Category: Oral Health

April is recognized as National Facial Protection Month and serves to promote the importance of wearing proper mouth protection during sports. At our dental office in Holland, this is a topic we want to talk about in hopes that we can help guard our patients’ smiles from the dangers of contact sports. Join us as we cover some of the most important reasons you should always wear a mouthguard when hitting the court or field.

Sport Injuries by the Numbers

Participating in sports can benefit us in a lot of ways. Sports help keep us active and healthy, and they build strong team and communication skills. But there’s always the risk of injury. While injuries can affect even the best, most experienced athletes, an alarming amount of sports injuries happen to children. In fact, a study published by Johns Hopkins concluded that over 3.5 million kids under age 15 sustain an injury while playing a sport or participating in a similar activity. Of course a lot of sport injuries result in a sprain, strain, or even broken bones, but what’s most concerning to your dentist in Holland is that many of these injuries are to the face or head.

Who Has the Biggest Risk?

Even though any athlete can get hurt, there are some sports that put you at increased risk for a mouth injury. Any contact sport such as football, soccer, or basketball poses the biggest chance for a mouth injury, but which sport sees the most? The answer may surprise you. According to a study published by dentalcare.com and two research dentists, basketball has the highest mouth injury rate in both men and women. This could be in part to the fact that a mouthguard is not always required. However, the American Dental Association recommends wearing a mouthguard, even if it’s not in the rulebook. Besides protecting teeth against chips, breaks, or being totally knocked out, mouthguards can help reduce the risk of concussion, too.

Different Types of Mouthguards

There are typically two types of mouthguards — the boil-and-bite variety found in sporting goods stores and custom-made mouthguards created by a dentist. The stock mouthguards you can buy at stores are better than nothing, but they’re usually uncomfortable, don’t fit as snugly as they should, and oftentimes spend more time being chewed on than protecting teeth. The best way to protect teeth while playing sports is by getting a custom-made mouthguard. These professional-grade sports mouthguards are molded to fit around each and every tooth and are really comfortable. Speaking with them in is easier than a boil-and-bite guard, too.

Before you or your child gears up for a sporting event, make sure you have a well fitting mouthguard and be committed to wearing it every time for the whole game. If you want the ultimate in mouth protection, we welcome you to call our Holland dental office to discuss the best sports mouthguard for you.

Calcium is most commonly noted as being a crucial mineral for strong bone development. However, at our dental office in Holland we also know that calcium is an essential part of building strong and healthy teeth. But just how much calcium does your family need?

The Importance of Calcium

Before we dive into how much calcium each member of your family needs, let’s take a quick look at why a steady intake of it is important. Our bodies need calcium in order to function properly, and our systems will pull what they need out of what we have in our bones. In fact, the calcium found in bones and teeth is repeatedly removed, and it needs to be replaced. This is where eating a diet high in calcium helps replenish what’s lost. This is particularly important in young children when bones are developing and growing, and for older adults.

Calcium Doesn’t Stand Alone

We wouldn’t be giving you great advice if we didn’t tell you that a solid calcium intake is only half the battle. In order for the calcium to be absorbed and aid in tooth and bone development and strength, it needs vitamin D. Vitamin D is an essential vitamin, meaning your body relies on it to function. Make sure your family isn’t only eating a diet rich in calcium, but also vitamin D. Some foods that can help increase levels of vitamin D include:

• Dairy products
• Egg Yolks
• Fish such as salmon and herring

How Much Calcium is Enough?

The appropriate amount of calcium varies depending on age and gender. Here are the recommended daily doses according to the Food and Nutrition Board (FNB).

• 0-6 months = 200 mg
• 7-12 months = 260 mg
• 1-3 years = 700 mg
• 4-8 years = 1,000 mg
• 9-18 years = 1,300 mg
• 19-50 years = 1,000 mg
• 51-70 years = 1,000 mg for males, 1,200 mg for females
• 71+ years = 1,200 mg

Foods High in Calcium

When looking for calcium-rich foods, your Holland dentist wants you to consider going outside of the dairy aisle. There are plenty of non-dairy foods that pack a mean calcium punch including:

• Sardines
• Soymilk
• Orange juice
• Calcium-fortified cereal

Remember, besides eating a diet high in calcium, it’s also important to eat a variety of food groups at every meal.

At our Holland dental office, we’re in the business of taking care of your family’s smiles. One way to ensure a lifetime of strong, beautiful teeth is to get the recommended daily amount of vitamin D and calcium. And of course, we always recommend proper brushing and regular dental visits.

We all know that we should eat right to protect our bodies from scary health problems like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. But what you may not know is that following a healthy diet can directly affect your oral health, too. As we celebrate National Nutrition Month, our dental office in Holland wants to help bring awareness to what proper nutrition involves and how what you choose to put in your body can protect your smile.

Different Bodies Have Different Needs

You may remember the classic Food Guide Pyramid that you learned about in grade school. This original standard for nutritional guidelines was released by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1992, and has since been amended two times. Now, the USDA follows the MyPlate standards for dietary recommendations. What’s different in this model compared to the pyramid concept is how the guidelines shift from person to person based on age, gender, height, weight, and daily activity level. You can find your personalized recommendations by visiting the MyPlate Checklist, but a lot of the essentials have stayed relatively the same. You should still eat a balance of:

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Whole Grains
• Lean Proteins
• Dairy

A Healthy Diet Means a Healthy Body… And Mouth

Providing your body with the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals it needs to function properly keeps you healthy and helps protect you from developing disease. The same is true for your oral health. Maintaining a healthy mouth is about much more than simply brushing and flossing, although both of those things are still important. Your diet is also a key factor in determining just how good your oral health is.

A Spoonful of Sugar Makes the Cavities Appear

There’s a good reason your Holland dentist has a bad taste in their mouth when it comes to sugar. Whenever we eat foods with a high sugar content, our tooth enamel is at risk. These sugars essentially activate plaque acids in the mouth which, in turn, attack enamel. As the enamel erodes away, its protective properties are diminished and teeth are exposed to bacteria. Without enamel, teeth are more susceptible to cavities and tooth sensitivity.

Look for Hidden Sugars

It’s good practice to read nutrition labels to monitor how much sugar you consume, but there are places where sugar hides that you may not even think of… for example, in foods that contain a lot of carbohydrates. When we eat carbs, they end up breaking down into simple sugars which have the same effect on your body and oral health as regular sugar.

Eat Well and Smile

This month, and every month, we encourage you to plan meals and be aware of what you put in your body for increased overall and oral health. At our Holland dental office, we’re here to help. Schedule your appointment today.

Although our dental office in Holland is focused on keeping our human patients’ mouths healthy, we also understand just how important it is to take care of your furry friends’ dental health, too. During this National Pet Dental Health Month, we’re switching things up to talk about some common pet oral health tips that aren’t so different from your own dental needs.

Brush Their Teeth

To some, brushing your pet’s teeth may sound unnecessary and perhaps even a bit silly. But our furry friends’ mouths aren’t so much different than ours, and brushing their teeth is an important part of keeping your dog or cat in good oral health. Just like humans should visit their dentist in Holland to get a professional teeth cleaning, pets should also visit a vet to get the same. However, instead of the recommended bi-annual cleanings for humans, pets only need a thorough cleaning once a year. In between those visits, you can take steps to keep their mouths healthy at home. Consider wrapping a piece of clean gauze around a finger and gently scrubbing your pet’s teeth using a dedicated toothpaste just for animals. Doing this two or three times a week can go a long way in fighting tartar and plaque buildup.

Let Them Chew

While we normally discourage our pets from gnawing on things around the house, chewing on toys or bones can actually help strengthen teeth and minimize plaque. But not just any bone or toy will do. For example, a tough, solid bone may be your go-to pick, but these types of bones can increase the risk of breaking a tooth. There are plenty of treats and toys that are designed to stimulate the gums and remove tartar. It should be noted that chewing doesn’t remove the need for proper brushing, just as you eating smile-friendly foods doesn’t mean you should stop brushing.  

Be Aware of a Problem

When we talk to our patients about the signs of a potential dental disease or problem, we highlight symptoms such as:

• Bad breath
• Loose teeth
• Discolored teeth
• Bleeding

These symptoms also apply to your pet. If you notice any signs of concern, contact your vet as soon as possible.

Taking care of your pets’ oral health can set them up for a lifetime of good overall health. Just don’t forget to take care of your own, too. Regular visits to your Holland dentist, along with a great at-home routine, are the best ways to ensure your smile is in the best shape.

At our Holland dental office, we’re always welcoming new patients of the human kind and would be happy to see you! Give us a call today!

When you’re dealing with a cough that just won’t go away, you’d give anything to make it stop. So you do what anyone battling the common cold would do and head to your nearest pharmacy to load up on the best over-the-counter cough syrup you can find. While this remedy can finally make your coughing ease up, there is a link between this soothing fix and cavities that your Holland dentist wants you to know about.

The Danger is in The Ingredients

Most cough medicines and cough drops contain ingredients that, although made to help treat your cold symptoms, can also be damaging to your oral health. Many of the top medicines designed to help suppress that chronic tickle in your throat contain sugar and alcohol – both of which can contribute to tooth decay and other problems.

Sugar

Sugar is a common ingredient in many medicines for one reason – to make them not taste so horrible. However, these sugars are just the thing that bacteria love to feed on. When bacteria feed on sugars, they release a acidic byproduct. This acid wears away the protective tooth enamel and leave teeth exposed to decay.

Alcohol

A healthy mouth is one that produces saliva adequately and remains moist throughout the day. This saliva helps neutralize and rinse away acids caused by the sugar-eating bacteria. However, when alcohol is introduced into the mouth, saliva production is greatly decreased. Alcohol is naturally drying and inhibits your mouths ability to produce as much saliva as it should. A dry mouth is the perfect place for acid to wear away enamel, increasing the likelihood of decay.

Reduce the Risk

Just because your favorite cough medicine may contain these damaging ingredients doesn’t mean you have to suffer through your cold. There are a few ways you can reduce the risk of tooth decay and still find relief..

• Take your medicine with food. Saliva production increases while eating so it can help wash away dangerous sugars and acids.
• Avoid taking cough medicine right before bed. If you take medicine after you brush your teeth, the sugars and acids stay on your teeth all night.
• Try a pill form of the medicine instead of a liquid. A pill reduces the amount of damaging ingredients that come in contact with teeth.

At our dental office in Holland, it’s our mission to keep our patients healthy, especially during cold and flu season when germs are aplenty. Even if you try every trick in the book to keep germs at bay, sometimes catching the dreaded sore throat, stuffy nose, or constant cough is inevitable. When this happens, we want you to be cautious of how you ease the symptoms to keep your smile healthy.

When it comes to talking about food choices that are good for your teeth, your dentist in Holland has some not-so-surprising go to selections such as veggies, cheeses, and dairy products packed with calcium. But it may surprise you to hear that our dental office in Holland is also a fan of chocolate.

Fight Cavities, Eat Chocolate!

Recent research conducted on the oral health effects of chocolate have caused dental professionals across the world to take a closer look at the sweet treat. It probably comes as no surprise that dentists typically shy away from sugar-packed snacks such as chocolate. But several studies have shown a positive benefit between consuming dark chocolate and lower amounts of decay.

It’s Not Magic, It’s Science!

It may seem like magic that something so delicious may actually have a host of health benefits, but there’s a solid scientific explanation behind why dark chocolate is actually good for teeth. To better understand the science behind the benefits, we need to take a closer look at what makes up our favorite dark chocolate snacks.

The Good Stuff

The compounds found in dark chocolate, or more specifically the cocoa bean husk, have antibacterial and plaque-fighting properties. One of the main components of dark chocolate, CBH, may even find its way into over-the-counter dental products in the future thanks to the positive research on its beneficial effects. Studies surrounding CBH support the idea that this ingredient may be better at fighting decay than fluoride treatments. But don’t go and pass up the fluoride just yet. More research is needed to truly determine the entire host of CBH benefits.

How Does It Work?

Usually when we eat foods with a lot of sugar content, we leave our teeth exposed to the dangers of the sugars. Bacteria in the mouth feed on sugars and produce acid as a byproduct. This acid eats away at protective enamel and leaves teeth susceptible to cavities. However, the compounds in dark chocolate counteract the high sugar content and the damaging effects that go along with it by releasing their antibacterial properties and fighting off plaque.  

Not Just Any Chocolate Will Do

Keep in mind that these studies look at the benefits of dark chocolate. Milk chocolate as well as white chocolate have a higher sugar content, and eating too much of either may contribute to higher rates of decay.

Following a well-balanced diet can do wonders in helping you keep your mouth healthy and cavity free. Add in a few dark chocolate indulgences, brush and floss regularly, and maintain hygiene appointments at our Holland dental office for the best preventive approach to good oral health.

The mission of the American Cancer Society is to eliminate cancer as a widespread health problem through research, service, and education. One of their larger events of the year, the Great American Smokeout, occurs on the third Thursday in November. This annual event strives to encourage all tobacco users to designate a quit date and work towards a smoke-free life. The mission at our dental office in Holland is to help our neighbors live a healthy, happy life, and not using tobacco is directly related to us fulfilling that mission. So this November, we’re going to highlight a few benefits of quitting as well as a few tips to help.

Smoking & Oral Health

Most people are aware of the various health issues that go along with smoking. And those are absolutely serious. But your dentist in Holland focuses more on the many oral health problems that tend to accompany years of tobacco use. Some of these concerns include:

• Increased risk of gum disease

• Six times more likely to develop oral cancer

• Dry mouth and, in turn, decay

• Yellowing teeth and bad breath

• Slowed healing time after dental treatment

Tips to Quit

Quitting smoking isn’t easy, and sometimes people try several times before they stop once and for all. And that’s ok. Whether this is your first try or your twentieth, we believe in you and want to help by providing a few of the best tips we’ve found to help you quit.

• Gather a support system by recruiting friends and family to help you manage cravings. Having a solid support team is one of the key ingredients to a successful quit plan.

• List out your reasons for quitting and refer back to them whenever you feel yourself start to slip. Reminding yourself of the money you’ll save or the health you’ll get back can snap you out of a potential fallback.

• Be aware of your triggers and work to either avoid them or change your habits surrounding them.

• Keep healthy options handy to keep your hands and mouth busy. Chew sugar-free gum or snack on crunchy carrots to help satisfy your cravings.

If you’re looking for help to finally quit smoking, or perhaps you’re ready to get your mouth healthy after quitting, we welcome you to call our Holland dental office to schedule an appointment. Even it’s been awhile since you’ve been to the dentist or you’ve been a smoker for years, you don’t need to worry about a lecture with us. We believe that supporting you through your journey is much more helpful to getting you healthy.