Dental Blog

Cavities. We all fear them. Those little black spots look harmless, but they can permanently damage teeth. In order to have a healthy, shining smile the team at our Midtown Manhattan dental office offers five helpful tips to keep your ivory digits sparkling.

Last week, the world celebrated World Oral Health Day on September 12, with dentists and doctors using the day to champion the cause of that very important facial accessory—your teeth. There is really no question to the fact that our teeth play a very important role in our lives, and World Oral Health Day serves as a reminder of how we need to take care of these valuable accessories to our smiles. At the very least, the day attempts to reinforce the basics of oral care into the general consciousness.

Brushing is the cornerstone of good dental health. Without consistently brushing your teeth, long-term dental health and appearance is almost impossible to sustain. But brushing isn’t the whole story. Our Midtown Manhattan dentists want to provide our patients with the greatest number of details possible in the fight to maintain a healthy mouth by brushing the right way. Here are some additional tips that will help you do just that.

Firstly, make sure that you’re using the toothbrush that’s right for you. For instance, if you have sensitive gums, buying a toothbrush with soft or medium bristles makes more sense than buying one with hard bristles that can easily irritate your gums. No matter what toothbrush you get, replace it every three to four months. How you brush is also extremely important. A lot of people thinking that scrubbing as hard as they can is the most effective way to brush, but this simply isn’t the case. The best way to brush is to place the toothbrush at a 45-degree angle against the tooth and gums and massage them for a few seconds.

As we mentioned in a previous post, brushing for two minutes is ideal. And before you put your toothbrush away, make sure to brush your tongue too, because it’s the only way to get rid of food that’s stuck in the grooves of your tongue. If those food particles are left untouched they can lead to bacteria growth and bad breath. Swishing with an antimicrobial rinse will also help eliminate bacteria. For those at risk of an oral disease, our dentists can even supply prescription strength mouthwash.

Our expert dentists have become accustomed to seeing patients whose dental hygiene has suffered simply because they just don’t like to brush. While we understand that it’s not exactly the most exciting activity in the world, brushing regularly sure beats the alternative; inconsistent dental habits can lead to cavities, gingivitis, and periodontitis. So at our Midtown Manhattan office, we’re happy to report that there is now a free App designed to make the act of brushing more enjoyable, especially if you haven't heard some of your favorite songs in a while.

Developed by British dentist, the App is called Brush DJ and it plays two minutes of a song selected randomly from your music collection. The dentist specifically chose a two minute playing time because that’s the recommended length of time for brushing effectively. A recent study found that Americans brush for an average of 45 seconds, so this App would help many people reach the recommended two minute mark and enjoy the time spent doing it. The App also enables users to set reminders to brush twice a day, floss, use mouthwash, and even plan their next visit to their local dentist office. And while we have all kinds of advanced technology designed to fix problems caused by improper dental habits, nothing beats prevention. So for those of you who want to get reacquainted with the lost songs in your music collection while improving your dental health, this App is for you.

According to the American Gastroenterological Association, 33% of Americans suffer from acid reflux disease. Unsurprisingly, acid reflux is the most expensive chronic gastrointestinal disorder in the U.S.; associated costs approach $10-million a year. But there’s another side to this story which doesn’t receive enough attention, and that’s the link between acid reflux and esophageal cancer. Since it is oral cancer awareness month, our expert dentists want to touch on this subject to keep our patients well informed in how to maintain their dental health and overall health even if they are suffering from chronic disorders.

For anyone who suffers from acid reflux, it’s crucial to be mindful of how this disorder affects your body as a whole and your mouth in particular. Gastric acid is extremely corrosive, and even the hardest tissue in our bodies can’t resist it. Consequently, the enamel of our teeth is very susceptible to damage from acid reflux, because over time the acid will erode and soften the outer portions of our teeth. Once enamel is gone, it can’t be replaced. Even more seriously, persistent regurgitation of acid increases the risk of esophageal cancer.

Our New York City dentists in Midtown Manhattan are in a unique position to spot chronic changes to dental enamel and oral tissues, which is why it’s so crucial to get regular cleanings. Our dentists know how to identify the warning signs of esophageal and oral cancer, and using our extensive knowledge of dental hygiene and our advanced detection technologies, we make sure that our patients are well aware if they are at risk of a serious condition. 

At our Midtown Manhattan offices, we believe that our basic duty to our patients is to ensure their continued dental health and general well-being. While most people might not think of our Manhattan dentists as caretakers of general health, the intimate relationship between dental health and overall health is extremely strong, which is why we take the time to warn our patient about lifestyle choices such as excessive drinking. Our expert dentists are in a unique position to let their patients know about many the damaging effects of excessive drinking that they may not otherwise be aware of.

For one thing, when people think of the damage drinking does, they don't think of their dental health; most aren’t aware that binge drinkers are much more likely to experience tooth decay and tooth surface erosion. The deleterious effects of excessive drinking go far beyond tooth decay, however. In a paper published in the Royal College of Surgeon’s Dental Journal, experts wrote that, “Excessive alcohol consumption is not only a risk factor for sustaining orofacial injury (either through falls, road traffic accidents or interpersonal violence) but also implicated in the aetiology of potentially fatal oral disease, including cancers of the mouth, larynx, pharynx and oesophagus."

The reason that our expert dentists are in a unique position to help is that we see our patients on a regular basis when they take preventative measures for routine check-ups. Our advanced dental technologies can help fight the adverse effects of excessive drinking and effectively treat those conditions. We want to make sure that our patients don’t suffer from any mouth problems of any kind, and we do everything we can to achieve that end.

Few dental problems are more serious than gum disease, an affliction that affects long-term overall health more than most people realize. Our expert dentists specialize in early detection of gum disease, which is yet another reason why its important to utilize our services by getting regular check-ups. Even so, being able to recognize the signs and symptoms of gum disease on your own is extremely important: the earlier you recognize that you have this serious condition, the easier it will be to treat.

Gum disease is most evident in inflammation, which is evident in three ways: redness, swelling, and bleeding. If you experience these symptoms on a daily basis, it’s almost certain that you are suffering from gum disease. If this is the case, you should visit our Midtown Manhattan dental offices as soon as you possibly can, because our use of advanced dental technologies will help lead to immediate improvements in handling these issues.

Dental health is very closely tied to how well you can clean your teeth and gums, so our dentists recommend that you use every product available that will keep your teeth and gums clean. Coming in for routine cleanings is also tremendously helpful, but routine flossing is the best way to prevent gum disease. In addition to regular cleanings, our Manhattan dentists are experts in cosmetic dentistry and dental implants that will help prevent gum disease or help our dental patients treat this serious condition.

Water. Is there anything more refreshing in the entire world? Like most scientists, we our fascinated by water, and believe it can go a long way towards maintaining a healthy physique. But did you know that water, in addition to its other good qualities, can also improve the health of your teeth? Flouride is a chemical that protects the enamel of your teeth. Toothpaste comes with flouride, and qualified licensed dentists provide their patients with a layer of flouride every time they make a regular 6-month dental check up. What you might not know, is that water has flouride in it too, and just drinking tap water can wash your teeth in flouride that can go that extra mile to make them healthier.

Another interesting thing about water and flouride is that while natural tap water comes with the material, bottled water does not. The dentists in our midtown Manhattan dental office recommend that our patients make sure to drink tap water in addition to bottled water, to make sure they get that extra flouride. We have a little saying in our office: if you take care of your teeth at home, we'll perfect them in our office here. And while we specialize in making sure that your teeth are white and perfectly straight, you can, just by drinking water and brushing your teeth, make our job much easier.

While we spend most of our time looking at teeth in our midtown Manhattan dental office, every once in awhile a story comes out that we just have to share. A local news station reported yesterday that a growing number of people are turning to their dentists rather than their doctors for basic check ups. To respond to these people, qualified licensed dentists nationwide are performing more basic health check up screenings than before, examining patients for blood pressure irregularities and looking for more kinds of diseases.

Now, we don't want to give the impression that we are competing with any of Manhattan's fine doctors, but as lovers of our patients and their health, this story has us tickled pink. Not only do we provide regular 6 month dental check ups for things such as sleep apnea, TMJ and oral cancer, but we are thrilled that patients are trusting their dentists to perform other kinds of examinations. It makes our dentists feel blessed that we have such good patients, and we love knowing that, even though some patients are afraid of the dentist, others actually look forward to visiting our office!

We understand dental phobia. It's something that we've written about on this blog before, and its something that many dentists have tried to mitigate, either with movie goggles that patients wear during dental check ups, or with sedation. But at the end of the day, visiting a qualified licensed dentist is important for a vast number of reasons, and dental anxiety is something that has to be overcome.

A new study recently released said that women in their forties are more likely to suffer from dental anxiety than any other group. In our midtown Manhattan dental office, our dentists do everything we can to make our patients feel comfortable, and we'd like to think that none of our patients have any kind of undue fear about visiting our office. But for those with true dental phobia, a trip to the dentist's office is more than just an intimidating prospect, it is downright terrifying. If anyone in the Manhattan area is too afraid of what a dentist might do to your mouth to visit a dental office, we ask you to please check out our office. We hope that our comfortable, relaxing atmosphere and friendly, people-loving dentists can do enough to make you feel at peace. We also offer movie goggles, which help provide nervous patients with the feeling of being in a movie theater rather than a dentist chair. So if you do suffer from dental anxiety, try your hardest to overcome it. Just like we'll try our hardest to make you know those fears are unfounded.