Selecting The Best Toothpaste & What to Avoid

We’ve spent some time educating you on the best types of toothbrushes, which happen to electric toothbrushes, but we want to shift our focus over to the best types of toothpastes. This is because when you are purchasing toothpaste, you’ll generally see many different types from many different brands. Most of us don’t even bother reading the labels but choose the one that is the cheapest. However, the cheapest is not always the best.

What to Look For in Selecting the Best Toothpaste

Aspects that you’ll want to see in the toothpaste you decide to purchase are as follows.

ADA Seal of Approval

At the very least the toothpaste you decide to purchase should contain the American Dental Association’s (ADA) Seal of Acceptance. This means the toothpaste has met their criteria for safety and effectiveness. It also means the claims and advertising have been verified.

It Contains Fluoride

Fluoride is the one ingredient you want to see in your toothpaste. This is because fluoride has been shown in several studies to be effective at preventing tooth decay. Keep in mind that all ADA approved toothpastes will contain fluoride. Look on the back label for either fluoride, stannous fluoride, sodium fluoride, or monofluoride phosphate (MFP).

What to Avoid in Selecting the Best Toothpaste

Whitening Toothpastes

Regardless of the claims you’ll see, whitening toothpastes are only good at one thing: removing surface stains from the teeth. They will not change the actual color of your teeth. Professional in-office teeth whitening may accomplish that.

Lauryl Sulfate (SLS)

Some studies have shown that a toothpaste ingredient, lauryl sulfate (SLS), may increase canker sore frequency. We believe it’s best to stay safe than sorry so avoid toothpaste that contain this ingredient.

Tricolosan

This is another questionable ingredient that is added to toothpaste as a way to further reduce dental plaque, gingivitis, and bad breath. However, the FDA is still currently investigating the safety of this ingredient so we advise to avoid toothpastes that contain it.

Other Aspects To Consider

All other ingredients such as toothpastes for sensitive teeth, abrasives, and tartar control options may provide relief as intended, but it is not necessary. The only toothpaste you need should have two things: ADA approved and fluoride.

Dry Socket Prevention After Getting Wisdom Teeth Pulled

Let’s face it, having a tooth extraction of any sort is never fun & that includes wisdom tooth removal. That is why dentists place a lot of emphasis on caring for & maintaining our teeth… so that we do not reach the stage where tooth extraction is required.

Wisdom Teeth Extraction is Recommended

However, our wisdom teeth are a bit of a different breed. With wisdom teeth, most dentists will recommend that you have them removed before they have a chance at causing issues in the future. They can become infected, cause teeth to become horribly misaligned (requiring procedures to fix), among other problems that you would not want to occur.

If you’ve ever had your wisdom teeth pulled, you may remember the strong emphasis your dentist placed on post-op instructions often times involving a clear, plastic syringe that you fill with water to remove food particles & debris from the extraction site. The reason for this emphasis on post-op are to avoid a dry socket from occurring, which can very painful and a major setback.

Elaborating on What Dry Socket Is

When we have a tooth removed, a hole forms at the extraction site. This hole houses the raw bone and nerves that once supported the tooth (that is not extracted). What normally occurs is a blood clot forms over this hole in an effort to shield the site from infection, as well as encourage the healing process.

When you have a dry socket, you have a socket with no blood clot, hence the word “dry”. Instead what you have is raw bone and nerves and it’s a type of pain you do not want to ever experience.

Symptoms of dry socket often include:

•       Headache
•       Pain radiating from the ear
•       Sensitivity to cold air or liquids
•       Excruciating pain where pain meds do not provide relief

Symptoms may last up to a week or longer.

Proactive Ways of Preventing a Dry Socket

The key to avoid a dry socket is to be careful & thoughtful. Obviously the first step is to follow your dentist’s directions. However, there are certain actions that absolutely should be avoided after your wisdom teeth are pulled. The idea here to limit anything that may interfere with that precious blood clot sitting in the extraction site:

•       Smoking
•       Picking at the site or tampering with it in any way
•       Spitting aggressively
•       Sucking through a straw

A very small percentage of people are prone to dry socket (and most cases could have been easily prevented), but if you find you ever develop a dry socket, the best thing you can do is to notify your dentist as soon as possible in order to schedule you in at your earliest convenience.

Follow These Nighttime Oral Care Tips for Healthy Teeth!

Nighttime is regarded – in the wonderful world of dentistry – as one of the most important times of your entire 24-hour day where your mouth should be addressed. The reason why is because a ton of potentially bad things could happen in the 8 hours you spend sleeping. So we’re going to let you in on the best nighttime oral care tips that will allow your mouth to rest comfortably for 8 hours as well.

Nighttime Oral Care Tips by Las Vegas Dentist

1. Avoid consuming food 2 hours before you lay to rest

This one many people struggle with because it’s hard to resist that urge to stuff your face with ice cream at 10’ o’clock. Trust us, we understand, but we value the health of our teeth so we make disciplined decisions that we know are for the better of our health. Do yourself and your teeth a favor and skip on the ice cream just before bed. You can still eat ice cream, just give yourself 2 hours in advance and you shouldn’t have an issue.  

2. Brush & floss right before bed

 

We strongly encourage you to make a habit of making brushing & flossing the very last thing you do as part of your day just before you hit the sack. This way you clear your mouth of all the accumulated debris, food particles, etc. that are stuck in between your teeth and rest at the gum line.

The issue is when you don’t clear this debris, and then it sits in your mouth all night where bacteria feed on and begin to create decay on your teeth. That’s why it’s vital for you to remove the debris every night so that bacteria have nothing to feed on.

3. Top it off with mouth rinse

Mouthwash isn’t necessary, but it’s great way to leave your mouth feeling nice and refreshed just before bedtime and the chemicals used in mouthwash can create a barrier of defense on your teeth and gums in the prevention of tooth decay.

4. Stay aware of the possibility of teeth grinding

This one can be tough because many people who suffer from teeth grinding do so when they are deep asleep and have no idea they are even committing this act. If you spot signs such as slightly worn tooth enamel, abnormal tooth sensitivity, or torn cheek tissue, then you are most likely grinding your teeth at night and will be a good candidate for an oral mouth guard to wear while you sleep.

We’ll leave you with an analogy – think of your teeth as plants. Plants need sunlight in order to survive, other they begin to wilt and die off. Teeth are similar in this regard in that they need to be brushed, flossed, and taken care of otherwise they too will decay and if severe enough, die and fall out. Brushing, flossing, and visiting your Las Vegas dentist are the sunlight that teeth need in order to thrive.

3 Foods You Didn’t Expect to Stain Your Teeth

Stained, yellow teeth are often a sight many of us feel uncomfortable about or uneasy with. What most of us don’t realize is that stained teeth are often the direct result of the foods and drinks we consume.

The most obvious foods on this list are the usual culprits of soda, black tea and other dark teas, red wine, dark fruits such as blueberries, and coffee. Most of these foods and drinks are consumed on a regular basis, making it very difficult to keep your pearly whites.

3 Foods You Didn’t Expect to Stain Your Teeth

1. Tomato Sauce

Did you know that the tomato-based pasta sauces used for cooking are not great for the teeth? Tomatoes are good for you, but sauces are essentially concentrated versions of tomatoes, which are highly acidic. The acidity eats away at your enamel, causing discoloring over time.

2. Salad Dressings

Many of us consume salads because they’re light & healthy. However, the salad dressings can make or break your salad. Some of them contain a lot of fat, but almost all of them contain a lot of sugar and spices that work against our enamel.

3. Apples

It would make sense how blueberries, raspberries, and other berries would stain our teeth, but apples? It’s true. Apples have high levels of acidity and sucrose and every bite we take works against our enamel.

The Key Takeaway

Whether you were already aware of these or not, the key takeaway here is not to avoid these foods, but rather take more initiative to limit them where possible. Take initiative to also brush your teeth following a meal that may have not been enamel friendly, this way the acids, starches, and sugar do not stay on your teeth for long.

Looking to Reverse the Stains?

Professional in-office teeth whitening can restore your beautiful, white smile and reverse the years of damage accumulated from consumption of teeth-staining foods.

A Glass of Wine a Day Can Keep the Dentist Away

A sure sign of any serious wine taster, or red wine lover, is probably their stained teeth. Red wine is also linked to acidity that erodes tooth enamel, and alcohol that can cause dehydration, impairing saliva production. Yet, new studies have revealed that red wine is antimicrobial, which is a direct contradiction to the well-known fact that the alcohol in red wine indirectly causes bacteria overgrowth. So, should you drink red wine or not?

Results of the Study

The antibacterial properties of red wine are significant enough that people are beginning to take notice. Researchers have recently revealed that red wine is not only heart healthy, but also beneficial for dental health by preventing cavities.

Previous studies had found that grape seed extract, polyphenols, and wine could halt the growth of bacteria, while other studies had suggested that red wine could also protect against decay. White wine, on the other hand, was found to be more detrimental to dental health because of its high acidity, which can erode tooth enamel.

In the new study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, researchers – Victoria Moreno and her colleagues – grew cultures of bacteria known to cause dental diseases such as biofilm, and then dipped them into different liquids, including red wine mixed with grape seed extract, alcohol-free red wine, and water containing 12 percent alcohol, to observe the effects.

The researchers observed that red wine - irrespective of whether or not it has any alcohol - and the wine-grape seed extract blend were more likely to eliminate the bacteria.

Explanation of the Study

According to the researchers, red wine, seeds, fermented grape stems, and skins left over from wine production contain a certain compound known as polyphenols that block the ability of the bacteria strain found in the mouth (Streptococcus mutans) to make glucans – substances broken down from sugars in the diet.

The glucens are responsible for making bacteria stick to the teeth and destroy the surfaces. But with the introduction of polyphenols, the harmful bacteria cannot manufacture glucans, creating an oral environment where helpful bacteria can thrive and prevent harmful bacteria from damaging teeth.

Previous research has also shown that cranberries contain similar levels of polyphenols, but they also contain a lot of sugar, which may counteract the benefits of polyphenols. Red wine, on the other hand, can stain your teeth, cause dehydration and excess calories due to the alcohol, or erode your teeth due to the acidity.

Verdict

A glass of wine a day, possibly taken with a glass of water in between, can be beneficial, though not as a substitute for brushing and flossing. A glass of wine should be enjoyed just as dark chocolate or caffeine: in moderation.

5 Ways Nail Biting is Damaging your Teeth

Nail biting, medically referred to as Onychophagia, is a relatively common oral-compulsive habit that affects people of all ages. There are many reasons why people bite their nails, like in times of stress, frustration, or excitement, or in times of inactivity or boredom during childhood.

Nail biting is arguably the most common of the typical “nervous habits” including nose-picking, thumb-sucking, and hair twisting. The habit usually begins in childhood. Studies suggest that an estimated 60 percent of children and 45 percent of teenagers bite their nails, and drop the habit as they get into adulthood. However, about 25 percent of young adults and 5 percent of older adults continue to bite their fingernails.

Conscious or not, the habit can cause major damage to your teeth, because you’re biting on something hard. Here are some other consequences of biting your teeth:

1. Chipped teeth

This is arguably the biggest reason why you should stop biting your nails. Consistently chewing on your hard fingernails can flex your teeth’s enamel, causing it to chip or fracture. Additionally, when you bite through a fingernail, the teeth hit together quite hard, which could also chip the tooth. Besides enamel wear, nail biting can also lead to uneven biting surfaces.

2. Misaligned teeth

Biting your fingernails usually exerts a lot of pressure on the front teeth, which they are not designed to withstand. Although teeth are naturally hard and durable, the shearing stress created by nail biting can cause the incisors to become misaligned or cause a diastema – gap between the teeth - damaging the most important part of your smile. This will cost you a lot in future to fix your smile.

3. Increased risk for Temporomandibular ™ disorder

Nail biting can contribute to TMJ, which results in headaches, jaw pain, and locking and popping of the jaw. Other studies also claim that biting fingernails puts you at greater risk for bruxism – unconscious grinding and clenching of teeth – which is associated with a bunch of negative effects.

4. Damage to dental appliances

Appliances like braces exert a lot of pressure on teeth, and adding to this pressure by biting your fingernails can stress your teeth out, weaken them, and damage your orthodontic treatment and overall bite.

5. Sanitary concerns

Hands are one of the most germ-laden areas of the human body, even for compulsive hand washers, and nails are doubly so. Biting your fingernails creates an avenue for you to transfer disease causing germs, including the potentially pathogenic Salmonella and E. coli bacteria, from your hands into your mouth, leading to infections.

Final note

Damage can also occur to your fingers in the form of a skin infection, like paronychia, whereby bacteria and other microorganisms penetrate the skin through tiny tears around your nails, leading to redness, swelling, and pus around the nails, which can lead to social stigma.

Fortunately, nail biting can be fixed through a number of expert approved strategies, like keeping your nails short, coating your nails with a sour-tasting polish, and picking up stress management habits like meditation, exercise, and yoga to calm you instead of biting your nails.