Discussing Your Oral and Lung Health

The importance of maintaining clean and healthy teeth and gums should be a given, considering your mouth is essential to eating and speaking. Even still, gum disease, one of the most destructive chronic oral health issues, affects over 75% of adults in America today. With a growing cache of research supporting a connection between your mouth’s wellbeing and your body’s health, preventing and treating dental issues takes on a new importance. According to a study published in the Journal of Periodontology, this connection may even extend to include the health of your lungs.

Common Questions About Cosmetic Dentistry

Have you tried numerous over-the-counter products from your pharmacy, but are still unable to return the youthful, pearly-white shine to your smile? Do you have one or more teeth that are chipped, but aren’t sure what’s the best way to fix it? Cosmetic dentistry has a wealth of solutions to most issues concerning your smile’s appearance. If you wish your smile were brighter, straighter, or generally more appealing, then ask your Grand Prairie dentist, Dr. Quinn Smith, how cosmetic dentistry can help you.

How does teeth whitening erase stains?

Though teeth stains are the most common cosmetic complaint, they’re also the easiest to address, at least in most cases. Professional teethwhitening consists of a highly-potent bleaching agent that eradicates stains on the semi-translucent surface of your teeth, while oxidizing and brightening the underlying tooth structure.

It’s Never Too Early to Prevent Gum Disease

Although it tends to affect older people more often than the young, gum disease isn’t an age-related disease; it’s neither determined by age, nor is it a natural part of the aging process. On the contrary, gumdisease can develop from poor dental hygiene regardless of age, race, gender, and color, and if not prevented or dealt with early, the disease can cost you one or more teeth. As a progressive condition, gum disease can’t be completely eradicated once it’s developed; therefore, keeping your mouth safe from it is best accomplished by preventing gum disease development in the first place.

Think Twice About Energy and Sports Drinks

It’s summer, and in Texas, that means HOT! So, naturally, your first instinct may be to keep a beverage with you at all times, and given their popularity, that beverage may often be a sports drink or energy drink. They’re full of flavor, electrolytes, and lots of other things that many people automatically assume are good for them. Unfortunately, that misconception hides the fact that many of what today’s sports and energy drinks contain can seriously affect your dental health, such as causing irreversible damage to your teeth.

How Dental Implants Compare to Traditional Dentures

Though today’s modern implant dentures are far more advanced than what our ancestors could have imagined, the idea of crafting artificial teeth to replace thenatural ones you’ve lost originated long ago. In fact, the earliest known example of tooth replacement comes from the Etruscans of ancient Italy, who crafted primitive dentures from human and animal teeth around 700 BC. Today, innovative and lifelike materials have replaced used teeth, but the philosophy remains the same; restore your mouth’s full set of teeth to restore your ability to chew and speak properly. Along with innovation, however, has come a greater understanding of our oral health, and we now know that restoring lost teeth’s roots is as important as filling the space left in your smile.

Is TMJ Disorder Your Problem?

Does your jaw pop and click when you open and close it? Do your jaw and/or face feel stiff, sore, and chronically uncomfortable? Your Grand Prairie dentist, Dr. Quinn Smith, has helped many patients find relief from craniofacial discomfort by treating a condition known as TMJ disorder, which affects the joints and muscles that control your jaw’s movement. Today, we explore how TMJ disorder can develop and list a few other seemingly-unrelated aches and pains that may also indicate a jaw dysfunction.

Tooth Decay Explained: Preventive Dentistry Practices

Your teeth are like the gatekeepers to the rest of your body. As you eat, drink, or inhale, various foods, liquids, particles, and chemicals your mouth acts as the gateway to your body. Teeth remain an important piece of the oral health puzzle, and they require special treatment just like any A-list celebrity you see on the cinema screen. However, the care your teeth need is specific and finite, meaning it’s manageable by anyone willing to make their teeth a priority. Dr. Smith explains the progression of tooth decay and ways to combat bacteria and dental caries in your mouth in the following article as a part of preventive dentistry.