Periodontal disease may lead to uncomfortable symptoms, receding gums, and in advanced stages, adult tooth loss. Fortunately, there are steps our North Hollywood, CA, patients can take to safeguard their smiles. We’re looking at how cleanings and preventive treatments help people avoid the onset of gum disease.
Now that December has arrived, many of our North Hollywood, CA, patients are preparing for the New Year. Before the holidays become hectic, we suggest scheduling a checkup and cleaning. An exam before the holidays help ensure you enjoy a healthy smile and enter 2019 with a better overall oral health!
Will you be hitting the road for Thanksgiving or welcoming friends and family into your home? Regardless, you will probably be enjoying a truly epic meal. While we love the Thanksgiving spread as much as anyone else, we know that many of our holiday favorites promote tooth decay. Fortunately, our North Hollywood, CA, patients can take steps to protect their smiles.
Once you develop gum disease, there is no cure. You will need to manage the disease to avoid the advanced stages that often lead to tooth loss and severe discomfort. However, with preventive care, we help patients in North Hollywood, CA, maintain optimal oral health and avoid gum problems.
The principles of good dental hygiene are the first things we learn about maintaining our healthy smiles. However, as time passes and we grow older, we may not always stick to the routine as closely as we should. As a result, common issues such as tooth decay and gum disease remain significant problems for a majority of adults, despite the fact that these issues are highly preventable. To help patients throughout the North Hollywood community take better care of their smiles and avoid common dental health concerns, we offer a few tips on how to successfully master effective dental hygiene.
Keeping up with good hygiene is the first (and most important) step in keeping your smile healthy for life. For more information, schedule a consultation by calling Modern Smile in North Hollywood, CA, today at 818-763-9353. We also proudly serve patients who live in Burbank, Toluca Lake, and all surrounding communities.
Your smile and the quest to keep it healthy are both dynamic. What your smile needs and threats that it faces can change from one day to the next. However, for most patients in North Hollywood, the most common of those threats is tooth decay – the condition that causes cavities to form in your teeth. The good news is that, despite being common and potentially hazardous to your smile, cavities don’t have to become a significant threat. With the right dental health care and maintenance, and a good understanding of how cavities develop, you have an excellent chance at protecting your smile from them.
What makes cavities such a common threat is the fact their main cause – oral bacteria – is a natural part of your oral health. Every day, hundreds of bacteria combine with food particles and saliva to form plaque, which clings to your tooth enamel. Certain types of bacteria release acids that weaken this enamel until the bacteria can reach your tooth structure. Once bacteria-induced decay sets in, the hole in your tooth, or cavity, will continue to grow until you treat it.
When a cavity forms, the discomfort in your tooth can become an obvious symptom of its presence. However, before your tooth starts to hurt severely, there are many other signs that could indicate tooth decay. For example, during your regular dental checkup and cleaning, your dentist can spot signs that your tooth enamel has grown weak or that a small part of your tooth has begun to decay.
The best way to conquer cavities is to prevent them with consistently good hygiene and regular preventive dental care. However, if one develops, then the next best thing is to treat it as soon as possible, preferably with a custom-designed tooth-colored filling. Made from composite resin, the filling can be tinted to match your tooth’s appearance while successfully restoring the affected tooth structure and protecting it from bacteria in the future.
Cavities can become a significant threat if they’re ignored long enough, but you can protect your smile from them successfully with good hygiene and diligent dental care. For more information, schedule a consultation by calling Modern Smile in North Hollywood, CA, today at 818-763-9353. We also proudly serve patients who live in Burbank, Toluca Lake, and all surrounding communities.
When it comes to keeping your teeth and smile healthy, some things are obvious. For instance, you have to brush your teeth at least twice and floss at least once every day to keep plaque off of them. You also have to visit your dentist regularly for routine checkups and cleanings to prevent most dental health issues. However, many patients in North Hollywood don’t realize that eating a healthy, well-balanced, and highly nutritious diet is just as important.
Like every other part of your body, your teeth and gums rely on an adequate supply of nutrition to function properly and fight off disease. These are some of the most important of those nutrients:
There are many aspects to keeping your smile healthy and beautiful for life, and healthy nutrition is just one of them. For more information, schedule a consultation by calling Modern Smile in North Hollywood, CA, today at 818-763-9353. We also proudly serve patients who live in Burbank, Toluca Lake, and all surrounding communities.
Your dentist plays an important role in keeping your smile healthy for life, but the basics of a healthy smile involve what you do at home every day. A consistently good hygiene routine, which means brushing your teeth twice and flossing at least once every day, is the only way to keep harmful plaque from overwhelming your teeth and gums. As such, a good hygiene routine is also one of the most important ways for patients in North Hollywood to prevent serious dental issues that could lead to the need for more extensive treatment options.
Cavities, which are caused by tooth decay, are the most common condition to result from excessive plaque and tartar buildup. The harmful oral bacteria found in plaque produce harmful acids that erode tooth enamel, allowing the bacteria to infect the tooth. If this happens, then you’ll need to fix the tooth by filling the cavity or by undergoing root canal treatment, depending on the extent of your tooth decay.
Next to tooth decay, gum disease is another common problem resulting from inadequate hygiene practices. While some bacteria attack your teeth, others attack your gums, leading to gingivitis and the progression of gum disease. If you slack in your hygiene routine and gum disease develops, then you’ll need complex periodontal cleaning and maintenance to stop the disease from destroying your gums and jawbone structure.
The dental conditions that can result from poor hygiene, especially gum disease, can dramatically increase your risks of experiencing tooth loss. If you do lose one or more teeth, then you’ll need a custom-designed replacement to restore your bite’s function and your smile’s appearance.
Good hygiene is the basis for keeping your smile healthy and beautiful for life. For more information on how to improve your daily hygiene routine schedule a consultation by calling Modern Smile in North Hollywood, CA, today at 818-763-9353. We also proudly serve patients who live in Burbank, Toluca Lake, and all surrounding communities.
At some point, nearly 60% of adults will lose one or more teeth for a number of different reasons. Because it’s so common, many people believe that they’re destined to lose teeth eventually. However, it doesn’t have to. Tooth loss may be a frequent problem, but in most cases, it can be prevented with proper care and maintenance from the dentist. Today, we show patients in North Hollywood, CA, how to boost their chances of preventing tooth loss by improving certain aspects of their dental health and hygiene routines.
Most people know that they should take their hygiene routine seriously, but not everyone sticks to that routine. Missing a beat can lead to over accumulation of harmful oracteria, which lead to issues such as gum disease (the lead cause of adult tooth loss). Consistently good hygiene helps control this bacteria buildup, and therefore, your risks of losing teeth due to gum disease.
Besides oral bacteria and the dental diseases they can cause, other risk factors for tooth loss include improper bite alignment, a tendency to grind your teeth consistently (bruxism), and other conditions that could threaten the integrity of your teeth. Keeping up with regular preventive dental visits will give your dentist the chance to thoroughly assess your specific risks of tooth loss and address them to preserve your smile.
Once you know your risks, you and your dentist can team up to keep them under control and mitigate the threat of tooth loss. For example, if you develop gum disease, then a consistent schedule of periodontal cleaning and maintenance can help you control it before it causes enough damage to lead to tooth loss.
Tooth loss is common because there are many different factors that contribute to your risks. By understanding these factors, however, you can significantly improve your chances of preventing it. For more information, schedule a consultation by calling Modern Smile in North Hollywood, CA, today at 818-763-9353. We also proudly serve patients who live in Burbank, Toluca Lake, and all surrounding communities.
Tooth decay can impact children of all ages, from toddlers to teens. But what can you do protect their smiles? In today’s blog, we’re discussing the causes of cavities and the preventive treatments we can offer to help kids in Hollywood, CA, enjoy a cavity-free smile!
