Healthy Smiles Family Dental

  Sugar negatively impacts your teeth in a big way. We at Healthy Smiles Family Dental in Salem, OR, take pride in educating our patients about the importance of restricting sugary foods and drinks. It would be ideal to cut these out of your diet completely, but we understand that sometimes there’s nothing better than a crisp soda on a hot day. More attention should be paid to, say, how many sugary beverages you drink in a day or week. Is it really adding up? If so, consider restricting your intake for the sake of your teeth.   Sugar easily coats the surface of your teeth and attracts the “bad bacteria,” such as Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus . These destructive bacteria feed on the sugar and disturb the natural pH of your mouth, to the point where the acidity is too much for your teeth. Over time, the enamel on your teeth is broken down little by little. This isn’t ideal since tooth enamel cannot be replaced. Once that natural barrier is gone, it’s gone for good. Ha...

Patients commonly mistake flossing as being an optional hygiene practice. In reality, flossing is just as important as brushing. Drs. Na Xu and Mark Thomas hear many reasons why patients aren’t flossing at their bi-annual checkups. Don’t be one of them! That’s why Healthy Smiles Family Dental, located in Salem, OR, is providing this flossing guide and some tips.   The majority of the patients treated at your Salem dental office never learned to floss properly. Proper technique makes all the difference in your teeth. First, remove around 18 inches of floss from the packet. Twirl one end around each of your middle fingers. One finger will control the clean floss, the other the dirty floss. Next, hold the floss taut and carefully move it between your teeth. Wrap the floss around one of the two teeth in a “C” shape. Move the floss up and down, rubbing between the teeth. Repeat this for all of your teeth.   One of the biggest dental mistakes possible is not flossing daily. Only through flos...

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month, and at Healthy Smiles Family Dental in Salem, we want our patients to be aware of the link between diabetes and gum disease. Diabetes is a metabolic disorder in which the body does not produce enough insulin, the hormone that breaks down sugars. Lots of bodily systems are put at risk by it, and in the case of gum disease, there appears to be a mutually-reinforcing relationship. One of the effects of diabetes is to thicken blood vessels, limiting the amount of oxygen and nutrients that reach different parts of the body. This makes it harder for people with diabetes to fight off infections, including those of the gum pockets. In people with uncontrolled diabetes, gum infections are much likelier to develop into periodontal disease, putting the patient at risk for tooth loss as their gums and jaw bone tissue recede. There is also evidence that gum infections make it harder for patients’ bodies to regulate blood sugar, setting off a feedback l...