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The American Dental Association has designated February as National Children’s Dental Health Month. This year’s theme is “Sealants Make Sense.”
Healthy Smile Tips from the ADA
HEALTHY SMILE TIPS
Learn more at the American Dental Association >
February is National Children’s Dental Health Month and this year the theme is “Sealants Make Sense!” Sealants are thin coatings that seal off pits or grooves in teeth where plaque can hide. Plaque is a leading cause of tooth decay. If left untreated, tooth decay can lead to pain, infection, cavities, and even tooth loss. By getting your child sealants today, you’re helping protect them against future problems with decay or gum disease, or tooth fractures – all while giving their smile a beautiful look!
Sealant treatments are one of the easiest ways to help protect your child’s teeth. According to the CDC, children without sealants have almost three times more 1st molar cavities than those with sealants. In addition to sealants, here are some things you can do to help your child have a healthy smile:
We hope you’ll join us in celebrating National Children’s Dental Health Month by recognizing the importance of dental health and giving your child a healthy smile for life!
There are few things that seem to be as integral a part of good oral hygiene as flossing. Parents usually begin teaching their children at an early age how to floss their teeth, and it’s a task reinforced throughout life by dental professionals who stress the importance of flossing daily. In fact, many people wonder if they should be worried if they forget a day or two of flossing.
But it turns out that flossing could have benefits beyond just your teeth and gums–and may even play a role in heart health. It might sound like an unexpected claim, and some scientists are unsure if bacteria from your gums can affect your heart, but other research suggests that if you don’t floss daily, you’re at greater risk for developing certain cardiovascular conditions.
Flossing is the act of carefully inserting a thin filament called dental floss between two teeth, and rubbing it up and down against the surface of each tooth in an effort to cut away plaque that has built up there. This process might also be described with phrases like “scraping,” “cleaning,” “sweeping,” or “rubbing” the teeth.
Flossing is considered by most people to be an important step in an overall oral hygiene regimen. When done regularly, it is believed to help remove plaque and food debris from between teeth, before they can turn into more serious problems like cavities and gum disease.
However, like many daily hygiene tasks, flossing can be easy to skip without noticing. Hopefully the possibility of these benefits will make it easier for you to remember to do it!
There are several types of cardiovascular conditions that have been linked in some way with poor oral hygiene. Atherosclerosis, also known as “hardening” or “clogging” of the arteries, is the process by which plaque builds up in the inner lining of an artery. This can happen anywhere in the body, but often occurs near joints.
Over time, this plaque buildup narrows the inner diameter of an arterial passageway, limiting blood flow. In the heart, this condition is known as coronary artery disease and has the potential to lead to several grave consequences–including death in some cases.
So how does flossing come into play here? Unfortunately, scientists aren’t yet sure exactly why there seems to be a connection between poor oral hygiene and atherosclerosis. But there are several theories, including ideas that poor oral hygiene can lower the strength of your immune system , open up blood vessels to bacteria, or create an environment where plaque can grow more easily.¹
However, despite uncertainty about exactly how flossing helps reduce one’s risk for cardiovascular disease, research has shown that maintaining good flossing habits can have a major effect.
Even if you aren’t able to floss daily for some reason, there are still benefits that can come from flossing at least once every so often. Some studies have suggested that even sporadic bouts of flossing can bring down your risk of cardiovascular problems considerably.
If you have healthy gums, the American Dental Association recommends flossing once a day. People with gum disease should visit their dentist and ask for advice on how often they need to floss.
There are no major differences between the different types of floss available. If you find one kind of floss works better for you than another, stick with it.
Place the floss between two teeth. Use your thumbs and forefingers to work the floss up and down against each tooth. You should be able to feel the floss working across the surface of each tooth as it moves behind the wire of your braces or between the gaps in your teeth.
Floss at least once a day to keep your gums and teeth healthy. For more information on flossing, visit the ADA’s website. If you have questions about maintaining good oral health, you may reach our Hagerstown, MD, office at 301-791-1700, or our Chambersburg, PA location at 717-264-7828.
1.Kim, J. (n.d.). Periodontal disease and systemic conditions: a bidirectional relationship. National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2443711/.
2.Harvard Health (2021). How plaque on your teeth may be connected to plaque in your arteries. Harvard Health Publishing. Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/gum-disease-and-heart-disease-the-common-thread.
The information provided on this website should not be used to diagnose or treat any medical condition and is not meant to take the place of professional medical advice. If you think you have a medical problem, please seek the advice of a physician. Call 911 for all medical emergencies.
For many people, dental health is not a priority. It’s estimated only 64% of Americans visited the dentist in 2018, and the numbers were probably lowered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The result is that many Americans are at high risk for tooth decay and gum disease, which has been associated with other serious health problems like heart disease or diabetes later on in life.
If you have questions about maintaining your oral health, you can contact our Hagerstown, Maryland office at 301-791-1700, or our Chambersburg, Pennsylvania office at 717-264-7828.
The information provided on this website should not be used to diagnose or treat any medical condition and is not meant to take the place of professional medical advice. If you think you have a medical problem, please seek the advice of a physician. Call 911 for all medical emergencies.
Most oral surgeons will recommend removing wisdom teeth if they are becoming impacted, or if they grow sideways instead of up into the mouth. This is because an oversized third molar can damage neighboring teeth and surrounding structures in your jaw, such as a nerve canal that lies below the roots of the tooth.
Even if you are not experiencing any pain, your dentist or oral surgeon may want to have the wisdom teeth removed early, prior to potential problems with impacted growth and damage to the surrounding tissues of the mouth. Early extraction can help prevent future issues. It is important to note that even though there may be no symptoms associated with an impacted wisdom tooth, the tooth may still be causing damage to surrounding tissues.
If you do not require immediate extraction, it may be beneficial to put off removing any wisdom teeth. Dentists recommend waiting until your mouth is fully grown before getting any teeth removed. At this point, the roots are fully developed and there is less risk of damage to surrounding tissue.
According to the American Dental Association, wisdom teeth may need to be removed if there is evidence of changes in the mouth such as:
Wisdom teeth are also sometimes removed as part of treatment for braces or other dental care.
If you are concerned about your wisdom teeth your dentist, discuss your options and then best course of treatment. You may reach our Hagerstown, MD, office at 301-791-1700, or our Chambersburg, PA location at 717-264-7828.
The information provided on this website should not be used to diagnose or treat any medical condition and is not meant to take the place of professional medical advice. If you think you have a medical problem, please seek the advice of a physician. Call 911 for all medical emergencies.
Oral and Facial Surgery serves dental patients in Hagerstown, Maryland, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, Martinsburg, West Virginia, and the surrounding Tri-state area.
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