Endless commercials advertise creams that promise to erase wrinkles. Magazine and web articles applaud celebrities who manage to look as fresh and young as they did a decade ago. Despite our cultural obsession with a youthfulness appearance, most regular people want to recapture the feeling of being young rather than the just the looks. As we enter our middle and later years, we tend to lose the spring in our step, our ability to enjoy the same foods as we did in our youth, and that confidence that comes with feeling healthy and vibrant. The loss of one or more of your permanent teeth accelerates the aging process, resulting in poorer diet and poorer overall health. Although dental implants won’t have you looking like you did during your college years, they can help you recapture a youthful sense of wellbeing. (more…)
How Much Does It Cost to Have Your Wisdom Teeth Extracted?
When facing the prospect of any dental procedure, from a simple cleaning to oral surgery, cost is always an important thing to consider. Knowing how much of an impact a procedure will make on your finances can relieve undue financial stress, but the exact out-of-pocket cost of your specific treatment plan can vary according to factors, including:
The Type of Extraction You Need
As the name suggests, simple extractions are relatively straightforward, can often be performed using only local anesthetic and nitrous oxide, and require little downtime. Surgical extractions, on the other hand, are usually performed under oral or IV sedation and require at least 1-3 days of recovery time afterward. As you can probably guess, a complex surgical extraction (which most wisdom teeth removals are) will involve a higher cost than a simple extraction. (more…)
How to Recover Faster After a Wisdom Tooth Extraction
Making the choice to have your wisdom teeth (or your child’s wisdom teeth) removed is a proactive step toward preventing serious oral health problems, like severe gum infection, tooth decay, and gum disease. Before reaping the long term benefits of wisdom teeth extraction, you need to follow your dentist’s post-operative instructions to the letter to ensure that the extraction sites heal properly. In addition, you can follow our handy guide to help hasten the healing process after a surgical extraction. (more…)
The Practical Side of Cosmetic Dentistry
Cosmetic. The word evokes thoughts of makeup and Botox injections and other little luxuries that, while certainly fun, are not essential to living a healthy, prosperous life. In America, we place a great deal of importance on how we look even as we scoff at people who spend “too much time” taking care on their outward appearance. While it may not correct this little cultural hypocrisy, cosmetic dentistry is one of those few areas that straddle the line between looking beautiful and healthy and being beautiful and healthy. (more…)
Salivation Celebration: How Spit Sustains a Healthy Smile
It’s a little gooey, a little gross, and oh-so important for maintaining a healthy oral environment. It’s saliva, that wet stuff that flows through your mouth throughout the day and, although we take it for granted, spit is full of surprises. Saliva changes constantly, helps you perform a wide array of vital activities, and even repairs minor tooth damage.
What is Saliva Made of?
It’s probably no surprise that human saliva is comprised of 99.5% water. What is surprising is the complexity of the remaining .5%. In addition to water, saliva contains a wealth of (more…)
How Does a Sugary Diet Affect Your Oral Health?
Since you were a kid, your parents warned you that eating too much sugar would rot your teeth. As an adult, you’re also aware that eating a diet high in simple carbohydrates and added sugars can harm not only your teeth, but your overall health as well. Today, we’re examining two distinct ways a sugar-heavy diet can negatively impact your teeth and gums and offering some practical tips for enjoying a healthy smile and the occasional sweet treat. (more…)
Why Consultations are a Necessary Part of the Dental Implant Process
You wouldn’t buy a car without doing research or shopping around first. You wouldn’t undergo a medical procedure without discussing all the pros and cons with your doctor. It only makes sense that before you proceed with dental implants, you sit down for an in-depth consultation with your implant dentist. Today, we’re touching upon just a few of the topics you and your dentist will discuss at your dental implant consultation. (more…)
A Brief History of Dental X-Rays
If you’ve ever been to a checkup at the dentist’s office, chances are you’ve had x-rays taken. And, if you’re old enough, you’ve probably had traditional, digital, and maybe even cone beam x-rays taken in your lifetime. X-rays give dentists a powerful imaging tool with which to locate hard tissue problems, like tooth decay and abnormalities of the jaws and sinuses, that are invisible to the naked eye. Dental x-ray technology has advanced rapidly over the last hundred years and today, we’re discussing just a few high points in the history of this interesting and important dental technology. (more…)
New Report Examines Cost Effectiveness of Dental Implants
As far as replacing permanent teeth lost to gum disease, tooth decay, or traumatic injury, dental implants offer a host of benefits over traditional prosthetics like bridges and dentures. Dental implants provide better chewing ability and a more natural look and feel. They last longer than other prosthetics (Fun Fact: The very first dental implants ever placed lasted 40 years). Dental implants can even help you maintain strong jawbone density.
The primary drawback of dental implants, though, is cost. Placing and restoring a dental implant involves a higher upfront cost than bridges or dentures. However, as one recent study has shown, the long term cost effectiveness of dental implants outweighs the competition. (more…)
Three Surprising Ways Smoking Will Ruin Your Smile
It’s not just about bad breath and yellow teeth, although those are two problems that will affect a smoker’s smile. Smoking cigarettes regularly can seriously compromise your oral health, leading to permanent damage and impaired function. Today, we’re touching on three oral health problems that exacerbated by smoking. (more…)
