A healthy, beautiful smile is important. It not only gives you confidence and helps you make a good first impression, but people consistently rate a great smile as one of the most appealing physical attributes. In order to keep your smile healthy and attractive, however, you have to avoid the damage that could be caused by plaque and tartar buildup.

What are these substances? You’ve likely heard of them, but you may not know quite what they are or how they differ. This is an instance where knowledge is power. Here’s what you need to know about plaque and tartar so you can properly fight them.

One Precedes the Other

Let’s start by saying that untreated plaque is the basis for the formation of tartar. What leads to plaque, though? Plaque is a biofilm that is constantly forming in your mouth. This sticky, colorless substance is made up of food particles that cling to teeth, as well as the bacteria that feed on these leftovers.

Certain foods, like sugars and carbs, are sticky to begin with, and this can speed the process of plaque formation and the growth of harmful bacteria in the mouth. When plaque is allowed to take root, it can begin to form tartar within several days.

How is Tartar Different from Plaque?

When plaque builds up and begins to harden, it develops into tartar, or calculus, a hard and sticky substance that is difficult to remove from teeth. This whitish or yellowish substance often forms below the gum line first and then creeps onto the surface of teeth, where it attracts more food and bacteria and continues to expand.

Tartar is porous, so it can stain easily and cause your smile to look unsightly. Aside from cosmetic concerns, it is also extremely damaging to teeth, attacking enamel, irritating gums, and paving the way for diseases like gingivitis and even periodontitis if left untreated.

Treatment Options

Prevention is the best course when it comes to plaque and tartar, and preventing plaque is the obvious place to start. This is most easily accomplished with a proper, at-home, oral health regimen. You know you should brush, floss, and rinse with mouthwash after every meal, and this is because you want to remove leftover food particles and kill off harmful bacteria. This disrupts the cycle of forming plaque and keeps your teeth squeaky clean.

If you get to the point where tartar is building, prevention is no longer an option. In this case, you’ll want to visit your dentist for cleaning, after which you should begin to practice preventive measures to avoid future buildup.

Orthodontic braces are still one of the best ways to work on tooth and jaw alignment issues, especially those that are too complex for newer options like invisible aligner trays. Although many people get braces during their youth or adolescence, it’s not at all uncommon these days for adults to decide to improve their smile with braces.

That said, the bands and wires that move your teeth can make it difficult to brush, floss, and properly care for your teeth. This can leave you to contend with a variety of dental issues while you’re wearing braces, or after you have them removed. Here are just a few common dental issues to watch for when you’re wearing braces.

Sensitivity

You know that braces are going to move your teeth around and perhaps even realign your jaw in order to correct your bite. This can be an uncomfortable process, but aches and pains are not unexpected. What you might not know is that you can suffer from tooth sensitivity (to hot or cold foods) when wearing braces.

The good news is that there are easy ways to treat sensitivity. You could start by switching to a targeted toothpaste like Sensodyne that is designed to combat this symptom. You should also use a soft-bristled toothbrush and brush carefully, albeit thoroughly. Don’t forget to talk to your dentist about additional options, such as fluoride treatments than can help to strengthen enamel.

Plaque and Tartar

There’s no denying it’s hard to clean around braces, which is why there are so many tools designed to help you brush and floss in tight spaces while working around metal hardware. Even with proper brushing, flossing, and rinsing, however, it’s not uncommon to see additional plaque and tartar buildup when you have braces. This is why it’s so important to continue visiting your dentist for regular cleaning and checkup while wearing braces.

Gingivitis

Gum disease is a serious condition that can have all kinds of consequences you’d rather avoid, especially after going through all the trouble to get a perfectly straight smile. This condition, characterized by swollen, bleeding, infected gum tissue, is often the result of plaque and tartar buildup below the gum line.

The easiest way to prevent this condition, which can lead to periodontitis over time, is to floss. This can be very challenging with braces, so speak to your dentist or orthodontist about tools that will make it easier, and be sure to schedule regular visits with your dentist to check progress.

There are a number of reasons why your dentist might suggest the application of a dental crown. They are most often used in instances where a significant portion of the tooth has been lost, say to a cavity or breakage, but they may also be used for cosmetic purposes, such as to hide serious discoloration that cannot be corrected another way (like through whitening procedures).
Crowns could be made of materials like resin, porcelain, ceramic, and in some cases even stainless steel, although for cosmetic reasons, this last one is used less often. These materials will be bonded to teeth and molded to match your natural bite and create a pleasing appearance, completing your smile and restoring function.

How does the process begin? Your tooth will first have to be prepped to receive the crown, and this could include a number of steps.

Eliminating Decay and Infection

A healthy mouth is a prerequisite for many dental procedures, so if the reason you’re getting a crown has to do with a cavity, an abscess, or related issues, the first order of business is likely to restore your health before proceeding. This could involve removal of affected tissues and perhaps a round of antibiotics, depending on the situation. In cases of infection, further preparations for placing a crown may be delayed until you have completely recovered.

Tooth Reduction

In cases of tooth decay or trauma, preparations for placing a crown may start with removal of damaged tissue. Cavities, for example, will have to be removed before they can be filled, and a broken tooth might night to be shaped prior to placing a crown. In many instances, some amount of filing down is necessary, not only to accommodate the added bulk of the crown, but to prepare the tooth to properly bond with the tooth restoration.

Impressions and Fabrication

Once the tooth is prepped your dentist will take an impression and send it out to a lab so your permanent crown can be fabricated. A temporary crown will be placed on your tooth until your next visit, when the permanent crown will be affixed. Alternately, some dentists offer same day crowns, whereby your tooth will be digitally mapped and your crown will be created in-office and affixed during a single appointment.

Preparation for a crown may take some time or you could complete the entire process and leave the office with your permanent crown in place the same day. It all depends on the condition of your tooth and the services offered by your dentist.

Many people have experienced temporary ringing, humming, or buzzing in the ear even when there is no external sound to create the sensation. Maybe you had if for a few days after attending a loud rock concert or when the football hit you in the side of the head during a pickup game at the park.

When these sensations are persistent or recurring, you could be suffering from a condition known as tinnitus. While causes aren’t always known and it’s possible that you could be stuck with the condition, there are also several common reasons for the onset of tinnitus, as well as a variety of treatment options to explore.

How does your dentist fit into the picture? Tinnitus is often linked to trauma, obstructions in the middle ear, pressure in the inner ear, or other factors that affect the function of the eardrum. In some cases, tinnitus could be linked to your teeth, or more specifically, tooth trauma, oral health issues, or perhaps even dental procedures. If this is the case, there’s a good chance your tinnitus is treatable, with the help of your dentist.

Buzzing Drill, Ringing Ear?

In some cases, having dental work done could cause you to experience symptoms of tinnitus, or exacerbate an existing problem. The whine and buzz of the dental drill is not only close to your ear when work is being done, but the bone of your tooth could actually amplify the transmission of sound to your sensitive inner ear and the cochlea. Luckily, any residual buzzing following your treatment should naturally diminish soon after.

If you have tinnitus and you know you will have to undergo a procedure that involves extensive drilling, talk to your dentist about the possibility of drilling in short bursts and taking breaks, drilling for a few seconds and then stopping for a few seconds. This could help to ensure that the drill doesn’t trigger existing tinnitus.

Tooth Trauma

Issues like abscessed teeth and impacted wisdom teeth can cause you all kinds of pain and discomfort, including the onset of tinnitus. The good news is there’s a simple solution. When you treat these conditions you’ll likely notice a significant improvement to tinnitus symptoms in the process.

Abscesses may require extensive treatment, so it could take a while for tinnitus to subside, but impacted wisdom teeth can be removed and the area can heal relatively quickly, relieving pressure and reducing tinnitus. Other tooth trauma, from a car accident or sporting injury, for example, could also result in tinnitus. In such instances, the hope is that it will fade with treatment and recovery.

On the one hand, holidays tend to be highly enjoyable because of increased permissiveness. During holidays, we allow ourselves to indulge in the many delectable treats we spend the rest of the year trying to avoid.

Unfortunately, a few nights of overindulging each year can lead to consequences for both our oral and our overall health. Just think of how much time and energy we devote to the most popular New Year’s resolution each year – losing those 5-10 pounds gained thanks to holiday feasting.

When it comes to Halloween, a holiday devoted to costumes and candy, it’s all too easy to get caught up and find yourself scarfing down candy alongside your kids. However, you should spare a moment to consider not only the empty calories you’re consuming, but also the damage all that sugar could mean for your teeth.

Like anything, moderation is generally the key to avoiding serious harm, but you should also know that certain types of candy could do a lot more damage than others. Here are the worst types of Halloween candy for your teeth.

Caramel and Nougat

Oozing caramel and gooey nougat are pretty satisfying for our tongues, but not so much for our teeth. A hard caramel could torque a crown if you’re not careful, but what’s worse is the damage you don’t see.

Caramel and nougat linger long after you’ve finished eating, clinging to teeth and feeding bacteria in your mouth. This, in turn, produces an acidic film that attacks tooth enamel, potentially opening your teeth to infection and decay.

What does this mean for your grab bag of candy? Well, you’re going to want to stay away from popular items like Milky Way, Snickers, and Twix bars, as well as any other candy containing caramel. You should also avoid equally sticky items like gummy candy and taffy, as well as chewy items like Skittles and Starburst.

Hard Candy

Hard candy might not seem quite as bad as caramel, but it could harm your teeth in other ways. For example, sucking on hard candy means you bring teeth in contact with sugar longer. Plus, if you bite down on hard candies, you could chip or crack teeth, creating damage that paves the way for cavities or other dental woes.

Sour Stuff

Many sour candies are chewy or hard, which means you’ll probably want to avoid them anyway, but you should be extra vigilant about these confections because the sour substance can be acidic, eating away at tooth enamel.

Chocolate lovers have long known that their favorite confection is not so great for their health, but over the years, studies emerged showing health benefits of dark chocolate, which is to say, candy with a cacao content of over 70%. For example, dark chocolate contains powerful antioxidants that help to fight harmful free radicals in the body.

Dark chocolate has been linked to reduced risk of heart disease (and related conditions like high cholesterol and hypertension), cancer prevention, and even improvements to cognitive function. You’d be hard pressed to find another sweet treat that offers all these benefits.

It gets even better, though. It turns out that recent studies have also begun to show the oral health benefits of dark chocolate. You probably assumed that all chocolate was bad for your teeth, but dark chocolate may actually help to improve oral health. Here’s what you should know.

It’s Antibacterial

Compounds found in the husks of cocoa beans have been shown to have antibacterial properties. This means that even milk chocolate could be considered “good” to a degree. Unfortunately, milk chocolate also contains a lot of sugar, which counteracts any potential positive effects related to the cacao content.

Dark chocolate, on the other hand, features much higher cacao content and far less sugar. For the greatest benefits, you’ll want to look for 70% or higher cacao paired with 6-8 grams or less sugar per serving. If you’re curious about white chocolate, you should know that it doesn’t have any cacao, only cocoa butter, which means you miss out on any potential oral health benefits offered by darker chocolates.

It Strengthens Enamel

One unique property of dark chocolate is a compound called CBH, and it has a chemical makeup similar to caffeine. This compound has been found to strengthen tooth enamel, in turn helping to keep harmful bacteria from entering teeth and causing tooth decay, cavities, and other serious oral health issues.

It Bolsters Gum Health

Remember those antioxidants we mentioned above? They’re not only great at fighting free radicals in the body, but they also help to protect the health of your gums. When saliva is high in antioxidants, it has greater power to fight gum disease, including extreme oral health issues like gingivitis and periodontitis.

Just remember: everything in moderation. Before you start inhaling dark chocolate like it’s going out of style, you should know that doctors recommend no more than 3-4 ounces per day. For many people, however, this is enough to satisfy a sweet tooth.

Veneers are an ideal way to beautify your smile by repairing discoloration, staining, and crooked appearances with appliances layered over your existing teeth. The result is a brand new smile you can be proud to show off in any situation.

Porcelain is a material that offers a good representation of the natural color and shading of your teeth and many patients choose porcelain for just this reason. But how do veneers work and what makes them such a good choice for repairing your damaged teeth? This brief guide will answer those questions and more.

What is a Veneer?

A veneer is a tooth-shaped shell that is designed to be placed over the surface of your existing tooth to improve its appearance or correct damage. Though veneers can be made of different types of material, porcelain is a popular option because it has a natural appearance that will blend seamlessly with your other teeth.

Why Porcelain?

Porcelain can be adjusted to match any color and shade of your existing teeth so that the veneers don’t stand out from the rest of your mouth. Your dentist will use special software to determine the exact shade of your teeth to ensure that your veneers are identical. Using porcelain will help your dentist create a more natural veneer that won’t look like a false appliance in your mouth. If the veneer is too bright, it will stand out among your other teeth. Porcelain is a good choice to avoid that from happening.

How Do They Fit?

Your dentist will use a mold to take an impression of your teeth and then customize your veneers to match the exact shape of each tooth receiving one. From there, every veneer is crafted from the mold of your teeth so that the veneer fits around the tooth perfectly without gaps or uneven spots. It might require some adjustment upon application but you can rest assured your veneers will have a tight, custom fit when your dentist is finished.

How Effective are Veneers?

Veneers can improve your smile by fixing any number of conditions or imperfections with your teeth. Stains and discoloration that aren’t responding to whitening treatments can be erased with veneers. Teeth that have some damage or excessive wear and tear can also be improved with veneers, so you no longer need to live with that chipped tooth. They can even be a good solution for fixing crooked, misshapen, misaligned teeth and gaps in between teeth.

Invisalign treatments are a dependable and effective method for straightening your smile and are often the preferable choice over braces. With clear plastic molded mouthpieces fit tightly to your teeth, Invisalign is designed to be worn throughout the day and evening and removed only for meals and dental maintenance.

Sounds pretty simple, just stick the Invisalign trays in your mouth and forget about them. But there are plenty of ways to make the process much more complex than it needs to be, as patients don’t follow their dentists’ instructions and fail to take all of the necessary precautions to ensure that the Invisalign treatment is a complete success.

But you don’t need to fall into this trap, as long as you heed these warnings to prevent from sabotaging your Invisalign treatment and prolonging the process far longer than necessary.

Wear the Trays

You can’t get the benefit of your Invisalign treatments if you aren’t placing the trays on your teeth. Furthermore, the longer you keep them on your teeth, the more effective they can be in straightening them. Your dentist will likely recommend you leave them in at all times, except when you eat or drink. Wear them all the time and you’ll be on to the next steps of your treatment before you know it.

Keep in mind, every treatment is different. The time you need to wear the trays may be longer or shorter than someone else, but if you don’t keep them in your mouth throughout the day and the evening, it will definitely be longer. Some patients may only need a few different trays while others could require 10 or 11 by the time their treatments are finished. If your teeth require many sizes, it’s better you wear them so you can receive the next size as fast as possible.

Discomfort and Irritation

Some patients experience mild discomfort when they first wear the Invisalign trays. This is normal and it subsides in time, but only if you continue to wear the trays and give yourself time to get used to having them in your mouth. Too many patients remove the trays or wear them for brief periods of time, rendering them mostly useless for performing their intended purpose.

Be sure to continue wearing the Invisalign trays despite the mild irritation you may be feeling, the only way to overcome that problem is to allow your mouth to acclimate to wearing them for extended periods. If the discomfort turns to pain, consult your dentist.

Brush and Floss After Every Meal

You will be instructed to remove your trays when you eat and drink. Just be sure to brush and floss your teeth before putting them back into your mouth, otherwise bacteria and germs from food particles can build up on your teeth and inside the trays. This can lead to infection, gum disease, and other dental conditions that could put the health of your mouth at risk.

You may have guessed fluorosis is linked to fluoride and you would be correct. It’s a condition of defective tooth enamel where the porosity is elevated due to excessive fluoride in children up to 8 years of age. You can see visible signs of fluorosis in white or cloudy splotches and streaks or dark staining in severe instances. When the enamel of your child’s teeth becomes more porous this can cause them to deteriorate and fall out in extreme cases.

If you notice these visible indications of fluorosis on your child’s teeth, the splotching and staining may be cosmetically repaired but the damage to the enamel is permanent. That cannot be fixed.

Causes of Fluorosis

Although the main reason why it occurs is due to an excessive intake of fluoride, there are a variety of ways in which your child might ingest those high amounts of fluoride. You might have ingested a lot of fluoridated drinking water during pregnancy, your child might be swallowing fluoride toothpaste when he or she brushes, or eating a lot of processed foods manufactured with fluoridated water.

How to Prevent It

While brushing is crucial, young children have difficulty with refraining from swallowing during the process and that can dramatically increase their intake of fluoride intake. Spitting out toothpaste prevents that from happening.

Children ages 2 and up should be using fluoride toothpaste, there is no need for it when they are younger unless recommended by a doctor or dental professional. Although brushing is important and should be done after each meal, avoid brushing your child’s teeth with fluoride toothpaste more than twice a day and always apply a minimal amount of the brush. No larger than the size of a pea.

Be sure to supervise your child when he or she brushes their teeth, insisting they spit instead of swallow their toothpaste when it’s time to rinse the mouth.

Research if the region in which you live has fluoridated water and inform your child’s doctor or dentist in the event they prescribe a fluoride or vitamin supplement in your child’s diet. The combination of both could increase the risk of fluorosis and the resulting decay that might occur. This is important to know when you are preparing infant formula for your baby as he or she could be taking in too much fluoride and that can increase the risk of dental fluorosis.

Eating vegan is a lifestyle choice in which all animal products are removed from the diet. This includes meat, eggs, cheese, and any other products that come from animals in any way. If it is part of or made by a living creature, then vegans reject its use.

Many vegans choose this way of life for a wide range of reasons, they elect not to harm animals for their own purposes or they feel that a vegan diet has greater health benefits. But one thing seems to be common among many vegans, they are at a higher risk of developing cavities and other dental issues.

Impacts of Veganism on Teeth

While there are many healthful benefits of a vegan lifestyle, they do not extend to the teeth. Unfortunately, vegans have a greater instance of cavities and gum disease due in equal part to what they are and are not consuming under the parameter of their new diet.

Certain foods offer healthy safeguards for teeth and gums but these are not part of a vegan lifestyle. One element in particular, arginine, is found almost exclusively in meats and it is an amino acid that works to reduce plaque on teeth. If you’re not getting this amino acid, it can lead to an increase in the microorganisms and bacteria that contribute to dental plaque.

Conversely, certain fruits that are included as part of a vegan diet can be just as negatively impactful on teeth as these have elements that might cause the erosion of tooth enamel. This is true of many types of citrus and other fruits and their juices.

Preventing Cavities and Dental Conditions

Focusing your diet on foods that contain beneficial amino acids that are contained in foods without meat is a good start for protecting your teeth. Foods such as beans and sprouts are very helpful for maintaining a healthy smile. Avoid sweet candies and sodas, including sugary sports drinks and even apple cider vinegar Limit your consumption of citrus and other fruits to less than twice a day. When you do eat citrus, be sure to wait to brush your teeth at least a half hour as acids can soften your tooth enamel and brushing after you eat can wear it away.

Taking these necessary steps into consideration is important for avoiding major dental issues that can come about from a vegan diet. Be smart and your smile will always continue to look its best.