What You Should Know about Oral Cancer Screenings

Have you heard or read about oral cancer screenings, but never had this type of dental service done? If so, you should contact your dentist and schedule the procedure. With early detection, the survival rate is between 80 and 90%.

Cosmetic Dental Bonding for Tooth Chips and Gaps

Many people feel self-conscious about the way they smile or have trouble with oral functions, like speaking and eating due to teeth and gum issues. In some cases, these issues are the result of chipped or broken teeth, or gaps between teeth. Through your own research, you may be interested in pursuing cosmetic dental bonding as a treatment for your teeth issues.

The Link between Infected Gums and Heart Attack

Tobacco use, diabetes, and poor nutrition— these are just some of the risk factors that gum disease and heart problems have in common. But a significant number of studies have shown that the two are possibly directly related.

Atherosclerosis, or the hardening of the arteries, occurs when fat deposits and other substances attach themselves to the walls of the arteries, like clogs blocking a drain. These arterial plaques can cause heart attack or stroke if the blood flow is substantially blocked. Take note that the plaque referred to in this instance isn’t the same as the one your dentist scrapes off your teeth.

Understanding the Reasons for and Symptoms of TMJ

The temporomandibular joints (also referred to as TMJ), other joints, and the muscles in the jaw are the reasons a person can open and close his/her mouth. Situated on both sides of the head, this collection of joints and muscles make it possible for a person to speak, swallow, and chew food.

Healthy Teeth: Why People Shy Away from Dentists

Visiting the dentist is key to maintaining a beautiful smile. Even if you brush and floss on a regular basis, you still need to get a checkup twice a year. Unfortunately, some people fail to do this for various reasons, including those discussed below.

3 Fast Facts about Overbites

Does your upper set of teeth dominate most of your snapshots? If so you may have a form of malocclusion called overbite. Here are a few important facts you need to know about overbites:

Not everybody is born with it.

Genes may be the number one factor, but some people start out with a healthy teeth formation only to be ruined by bad childhood habits. Thumb-sucking, long-term pacifier or bottle use, nail biting, tongue thrusting, and chewing pencils exert pressure on the roof of the mouth causing the then moldable upper teeth set to protrude.

What You Should Know About Gum Lifts

At times, teeth may be of the healthiest sort, but the gums would spell a problem—in terms of aesthetics, that is. You may have seen people with “gummy” smiles, or those whose gums extend too far from the lip line. People with “gummy” smiles tend to lose confidence over their dental predicament, since they feel that too much of their gums show when it shouldn’t be the case. 

Fortunately, a procedure called gum contouring (a.k.a. gum lift) can help. A dentist performing this cosmetic dentistry procedure uses a laser to trim away excess gums, then subsequently shape the gum tissue so it looks much better on the teeth. Gum lifts are done for various reasons. Several people have gums that didn’t recede after their permanent teeth erupted, while others have lips that simply show too much gums when they smile. In some cases, gums may actually recede farther than normal, revealing too much of the tooth surface. 

CEREC: A Crowning Glory for That Confident Smile

Creating dental crowns is an indispensable method for any dentist in Atlanta, GA doing tooth restoration or repair. The primary downside of crowns is that they take days and even weeks to prepare, making patients anxious and reluctant for a return visit. Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics or CEREC crowns can save the day for such patients. 

What You Have to Know About Teeth Grinding

Teeth grinding is a fairly normal thing to do. Too much of it, however, is damaging and it could escalate into the condition called bruxism, from a Greek word that means “gnashing of teeth”. If you brux, here are some valuable facts worth knowing.

Bruxism is all ages

Bruxism in children comes with teeth development. The condition gradually ceases as they grow but some bring it with them to adulthood. Those who’ve stopped bruxing may also redevelop the condition due to various factors aside from teeth development.