Visit An Alexandria Dentist Office For Better Smelling Breath

In our Alexandria dentist office, we help a lot of patients that struggle with bad breath issues.  While this may seem like the punchline to a joke, for many people bad breath is a persistent problem that can make social interactions quite uncomfortable. In our dental office, we recommend taking steps at home in order to control bad breath and if this doesn't work, schedule a dental exam.

Start by drinking plenty of water.  A lot of people struggle with bad breath issues, especially as they age, due to dry mouth.  This is a common condition that can be addressed by simply drinking plenty of water.  Your mouth should feel moist at all times and if it doesn't, grab your water bottle.  This single step can help your breath to smell better while also reducing your risk of cavities and infection.
Next, brush your teeth three times a day using a soft toothbrush and a fluoride toothpaste.  This will remove the smells caused by the food that you eat while also remove plaque and bacteria that can lead to infections and cavities.  This step, however, is not enough unless you combine it with flossing at least once a day.  Flossing is essential for removing the plaque and food particles that become stuck in between teeth, leading to bad breath.  You should also use a tongue scraper to remove the bacteria and food odor that can become stuck on your tongue, followed up by rinsing with an antiseptic mouthwash.  If you follow this routine and avoid eating a bunch of garlic, your breath should smell fresh.  If not, a trip to our Alexandria dentist office is in order.

Very often, bad breath is a sign of an oral infection or health problem that needs to be addressed.  It is the body's natural warning system.  For example, a tooth infection or severe decay can cause bad breath.  While this may also be accompanied by sensitivity when biting down or eating, an infected tooth will emit a foul-smelling odor that will not go away with tooth brushing alone.  When you schedule a dental exam, we will look for any signs of infection or decay, treat the tooth and restore it.  This way you can continue to eat and speak like normal without fear of discomfort.  Simultaneously, catching an infection early means that we can treat it faster, and you will be spared a sudden toothache.  For this reason, watching for persistent bad breath can provide you with the early detection and treatment that you need.

Other times bad breath is caused by gum disease.  Gingivitis is the first step in this condition, and we prefer to catch and treat gum disease in this stage.  Some common signs of gingivitis are red and swollen gums that bleed when brushing.  This is typically caused by a buildup of plaque and tartar below the gum tissue and by removing it, we can help the gums to become healthy once more.  Otherwise, if the condition is left untreated, it can cause gum recession and further issues like bone loss.  For this reason, we recommend that you schedule a dental exam with our Alexandria dentist office at the first sign of persistent bad breath, red gums, or tooth sensitivity.  After eliminating the infection or built up plaque, your mouth will be healthier, and your breath will be fresher.

Dentist  >  Old Town dentist

Why the Best Dentist Will Recommend a Fluoride Treatment

As the best dentist in town for preventative care, we are focused on keeping our patients healthy and cavity free.  It is important to us that our patients can enjoy life without toothaches or gum disease.  With this in mind, we recommend coming in for a teeth cleaning twice a year so that we can remove plaque and bacteria in order to prevent common oral health problems.  During these appointments, we may recommend a fluoride treatment as an additional way to strengthen teeth.  In fact, we recommend this on at least an annual basis for children and teens.

Why we like fluoride -

Studies have shown that fluoride can reduce the risk of tooth decay (cavities) by 30 percent.  This is significant when you also consider what the Center for Disease Control had to say.  According to the CDC, tooth decay is the most frequently occurring infectious disease in children.  It causes them to miss school and experience the discomfort associated with a toothache.  Given our desire to see our patients healthy, a 30 percent decrease can be significant throughout a person's lifetime.

Where you can find it –

Look around you, and you are likely encountering some amount of fluorine.  It can be found in nature, in the air that you breathe, food you eat, and the dirt that you walk on.  While it is all around us, we don't absorb enough of it and need to obtain it through other means.  Given the desire to improve oral health, fluoride has been put into the public water supply of over 10,000 communities across the United States.  Additionally, you can receive a fluoride treatment in our dental office.  As the best dentist for preventative care, we place a fluoride varnish onto teeth and leave it there for around four minutes.  During that time, it will be absorbed into the enamel. Since fluoride doesn't have a particular smell or taste, this is comfortable even for small children.  You can also purchase a fluoride toothpaste and use it two to three times per day in order to strengthen your teeth.  The results are not as significant as drinking fluoridated water or having a professional treatment, but toothpaste is helpful.

How it helps you –

As you age, teeth naturally start the process of demineralization.  This is where the enamel on the outside of the tooth starts to weaken and even erode.  As it does, the teeth become more susceptible to tooth decay and sensitivity.  In order to fight demineralization, you must remineralize your teeth.  This can be done using fluoride.  When it is placed onto your teeth or drunk, fluoride can reduce your risk of cavities and does so be making the enamel stronger so that the body can fight off infection.  Simultaneously, fluoride can even reverse the effects of preliminary tooth decay, making it the perfect accompaniment to your daily oral hygiene routine.
If you are looking to keep your teeth healthy and strong, call our office to speak with the best dentist in town.

Alexandria Dentist  >  Old Town dentist

Can People With Sensitive Teeth Get a Teeth Whitening Procedure?

If you have sensitive teeth, we can still perform a teeth whitening procedure so that your teeth can look healthier, and you will have the benefit of a more youthful smile. Understandably, those with sensitive teeth are often concerned that this or any dental procedure may cause issues. This inspired the American Dental Association to research the issue and publish their findings in a paper entitled “Tooth Whitening/Bleaching: Treatment Considerations for Dentists and Their Patients”. In their report, they recommended that patients with sensitive teeth have the dentist place potassium nitrate into a teeth whitening tray and place it onto their teeth for thirty minutes prior to the treatment. They also suggested that patients brush with a toothpaste containing potassium nitrate for several weeks prior to whitening teeth and afterwards as needed. These are two simple solutions that can prevent sensitivity or irritation in patients concerned about how their teeth may feel.
In our office, we find that most patients have no issues with sensitivity after a professional whitening procedure and there are several reasons why –

• A dental exam. When you have your teeth examined prior to whitening them, we can ensure that you don’t have any cavities or gum disease that could be further irritated by the whitening solution. By treating those issues first, you won’t experience any unnecessary sensitivity. Simultaneously, if you whiten your teeth using an over the counter product, this becomes a clear risk since there is no way to self-diagnose oral health problems.
• The perfect fit.  When you schedule a teeth whitening with our dental office, the trays that we use will be the perfect fit for your teeth which will prevent the solution from leaking onto your gums.  Gum tissue is incredibly sensitive so if any type of bleaching agent comes in contact with it – your gums will naturally become irritated and sensitive.  This is a common problem with over the counter products because the whitening trays are a one-size-fits-all and, therefore, don’t fit anyone perfectly. 
• Overuse isn’t an issue.  Many people that whiten their teeth at home will do so too frequently.  Overuse is a common problem with over the counter products because the solution isn’t as strong, and the results are not as dramatic as most people would prefer.  This creates the desire for an additional treatment, which in turn, creates irritation.  You must be careful with how frequently you whiten your teeth.  In our dental office, the solution is stronger and the results more dramatic so there is no need for overuse. 

A teeth whitening treatment when completed under the supervision of a dentist is perfectly safe for those with sensitive teeth.  The important thing to note is that the majority of risk factors come from using over the counter solutions and can be prevented by visiting the dentist instead.  In our dental office, we can also discuss other cosmetic solutions for improving your smile so that whether you want to remove stains or close a gap in between your teeth – we can help.

Ways a Cosmetic Dentist Can Improve Your Smile

The cosmetic dentist office is one of the few places where medicine and art come together seamlessly. As such we have learned that there are many stages to developing and cultivating the perfect smile and that how quickly a person wants to achieve that goal is truly up to them. When you come to visit our office, we will take the time to understand your goals, build a plan, and go through all of the incremental steps that are necessary to ultimately have the perfect smile you are seeking. It is important to note that not all the work we do is majorly reconstructive though we do offer this as necessary. The majority of work we do is small incremental steps that work together to ultimately give you the confidence and radiance of a great smile.

Being a cosmetic dentist, in many cases, is a battle of inches. A perfect smile depends on the teeth being positioned perfectly, the shading of the teeth being at their whitest, and the patient having the smile that they are most comfortable with. While it is easy to assume that it takes a great deal of money to get to that point, it is safe to say that as a cosmetic dentist there are many incremental steps that a person can take to gradually improve their appearance. This may clash with your wish list of goals but at the same time can give you everything you want over a period of time. Some of the incremental procedures that we perform every day at the clinic are.

Teeth reshaping and contouring. Sometimes teeth grow into a weird shape, which causes them to overlap other teeth or simply leave a gap that is unsightly. At other times, a tooth may grow too long or not long enough for the space it was designed to fill. In cases like this we can change the shape and length of the tooth itself so that it fits better with the rest of your mouth. Often when a person has a chipped or broken tooth, we can perform tooth reshaping in conjunction with bonding to make sure the tooth is strong and looks great. Typically you would need healthy teeth to be a candidate for teeth reshaping with any cosmetic dentist, and we will take x-rays to ensure that your teeth will do well with the changes.

Bonding uses a tooth-colored material that starts soft and can be shaped  to correct minor defects before being hardened with a dental light. These can include chips that have been caused by accidents, small cracks, and even minor spacing defects that leave you with an unsightly smile. Bonding is also used to correct cavities. More detailed work with bonding can involve the entire tooth being covered so that the general shape is changed to be more appealing. Generally speaking bonding can be completed in a single office visit, depending on the severity of the problem we are attempting to fix. Bonding is a quick, and often inexpensive way to correct some of the problems that may be causing you to have a less than perfect smile.

As a cosmetic dentist, other procedures that we use are dental veneers, dental crowns, dental bridges and dental implants - all of which can help to create a gorgeous smile.

Keep Kids Healthy With the Family Dentist

What makes a family dentist unique is the role that we get to play for generations of your family’s life by influencing your oral health. For us, the ultimate goal is that our patients have strong, healthy teeth and as such very little need of medical interventions. If there were a way we could get all our families healthy enough to only visit us for annual cleanings, we would be delighted. However, we are fully aware that there are challenges with each age group in the family, and more importantly that these challenges change over the course of time. As such, for younger children, we have adopted the philosophy that the family that brushes together visits the dentist less. Perhaps it seems counterintuitive, but for us, as your family dentist, the ultimate goal is to have you with healthy enough teeth that you only come see us for routine work. 

The earlier we can become involved in your children’s oral health care, the sooner we can start to have a positive impact on their teeth. As soon as a child has the first tooth break the surface, they can come in and see a family dentist. This allows us to get ahead of the curve on any potential challenges and also allows your child to get to know us as a friend an ally. This is especially important if you, the parent, are afraid of visiting the dentist. Building that trust and relationship with your child will help us get to the root of any major problems, should they develop, and have the confidence of your child that we are going to fix it without hurting them. Early childhood visits also allow us to work with you on best practices, making sure that we are in a partnership that will build strong, long lasting teeth for your children. 

As a family dentist, we hear a lot of concerns, from both parents and children. The one that comes up most frequently is the conflict between parents, and their kids, about brushing. Many children find the idea of brushing to be a difficult routine to adapt to while parents are eager to teach their children good habits. This is especially true for younger children, when the habit is just being taught though older children have been known to be rebellious about brushing as well. Brushing twice a day is an important part of oral health and hygiene for your children so we recommend finding ways that make it more fun for your younger children. One best practice that has been shared is to incorporate elements of story time into the brushing. Children love fantasy, and the idea, of the toothbrush turning into magical dragon or mystical fairy to take out the evil plaque goblins, is sure to appeal to them. Another element that can be used is technology. Since many electric brushes are not very expensive anymore, and since this generation is fascinated by technology, this might be an easy carrot to lure your child into more frequent tooth brushing.

An Implant Dentist Explains the Process After Surgery

As an implant dentist, we make it possible to restore any teeth that you have lost.  A dental implant offers you the ability to lead a normal life without worrying about missing teeth. The most complete way, of replacing a lost tooth, comes by way of an oral surgery, where we implant a metal post beneath the gums and secure it to the jawbone. The symbiosis between the implant and the jawbone, as well as the organic tissue, is critical to the success of your dental implant surgery, which is why recovery time is very important. Understanding that, regardless of how minor, dental implant surgery is, in fact, a surgical procedure is important for taking the time to recover fully.

Recovering from a dental implant surgery starts with time. As with any surgery, you are going to need a certain amount of allocated time for healing. For starters, when you come out of anesthesia you will need to let the effects wear off before being able to drive home. If you want to return home immediately following the surgery itself, you will need to ensure that you bring a designated driver with you or have someone pick you up. The overall recovery process will take several days, but you should be able to return to normal activities after the first 24 to 48 hours. We do recommend that you spend several days avoiding strenuous physical situations, like lifting heavy weights, for example so that you do not risk damaging the implant or tearing the stitches. 

The single largest risk when you have a surgery, including dental implant surgery, is the risk of an infection. Since there is an open wound, which is stitched up after the implant is in place, there is a chance of an infection setting in. We are fully aware of this and will take every step necessary to avoid any infection. Our first line of defense is to prescribe an antibiotic as a precautionary measure. As an implant dentist, we recommend starting the antibiotic the day after the surgery and will continue for several days. It is important that you fill the prescription in a timely manner and that you take the entire course of antibiotics. Since antibiotics can be harsh on the system, we recommend that you take the pill with a meal or follow it up with a glass of milk. 

As an implant dentist, we will give you a special rinse with which to wash the area around the dental implant. This medicated solution, when combined with salt water rinses, will help disinfect the site of the dental implant and go far to ensuring that there are no infections possible. You will need to rinse three or four times in a day. 

 Additionally, you need to avoid touching the implant. Since the fingers can carry external germ and bacteria to the site of the surgery, you should avoid touching the dental implant until it is completely healed. 

If you experience any discomfort during the healing process you can take an over the counter pain medication and use a cool compress to reduce the swelling.  You should also watch what you eat and stick to soft foods for a few days.

Visit a Spanish Speaking Dentist so Your Family Members Can Stay in Good Oral Health

As a Spanish speaking dentist, we play an important role in helping our community to stay healthy.  We understand how common it is for people to fear visiting the dentist.  Millions of adults have some form of dental anxiety, and this can be made worse by not speaking the same language as your health care provider.  Whether visiting the dentist or a doctor, it is helpful to be able to communicate about what is bothering you and to be able to ask questions without the help of a translator.  While it is common to bring a child to the appointment, you don’t have to when visiting our office. 

There are many advantages to visiting our office, and it starts with education.  It is important for us to be able to convey how to care for your teeth.  We believe in providing information on healthcare and speaking Spanish allows us to do so for a segment of the population that would otherwise be unable to have in-depth conversations about oral health.  As an example, we like to demonstrate how to properly brush teeth by brushing in a circular fashion. We also like to tell patients about food they can eat to stay in better oral health.  

When it is time for a dental treatment, as a Spanish speaking dentist, we know that it is important to be able to explain how the procedure works prior to getting started. It can be frightening or overwhelming to have dental work done if you don’t know what to expect, why it is necessary, or how the procedure works in general.  We eliminate these anxieties and fears by taking the time to thoroughly explain what we need to do, the steps that we will take, and what the results will be when the procedure is completed.  It is easier for us to explain things directly and answer any questions than it would be to use a translator.  

The level of care, that we provide, is the same for all of our patients, regardless of what language they speak.  We offer the highest quality of dental care for patients of all ages, so the main difference is really in how comfortable a patient feels.  By removing the barriers to conversation, our patients can relax and feel at ease. 

If you have a family member that needs to have dental work completed or hasn’t visited the dentist in a long time, call and schedule an appointment.  Any concerns, that they have, can quickly be put to rest by working with a Spanish speaking dentist.  If they have dental anxiety that goes beyond the ability to converse, we can help with this as well by offering sedation dentistry and pain relief as necessary but it all starts with an initial consultation.

To learn more about preventative dental care or restorations, call and schedule an appointment with our dentist office today.