Dental Blog

The staff in our midtown Manhattan dental office are qualified licensed dentists with doctorates and white coats, but they're also people who love to communicate with others. The relationship between dentist and patient is important for medical reasons, and our dentists understand the need for open and honest communication on a medical level. But that isn't to say they don't enjoy it on a personal level as well. They do. Our patients are some of our favorite people in the world, and we truly enjoy getting to know them.

There are things our patients can do to facilitate the relationship they have with our team. There are certain things that you should be talking about with your dentist. For instance, it's important to ask your dentist what he or she is doing to protect your teeth. A regular 6 month dental check up keeps up the maintenance on your oral cavities, and it's important you know what kinds of things your dentist is learning from dental x-rays and the like. It's also important to ask how your diet can affect your oral health. Also, it's important that your dentist knows if you are snoring, or if you have bad breath. While snoring is often evidence of sleep apnea, bad breath can be indicative of bacteria in your mouth that your dentist should be aware of.

Having a conversation about these things can be the start of an invaluable relationship between you and your doctor. If your dentist knows that you are comfortable in his or her hands, he or she will be more comfortable too. Not only will this mean that your dentist is taking the best care of you, but it means you've always got someone who will listen when your team wins the Super Bowl.

We hope our patients understand how dangerous it is to smoke, but it's so important that we're going to discuss a couple of the reasons why it is so dangerous today. For one, it leads to potentially deadly cancers, including oral cancer, as well as gum disease and plaque build up. Not to mention, it makes your breath smell bad. The dentists in our Manhattan dental office tell all their patients to never pick up the habit, but of course many people in New York do. Dentists can't make anyone stop smoking, but they can do something to help people quit. 

The health insurance company Aetna recently developed an app for the iPad that is designed to enhance the relationship patients have with their dentists. This app, which patients can easily procure, comes with tools that connect patients and doctors, makes it easier for patients to schedule six month regular dental check ups, and generally helps allow dentists to provide the best treatment possible. It also comes with tips and tools that help people quit smoking. Our qualified dentists are more than happy to point any of their patients who are smokers in the direction of this app. We hope that it will help anybody who needs help. And we can't stress enough how important to your health it is to just say no to tobacco.

Here's a one question pop quiz: are cavities contagious?

Most people would say no to this question, but the truth is that they can be. Which is why dentists recently put together a three question quiz about dental health, that is designed for parents so that they can educate their kids. We wrote last week about how even young children should go see a qualified dentist, but infant dental care begins at home, and its important for parents to be able to pass on accurate information about dental health.

The answer to the first question is yes because cavities come from bacteria, which can be spread through sharing food, sharing utensils, or through any mouth-to-mouth contact. The second question is, can juice and other drinks give kids cavities. The answer again is yes, because those drinks often have sugar in them. The final question is, can kids brush their own teeth. The answer to that is no; children need help and supervision when brushing their teeth up until past Kindergarten. 

The cosmetic dentists in our midtown Manhattan dental office love working with children, and do everything they can to affect an environment that is friendly to them when they come in for regularly sheduled check ups. But we ask our patients to help us protect their childrens' teeth. And just knowing these simple things improves the safety of your child. That's what they mean when they say knowledge is power!

Drastic improvements in dental implant technology have made things much easier for dental patients at our Midtown Manhattan dental offices in recent years. We mention this because even though no one wants to lose an adult tooth, most Americans do. The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons recently found that nearly 70% of American adults between the ages of 35 and 44 have lost at least one adult tooth. Additionally, the AAOMS also found that 26% of all Americans over the age of 74 have lost all of their natural teeth.

When we encounter patients who have either lost a tooth or need to have a tooth removed, our expert dentists surgically implant modern dental implants that are strong, safe, identical to natural teeth in appearance. We wish that we didn't have to perform those surgeries so often though, because with a few exceptions - having a tooth knocked out in an accident, for instance - good dental hygiene can prevent the need for tooth replacement. With dentistry, preventative dental measures are always preferable to emergency procedures, although since each patient is responsible for their own dental health, we can only do so much.

We cited the statistics from the AAOMS above to remind you that even if you have white teeth, a beautiful smile, and good dental habits, dental hygiene only becomes more important as time goes on, so don't lose diligence. If nothing else, routine dental check-ups, daily brushing and flossing, and moderate consumption of sugar and sweets will definitely help you avoid having to replace a tooth.

We hope that these blog posts are making you see how important it is to go see a qualified licensed dentist every six months for a check up. Between the teeth whitening, teeth veneers, and other tools of cosmetic dentistry that can lead to aesthetic perfection, and the dentist's ability to protect you from dangerous oral illnesses, there's every reason to find a dentist in your area, and develop a personal relationship with him or her. One thing that sometimes gets forgotten however is how important it is to get in the habit of visiting the dentist at an early age. Dental experts recommend that children visit the dentist by the time of their first birthday.

This may seem like overkill to some, but the reality is that many orthodontic problems can be solved while small children are still developing their teeth. Dentists say that dental abscess, tooth decay, bad breath, tooth loss and toothache have a better chance of being avoied if children begin scheduling regluar check ups early. In our midtown Manhattan dental office, we're pleased whenever we see our patients come through our office with their children in tow. It helps us to get to know our patients better, and it also creates lasting relationships with those children, that in turn create better dental health for them.

We hope all our patients know that every time they walk into our midtown Manhattan dental office, they're about to receive the highest quality of dental care. We pride ourselves on the highly qualified dentists that work in our office. But it's just as important for our patients to know about the things they can do to take care of their teeth at home, so that when they come in to see us their teeth are in top condition. The healthier a patient's teeth are at the start, the shorter and more painless the check up will be.

There are a few easy things that patients should keep in their minds on a daily basis. Remember to brush your teeth for the full two or three minutes that dentists recommend. Studies show that most people only spend about thirty seconds brushing. But poor brushing habits can lead to cavities, and gum disease. Another easy tip is to avoid bleaching your teeth more than once every six months. Some people bleach their teeth far more often, in an attempt to make them as white as possible. While we certainly understand the desire for white teeth, too much bleaching can dilute the natural enamel of your teeth.

Finally, it is important for our patients to keep in mind that it is incredibly easy to spread cavity-causing bacteria to infants. babies' mouths are so sensitive to these germs, that even sharing silverware can cause them to spread. New parents should take special care not to spread germs if they have problems with their teeth.

Maintaining healthy teeth is pretty easy. Just follow the advice of your dentist, who always has your well-being in mind. If patients follow these simple steps, and remember to come in for dental check ups every six months, their teeth will be much healthier than they would be otherwise.

A couple weeks ago we wrote about teeth whitening procedures. Having whiter teeth is an easy way to gain self confidence, and usually all it takes is a few simple cosmetic procedures. Dental bonding, dental veneers, and teeth straightening are all painless methods for gaining whiter teeth. And each are procedures we offer in our midtown Manhattan dental office.

A new study by the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry shows that cosmetic procedures have increased significantly over the past 6 years. The number of patients going to the dentist's office to get their teeth whitened has increased over 300% since 2006. The number of people using porcelain veneers and dental bonding has also increased. Our cosmetic dentists are pleased that it's become so simple and popular for their patients to start flashing their million dollar smiles. And we hope that as these numbers continue to grow, more patients in the Manhattan area will see that there's nothing wrong with coming in to our office, and letting us perfect your teeth.

Are you afraid of going to the dentist? Don't worry, many people are, and even those who aren't still get a little bit queasy whenever that 6-month checkup appears on the calendar. In our midtown Manhattan dental office we take special care to make sure our patients are as comfortable as possible, but we recognize that there can still be a little bit of apprehension when our patients walk through our front door. Dental anxiety is not uncommon, but there are things that us dentists can do to alleviate those fears.

A new method that is gaining traction in dentist circles is sedation dentistry. Here, a dentist will anesthetize a patient before working on his or her teeth. The process of sedating the patient helps him or her to relax, while we get down to the necessary practice of perfecting those teeth. Some patients said that they after being sedated, they couldn't even remember their trip. Our qualified cosmetic dentists know that their patients in Manhattan want to explore every way to make the dental process is painless as possible. Sedation dentistry is a great way to calm those nerves before sitting down in the dentist chair, and we are happy as can be if that makes our patients more comfortable.

Here in our midtown Manhattan dental office, cosmetic dentistry is one of our specialties. Our qualified licensed cosmetic dentists do everything they can to make sure that our patients leave our office satisfied every single time. But we know that it is important for New Yorkers to select the best cosmetic dentists for them. So we've put together some tips and some things patients can look for when selecting their dentists. After all, it is a relationship that can last for years to come.

One extremely important thing to do when choosing your dentist is doing research on him or her before you go in to meet. Make sure he or she is licensed and accredited. Keep in mind that cosmetic dentistry is not recognized as a specialty by the American Dental Association (ADA), but it is recognized by the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD).

It is also important that you get along with your dentist. Patients can schedule an initial dental exam, that can be used as an informal meet-and-greet with a prospective cosmetic dentist. If you experience an instant connection with the dentist, you can probably trust he or she will be straight with you down the line. But if instead he or she makes you feel uncomfortable, you should probably go with someone else.

Once you've done the research and met, you'll have a very good idea of whether or not you've found someone you want to work with. After all, the doctor/patient relationship can be one of the most important ones you have, and it is important to make sure that it is a relationship you enjoy for as long as you need to.

We got into the medical practice to save lives. Finding and curing disorders like sleep apnea and TMJ, and rooting out dangerous oral cancers in our patients is our top priority. But we also appreciate how good it feels to flash a perfectly white smile. Maybe that's why we became dentists and not doctors. The cosmetic dentists in our midtown Manhattan dental office can do a lot to touch up the blemishes nature gives our teeth. We've written about Invisalign and teeth-whitening before, but there are four other simple procedures we want to highlight now.

Dental bonding is a simple way to cover up gaps or to fix discolored teeth. A dentist applies a special material that fills in the black spot, or goes over the discoloration. Teeth contouring is another procedure, used to reshape teeth. Here the dentist uses tools to move the teeth in his or her patient's mouth. Cosmetic dental fillings are great for people who already have amalgam fillings in their teeth. A new, state-of-the-art material can replace the old fillings, and completely change the structure of a patient's teeth. Finally, dentists can offer dental veneers to their patients. Veneers are for people with damaged tooth enamel. A dentist attaches porcelain veneers onto the damaged area, creating a white smile.

Almost everyone will require at least one of these procedures sometime during their life, and we hope everyone, or at least everyone in New York City, can count on us for their cosmetic care. As far as we're concerned, that should be the goal of every good doctor.