How to Have Healthy Gums

20150414_082901I recently had our entire family in to the dentist for check-ups, and some of us came back with less than stellar reports. The dentist kept reminding me how important it is to floss to avoid cavities and also to maintain good gum health.

Healthy gums are really the cornerstone of a healthy mouth.  According to the American Dental Association, almost 50% of Americans suffer from gum disease. Good oral hygiene, eating the right foods, and using supplements or supplement-enriched dental products can help keep gums – and us – healthy and happy.

Risk factors include:

Heredity
Smoking
Diabetes
Stress
Immune deficiencies
Defective fillings or bridges
Pregnancy and oral contraceptives
Dry mouth
Poor dental hygiene habits

Gum disease starts as gingivitis and can lead to periodontitis. Plaque forms on teeth and gums daily, and if it is not removed, it hardens into tartar. Gingivitis begins when bacteria feeding on tartar cause infection where our gums attach to our teeth. Continue reading “How to Have Healthy Gums”

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3 Steps to Healthy Teeth

Halloween is around the corner, and we all know what that means for parents with kids… bags of candy! Candy is a huge culprit when it comes to tooth decay. But so are soda, potato chips and even raisins!

So although it is obviously best to avoid consuming sugar-laden food, realistically, kids will probably have a few pieces.

Here are some tips to keeping your little ones’ chompers strong and cavity-free.

1. Reduce bacteria in the mouth. Since bacteria is what causes cavities and dental decay in the first place, it makes sense to try to keep it at bay. Bacteria feeds in acidic environments and it thrives on sugar… even natural sugar. So cutting back on these kinds of foods will help the mouth not to be such a prime environment for bacteria to reside. Another way to help with this is to sip on water or swish with water while you are eating, so food has less chance to stick to the teeth.  Continue reading “3 Steps to Healthy Teeth”

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Holistic Dental Health

The past few weeks have been an interesting dental adventure. I hadn’t gone to the movies in a long time and about a month ago my boyfriend and I decided to go. I was excited, not so much for the movie, but because I was really looking forward to sitting in front of the big screen and eating an entire bag of popcorn. I could almost taste it.

Later on that night, though, a piece of one of my teeth fell off, leaving a big hole behind. The following night, another piece of the same tooth fell off. It took me about 4 days to go see a dentist, a new one I hadn’t seen before. She found a small cavity and fixed it.

A week later, I was still in minor pain with a marked sensitivity to hot and cold, and unable to use that side of my mouth when eating. The dentist asked me to wait for a few more days to allow for healing.

A few days went by and I wasn’t getting any better, I knew something else was going on and the dentist agreed. Enough time had passed for it to heal by itself, and since I was still in pain, it meant that the nerve was involved and that I would need a root canal, she said.

Over the past 5 years, I’ve had the opportunity to learn about biological dentistry and now I know well enough that root canals are bad news and you want to avoid them if you possibly can. But first of all, what is biological dentistry?  Continue reading “Holistic Dental Health”

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