Toxic Teeth: Smoking and Oral Health Issues
It is a commonly known fact that smoking leads to health problems such as lung cancer, but did you know that smoking and oral health problems often go hand in hand?
In fact, smoking is the leading cause for almost 75% of gum disease in adults. This percentage includes adults who smoke from pipes and cigars, as well as those enjoying smokeless tobacco.
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| “As soon as you begin using tobacco products, you are more likely to experience these common problems that are tied with smoking and oral health problems” |
As soon as you begin using tobacco products, you are more likely to experience these common problems that are tied with smoking and oral health problems:
- Bad breath
- Stained teeth and tongue
- Gum disease
- Gum recession
- Tooth loss
- Bone loss in the jaw
- Delayed healing process after dental treatment
- Mouth sores
- Decreased sense of taste and smell
At Kerrisdale Dental Centre, we are always dedicated to helping you maintain optimal oral health, that is why we strongly recommend patients to quit using any tobacco products.
For the sake of your teeth, gums and oral health, use these steps recommended by the Surgeon General to help make quitting smoking easier.
- Be prepared
- Ask for help from friends/family members/co-workers
- Invest your free time in an interesting activity
- Be prepared for a relapse
- Get medication, if necessary, and use it correctly
The team at Kerrisdale Dental Centre understand how difficult and time-consuming quitting smoking can be. However, we are dedicated to helping you protect your most valuable asset—your beautiful smile.
Contact our clinic if you are in need of any support or advice on your journey to understanding smoking and oral health issues.
Read MoreKeep Your Smile Sparkling with Regular Dental Cleaning and Checkups
Sometimes due to fear, laziness or anxiety, patients tend to “forget” about booking a regular dental cleaning or checkup at their local, friendly dental clinic. In order to encourage you to schedule your next checkup and cleaning at Kerrisdale Dental Centre now, here’s a few good reasons why regular dental visits are so important:
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| “Patients who visit the dentist regularly are much less likely to need major procedures such as root canals, gum grafts and tooth extraction.” |
1. Avoid Painful Procedures: Patients who visit the dentist regularly are much less likely to need major procedures such as root canals, gum grafts and tooth extraction. This means that patients are saving money, avoiding painful dental procedures and staying healthy!
2. Beautiful Smiles: A good looking smile starts with healthy teeth, and regular checkups and cleanings at Kerrisdale Dental Centre will keep you looking your best. A professional cleaning can also help remove stains on your teeth, giving them a healthy shine that will impress everyone you meet.
3. Detect oral cancer early: One of the deadliest cancers, but easiest to diagnose, is oral cancer. At our Vancouver dental clinic, we have invested in the VELscope exam system, which works to detect cancer at the earliest stages.
4. Good example for your kids: If you have children who look up to you, make sure you practice good oral hygiene habits. Make dental checkups a priority in life, allowing for a future full of healthy smiles.
5. Reduce gum disease: Many adults will eventually get some type of periodontal disease, a leading cause of tooth loss. Luckily, gum disease can easily be treated or reversed, but only if your oral health is checked closely by the team at Kerrisdale Dental Centre.
For more information on maintaining good oral health, or to book a dental cleaning and checkup, contact us today!
Read MoreHalloween Oral Hygene: Keeping Your Child’s Smile Healthy
Halloween is on the horizon and your health partners at Kerrisdale Dental Clinic want to help you protect your kids from something even scarier than zombies, ghosts and goblins this Halloween. There’s something even more bone-chilling called tooth decay!
We all remember the joys of trick-or-treating, and coming home to unload our sugary spoils and eat candy until our tummies ached. Parents are in the scariest position at Halloween, predicting the cavities, temper tantrums and hyperactivity that will result from the copious candy intake by their youngsters.
The best way to avoid any of these truly tricky consequences in the aftermath of Halloween is not to consume any candy at all. However, we know that’s highly unlikely and that’s why your experts at Kerrisdale Dental have created a Halloween candy guide to help protect your kids from tooth decay and thereby ensure their optimal oral health for life.
Below is a listing from most harmful to the safest treats your kids should be choosing from their trick-or-treat bag:
Sour Power – Sour candies are the absolute worst in that studies have revealed that the acids in sour candies are so destructive because they dissolve enamel on contact!
Hardly Harmless – Hard candy needs to be sucked on for an extended period of time and very chewy candies are harmful in that they get stuck between the teeth. Both hard and chewy candy allow bacteria to wreak havoc on your child’s teeth for a much longer period of time.
Resist Raisins – Don’t be fooled by their natural derivative. Raisins easily damage dental work because they are very sticky and do not mix well with fillings, braces or retainers.
Candy Bars Get Four Stars – While we can’t say candy bars are good for your oral health, they are less harmful because they are eaten quickly allowing less time for the sugar to damage with acid.
Dissolve Your Worry – Powder candy is fairly safe as the sugar dissolves quickly and makes little contact with the teeth.
Eat Two or Three if They’re Sugar Free – As obvious as it seems, sugar-free candy is the most highly recommended Halloween treat for your children’s teeth. You can even prevent cavities by chewing sugar free gum! Sugar free gum promotes increased saliva which neutralizes harmful bacteria.
If your little monsters will be in need a routine dental cleaning after Halloween give us a call and book an appointment today!
Read MoreSmiles for Life: Keeping Your Teeth Natural
It has come across our attention at Kerrisdale Dental that many aging patients are concerned about losing teeth as they grow older. The truth of the matter is that there is no reason for senior citizens to lose their teeth other than because of oral disease.
Your perfect smile can last you a lifetime, if you take proper care of it.
The aging generation is now one of the fastest growing populations in North America. Most dental professionals are seeing that these citizens are keeping their teeth healthy, allowing for a natural smile with no need of dental implants or dentures.
However, a natural smile that lasts a lifetime is only possible with proper oral health care—which typically requires an annual visit to the team at Kerrisdale Cosmetic and General Dentistry.
“We have found that seniors take longer breaks from visiting the dentist,” says Dr. Abbas Tejani, “it seems as if they stop caring because they don’t think their oral hygiene matters anymore.”
Proper oral health care is essential for older people for a multitude of reasons. One of which is dry mouth, which slows down the production of saliva. Often seen in elderly patients, dry mouth can be harmful because saliva helps to prevent tooth decay by washing away food particles and eliminating acids. Luckily, a dentist can fix dry mouth.
Senior citizens should also remember to maintain a regiment of daily flossing and brushing with fluoride toothpaste. Elderly people are likely to get cavities where older fillings have broken or where receding gums have left unprotected surfaces.
In addition, for elderly patients to maintain optimal oral health, snacks with sugars and starch should be eliminated.
Keep your smile healthy and complete with proper oral care! Take some time to contact us at Kerrisdale Dental for a check-up and cleaning today.
Read MoreFast Food Puts Teens on the Fast Track to Cavities
"One of the leading causes of cavities is from carbonated beverages; which not only result in cavities but also increase obesity in today’s teenager."
With teenagers eating an increased amount of fast food and carbonated beverages to keep up with their busy lifestyle, family dental clinics are witnessing a generation inflicting serious damage to their oral and overall health.
A poor diet that consists of sugary treats and fast food can result in premature loss of tooth enamel, resulting in a weaker tooth structure. Due to this, it is especially important that teenagers try to maintain a healthy diet.
One of the leading causes of cavities is from carbonated beverages; which not only result in cavities but also increase obesity in today’s teenager.
The citric, tartaric, carbonic and phosphoric acids that come from pop can often lead to the breakdown of tooth enamel, naturally leading to cavities or tooth decay.
In order to actively prevent cavities from occurring, teenagers and parents need to decrease the amount of sugar-filled pop consumed. In addition, regular checkups and cleanings need to be scheduled at your local family dental clinic to ensure optimal oral health.
Contact Kerrisdale Dental today to book an appointment or to learn more about cavity prevention for teenagers.
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