Don’t Reach For A Bad Snack

While you are sitting around the house looking for food to consume, think and apply these few simple rules in order to help protect your teeth from decay. Dr. Anna Lee recommends limiting the number of snacks you are consuming throughout your day.

Bad Snacks with high sugar content that cause tooth decay:

·      Cakes, sweet biscuits

·      Chewy & hard candies

·      Soda, sports drinks

·      Fruit juices

·      Peanut butter

·      Potato chips

·      Crackers

·      Popcorn

·      Fruit snack bars, muesli bars

·      Some breakfast cereal

·      Dried fruit

For more information Contact Dr. Lee & her team today.

Healthy Eating for Adults

The foods you eat can help increase the health of your smile. While we all consume sugar or sweets sometimes, these few tips from Dr.Anna Lee can help improve your overall health and help you to keep all of your teeth.  

·      Avoid frequent snacking on sweets and sweet beverages between meals.

·      Sugar Substitutes and Sugar-Free products taste like sugar, but they don’t promote decay-causing acids that can cause tooth decay.

·      Chew sugarless gum- it stimulates the production of saliva and it prevents tooth decay.

·      Cheese stimulates the production of saliva.

”Sugar-Free products means that no sugar was added to the foods during processing,” says Dr. Lee, “but the foods may contain other natural sweeteners, such as honey, molasses, evaporated cane sugar, fructose, barley malt or rice syrup.”  These natural sweeteners contain the same number of calories as sugar and can be harmful to the teeth.

For more information on healthy eating contact Dr. Lee & her team today.

Why Does Nutrition Affect Oral Health?

Nutrition is critical to the overall health of your mouth. The food you consume everyday is a vital element to your smile. Dr. Anna Lee, recommends consuming healthy foods to help keep your smile in tip-top shape.

A poor diet can lead to gum disease and tooth decay.  Researchers believe that tooth decay progresses faster and is more prevalent in people with poor nutrition.  Foods high in carbohydrates, sugars and starches contribute to the production of plaque acids that attack the tooth enamel. These acids cause tooth enamel to break down and cause tooth decay.

Contact Dr. Anna Lee & her team today for more information.

Why Not do a Filling? Because …

 Broken tooth/filling-placing a large filling on a broken tooth may add more stress onto the tooth and cause it to break and be irreparable.

Cracked tooth-a crack can be above or below the gum line. A crack above the gum line can be restored with a crown restoration. A filling cannot restore the crack. "A crack below the gum line may mean the need for root canal treatment or possibly extraction," says Dr. Anna Lee.

Large filling-replacing a filling on a tooth that is larger than the original filling may cause it to break or fracture.

Tooth decay-depending on the size or location of the tooth decay, a filling may be the choice of the restoration. If the filling breaks or fails, a crown restoration is the appropriate treatment.

Teeth that have had root canal treatment can become weak and brittle, meaning they can break easily. Restoring the tooth with a filling is usually a temporary treatment. A crown restoration is the final treatment.

What Causes Sensitive Teeth

Some of the causes of sensitive teeth are:

- Gum Recession-gum tissue that surrounds the tooth wears away or pulls back and exposes the root of the tooth. Tooth sensitivity is usually the first sign of gum recession. You may also notice a tooth with a receding gum line looks longer than normal.

- Gum disease-bacterial inflammation of the gingival tissues the gum line may cause gum recession. The exposed root surface of the tooth is susceptible to tooth sensitivity triggered by hot or cold food and drinks. 

-Tooth Decay-deep cavity of the tooth exposes the nerves in the center of the tooth (dental pulp) and can contribute to sensitivity. 

- Cracked/Chipped Teeth- Dentinal tubles (dentin) can become exposed due to tooth damage from a chip or a crack of the tooth.

-Brushing too hard- this is common cause of sensitive teeth. Brushing too hard may cause enamel loss and exposes the dentinal tubles (dentin) to outside stimuli and triggers sensitivity.

-Teeth grinding or teeth clenching-enamel loss or worn down enamel is commonly caused by teeth grinding or clenching. The loss of enamel exposes the dentinal tubles to outside stimuli and triggers teeth sensitivity. 

-Acidic Food-regular consumption of foods with a high acidic content such as citrus fruits, tomatoes, coffee, tea, and sports & energy drinks can cause enamel loss and trigger teeth sensitivity.

-Teeth whitening products-A small percentage of people who use the whitening products for teeth bleaching experience temporary teeth sensitivity due to irritation from the chemical in the whitening products.

-Recent dental procedures-teeth sensitivity can occur following teeth cleaning, tooth restorations (fillings), crown preparation and cementation. The sensitivity is temporary and should subside in a few days or weeks.