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...

Tooth decay is a common problem, especially among children and older people. Regular brushing and flossing is essential to preventing it, but their are supplementary measures people can take, too. At Healthy Smiles Family Dental in Salem, we offer our patients dental sealants for added protection. Our back teeth, the premolars and molars, are especially vulnerable to decay. Food debris can accumulate in the indentations between their pointy bits, which are called cusps. There, oral bacteria will feed and produce acid, causing demineralization of the enamel. This could lead to the formation of cavities, and if the decay gets bad enough, an infection could spread to the dental pulp. Sealants are invisible plastic shields on the teeth. After a dental cleaning, the patient is given a local anesthetic and the premolars and molars are etched with a mild acid to increase their surface area. The sealant is then painted on in liquid form and hardened with a blue light. By the next day, the pat...

Gum disease isn’t just a matter of a little swelling. It’s an infection that could spread elsewhere in the body and cause a lot of pain. But it is treatable, and the earlier people seek intervention, the better. At Healthy Smiles Family Dental in Salem, we help patients recover from gum abscesses, but we need people to know when to come see us. The early stage of gum disease is gingivitis. If allowed to progress, it becomes periodontitis, in which the walls of the gum pocket recede from around the root of a tooth. Abscesses are pockets filled with pus, a fluid made up of infectious bacteria, dead tissue, and acid. When an abscess forms near the gum line in a person with gingivitis, it is called a gingival abscess, and when it forms in the gum pocket of someone with periodontitis, it is a periodontal abscess. An abscess will cause persistent pain, a bad taste, and may prevent the patient from fully opening their mouth. It may also induce fever, as bacteria enters the bloodstream. We ca...

We at Healthy Smiles Family Dental in Salem work closely with orthodontists to ensure that our patients have properly aligned teeth. Not only does orthodontic therapy improve the teeth’s appearance, it also makes them easier to clean and prevents bite problems. You’re probably aware that patients finish orthodontic therapy by wearing retainers. These oral appliances need to be cleaned regularly, so patients naturally wonder how long they can expect to wear them. The fact is that in order to ensure orthodontic therapy works permanently the retainer will have to be worn throughout life. Teeth naturally migrate, and one of the reasons minor orthodontic therapy is becoming more popular among adults is so they can restore their teeth to the position they were in when they got their braces off. People usually have to wear their retainers in the day for an amount of time equal to the time they were undergoing orthodontic treatment, and will have to wear their retainer at night for as long as ...

Do you always seem to have tartar and bleeding gums despite your best effort at brushing? It may be time for you to look into getting an electric toothbrush. Healthy Smiles Family Dental treats patients with all kinds of needs. We’re happy to guide our struggling patients toward hygiene products that might improve their oral health. The old model manual toothbrushes are highly effective at preventing tooth decay when they are used correctly. They need to be used twice a day for two minutes at a time, and the patient needs to pay enough attention to cover every tooth surface. Electric toothbrushes are particularly useful for people with physical disabilities or difficulty focusing. They make tens of thousands of brushstrokes per minute, contrasting with the dozens made by manual toothbrushes, and can be used more quickly and with fewer hand motions. Electric toothbrushes could create a risk of overbrushing, but many of them now come with smartphone apps to prevent that. A user would not...

Usually losing a baby tooth is an exciting developmental milestone. But what happens when one just never falls out? Healthy Smiles Family Dental is a trusted provider of tooth extractions to the Salem community. We can help when an adult still retains some of their baby, or deciduous, teeth. Normally, the roots of baby teeth dissolve as the adult tooth makes its way toward the gum line. This is why the deciduous tooth's crown pops out shortly before the adult tooth emerges. But sometimes, the teeth are extremely misaligned, and the adult tooth doesn’t come in at the right angle to push the baby tooth out. This tends to happen more often to the central lower incisors. There are also a few cases in which an adult tooth never develops or pushes through, which is likelier to happen to the upper lateral incisors and canines. Having both baby teeth and adult teeth often leads to overcrowding. The jumbled teeth are also difficult to keep clean. If the baby tooth root isn’t attached to the...

Do you feel a shooting pain in your teeth when you bite into a frozen treat? Don’t let that ruin your summer. We provide general dental care at Healthy Smiles Family Dental in Salem to keep our patient’s teeth comfortable as well as beautiful. If your teeth are overly sensitive, it could indicate a problem with their enamel. Enamel is the hardest substance in the human body, while the pulp inside each tooth contains blood and a nerve. Between the pulp and enamel is a substance called dentin. This substance is a yellow-gray color and can be seen when enamel is thin. It is made up of tiny tubes, making heat easily transferable through it. Without sufficient enamel, dentin is vulnerable to sudden changes in heat that will be felt in the pulp. It is common for teeth to be sensitive immediately after whitening. Enamel can also be broken down through mechanical damage. But in most cases, enamel erosion is due to acid from infectious bacteria or acid reflux. Drinks such as sodas and citrus ju...

Did you know that good oral health could protect you from Alzheimer’s disease? That’s the conclusion of break-through scientific studies published in the last year. We provide patients with regular cleanings at Healthy Smiles Family Dental in Salem, but we hope our patients will come see us whenever they notice the signs of gingivitis. The bacteria that cause it could become a big problem. Porphyromonas gingivalis is a species of bacteria that causes gum disease. It excretes toxins called gingipains as a means of defending itself against white blood cells. These toxins are common, but are found in especially high levels in the brains and spinal fluid of people who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. Testing on animals confirmed that the gingipains from oral bacteria that affects their species trigger the production of neural plaque. Another study found that P. gingivalis is able to travel from the mouth to the brain in humans. Scientists caution that gum disease is probably not the ...

Asthma is a condition with implications for many bodily systems, including dental health. Patients at Salem’s Healthy Smiles Family Dental know that we cooperate with their other care providers to ensure that all their unique needs are being met. If they suffer from asthma, they may need to make some additional lifestyle and hygiene changes to protect themselves from tooth decay. Saliva plays an important role in combatting bacteria that create cavities. It washes away food particles, depriving bacteria of nutrients, and neutralizes the acid produced by their metabolizing process. But people with asthma commonly suffer from dry mouth (also called xerostomia). They may breathe through their mouths because their upper airways are inflamed, or xerostomia may be a side effect of their medication, but they’ll need to drink more liquids, use humidifiers to maintain a less dry environment, and possibly use throat moisturizers. Patients should consult with their asthma specialist before making...

Night guards have saved many people’s teeth. We at Healthy Smiles Family Dental in Salem commonly treat people who have compromised enamel and jaw pain from nighttime teeth grinding, and we’re happy when people find a way to protect themselves. A custom-fitted night guard not only prevents teeth from rubbing together, it can also help people to breathe more easily. But like any oral appliance, a night guard had to be kept clean or it will contribute to halitosis and become a home for bacteria. Night guard manufacturers make their own cleaning products and advise patients on how to care for individual products. Their websites often feature cleaning solutions or dissolvable tablets, and people can get good results with these, but they are still advised to scrub their night guards daily. Only soft-bristled toothbrushes should be used and toothpaste should be avoided. Plastic is not as resilient as enamel and can be scratched by fluoride and other minerals in toothpaste. It is a good idea ...

If you had an early-stage dental infection, would you be able to recognize it? We’re committed to preventive care at Healthy Smiles Family Dental in Salem. As part of our effort, we want each of our patients to understand what a white spot lesion signifies and what they need to do if they develop one. As the first sign of tooth decay, white spot lesions are also known as “incipient lesions.” They are spots on the surfaces of teeth that appear unnaturally white and chalky and are usually found near the gum line or the sides of teeth. White spots are caused by enamel having lost minerals, but not enough to form a cavity. The teeth naturally produce a film which sugar and the bacteria that feed on it get trapped in. As bacteria eat, they excrete acid, which erodes the enamel. The more food is available, the more bacteria multiply, and the more acid is produced. It only takes about a month for white spots to develop. Patients should take them as a sign they need to improve their brushing, ...

Most of us view flossing as a chore, but it’s a very important task to complete. Flossing between the teeth removes harmful bacteria and food particles that can lead to tooth decay. Our doctors at Healthy Smiles Family Dental want you to keep your permanent teeth for a lifetime, and we don’t want to hear excuses for not flossing. There is a proper technique to follow, try it out and don’t forget to visit us for a dental checkup. Break off about 18 inches of floss and wind most of it around one of your middle fingers. Wind the remaining floss around the same finger of the opposite hand. This finger will take up the floss as it becomes dirty. Hold the floss tightly between your thumbs and forefingers. Guide the floss between your teeth using a gentle rubbing motion. Never snap the floss into the gums. When the floss reaches the gum line, curve it into a “C” shape against one tooth. Gently slide it into the space between the gum and the tooth. Hold the floss tightly against the tooth. Gen...

At Healthy Smiles Family Dental, our doctors want your oral hygiene routine to be frequent and consistent. Though you’ve been brushing your teeth for many years, you may not realize that there is a proper way to clean them. When brushing, massage the gums gently before working your toothbrush toward the enamel, then continue with these steps. Place your toothbrush at a 45-degree angle against the gums. Move the brush back and forth in a circular motion in short (tooth-wide) strokes. Brush the outer tooth surfaces, the inner tooth surfaces, and the chewing surfaces of the teeth. Use the tip of the brush to clean the inside surfaces of the front teeth, using a gentle up-and-down stroke. Brush your tongue to remove bacteria. If you have questions or concerns regarding dental health, please give us a call. To learn about services provided at our practice, visit www.myfamilydentistsalem.com for more information. To schedule an appointment with one of our doctors at Healthy Smiles Family De...