Author: gpmadmin

Let’s face it, nobody enjoys spit. It’s some pretty gross stuff. But to all of us at our Middletown and Kettering dental offices, it’s one of the most useful and fascinating things about the mouth. Think we’re crazy? Let us explain.

That’s A Whole Lotta Spit

On average, we produce 25,000 quarts of spit in our lifetime. That’s plenty to fill a standard size swimming pool. Pretty gross, huh? Well, not necessarily.

Spit is extremely important for a healthy, cavity-free mouth. Spit helps remove food debris that may stick around after a meal. The more spit we produce, the more food is rinsed away and the better off your teeth are. Saliva can also help neutralize acid which may protect your pearly whites from decay. If you’re not producing enough spit, chances are you have a chronically dry mouth. This isn’t something to take lightly. An inadequate supply of spit could increase your risk for decay as well as oral infections. Is all that spit still pretty gross? We think a healthy mouth is much better.

Bone Marrow and Spit

This may seem like an odd pair, but trust us, it’s pretty cool. Bone marrow is typically used in the treatment of blood cancers, and the prevalence of these cancers is extremely high. Every three minutes, someone in the U.S. is diagnosed with a blood cancer. Which makes bone marrow really important. But not any patient can use any bone marrow. There has to be a match. BeTheMatch.org is an organization that encourages people to join the bone marrow registry by simply swabing the inside of the cheek and submitting it to their library where they’ll scan the registry to help find matches for patients.

Get to Know Yourself

Again, with a little swab of the cheek, you’re able to access so much information about who you are. I’m talking about your DNA, and yes, it can be analyzed through just a smidgen of spit. When the swab is rubbed against the cheek, you’re picking up cells. Inside each cell there is a nucleus, which contains the chromosomes that house your DNA. While you won’t be able to see your DNA from your spit, there are labs that will analyze it for you and help interpret what they find.

At our dental offices in Middletown and Kettering, we don’t mind spit so much because it helps keep your mouth clean and washes away bad bacteria. But it’s still really important to see us regularly so we can keep an eye on things. Even if it’s been awhile since you’ve seen a dentist, give us call today!

Accepting patients from Middletown, Franklin, Springboro, Kettering, Beavercreek, Centerville, Oakwood, and nearby neighborhoods.

A healthy mouth often leads to a healthy body. This is a fact that doesn’t disappear with age. In fact, as we age, dental care becomes a more critical part of our overall health. At our dental offices in Middletown and Kettering, some of the most special smiles we care for belong to seniors, and we’re always glad to see them since many parts of aging can directly impact oral health.

Dry Mouth

Both prescription and over-the-counter medications can not only help whatever ails you, they can also have a negative impact on your mouth. Some medicines lead to a reduction in saliva production, which can cause dry mouth. Dry mouth is much more serious than it sounds. Despite the fact that a dry mouth is uncomfortable, it contributes to severe tooth decay and even gum disease. And it’s a big issue among our older patients. An estimated 30 percent of America’s seniors suffer from dry mouth, and are at risk for oral health concerns.

Gum Disease

Gum disease is dangerous for everyone, but especially those over the age of 40. By age 65, 1 out of every 4 people has gum disease. This scary health problem can lead to incredibly serious overall health problems like heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. A majority of things can increase the chance of developing gum disease, but some of the most common are:

• Poor Diet
• Inadequate oral hygiene routine
• Smoking
• Medication

Gum disease is reversible, but it’s crucial to catch it early. This makes regular appointments at our dental office in Middletown or Kettering even more important for seniors.

Existing Conditions

Certain medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer can affect your oral health. It’s always important to talk to your dentist about all your general health issues so you get the best whole-health treatment and know your dentist is meeting any special needs.

In all, it’s always important to make sure to keep up with regular dental appointments as well as medical care, especially as we age. If you’re without a dentist, call our Middletown or Kettering dental office and schedule an appointment. We’d love to have you!

Welcoming patients from Middletown, Franklin, Springboro, Kettering, Beavercreek, Centerville, Oakwood, and surrounding areas.

Your oral health care routine is spot on: You brush twice a day, you floss at least once a day, and you maintain regular visits to our dental offices in Middletown and Kettering. So why are you still at risk for tooth damage?

Many of us have some dangerous dental habits that could lead to serious damage. We’d like to talk about the top five habits you should work on breaking to keep your mouth as healthy as possible.

1. Lay off the ice! Once you’ve finished quenching your thirst with an ice-cold beverage, do you crunch on the leftover ice cubes? Don’t! The hard texture of the frozen delights can cause tiny tooth fractures and even create cracks in the enamel. Down the road, these tiny cracks may lead to big problems.

2. Don’t use teeth as tools! We’ve all done it. Instead of grabbing a pair of scissors to open pesky packaging, we tear it open with our teeth. This isn’t what teeth are made for and this habit could lead to serious damage including broken teeth, chipped enamel, and weakened structure. Don’t use your teeth, grab the proper tool instead.

3. Brushing shouldn’t cause you to break a sweat! One of the most common misconceptions is that the harder you brush, the more effective it is. However, if you brush hard, you could actually cause damage. Brushing should be done gently with a soft bristled brush for a minimum of two minutes. And no sweating allowed!

4. Keep pens away from your chompers! If you visit any office or school, a common sight is a parked pen or pencil resting between teeth. This places an abnormal amount of pressure on the teeth and can cause shifting, cracking, or damage to existing dental restorations

5. Fingers don’t belong in the mouth! A nervous habit of many is to chew on fingernails. Not only can this habit lead to unsightly hands, it can also cause major tooth damage. Habitual nail biting can result in shifting, cracking, or even breaking. Keep fingers away from your mouth!

Working to break these habits isn’t easy, but everyone at our dental offices in Middletown and Kettering is here to help. Talk to us about some of the habits that seem particularly hard to break. We’re full of useful information and would love to pass it on.

Serving patients from Middletown, Franklin, Springboro, Kettering, Beavercreek, Centerville, Oakwood, and nearby communities.

During the winter months, our friend the sun tends to disappear on us. When it is out, we might be at work or it’s just too cold to go soak up some rays. With less sunlight during the winter months than the rest of the year, we get shortchanged on our natural supply of vitamin D. At our dental offices in Middletown and Kettering, we like vitamin D because it helps keep your smile healthy.

The Sun Will Come Out, Tomorrow (or we hope so!)

The sun is a powerful thing. It not only keeps our planet from going into a deep freeze, it also provides quite a few health benefits. Getting a daily dose of sunshine can boost your mood, improve your immune system, and kickstart vitamin D production.

So What’s So Great About Vitamin D?

Since vitamin D helps to regulate your immune system, it is your first line of defense. Studies have shown that vitamin D can help your pancreas make insulin, lower blood pressure, and aid in the absorption of calcium. Since calcium makes our teeth and bones super strong, a healthy supply of vitamin D is extremely important for a healthy mouth.

No Sun? Eat Your Vitamin D!

The sun isn’t the only source of this nutrient. You can also increase your intake of vitamin D by eating foods that contain a lot of it such as:

• Eggs
• Fatty fish like Salmon
• Milk
• Supplements

No matter how, make sure you’re getting enough vitamin D.  Research shows that a lack of vitamin D can lead to osteoporosis, increased risk for type 1 diabetes, and even serious cancers of the breast, colon, or prostate.

Make sure you’re doing everything you can to keep your smile healthy, including eating a healthy, well balanced diet and visiting our Middletown and Kettering dental offices regularly.

Accepting patients from Middletown, Franklin, Springboro, Kettering, Beavercreek, Centerville, Oakwood, and surrounding areas.

Cold drinks, hot soup, and a whole lot of pain. If you’re struggling with eating what you want without pain, especially if it’s common with hot or cold foods, you’re probably suffering from sensitive teeth. At our Middletown and Kettering dental offices, we hear this often and we’d like to help.

The Why

There are many reasons your teeth could be susceptible to pain while eating or drinking something hot or cold. One of the most common is the tooth’s root structure has become exposed. This anatomy of the tooth contains a lot of nerves, and when it’s open to contact with elements, the pain can be extreme. The root structures typically become exposed through gum recession or eroded enamel, both of which can be caused by grinding, a lot of acidic drinks, and even aggressive brushing.

How to Fix It

• Toothpaste Choice. By simply changing your toothpaste, you can help ease pain caused by sensitivity. If you have sensitive teeth, it’s wise to avoid toothpastes that contain sodium pyrophosphate, which is found found many whitening and tartar-control pastes. Instead, choose a toothpaste that designed specially for sensitive teeth and use it regularly.

• Softer is Better. When selecting a toothbrush, make sure you choose one that has soft bristles. Hard-bristled brushes can contribute to wear and tear on the tooth’s enamel and put you at increased risk for sensitivity. Additionally, brushing too hard can lead to similar results. If your brush’s bristles are sporadically angled, chances are you’re brushing too hard.

• Easy on the Soda. And acidic juice and food. The more acidic the food or drink, the more damage to your tooth enamel and the more likely you’ll suffer from sensitivity pain. Choosing water over soda is always wise.

If sensitive teeth are keeping you from enjoying the foods and drinks you love and you can’t seem to ease the pain, call our dental offices in Middletown and Kettering. We’ll work with you to determine what may be causing your sensitivity and talk about proper treatments to get you back to eating and drinking without pain. Some common treatments may include application of a desensitizing agent, bonding, or sometimes a root canal.

Accepting patients from Middletown, Franklin, Springboro, Kettering, Beavercreek, Centerville, Oakwood, and neighboring areas.

Nail biting is one of the most common habits of humans, and the behavior is typically triggered by stress, boredom, annoyingly long fingernails, or excitement. However, at our dental offices in Middletown and Kettering, we want to warn our nail biters that this habit can also contribute to a multitude of dental and whole-body problems.

1. Germs, germs, and more germs. Fingernails can hold a lot of germs and bacteria, almost twice as much as your hands. Nail biters are at increased risk for transferring those germs and dangerous bacteria into the body. What’s even scarier is that if gnawed of nails are swallowed, all that gross stuff that lives under the nail enters the body and may lead to stomach issues.
2. Save some dough! According to the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD), nail biters spend an average of $4,000 more on dental bills throughout their lives than non-biters. This is mostly due to the fact that nail biting can lead to some serious dental concerns.
3. Tooth damage. Nails are hard, and when we bite them, the chance for chips and cracks greatly increases. Nail biters experience more cracks or chips in their pearly whites. Even more, nail biting can lead to bruxism, or clenching and grinding of the teeth. Bruxism itself can cause jaw pain, wear and tear on teeth, and headaches.
4. Take a break! Like other parts of your body, your teeth also need to rest. Your teeth are there to help you chew and eat, but in between meals, they should take a break. If you’re a nail biter, your teeth are constantly working. This may cause them to wear down quickly or could lead to a bad bite.
5. Ouch, my jaw hurts! Chronic nail biting can be detrimental for your jaw. In fact, constantly chewing your nails can cause TMJ Disorder. TMJ Disorder brings on its own set of issues like jaw pain, headaches, or popping or locking of the jaw.

At our Middletown and Kettering dental offices, we’re always here to give you the advice you need to make sure your smile and your body are healthy. If you’re a nail biter, talk to us about it. We have tips that may help you quit, we’ll examine your mouth for any signs of damage, and work with you to get your smile in its best shape.

Serving patients from Middletown, Franklin, Springboro, Kettering, Beavercreek, Centerville, Oakwood, and nearby communities.

The holidays are well upon us, and there’s never been a better time to celebrate friendships, spend time with family, and be grateful for our health. However, with the hustle and bustle of parties every weekend, fulfilling wish lists pages deep, and all that food, it’s also a time when our health is at increased risk. At our dental offices in Middletown and Kettering, we’re always focused on our patients’ health, and not just in their mouths, but throughout their entire bodies. With that philosophy always at the forefront of everything we do, this holiday season we’d like to share some tips for making your holiday season a healthy one.

Be Stress Free

Over the holidays, life seems to become so incredibly busy, it’s like there’s never a chance to breathe, let alone enjoy it. Try breaking the cycle of constantly being stressed by following these tips.

• Don’t overcommit. If you’re inundated with piles of invitations to holiday parties, don’t feel obligated to accept them all. Overcommitment to more events than you can handle can lead to loss of sleep and an increased risk of getting sick. Politely pass on some of those parties and stay in to relax instead.

• Stay within budget. Start your holidays by setting a budget, then stay within it. Managing the amount of money you’re comfortable spending on gifts, food, and travel can keep your stress levels low and give you one less thing to worry about.

Eat, Drink, and Be Merry – Just Not Too Much

One of the best parts of the holidays is the variety of food and drinks available at every turn. While we’d never tell to you skip out on enjoying a holiday feast, your dentist in Middletown or Kettering will encourage you to monitor your intake of food and alcohol. Overeating can lead to an upset stomach, so watch how much you consume. The same thing applies to alcohol. If you’re of age, partaking a glass of wine with dinner or a dessert of eggnog is absolutely acceptable, just don’t overdo it. Alternate every alcoholic drink with a glass of water, and try to limit yourself to two adult beverages per party. Nothing compromises your immune system or makes you feel sicker than a hangover that belongs on the naughty list.

Wash Your Hands Often

During the holidays, we interact with more people, visit more houses, and are presented with more opportunities to swap germs. This makes washing your hands well and often really important. Scrub with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds to rinse away harmful germs that can make you sick and put a damper on your holiday.

Everyone at our dental offices in Middletown and Kettering wishes you and your family a safe and happy holiday season. Following these tips can help make it a healthy one too.

Welcoming patients from Middletown, Franklin, Springboro, Kettering, Beavercreek, Centerville, Oakwood, and surrounding areas.

Several things can keep you from visiting the dentist every six months as normally recommended. A bad experience, a fear of the dentist, finances, or maybe you’re just too busy. However, when you make the decision to get back in the dental chair, you may still feel reluctant. The team at our Middletown and Kettering dental offices wants to ease your concerns and help you understand what you can expect at your first visit.

A Lecture-Free Zone

One of the main fears patients have when they’re getting ready to come back is fear of a lecture. When you visit your dentist in Middletown or Kettering, we don’t want you to be afraid of getting chastised. Our philosophy doesn’t include making our patients feel guilty, but rather we talk with you about your concerns and work together to ease them. With us, you’re never in trouble and we’re always here to help.

A Longer Visit

Your first visit after a hiatus will typically warrant a longer visit. This isn’t to scare you but because we like to spend time getting to know our patients personally and familiarizing ourselves with their mouths. We’ll also perform a thorough evaluation that will most likely include x-rays, a comprehensive exam, and cleaning. We’ll move at your pace and constantly ensure that you’re at ease.

Cavities

If it’s a been a few years since you’ve seen a dentist, there is a good chance that you have some decay and cavities. However, they’re nothing to fear. Most people, even those who do see the dentist every six months, get several cavities throughout their lifetime. But thanks to improvements in dental technology, treatment is easier, less painful, and faster than ever before. Getting a cavity filled is a much better option than leaving it untreated as a cavity that is left to fester can lead to more serious problems.

Whether it’s been a few months, years, or decades since you last visited the dentist, we’re here to welcome you to our dental offices in Middletown and Kettering. Our goal is not only to get your mouth healthy, but to make sure you’re comfortable and that you’re an active part of your health care team. We welcome you to talk to us about your concerns so we can help ease your worries and get your smile back to health, beauty, and strength.

Welcoming patients from Middletown, Franklin, Springboro, Kettering, Beavercreek, Centerville, Oakwood, and surrounding areas.

We all know brushing and flossing are important for a healthy mouth. However, there are some other things that are important to do, and to avoid, to keep your smile in tip-top shape. One of the things to avoid doing a lot is breathing through your mouth. While it may sound like a simple, involuntary act that’s not a huge deal, at our dental offices in Middletown and Kettering, we want to let you know just how mouth breathing impacts dental health.

Breathing out of your mouth instead of your nose is sometimes caused by an underlying issue with your nasal passage. Chronic nasal obstruction (CNO) is the main reason people mouth breathe. When not enough oxygen gets into our lungs by breathing through the nose, we resort to the next best thing – mouth breathing.

Mouth breathing may lead to some serious oral health concerns. Since breathing out of your mouth dries it out, the amount of saliva decreases, which is a big problem. Saliva is important to ridding your mouth of harmful bacteria and neutralizing acids. When not enough saliva is produced, your chance of tooth decay and other dangerous problems increases.

A dry mouth is a dangerous mouth. Not only can a chronically dry mouth lead to bad breath and increase the risk of tooth decay and cavities, it can also put you at risk for gum disease and gingivitis. Gum disease is a serious oral health problem that has been linked to whole-body issues like heart attacks, strokes, and heart disease.

Mouth breathing may also  lead to allergies, poor sleep, lower oxygen concentration in the blood, and facial deformities in children. Since breathing through the mouth requires a change in posture to keep the airway open, when children are mouth breathers and it’s not caught, their faces can begin to develop into a long, narrow shape with a flattened nose and short upper lip and pouty lower lip. Breathing out of your mouth may also lead to crooked teeth, gummy smiles, headaches, and sore throats.

How do you know if you’re a mouth breather?

There are some common signs and symptoms of being a mouth breather. Some of them include:

• Dry lips
• Crowded teeth
• Snoring and open mouth while sleeping
• Increased number of airway infections including sinus, ear, colds
• Chronic bad breath

Your dentist in Middletown or Kettering can also tell if you breathe out of your mouth, which makes regular appointments even more important.

If you’re suffering from mouth breathing and are ready to fix the problem, give our Middletown or Kettering dental office a call. We’ll work together to determine what’s causing you to breathe out of your mouth and discuss the best way to fix it, not only for the health of your mouth, for your entire well being.

Serving patients in Middletown, Franklin, Springboro, Kettering, Beavercreek, Centerville, and Oakwood.

If you’ve previously been required to take antibiotics before an appointment with your dentist in Middletown or Kettering, we have some important news for you. Recent research shows that using antibiotics as a precaution to infection may not serve as a solution and can possibly create more problems.

If you have a heart condition, taking a precautionary antibiotic before visiting your dentist, even for a cleaning, used to be a common recommendation. However, according to the American Heart Association, this is no longer necessary for most people and could even harm a healthy patient.

After numerous studies were made public, the guidelines for using antibiotics to reduce the risk of infection have been revised. Based on the evidence, the risks associated with taking preventive antibiotics may outweigh the benefits. Risks include negative reactions to the medication as well as actually increasing the chance of infection.

The overuse of antibiotics leads to bacteria becoming immune to the medicine. Resistance to antibiotics allows bacteria to thrive, leading to infections despite the effort to circumvent it. Additionally, antibiotic resistant bacteria may cause more severe infections and lasting medical damage.

However, there are still conditions where the use of preventive antibiotics is appropriate. These conditions include:

• Artificial heart valves
• A history of Infective Endocarditis
• Bicuspid valve disease
• Calcified aortic stenosis
• Certain congenital heart conditions

Patients with these conditions are at the greatest risk of seriously bad outcomes if a heart infection develops. Despite the diagnosis of your condition, we encourage all of our heart patients to talk to their cardiologist prior to their dental appointments to see if taking antibiotics is right for you.

While taking an antibiotic before visits to your Middletown or Kettering dentist may no longer be necessary, it’s still important to keep the number of bacteria in your mouth low. We do this by working together to instill a healthy at-home hygiene routine in addition to regular visits to our dental office in Middletown or Kettering. The best way to reduce your chance of greater infection throughout your body is start with a healthy mouth. Together, we can help keep bacteria and infection away.

Serving patients in Middletown, Franklin, Springboro, Kettering, Beavercreek, Centerville, and Oakwood.