the office using impressions of your teeth. We use top-of-the-line Under Armour guards. These mouthguards are sleek, comfortable, and do not impede your ability to compete. You can breathe and communicate effectively, which is very important during athletics!
A mouthguard is an essential aspect of protection. The small investment in a quality guard will be a small price compared to paying for tons of dental work should an injury occur. Contact us today to set up an appointment to learn more about mouthguards. We would love to make sure you are fully covered on the field.
Will That Missing Tooth Ruin Your Feast?
Tomorrow is one of our truly American holidays. We love Thanksgiving and all that it represents here in the office! The driving ideas behind this holiday are some of the best: thankfulness, love, gratitude, and joy. We hope you have many special people to celebrate with, and we hope that you have a feast planned! We also hope that your teeth are in good shape to enjoy that feast!
Many things can cause you to have difficulty chewing: sensitive teeth, a broken tooth, an untreated cavity, an infected tooth, loose dentures, or a missing tooth. Let’s focus on the missing tooth because we sometimes aren’t aware that a missing tooth can cause chewing to become very difficult! Patients think that they will be able to just chew on the other side, without fully realizing how uncomfortable that would be.
Treating a Missing Tooth
If you are missing a tooth, you are probably aware of how tiresome it gets to only chew on one side of your mouth. You know better than anyone that it is time to replace your missing tooth with a dental restoration. Let’s get started as soon as the holiday is over. Make this your last unenjoyed feast! We have several restoration options, but the best will be a dental implant. This restoration is so thorough and natural that you’ll wish you had never hesitated!
Don’t allow a missing tooth to ruin this favorite American holiday. Get a restoration that will last. Get a dental implant and never miss out on your favorite feast again! Contact us today to set up a consultation. We can’t wait to get to work!
Dental Appointments While Pregnant
Congratulations! We love hearing that our patients are going to be new parents because it is such an exciting time for families. By now you’re probably digging into all sorts of websites and books to learn about what you should and should not do for the next nine months! There is more information out there than you could ever use, but one piece of advice we completely agree with: schedule a dental appointment!
There are a lot of changes going on in your body right now, and most of those changes are directly related to the increase in hormonal activity. You’ll see it in your skin, the amount of time you want to sleep, and your general attitude towards others. You’ll also see it in your gums. Gums are more sensitive and more susceptible to gum disease while you are pregnant. This is a big problem because gum disease is also linked to preterm births.
Maintaining Oral Health
Flossing and brushing have never been more important. To protect yourself from gum disease, you’ll need to maintain those daily routines, but you’ll also need to schedule dental appointments. Try to schedule one early in your pregnancy, and another later in your pregnancy to ensure that everything is in good shape for your delivery! Once your new baby comes, you’ll be pretty busy, and a dental appointment will be the last thing on your mind!
Dental appointments while pregnant are very important when it comes to protecting your baby from preterm birth, and keeping your mouth comfortable. Contact us today to set up your appointments. We can’t wait to hear from you, and we definitely can’t wait to see you and your bump!
Zoom! Teeth Whitening in Plano, Texas
Did you know that some foods could improve the appearance of your pearly whites? For example, strawberries contain enzymes (Vitamin C and malic acid) that can whiten your teeth. It has a natural astringent that removes surface stains and clears out the plaque. Apples, carrots, and celery work as nature’s toothbrush because they eliminate excess food and scrub away the stains. However, if your teeth are discolored, you need to consult Dr. John M. Hucklebridge of Plano Smile Studio clinic and get the needed treatment. One of the best ways to whiten your teeth would be through the Zoom! Teeth Whitening system.
During your consultation, he will investigate the cause of the discoloration, review your medical/oral health, perform a comprehensive examination of your mouth, and recommend the best treatment for you.
Your health care professional will ask about your oral hygiene, diet, medical condition, and your lifestyle habits. This will help him trace the root cause of the problem. Take note that the discoloration can be due to a poor oral hygiene, smoking, aging, consumption of certain food and drinks, trauma, antibiotics, and overexposure to fluoride. He may ask you to quit smoking as it can affect the color of your teeth.
Your dentist will evaluate your oral health by checking for enamel thickness, receding gums, sensitivity, decay, and other oral diseases.
Once he verifies that you’re a suitable candidate for Zoom! Teeth Whitening, he will begin with the actual procedure by covering your gums, tongue, and cheeks. This serves as protection during the application of the bleaching agent.
Then, the whitening gel will be applied directly on your teeth for about 15 minutes and activates it using a special light. The process is repeated two times. After the procedure, you will be given a take-home whitening kit to maintain the radiance of your smile.
Your Plano TX dentist can brighten you teeth using Zoom! Teeth Whitening. For more information, please feel free to call 972.398.2550.
Don’t Let Dry Mouth Ruin Your Summer Plans
Maintaining a healthy smile has many elements! One element you might not think about very much is your saliva production, but let us be the first to tell you: saliva is important! Saliva is an imperative part of your oral hygiene because it cleanses your mouth routinely. Your saliva is what washes bacteria and food particles away after you eat, which protects you from decay. If you have dry mouth, there is nothing to was that bacteria away, and you are left at a much higher risk for tooth decay! To help you battle dry mouth this summer, we’ve put together a list of some easy ways to boost your saliva production!
1) Drink Water
There’s absolutely nothing better than drinking a glass of ice water on a hot day! That water hydrates your body and allows more saliva to be produced. Remember, water is different from soda. Soda will not hydrate your body!
2) Chew Sugar-free Gum and Candy
Saliva production is at it’s highest when you are chewing. Chewing sugar-free gum, or sucking on sugar-free candy, is a great way to boost your saliva production.
3) Sleep with a Humidifier
A cool-mist humidifier is a great addition to your bedroom if you suffer from dry mouth. This moist air will help moisten your mouth while you sleep!
4) Check Your Prescriptions
Prescription medication is known for causing dry mouth. If you are having trouble keeping your mouth hydrated, it might be time to discuss a switch of prescriptions with your doctor!
5) Schedule a Dental Appointment
If you can’t get the dry mouth under control using the techniques above, it is definitely time for an appointment! There may be a more serious underlying problem at hand!
Controlling dry mouth is essential for the health of your smile. Be intentional about keeping your saliva production up, and you will see an improvement in your oral health. Contact us today to set up an appointment. Bring us your questions about dry mouth and other ways to improve the health of your smile! We’d love to see you soon!
An Orthodontic Solution for Adults
Adults wearing braces isn’t a very common sight around Plano, TX. Usually we see kids or teens with orthodontics, not adults. Yet, there are many adults out there who could really benefit from orthodontic care.
We definitely know why adults aren’t seeking braces: they don’t want to be labeled tinsel teeth at work! Who wants to attend a staff meeting, a parent-teacher conference, or go on a date with metal mouth?
There is an option that allows adults to get the orthodontic care they need without any worry of being embarrassed: Invisalign. Invisalign makes the process completely comfortable and embarrassment-free.
Today we want to talk about how adults can benefit from orthodontic care and how Invisalign can make the difference between an unhealthy and a healthy smile!
Braces Benefit 25% of Adults
The statistic might surprise you. After all, don’t people get orthodontic treatment as kids? Why would adults need care? That’s easy to say if you have already had braces or if you were told you didn’t need them.
However, you should know that not all kids who need braces can afford them. Not all kids who need braces even see a dentist. Sometimes patients don’t find out that they need orthodontic work until they are adults.
Let’s talk about the top three reasons adults should consider orthodontic care.
Confidence: It’s difficult to be confident when you aren’t happy with your smile. Gaps, crowded teeth, or crooked teeth can have you hiding your smile behind your hands and lips.
Health: Crooked and crowded teeth are more difficult to keep clean. Decay and infection are more prominent in these smiles, so orthodontics can make a big difference to a smile’s health.
Comfort: Teeth that are misaligned are not comfortable. They lead to issues with teeth grinding, difficult chewing, jaw pain, and sometimes even broken teeth because the two arches of teeth simply cannot fit together correctly.
Not Your Traditional Braces
You realize that you need orthodontic work, but nothing is going to make you wear traditional metal braces. We don’t blame you, but we can still help! The Invisalign system allows adults to get the work they need without a single moment of embarrassment!
Invisalign Clear Aligners
Invisalign clear aligners are state-of-the-art appliances that move your teeth efficiently without anyone around you noticing the treatment! The procedure is a series of plastic aligners that we create to put pressure on your teeth. Every two weeks, you will switch your aligner out for the next in the system.
Each aligner carefully alters the alignment of your teeth until you have a beautiful smile! You’ll keep your final aligner to serve as a retainer so that you can maintain your new smile for the rest of your life!
Aside from the aesthetic advantage of invisible braces, Invisalign offers other benefits as well.
Shorter Treatment Time
Traditional metal braces require two-three years for treatment. It’s bad enough to have to wear metal braces, but to wear them for years seems incredibly unlikely! Invisalign treatment is complete within 12-18 months!
Comfort
There are many reasons to avoid metal in your mouth, and comfort should be at the top of that list. Wires and brackets rubbing against your lips, cheeks, and tongue are not comfortable! Invisalign aligners ARE comfortable. The surfaces are smooth so nothing gets caught on your soft tissues, and your smile remains safe!
The Smile of Your Dreams
Here’s the bottom line: you can get the smile of your dreams without ever feeling the embarrassment of metal braces. If you’ve been needing orthodontic care for years, this is the time to get that care!
Contact us today to set up an appointment or consultation! We know we can help your smile, so call today! We can’t wait to show you what is available to you!
Three Dental Cosmetic works For Your Big Day
Preparing for a big day is an exciting time for the entire family or group of friends surrounding you. Whether it is a wedding, a big birthday, or some other big event, we know you’ll want to look your best for the pictures! If your smile has been bothering you, now is the time to take steps to correct the problem! Here are a few things we can take care of right here in the office!
Tissue Re-sculpting – For a gummy smile, we have the ability to completely reshape your tissue, elongating your teeth and creating a more attractive look. We can do this with minimal discomfort to you, just in time for your big event.
Veneers – If your teeth are flawed in some way, we can apply veneers, which are thin porcelain covers that will completely change the look of your smile. We take an artistic approach, ensuring that your veneers look natural and fit the rest of your mouth.
Whitening – For patients who like the look of their teeth, but hate the color, we offer whitening services. We offer several ways to whiten, making the experience comfortable for every patient.
Don’t wait any longer to start preparing for your big day! We can get your smile in shape while you focus on everything else! If you want to know more about Porcelain Veneers or set up an appointment, call us today. Let us know what you’d like to see happen for your smile, and we’ll let you know what’s available!
Great Dentistry for the Whole Family
Great family dentists are difficult to come by in Plano, TX. There are lots of us out there, but in order to find the right doc for your family, there are many things to consider.
You want to find a dentist who is highly skilled and qualified to take care of your kids’ smiles. You’ll also want someone that you can see for your own teeth! You want an office that is comfortable, fun, and a great place for your kids to learn the ropes of great oral care.
Your family needs Plano Smile Studios. We begin with chubby baby smiles and work out way up to patients who are saying goodbye to their natural teeth. We can see every member of your family, and we’d like to start soon!
Let’s spend some time today talking about the importance of getting your kids off to a solid start for oral health. After all, we know that a great adult smile begins as soon as those baby teeth appear.
Getting a Great Start
Your baby’s teeth are extremely important! Those sharp little bits are the placeholders for adult teeth, so it is important that you begin great dental health NOW, just as they’re beginning to grow! It won’t be long before that baby turns into a toddler who is wanting to do things on his own!
Have you heard a toddler say, “I do it MYSELF!” yet? Don’t worry, it’s coming soon!
Keeping Teeth Clean
The first priority is to keep those teeth clean. Whether a baby, toddler, or teenager, keeping teeth clean is very important so that decay and infection are prevented. It’s easy for the baby because you can simply wipe down those gums and teeth with a cloth during bathtime. It gets more difficult as your child ages and wants control.
Teaching the Process
The best thing you can do is teach the process from an early age. Help your child learn to hold the brush, move floss through teeth, and cover all the surfaces of his mouth. The sooner your little one learns these tasks, the more confident you can be that the knowledge and habit will last a lifetime!
Maintain Routine
As your children age, maintaining a routine becomes more and more difficult. You have many more things on your plate than you used to! All of a sudden, you aren’t just managing your own schedule, but you are also managing practices, events, lessons, playdates, and whatever else comes up!
Create a Schedule
A household routine schedule is a great idea! Just as your kids need to know the expectations of rules in your home, they also need to know the expectation of routine. Your family needs time set aside for dental care or it just won’t happen! Create a schedule that works for your family, and adjust it as needed!
Get the Kids Involved
If you want your kids to follow the routine and schedule, you should let them be a part of the decision making process! Not only will this ensure that your kids are on board for the plan, but it will also help them make their own schedules in the future! Ask them where they need time, and let them drive things!
Treatment That Works
Ultimately, your family needs dental treatment that WORKS. You need an office you can trust to give you great care because you never know what is going to come around the bend next! We benefit our patients by doing two things. First, we know your kids and their teeth! Second, we help your child become an advocate for his own smile.
Knowing Your Kids’ Teeth
Bring your kids in for dental appointments early and often. Those teeth change a LOT every six months, and we need to see those changes happening! Your kids will benefit the most because we will know their smiles inside and out! We will be able to spot a problem sooner and get help to that smile faster.
Making Your Child an Advocate
As your child grows in our office, you will notice a level of comfort and trust between your child and our office staff. It comes from knowing a place really well. Over time, you will stop asking the questions, and your child will begin. During an appointment, we will ask the patient for information so that even young patients learn to become an advocate for themselves. They learn what to look for and how to respond to a caring health professional.
Finding great family dental care is about more than just taking care of those special smiles. Almost anyone can do that, but it takes a special office to build trusting relationships with kids, and that’s what we try to do every day.
Contact us soon to set up an appointment for yourself or your kids. We can’t wait to get to know your family and help you make great decisions for your family’s oral health!
The Most Comfortable Tooth Extraction Possible
There are some dental procedures that patients hope they’ll never have to experience. A root canal is probably at the top of that list, followed closely by a tooth extraction. Losing a tooth as a kid is one thing, but having a dentist pull a tooth is something else entirely. Here at Plano Smile Studio, we make extractions as easy as we can with the assistance of sedation dentistry.
Reasons for Extractions
Extractions can happen for any number of reasons. We sometimes do a dental extraction for patients whose tooth is beyond repair due to infection or decay, but more often we remove teeth to make more room in the mouth. Sometimes wisdom teeth need to come out, or teeth that would hinder orthodontic treatment. Of course, if you are making the switch the dentures, we need to remove any remaining teeth.
Sedation
Having an extraction can be completely comfortable. We will use an anesthetic around the tooth to be extracted, but we can also make you feel more comfortable by providing you with sedation. The sedative will make you feel more relaxed while we work, providing the perfect environment for an otherwise stressful experience.
We try to achieve the most comfortable Dental Extraction possible, and we succeed for almost all of our patients. Contact us to learn more about extractions and why it might be necessary for you. We’d love to talk about it with you!
Help Your Family to Love Drinking Water
Getting your family excited about healthy eating is easier said than done, especially when you have kids! Yet, parents have been getting around the sighs and groans for decades by making healthy food attractive to their kids. We sometimes cut it into funny shapes or serve it with a special dipping sauce. We do whatever we can to get our kids to eat well, and we should do the same when it comes to beverage choices.
Juice and sports drinks seem a lot healthier than soft drinks because they are, but they still aren’t really healthy. The amount of sugar in those drinks is astounding, and kids who drink a lot of these beverages will see decay. The best beverage to drink throughout the day is water, but how do you convince your child to give up the juice for water? Be creative!
Creative Water Solutions
Getting kids excited about water is all about making water exciting, at least at first. You know your child, so you know what will work best. We see parents putting water in special pitchers in the fridge so that it’s a special drink. Maybe using special shaped ice cubes or a special cup will do the trick. If your child loves fruit, why not toss some fruit into the water pitcher? Frozen strawberries or apples, or even fresh would do the trick!
Once you make water fun and exciting, you will see a family that is more willing to drink more water. Maybe you don’t like water. Look online and find recipes for adding some flavor to water without adding sugar or calories! Contact us to set up your next appointment. We can’t wait to hear about your success!
Plano Texas, Don’t Worry, Get Dental Implants Instead
Alligators could be the key to tooth replacement in humans. Until that’s actually possible, we have dental implants.
A team of researchers has been studying alligators because they can regrow their teeth up to 50 times during their lives, according to Smithsonianmag.com. As people, we lose our baby teeth naturally, but if our adult teeth fall out, they aren’t coming back. Imagine if we could regrow our teeth. Then our team at Plano Smile Studio- Plano Dentist might not care so much about getting you to brush and floss and to visit us for routine cleanings.
If your tooth got infected, you could just pull it out, confident that a new one would grow in its place. Since that isn’t going to happen anytime soon, dental implants are the next best thing to regrowing your teeth.
How Bad Is One Missing Tooth?
You may be thinking that losing a tooth can’t be that bad. If you know someone who has lost a tooth or teeth, we encourage you to ask their opinion. From our perspective, we have seen how a lost tooth can take a toll on our patients’ oral health. Your teeth provide mutual support for one another. When you lose a tooth, then the teeth on either side of the gap lose a direct part of their support structure. Indirectly, all the teeth in that arch could be affected as well. Without the missing tooth, your teeth can start to shift out of position. This can affect your ability to bite and chew your food. You may find foods like nuts become too hard to handle. You also may find chewing things like steak and chicken becomes more and more difficult.
When you lose a tooth, you also start to lose bone density in your jaw. As that bone loss spreads, it could affect the closest teeth. They could come loose or fall out, which will only speed up the bone loss and put even more of your teeth at risk. When you lost a tooth as a child, you learned how it can affect how your pronounce words. If you lose a tooth as an adult, the same thing can happen. The difference is something we consider cute in children can seem embarrassing for an adult.
More Than A Physical Problem
Teeth definitely serve an important role in our digestive process. They are the tools we use to start breaking down our food into the nutrients we need to remain healthy. But our teeth also affect our self-esteem. We have seen this in patients who have lost teeth. Many of them become self-conscious, which makes them hesitant to smile. Sometimes they will go out of their way to hide their teeth from other people. This may mean putting their hands over their mouths when they speak or holding a napkin near their mouth while they eat.
For an adult, a missing tooth can affect their ability to do their jobs. especially if you are more worried about a client or customer seeing your teeth than in providing him or her with good service.
You Won’t Have To Worry With Dental Implants
When you lose a tooth, you have two gaps. The gap that everyone can see is the space between your dental crowns. The other gap is below the gumline in your alveolar bone. The root of your tooth was anchored to the alveolar bone. A dental implant can be used to replace the missing root. After your implant is placed, the bone will start to heal. As it heals, it will bond to your implant just as it does to the roots of your natural teeth. This holds the implant firmly place.
A dental crown can be placed on your implant to replace a single tooth. A dental bridge can replace multiple teeth, and dentures can be attached to multiple implants to replace a full arch of teeth. In all of those instances, dental implants provide the foundation to revive your smile, to restore your ability to speak like you always could, and to eat anything that you want to eat.
Within months of getting your implants, your bite force may be close to its original strength (which is between 200 and 250 pounds). With time, your bite force can even get back to 100 percent.
Get Back Your Bite
Our sincere hope is that you will never need a dental implant because you will keep all your adult teeth for the rest of your life. But if something should happen due to tooth decay or an accident, then you can be confident that you can keep eating — and keep smiling — with the help of dental implants.
To learn more about how our dental implants can help you, contact Plano Smile Studio by calling at 972-398-2550 or by filling out our online appointment form.
Information to Boost Your Oral Hygiene Routine
Our society has taken great strides in improving dental health. This is, in part, due to the ease of spreading information. We can reach students in school, but we can begin earlier than that with advertisements on television and the internet. Due to this ability to inform our society, you, no doubt, have heard that brushing and flossing are good activities that prevent cavities. However, there is a lot more to it than that. We’ve put together some little known facts about your oral hygiene routine that we hope you will find beneficial.
1) Floss Removes 40% of Bacteria
You knew flossing was important, but did you realize that it removes almost half of the bacteria from the surfaces of your teeth? Floss before your brush to loosen and remove bacteria before brushing it away completely.
2) To Brush Correctly Means at Least Two Minutes
To really cover every surface in your mouth thoroughly, you should brush for at least two minutes per session. This also allows the fluoride in your toothpaste more time to benefit your teeth.
3) Not All Mouthrinses Are Created As Equals
If you want a mouthrinse that will truly benefit your teeth, you need to grab an antibacterial or antiseptic mouthrinse. This is the only kind that will actually remove bacteria from your mouth.
Improving your oral hygiene is sometimes just a matter of knowing better. Once you realize the work that those simple cleaning tasks are doing, it makes it easier to complete those tasks. Contact us today to set up your next exam and cleaning. We’d love to help you get a happier healthier smile!
Five Ways To Ruin Your Teeth in 2016
At the Plano Smile Studio, we wish you and your family a happy and healthy new year.
We strive to provide complete dental care for our patients in and around Plano, TX. We can do everything from cleanings to orthodontics to oral surgery under one roof. Our hope is that you will take advantage of the services we offer as part of our general dentistry practice, and that means we hope to see your smiling face at least a couple times in 2016.
We know routine care is essential to maintaining your oral health. With that in mind, we encourage you to make the effort to keep your teeth and gums as healthy as possible during the upcoming year. If you don’t think your oral health is important, here are five ways you can ruin your teeth in 2016.
#1. Do Not Brush Your Teeth
The American Dental Association encourages everyone to brush their teeth twice a day for two minutes each time. When you brush, the ADA also recommends using a soft-bristled toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste. Brushing your teeth removes bacteria and plaque inside your mouth.
This is bad for the bacteria. It lives inside your mouth so it can build plaque. If you remove the plaque, then it can’t turn into tartar. With the tartar (which can’t be removed by brushing), the bacteria may not get to eat into your tooth. And that means the bacteria won’t get to give you tooth decay and damage your teeth, either.
#2. Do Not Floss
The ADA says that everyone should be flossing every single day. If you don’t like flossing, then you could try using another interdental device like flossers or irrigators (like the WaterPik). Why are you supposed to floss? Well, your toothbrush is great for cleaning the surface of your teeth, but it’s not as good at cleaning between your teeth or between your teeth and gums. These are great places for the bacteria that cause plaque to hide from your toothbrush. So, if all you do is brush, then the bacteria can grow where it can cause gum disease, also called periodontal disease.
Mild gum disease can be treated with regular brushing and flossing, but if you don’t floss, then the gum disease can become more severe. Serious gum disease can cause your teeth to feel loose and even fall out.
#3. Do Not Visit The Dentist
At Plano Smile Studio, we like our patients to visit us two to four times per year for professional cleanings and examinations. During your cleaning, our dental hygienist will remove any plaque and tartar growing on your teeth. If your hygienist sees signs of gum disease, then you may receive treatment to stop it from getting worse. Of course, if you never come to the dentist, then we won’t clean your teeth or treat your gum disease. This will allow you to have both problems at the same time.
#4. Ignore Your Toothache
If you start to feel pain in your tooth, then you should schedule a visit at our office as soon as possible. If your tooth is causing you to suffer, that likely means that your tooth decay has reached the pulp inside your tooth. This is the part of your tooth where you have blood vessels and nerves. This can make it painful to eat, and it may make hot drinks like coffee or cool treats like ice cream unbearable. This is a sign that your tooth is a risk. Your infection could spread to more teeth if you don’t get treatment.
#5. Don’t Treat Your Gum Disease
As you gum disease gets more advanced, you will notice that your gums are bleeding much more easily. Your gums may feel sensitive, and you may have noticed that they are starting to pull away from your teeth. You might even start to see pus between your teeth and gums. This is clear indication that you have periodontitis, a severe case of gum disease. Without treatment, the infection could cause an abscess at the root of your tooth, which could lead to your needing a root canal.
Keep Your Teeth
We have treated patients who have lost teeth, and we are confident that they would tell you that keeping your teeth is a much better option.
The best way to have a healthy mouth is to brush and floss daily and to visit Plano Smile Studio for routine cleanings at least twice a year.
If you would like to keep you teeth, call us or use our online form to make an appointment.
Give Your Loved One a New Smile | Plano, TX
Happy holidays Plano! Welcome back to the ongoing dental health blog of the Plano Smile Studio. In our last post, we suggested purchasing a professional teeth whitening treatment for your loved ones this holiday season. Several patients have called our office to enquire about other treatments which might make good gifts from our Plano cosmetic dental clinic.
We love the idea of our patients helping their loved ones achieve a brand new smile through cosmetic dentistry work in Plano, TX. So in today’s post, we’re going to provide more information about a couple of cosmetic dentistry procedures available at our comfortable and modern office. Cosmetic dentistry can truly change someone’s life by reshaping their smile; giving them higher self-esteem and self-confidence in the workplace and their daily life.
At our Plano cosmetic dental clinic, we’ve helped countless patients with porcelain veneers and Invisalign. In today’s post of our dental health blog, we’re going to give you an overview of these two wonder cosmetic dental treatments and how they can benefit your loved ones.
Reshape a Smile with Porcelain Veneers
Porcelain veneers are thin but durable shell which we can bonded onto the enamel of your loved one’s teeth. Veneers are one of the best tools in all of cosmetic dentistry because they are are quick and painless to apply. We reduce a small amount of enamel from their teeth then apply the veneers. Our veneers are a great way to mask discolored teeth which won’t respond to teeth whitening, close gaps between teeth without orthodontic treatments, or cover chipped or broken teeth. At our Plano cosmetic dental clinic, we offer Empress veneers. Empress veneers are the strongest and most durable veneers available; clinical trials have shown them to be nearly twice as durable as conventional porcelain veneers.
Veneers are used to mimic the appearance of natural teeth. Porcelain reflects light in the same way as your normal teeth, so no one will know your loved one had cosmetic dental work performed. At our Plano cosmetic dental clinic we can apply one veneer to cover a chipped or broken tooth. Or we can apply a set of veneers to completely reshape and refresh a smile. Your loved one can even choose the shade of white their veneers will be!
Straighten Crooked Teeth with Invisalign
We also proud to offer Invisalign orthodontics at our Plano cosmetic dental clinic. Does your loved one have crooked, misaligned, or crowded teeth? University research has shown that as much as 25% of our country’s adult population would benefit from orthodontic treatment. Crooked teeth don’t just look bad, they also increase a person’s risk for gum disease, tooth decay, and other oral health problems. Many adults are hesitant to commit to adult braces because of their appearance. It would feel awkward or even embarrassing to walk into the workplace or a social gathering with a mouthful of metal brackets and wires. Invisalign in Plano, TX, is a more discreet and comfortable option for your loved one to straighten their teeth.
Invisalign uses clear aligners which are made out of thin but durable plastic. These aligners will gently reposition their teeth and straighten crooked teeth. Your loved one wears each aligner for about two weeks, then graduates onto another aligner. Although Invisalign orthodontics uses an incremental approach, it can actually deliver amazing results very quickly. Most adult patients only have to undergo treatment with Invisalign for about a year. Invisalign in Plano, TX, is a much faster option than traditional adult braces which often require two or more years to be effective.
Invisalign will also be a more convenient treatment for your loved ones. Traditional metal braces limit the types of foods a patient can eat. Many foods can get stuck in the wires, or even damage the brackets. That can lead to painful orthodontist appointments and increase their risk of tooth decay. Invisalign aligners are removable; this major difference will make orthodontic treatment much more enjoyable for your loved one. When it’s time for them to eat, they simply take out the aligner and enjoy whatever foods their heart desires. It’s also possible for them to remove their aligners before a special event, such as a wedding. Invisalign can fit into the lifestyle of even the busiest adult!
Schedule a Consultation
Are you interested in learning more about purchasing porcelain veneers or Invisalign for a loved one? Then contact your Plano cosmetic dental clinic to schedule a consultation. You can reach Plano Smile Studio at 972-398-2550
Teeth Whitening the Way You Want
The smile of your dreams is probably straight, healthy, and perfectly white. Just about every patient we have ever seen wants a whiter smile, but not every patient wants to whiten in the same way. At Plano Smile Studio, we give you teeth whitening in whatever way makes you most comfortable! Take a look at our whitening options, and think about which whitening process sounds the most relaxed and the most beneficial for you to get the whitening you need!
1) In-Office Whitening
For quick results, we recommend whitening in the office. All we need is one hour to take your smile from dull to dazzling! Our skilled professionals will apply whitening gel to your teeth and use a special light to activate the gel, giving you the best possible results. You’ll even get take-home trays to help you maintain your new color.
2) At-Home Whitening
If time isn’t a major concern, our at-home whitening could be your ticket to a more beautiful smile. It will take about 2-4 weeks to achieve the same level of improvement as the in-office whitening, but you will be in complete control of the process. You’ll receive a custom-fit tray and professional teeth whitening to improve your smile in the comfort of your own home.
3) Maintaining Your Whitening
We offer a touch-up whitening in the office to help you maintain your dazzling smile at a minimal cost. This will help you maintain your beautiful smile indefinitely!
Whatever your teeth whitening needs are, we can help! Our office is known for our ability to get people the cosmetic dentistry they want! Don’t trust anyone else with your smile. Contact us today to set up your appointment. We’d love to help you get the smile of your dreams!
Seven Things Which Stain Your Teeth
Hello again Plano! We welcome you again to the dental health blog of the Plano Smile Studio.
The Texas summer heat is beginning to subside a bit, and the kids are back in school. But believe it or not, the holidays are just around the corner. We want your teeth to look white for all your holiday photos.
So in today’s blog we’re going to inform you about some of the many foods and drinks that can stain your beautiful white teeth.
The enamel of your teeth are in the frontlines of battle every single day. All the foods you eat, and all the beverages you drink make an impact on the enamel of your teeth. These foods and drinks can leave a tremendous amount of stains on your enamel. This leaves your teeth looking yellow and undesirable.
Although it’s true that all foods and beverages can stain your teeth, some do so more so than others. In today’s blog post, we’re going to give you a quick rundown of some of the more troublesome staining foods, drinks, and substances. Call it the Dentist’s Most Wanted list, because some of these items simply spell trouble for your teeth.
Most Wanted #7: Popsicles
As our hot Texas summer begins to wind down, popsicles are still an alluring treat to beat the heat. But popsicles are filled with artificial dyes to give them their fun colors. These dyes can stain your teeth, and leave a nasty residue on your enamel. You know how they seem to color your tongue? They do that to your teeth as well.
Most Wanted #6: Tea
Tea has many positive nutritional values. However, it is also a staining agent for your teeth. Tea is filled with tannins; tannins cling to your teeth and act almost like a magnet in attracting bacteria to stain your teeth. Black tea is the worst offender; green and white tea are less likely to stain your teeth.
Most Wanted #5: Wine
Wine is delicious and studies have shown that a glass of it a day can benefit your overall health. However, that’s not true for your teeth. Red wine is filled with natural dyes, and natural dyes can stain your teeth just like the artificial dyes in popsicles do. In addition, red and white wine are filled bacteria attracting tannins.
Most Wanted #4: Berries
Blueberries, raspberries, and other types of fruits can stain your teeth. Fruits contain the same nature dyes as wine, and stain in a similar fashion. Imagine if you squeezed a handful of blueberries. Your hands would be covered in blue residue; the same is true for your teeth when you chew.
Most Wanted #3: Coffee
Your teeth contain a tremendous amount of pits and ridges on their surface. Whenever you drink coffee, particles from the drink become embedded in the pits and ridges of your teeth. This residue can leave long lasting, hard to remove stains.
Most Wanted #2: Soda
Soda is filled with artificial dyes and sugar. These dyes stain your teeth, while the sugar in the drinks attract decay causing bacteria. But even clear soda or diet sodas can be dangerous. All sodas are acidic which weakens your enamel and can leave stains.
Most Wanted #1: Nicotine Products
Cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, chewing tobacco, e-cigarettes, and ‘vaping juice’ all contain nicotine. Nicotine leaves nasty stains all over your enamel. Whenever you inhale or chew a nicotine product, nicotine and other harmful chemicals are distributed all over your teeth. Have you ever seen a smoker’s fingertips? Nicotine often stains their skin; it does likewise to teeth.
Professional Teeth Whitening
All the foods, drinks, and substances listed in this blog post can cause stains on your enamel. They happen and they’re a part of life. But you don’t have to leave with them anymore.
We offer several types of Professional Teeth Whitening at the Plano Smile Studio in Plano, TX. Professional Teeth Whitening can remove years worth of stains from the enamel of your teeth. Click here to make an appointment.
Smile Again With Dental Veneers
Is your smile holding you back?
A poor smile can adversely affect your self-esteem. Are you confident when you walk into a boardroom? Could you walk into a job interview or ask for a promotion while feeling confident about your appearance? Or are self-conscious about people noticing your teeth?
Maybe you take exceptional care of your teeth, brushing and flossing religiously, but there’s still aspects of your smile that leave you concerned and self-conscious?
If you’ve ever considered cosmetic dentistry, Plano Smile Studio is the perfect place to go to have your smile perfected.
Today’s blog post will inform you about one of the most exciting procedures in the field, Porcelain Dental Veneers. Veneers are a quick and painfree way to look your best and unlock your natural confidence. Read on to see if this a procedure that interests you, and if you have any questions please feel free to contact our friendly staff at Plano Smile Studio.
Am I a Candidate for Dental Veneers?
Most patients come to us with a specific vision of who they’d like their teeth to look, with one or more aspects of their teeth that they’d like to change. Sometimes it’s too cover a simple chipped tooth, sometimes it’s to mask old-discolored fillings. Every patient and every smile is unique, but here are some of the most common problems Dental Veneers can fix.
Broken or Cracked Teeth: They are any number of things that can cause you to chip or crack a tooth. Maybe you took an elbow to the face while going up to grab a rebound, or maybe you were just chewing on ice. Whatever the cause, the good news is you don’t have to live with embarrassing chips or cracks in your teeth because Dental Veneers from Plano Smile Studio can fix it.
Discolored Teeth: Certain prescription medications, and even a few dental procedures like root canals, can leave your teeth colored in an unattractive tint. Lifestyle factors can also discolor your teeth. Maybe you just quit smoking, but still notice nicotine stains on your teeth? Or your morning coffee is leaving your teeth brown? Dental Veneers, especially when paired with Zoom Whitening, are an excellent tool to restore your teeth to a brilliant shade of white.
Discolored Fillings: If you’ve ever had a cavity, chances are you’ve also had a filling. Over time, these fillings can fill with bacteria and become discolored as a result. Dental Veneers are an excellent way to mask discolored fillings in your front teeth.
Misaligned Teeth and Gaps Between Teeth: Poor teeth alignment can be genetic, it can be caused by facial injuries, or it could have even been caused by childhood habits like using a pacifier while you slept. Maybe you’ve considered braces or surgery to correct the problem, but the problem doesn’t seem big enough to warrant such measures. But yet, it still bothers you. Fear not, because the staff at Plano Smile Studio can use Dental Veneers from Plano Smile Studio to correct the appearance of your teeth and help you unlock your confidence.
How Do Dental Veneers Work?
The process is quite simple.
The staff at Plano Smile Studio will sit-down to discuss with you your needs and wants. It’s important to us that we give our patients the smile they desire. In general, the process takes a couple of visits to our office.
On the first visit, the doctor will prepare your teeth to receive the Veneers. This generally involves removing less than a millimeter of surface from the teeth which will the Veneers. The Doctor will then bond temporary Dental Veneers to your teeth. This is a quick and pain free process.
On the second visit, generally a couple of weeks later, the Doctor will bond the permanent Dental Veneers to your teeth in a quick and pain free process. The permanent Dental Veneers are thin porcelain shells which appear lifelike and last for decades.
That’s it!
Make An Appointment
Are you embarrassed when asked to smile for a photo? Just think about all the photos you will take this summer with your family. At sports outings, on family vacations, and at once-in-a-lifetime events like weddings. Wouldn’t cherish those photos just a little more if you looked your best?
The top-notch staff at Plano Smile Studio in Plano, TX can have you looking your best, and rocking a new smile, with Dental Veneers. If you’re ready to cherish your smile and unlock your confidence, contact us today to make an appointment!
Is Your Gum Disease Related To Your Diabetes?
We are worried about the rise in diabetes among Texans.
Why should we, a dentist office in Plano, TX, care about diabetes? Because people with diabetes are more likely to develop gum disease. We would prefer to focus our efforts on gum disease prevention. But we also know that gum disease is much more common than it needs to be. Having diabetes makes your risk for periodontal disease even higher. Fortunately for patients of Plano Smile Studio, we have the knowledge, the equipment, and the ability to treat gum disease in our office.
The Rise Of Diabetes
In 1997, only 3.7 percent of Texans reported that they had been diagnosed with diabetes. Since then, the diabetes rate has risen almost every year, according to data from America’s Health Rankings. Last year, 11 percent of Texans reported that they had been told that they have diabetes.
To put this another way, in 1997 roughly 1 in 27 Texans had diabetes. Now, it’s closer to 1 in 9. Researchers are aware that diabetics are more likely than non-diabetics to develop periodontal disease, which is why the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research has a page devoted to dental tips for people with diabetes.
Researchers are still trying to understand the connections between diabetes and gum disease. One possible reason is that diabetes causes dry mouth. This means you have less saliva in your mouth, and saliva plays an important role in your oral health. Saliva helps to remove some of the bacteria that cause gum disease. It makes sense that if you have less saliva, then you would have a higher risk of oral health problems. This also fits in with the fact that people with diabetes are more prone to mouth infections in general.
A Two-Way Problem?
While diabetes may increase your risk for gum disease, there is some concern that gum disease can affect your diabetes, too. If you have diabetes, then you already know this affects your blood sugar. So, you also will want to know that gum disease may make it more difficult to control your blood sugar levels. At this point, researchers don’t know if there is a direct cause-and-effect relationship between diabetes and gum disease. The evidence suggests there is, at least, a correlation, which is why having one should make you more concerned about the other.
Gum Disease Is Already Too Common
Even setting aside concerns about diabetes for a moment, gum disease could be considered an epidemic in the United States. Among Americans 30 years old and older, 47.2 percent have some form of gum disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control. That’s practically half the adult population of our country. Knowing that gum disease is already a problem and knowing that diabetes is on the rise in our state, we are concerned about the effect this could have on the overall oral health of our patients.
Symptoms Of Gum Disease
Everyone should take the time to learn the symptoms of gum disease, whether you have diabetes or not. Mild gum disease is known as gingivitis. People with this condition have gums that appear red and swollen and gums that bleed easily. They may bleed while you are brushing or flossing your teeth (which is a sign that you should floss more often or possibly that you haven’t been flossing correctly). Remember that you should be brushing twice a day for two minutes each time, and you should be flossing every day. Make sure you clean between all your teeth and gums, including under your gumline.
This is also why you should visit Plano Smile Studios at least twice a year for routine cleanings. Our dental hygienist and dentist know the signs of gum disease, and we may be able to help you stop it before it develops into periodontitis.
This is an advanced form of gum disease, and the symptoms are more noticeable, too. Some of them are:
◼︎ Bleeding gums (that is, they may bleed more often than just when you brush and floss)
◼︎ Pain when you are chewing your food
◼︎ Pus leaking between your gums and teeth
◼︎ Gum recession (this is when your gums pull away from your teeth)
◼︎ Teeth that feel loose in your mouth
Your teeth may become loose — and even fall out — if your periodontitis starts to attack the bone that holds your teeth in your mouth.
If you have periodontitis, it will take more than a routine cleaning and extra flossing to fix the problem.
Get Help Right Away
If you have diabetes, you should take extra precautions to prevent gum disease. If you have symptoms of gum disease, especially periodontitis, please call Plano Smile Studio right away to schedule your treatment.
You don’t need your gum disease to cause any more oral health problems than it already has. Fill out our online form or call at 972-398-2550 to make an appointment at our dentist office in Plano, TX.
Good Oral Health Starts With Preventive Care
What are you looking forward to in the near future?
It could be a personal event, like a wedding or a graduation. It could be spring training if you are a baseball fan. It could be your next appointment at Plano Smile Studio.
OK, we realize going to the dentist may not be on your list of things that you are looking forward to doing. However, we believe our approach to dental care may change your mind about coming to see the dentist, especially if you live in or near Plano, TX. We pride ourselves in having a comprehensive general dentistry practice with a range of dental services. You can get anything from cosmetic to restorative care in our office.
But our practice is centered around preventive care, and that’s what we want to discuss today.
Oral Care Starts Early
As important as it is for you to visit our office at least twice a year, a daily oral hygiene routine is essential to maintaining your oral health. The American Dental Association celebrates National Children’s Dental Health Month in February to encourage good oral care, starting in childhood. Here is a short overview of what you and your family should be doing. If you have a newborn, you can start his or her oral care before his or her first tooth erupts. After feedings, just wipe your little one’s mouth with a moist cloth or piece of gauze.
As parents, you will be happy when your son or daughter’s first tooth does emerge. This is a big moment in your lives. It also means that he or she can now develop tooth decay. To fight this, you can use a small soft-bristled toothbrush with a dab of toothpaste the size of a grain of rice. Gently scrub your baby’s tooth twice a day. When he or she has two teeth that touch one another, you can begin flossing gently, too. Around the age of 3, your child may be ready to start brushing by him- or herself. You should still supervise this for a couple reasons.
First, your child should use a toothbrush that is comfortable for him or her. At this stage, children should use a squeeze of toothpaste about the size of a pea. You want to make sure your children brush twice a day for at least two minutes, scrubbing their teeth on all sides. You can use a kitchen timer, a stopwatch, or even a smartphone app to make sure your little darling brushes for the right amount of time. Second, you want to be sure that your child spits out the toothpaste when he or she finishes brushing. Your child should be flossing daily at this point, too.
Growing Up
By age 7, your children should be able to brush and floss without supervision. (You may want to check on them occasionally just to make sure they are doing what they should.) Hopefully you have been coming to our office for regular cleanings and examinations, but that becomes especially important at this age. This is the time when your child will begin losing his or her baby teeth. We will watch for any problems, and if needed, we may take corrective actions to reduce your child’s need for orthodontic care when he or she gets a little older.
Most of your son or daughter’s baby teeth will have fallen out before they become a teenager, and their permanent or adult teeth will have started coming in if they aren’t in already. Again, they should be brushing and flossing every day, and they should be making regular dental visits for cleanings and examinations. If your child does need orthodontic treatment, we may be able to help with Invisalign, which is sometimes known as clear braces. Our office is an Invisalign Preferred Provider. Invisalign works on a number of alignment issues, and this treatment generally takes about half the time of traditional braces.
A Quick Word On Wisdom Teeth
When your teen gets a little older, his or her wisdom teeth will come in. Unfortunately, many patients do not have enough room in their mouths to allow these teeth to erupt correctly. Many times, wisdom teeth become impacted, which can cause them to push into your existing teeth. This can create new alignment problems, and it can increase your child’s risk of gum disease. In our office, we can extract those teeth when there is a problem. This is often the best decision for your child’s long-term oral health.
Keeping You Smiling
We hope that the relationships we build with you and your children will continue well into their adulthood. It’s worth repeating: preventive care is the center of our general dentistry practice here in Plano, TX.
We encourage all our patients to visit Plano Smile Studio at least twice a year for routine cleanings and examinations.
Call us at 972-398-2550 or use our online form to make your next appointment.
How Long Do Veneers Last?
Porcelain veneers are an innovative, versatile and relatively inexpensive treatment for numerous cosmetic dentistry issues. They are also durable and long lasting. As long as veneers are well cared for, they can last as long as ten or fifteen years.
How Veneers Work
Porcelain veneers are placed on the teeth by a cosmetic dentist. The dentist uses a powerful bonding agent that allows the porcelain to bond to the tooth enamel. This bonding process makes the porcelain very strong—almost as strong as the original enamel of your teeth.
Veneers can be damaged, though. Excessive brushing with a hard toothbrush can scratch or pit the surface of the veneers, as can prolonged exposure to acid or certain agents used in cleanings provided at the dental office. The edges can also chip or crack if you habitually bite hard objects such as ice. In addition, it is possible for cavities to develop around the edges of the veneers or even underneath them, particularly if you do not practice diligent oral hygiene.
Taking Care of Veneers
Proper care of your veneers will help them remain a part of your beautiful smile for a long time to come. In order to supply high quality care for your veneers:
· Tell your dental hygienist that you have veneers
· Avoid staining agents
· Brush and floss regularly
· See your dentist regularly
· Avoid biting on hard objects
· Use a soft toothbrush and do not brush excessively
· Follow any other recommendations your dentist makes
Other measures you can take to protect your veneers include not biting your fingernails, wearing a mouthguard during sports activities, and having your dentist make a mouthguard for you to use at night to prevent teeth grinding.
If you are interested in finding out more about porcelain veneers in the Dallas area, please contact the office of Dr. John M. Hucklebridge, a cosmetic dentist specializing in veneers.
Save Time With Sedation Dentistry
If it’s been a long time since you’ve had dental work performed; you might be nervous about visiting our office. Is it going to hurt? How will I have time to schedule multiple amounts when my time is already really limited?
We hear variations of those two questions a lot at Plano Smile Studio in Plano, TX. We want to help set your mind at ease. For that reason, we’re going to use today’s post in our dental health blog to talk a little about sedation dentistry.
If you’ve heard of sedation dentistry, you may know that it is designed to ease your fear and anxiety during your dental appointment. In addition, it keeps all of your dental appointments in a completely pain-free state. But an addition benefit you may not have realized is that sedation dentistry, can also save you a lot of time.
Sedation Dentistry and Your Busy Schedule
Sedation dentistry really isn’t just about reducing pain or patient anxiety. Although, those are also great benefits of sedation dentistry; and the importance of sedation dentistry in those aspects shouldn’t be understated.
However, sedation dentistry is also a great option for another type of patient. Many of patients are busy working professionals and parents. Between family and work obligations, it can seem almost overwhelming to attempt to schedule one dental appointment. It’s downright nerve-wracking if you need to schedule two or three appointments for a certain procedure.
But sedation dentistry is helping us change all that at the Plano Smile Studio in Plano, TX. In the years prior to sedation dentistry; all dentists had to ease patient pain was a numbing agent. Granted, these numbing agents can be very helpful for reducing pain.
But numbing your mouth alone doesn’t keep you from the other aspects of the work. You can still see, hear, and experience the dental work that’s being performed on you. This forced many patients to need to take breaks. It was simply too overwhelming to sit in a dental chair for hours at a time. This often lead to complex procedures being spread out over several appointments.
But sedation dentistry has truly helped to change all of that. We no longer need to break up complex procedures into multiple appointments. With sedation dentistry, a patient can be in a nap-like state while we work. This both eases stress and allows us to work uninterrupted.
Because we can work uninterrupted with sedation dentistry, we can save both your time and the cost of multiple appointments. At Plano Smile Studio, we just want to help make your life a little easier. We firmly believe sedation dentistry is an important aspect of that process.
Make An Appointment
If you’re a busy working adult, we invite you to check-out how sedation dentistry can work with your schedule. Even if it’s been years since you visited the dentist, we can make the process quick, easy, and painless. Don’t delay another moment; click right here to schedule an appointment at the Plano Smile Studio in Plano, TX.
Using Sealants to Boost Genetics
We are sure you are aware that not every dental appointment goes the same way. Some patients come in, have their teeth cleaned, and go home because all is well. Others come in, have their teeth cleaned, and find out that once again, they will need to have a cavity filled. Sometimes oral hygiene is to blame, but often than not, genetics play a large role in the risk for decay.
Genetics control just about every part of you, which means your teeth are affected. Sometimes it is direct, like the shape of your teeth or the strength of your tooth enamel. Other times it is indirect, like having a preference for sweets that leads to more decay. Research has found that about 60% of your risk for decay can be linked to your genetic makeup. So how does one keep healthy teeth, if genetics are stacked against them?
You Have Some Options
There are a few things you can do once you realize that your decay problem is related to genetics. You can have cleanings more often, or floss after each meal. We also have a more permanent solution in dental sealants. A sealant is a thin coating that we can apply to your chewing surfaces that adds a protective layer between your tooth enamel and the bacteria that cause decay. If cared for, a sealant will last for several years.
Don’t let disappointing dental genetics keep you in the procedure chair. Look into sealants and other methods for strengthening your teeth. Contact us to set up an appointment where we can discuss some of your options. We’d love to help you have a happier, healthier smile!
Unlock Your Athletic Potential with Under Armour Mouthwear
Nothing quite compares to football season in Texas. Under the bright lights of a stadium, twenty-two warriors compete in a physical game of human chess. And believe it or not, practice for the fall season begins in just a few, short weeks.
Maybe you or your child plays this most American of games. You’ve finally tuned your body to its athletic peak. You’ve bought all the best gear.
Yet you wonder if there might be something else you can do to improve your performance. There is, and it might not be what you’d expect.
Plano Smile Studio now offers Under Armour Performance Mouthwear- a patented technology that not only protects your teeth- but is also scientifically shown to improve your athletic performance.
Sound too good to be true? It’s not, and in this blog post we’re going to explore both the science behind Under Armour Performance Mouthwear and its wide array of benefits for athletes.
The Science Behind Under Armour Performance Mouthwear
Football is an intensely physical game featuring hard-hits and high-impact collisions. When your body is placed under this sort of stress, your natural reaction is to clench down on your jaw. Everybody does it, it’s simple human nature, triggered by your brain’s “fight or flight” reaction.
Clenching your jaw in this manner is not only bad for your teeth, it also signals your brain to produce cortisol – the stress hormone.
Excessive cortisol production leaves you feeling fatigued, and slows the recovery time for your muscles- making you more susceptible to an injury.
Under Armour Performance Mouthwear has been scientifically shown to reduce your body’s cortisol production in an independent study conducted on collegiate football players by The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. (“The Effects of Mouthpiece Use on Cortisol Levels During an Intense Bout of Resistance Exercise.”)
How does Under Armour Performance Mouthwear reduce cortisol production?
Plano Smile Studio creates a mold for the Under Armour Performance Mouthwear which is custom-fitted to your mouth and teeth. In addition to proving outstanding projection to your teeth, the finished custom mouthpiece exerts a safe separation between your lower jaw and the rest of your skull. This separation prevents you from clenching your jaw, which prevents your body from producing excessive cortisol.
The Benefits of Under Armour Performance Mouthwear
Now that you’ve seen some of the science behind Under Armour Performance Mouthwear, we can explore a few of the benefits of the custom mouthwear. Since these benefits may seem to good to be true, we’ll also look at some of the many scientific studies that led to these conclusions.
Increased endurance. A study conducted at The Citadel had athletes perform bench presses and preacher curls over a two day period. On the first day, the athletes did not use custom mouthwear. On the second day, the athletes performed the same exercises wearing the custom mouthwear. On average, the use of the custom mouthwear increased the athlete’s maximum number of bench press repetitions by 10 percent, and their maximum number of preacher curls by 17 percent. (“The Effect of Mouthpiece Use on Muscular Endurance.”)
Improved breathing. According to a study published in The Journal of the American Dental Association, Under Armour Performance Mouthwear increases the amount of oxygen you take in while exercising while also increasing the amount of carbon dioxide you exhale. This improvement in breathing allows athletes to play harder for longer amounts of time. (“The Effects of Mouthpiece Use on Gas Exchange Parameters During Steady-State Exercise in College-Aged Men and Women.”)
Improved Reaction Time. A study published in the Compendium of Continuing Education in Dentistry showed that use of a custom mouthpiece improved athlete’s reaction times to both audio and visual signals. Over a cycle of 70 trials, athletes responded faster to the signals when wearing a mouthpiece. Improved reaction times increases hand-eye coordination, a vital skill in football. (“Effects of Mouthpiece Use on Auditory and Visual Reaction Time in College Males and Females.”)
Make An Appointment
Are you ready to unlock you or your child’s full potential on the football field?
Do you want to increase your endurance on the gridiron so you can break free of a few more tackles en-route to the endzone? Do you want to improve your breathing so you aren’t out of breath after endless 40 yard dashes and up-down drills? Do you want to improve your reaction time to ensure you’re bringing in that last second hail mary pass?
Then click here to make an appointment today at Plano Smile Studio. Our professional team will explain everything you want to know about Under Armour Performance Mouthwear, and how it can improve your game.
