When a patient visits our office for a routine hygiene examination and cleaning, their number one concern is whether we see signs of tooth decay. Patients should be visiting our office every four to six months for routine examinations. During these exams, we not only thoroughly clean your teeth and remove plaque and bacteria, but we also check for problems with your oral health.
At Integrity Dental, we want to help our patients maintain optimal oral health. One way we do this is through cleaning and checking their teeth thoroughly during routine oral hygiene examinations. When we detect a problem, we make treatment recommendations based on our findings. One of the most common dental issues we see in patients of all ages is cavities. Of course you’ve heard about cavities, and maybe you’ve even had one or two, but do you know how they form and how to prevent them?
Starting when we are young, we hear about how sugar can negatively affect our oral health. Even though you have probably been hearing this fact for years, do you really know why sugar is so bad for your oral health and the damage it can cause? We think it is important to mention that the sugar alone is not what is harmful to your teeth, it is more the way you care for your teeth after consuming it. Your oral habits and hygiene have more to do with the state of your oral health than the food you eat. You may be surprised to learn that there are a number of foods that can negatively affect your oral health if you are not cleaning your teeth properly.
Toothaches can range from mildly annoying to downright painful. How do you know when you should call the dentist to have it checked out? Dental cavities are a typical cause of tooth pain. In more extreme cases, the dental pulp—the inside of your tooth—becomes infected due to a crack or injury, which allows bacteria and germs to get in and cause issues.
Tooth decay is a common occurrence in children. Approximately 42% of children between the ages of 2 and 11 develop cavities in their baby teeth. Unfortunately, a child’s teeth may be so damaged by decay that a regular filling is no longer a treatment option. In this case, a crown has to be implanted. Read more to find out about this important treatment.
