Author: Anthony Janes

It is getting cold outside and this means we are going to be drinking more warm liquids this winter.  That can be a great thing, but it can also hurt your dental health if you load your daily diet with sugary drinks. To me, it is important to keep your body and the body of your loved ones healthy.  Staying healthy and promoting healthy habits can keep you from pain and from spending excess money to fix health issues.  Going to the dentists can get very expensive because lots of healthcare insurance plans don’t include it.  The cost for your family could be thousands just for insurance each year. The majority of people only go to the dentist when they actually have an emergency situation so keeping yourself from getting there is important. So let’s go over a few tips that can increase your health and keep you from making extra trips to the dentist because that is way too expensive to deal with.

Don’t forget to take your vitamins. Not getting the right nutritional supplements is the cause of many dental problems.  When people are not getting the vitamins they need in nutritious food they can get toothaches.  It is a tell tale sign of toothaches.  So find the right kind of multivitamin and get some calcium magnesium supplements because those are good for growing your enamel back.  Most humans are only able to replace enamel in their teeth until their mid 40’s. So if you are younger than that keep taking calcium-magnesium supplements to keep your teeth replenished and healthy.  Make it a habit to purchase good vitamins and to take them every day.  I make it a habit to take my vitamins in the morning while my coffee is brewing. It started as a necessity and now it’s a habit.

Truly one of the best things you can do is to drink water.  This is because it is something that we really need.  It makes sense because we are made up mostly of water as humans and it’s very important for your health to stay hydrated. Many people don’t drink enough water and it causes extra harm then not just staying hydrated.  By drinking water with every meal you are able to help your mouth cleanse itself.  Drinking water helps get rid of bacteria that create plaque.  Drinking water rinses the mouth and by helping to eliminate plaque you can save yourself from the cavities that ensue and if left too long gum disease.  

Making a habit of getting the correct amount of water is going to help you in your daily dental journey.  Work on trying to make it a habit to drink lots of water.  I find it is easiest when you have a container you enjoy drinking out of. It can be a stainless steel water bottle or a cool looking Nalgene.  Make sure it fits your lifestyle not only at home but also at work.  So if you work in an office make sure you have a container that is appropriate for the environment.  Looking good and being able to drink is still important.  So stay healthy, take your vitamins and drink lots of water and see your local healthcare provider for more information on both! Otherwise, you may be spending extra money on going to the dentist in 2021.

It is really simple and that is that the older I get the less I am willing to compromise on my health.  Really, I mean anywhere I go I make sure my health is going to be taken care of.  Looking back on my life there were backpacking trips I took where my health was the last thing I thought of. I pushed way too hard and for not much gain.  When I was growing up my father instilled in me a love and an appreciation for the outdoors. My past started in the midwest of the United States and even though our terrain is not majestic it can be peaceful and beautiful.  In my more recent years, I have found that a great way to get out in nature and experience that  beauty is through backpacking.  I love getting outside and being adventurous.  The joys of personally conquering distances and seeing areas that most humans will never visit or see is exhilarating.  Being so remote to see rare sights also comes with difficulty and sacrifices.  One sacrifice that many backpackers are willing to make and that I am not is my dental hygiene.  That is because it is simply not worth racking up bills when you can add a few ounces of weight to your kit and feel clean every single day.  

Your dental routine is key to staying healthy and to lowering your healthcare bills.  Brushing your teeth is a regular occurrence in my life and I think that it is important to keep up with the routine no matter what I am doing or where I am.  Even if I am 30 miles away from civilization and a sink, I still bring a toothbrush and some paste along with me.  It is something that is so simple and can save you so much pain.

Let’s be real I have learned from bad experiences and I know now that it is not worth it.  I have been caught without my toothbrush and paste before and the experience was unpleasant.  Years ago I went on several week fishing trips in the boundary waters way up north.  The trip was meant to be 60 miles long and two weeks in time.  What an adventure it was.  We were outfitted for food for the time and expected to catch fish for about half of the meals.  This was a crazy trip because on our first day we canoed 15 miles in and that very night a tornado came through our path. Since we were on the water at the time with our gear, all of our canoes were flipped by the 100 mph plus winds.  The Tornado made us lose about half of our gear and my hygiene products as well.  Life happens and sometimes you cannot help your circumstances. 

The pain started to really get into my days and nights.  The lack of brushing my teeth and the lack of nutrients I was ingesting from the lack of our regular food supplies left me in pain.  My mouth was hurting by the end of the trip and my teeth were in pain.  It took a week after the return for my mouth to feel better.  I had to restock on nutrients and get the plaque and tartar build-up off my teeth. Backups for many things are important and now I know.

This year I had my wisdom teeth taken out on May the 4th, which is actually Star Wars day, interestingly enough. I went to a dental surgery place with my mom early in the morning and had followed instructions in not eating or drinking for the past 12 hours. I was not too nervous to get my wisdom teeth out because my sisters had done it before me and it had gone well for them. When we got to the oral surgery place, I went in alone due to COVID protocols and filled out the forms that they wanted me to. After a few minutes of waiting, they led me to the back room to take some xrays of my teeth. I had already gotten xrays of my teeth done months prior when I had gone to the dentist for my last checkup, but they wanted newer ones on file for the sake of the surgery. I stood at the xray machine and the assistant went ahead and captured the photos.

What we found was surprising even to the oral surgeon himself – I did not have 4 wisdom teeth like we originally thought. In fact, I had 6 wisdom teeth inside me, 2 more than what the x rays showed months prior. This is apparently super rare, and the dentists told me that only 2% of the population has more than 4 wisdom teeth. So you could say I’m a bit of a rarity in that way. The dental surgeon said that he would take the other 2 out of the new problem with no additional fees, so that was super nice. I sat in the chair and leaned back while the assistants talked to me about my life and whatnot; just trying to make small talk. Then the dental surgeon came in and put an anesthetic mask on my face to start breathing in. This wasn’t super strong stuff, but I guess it helps with the whole anesthetic process during the surgery.

I remember when the doctor started to put in the real strong anesthetic into the IV in my arm, and I asked him if that was the stuff that would knock me out. That’s basically the last thing I remember until some point on my way home from surgery when I woke up in the car. My mouth was completely filled with gauze and the sides of my mouth had sores on them from being stretched around a lot. I woke up in a Meijer parking lot where my mom announced she was going to get groceries, and I asked her if she could get me a Starbucks coffee (since they have one in the Meijer). I made it home eventually and started the long process of recovering. I basically stayed dormant on the couch for about a week, and watched so much Netflix you wouldn’t even comprehend it. 

The worst part of the recovery process was the swelling in my cheeks and mouth that made me look like a chipmunk and overall was just really uncomfortable. The pain was not too bad when I was able to use the pain medications, and only when I developed an infection about a week later did it become a little unbearable. But then I went on some antibiotics and got that infection taken care of right away!

Easter is right around the corner.  For most people that means going to church and also buying tons of candy for baskets or just because they can.  I know it is really fun, but it is also a killer time for your dental health.  What inevitably will happen is that most Americans will end up eating and drinking more than normal.  With the many different holidays happening, most will end up eating mroe seasonal sweets and treats.  This means that for many Americans their teeth are going to be attacked much more than any other time of the year.  This could mean higher dental bills because of complications brought on by the excess sugar and acidic drinks and treats that are consumed.  So that is why I wanted to map out some of the best practices for dental hygiene during this time of year.  Tooth decay flat out sucks and a whole lot of us need to work on a better routine to beat it.  So, that is what I want to cover today.

If you do not have a good routine then you need to work on it.  It is the key to being healthy and fighting tooth decay.  The majority of Americans actually only brush their teeth once a day.  We have been told to do it more than that, but when it comes to an average workweek and when things get busy, one brushing is what actually happens.  And the usual amount of time spent on those brushings is always less than a minute.  That means that not only are Americans doing half the work but they are spending a quarter of the time on their teeth that they should on top of that.  Already if this sounds like you, think about making a new habit for the next few months.  We all know a small gain here can be fewer trips to the dentist next year. 

The ADA’s recommendation is really worthwhile and it says getting two brushings in per day and spending at least 2 minutes on each brushing.  That is a big deal and can really cut back on lots of dental issues by simply keeping your mouth clean.  I highly suggest making this a habit.  If you struggle with it use your cell phone to set an alarm for the brushing during the day you are missing.  It is pretty simple and set it to happen every day for about a month.  Jump on in and if you do it right, you can be totally on your way to better teeth by the end of April.

The goal of dental health surprisingly is to also make sure you are staying hydrated during these times of extra indulgence.  If you are able to drink water and do so right after eating or drinking bad things you can increase your dental health.  Simply put you are rinsing the bad plaque-causing stuff away.  This allows you to fight the plaque and possible tooth decaying substances right away and it also helps you to build up your body’s natural mouthwash, saliva.  If you stay hydrated your body will continue to produce the right amount of saliva on average and it will keep cleaning your mouth as well.   So by taking a drink of water or after a glass of your favorite beverage switching to a glass of water can keep you in tip-top shape.  May your Easter be fun and a little more healthy this year.

But what exactly is it? There is so much pain and fear that is thought of when the phrase root canal comes to mind and it is all for good reason.  The main thing that causes one is neglect.  If you are neglecting your dental health and routines then you may be in line for one of the worst things in the dental world.  Taking out a rotten tooth that has gone to far to fix. We’re sure you hear this often enough in passing, but man is it hard to believe how fast this year is flying.  Some may even say that is a good thing!

So, let’s get right into this. We’ve all heard of the term root canal. In fact, anytime you hear that someone is getting a root canal, the first things that pop to mind are extreme pain or an expensive procedure. But what exactly is a root canal? We hear it often enough to recognize what’s going on, yet the specifics get a little hazy simply because people don’t actually talk about what it means to have a root canal.  Do you worry that you’ve got a tooth that’s in extreme pain and wonder if a root canal is needed? Stop in to visit us so we can ensure everything is on track. Just click below to visit our site and set up an appointment.

The main thing to know is that there are two main types of root canal procedures depending on the severity of the infection. 

Basically, root canal therapy is the best way to clear infections in a root canal. So, the root canal itself is a place where your teeth’s roots are at, and infection in the roots often occurs because of a deep cavity, which causes damage to the tissue in the roots.

So during the actual root canal procedure, we would end up cleaning out the infected root canal and then seal it up to make sure you don’t have any future infections within your root canal. 

Now if you have one chance to save your tooth then you are in for an Apicoectomy.

This is the procedure that is used to save the tooth, and since it’s more dire, it usually means the infection has gone beyond the tip of the root. In this procedure, a portion of the root tip as well as the infection itself is removed. Once this tissue is removed and cleaned, the canal is filled with a material that is rubber like and seals your tooth from further bacteria and infection. 

If you have not let your health slip too far then you may be able to have a Pulpectomy.

Partial root canals are often in order depending on how far the infection itself actually spreads into your root canal. This procedure is called a pulpectomy, and it relieves your pain and allows for antibiotics to lessen the infection over time. Basically, you’d make two trips to your dentist or endodontist. At the first appointment, you would be given you antibiotics to reduce the infection. At the follow up appointment, the infected “pulp” would be removed, and then your teeth would be cleaned and the infected canal would be filled afterward. 

So be safe and be wise with your dental health. 

The impact of common drinks on your dental health can really change a lot about your whole entire health.  They say that humans are made up of 60% water. As a result, it’s good for us to drink a lot of liquid every day, especially water. But, water can be a bit flavorless (and caffeine-less) so most of us drink a lot of other types of liquids throughout our days. 

Have some of the sugary drinks you love impacted your dental health for the worst? Stop in to visit us so we can ensure everything is on track. Just click below to visit our site and set up an appointment because you may need one if you are following these trends.  So lets break down all of the things you should be staying away from and work on making 2021 a new and much better year. So how do drinks impact our teeth and mouth? Here’s a quick rundown of what popular drinks do to your dental health. 

Water. is the elixir of life for teeth and it is simply what we all need to be indulging in more than anything.  

Let’s start at the most basic. Water, with its neutral pH balance and no additives, is good for your teeth! It’s generally considered the healthiest thing to drink, so drink up! But that’s not very surprising. Let’s get on to the non-water drinks.  This is what can keep you hydrated and that has some amazing benefits.  It not only rinses your teeth but it also allows your body to create more saliva.  That is what can be a constant teeth cleaner so make sure you are drinking 8 glasses of water a day. 

Okay, so we weren’t being totally honest when we said we’d move on to the non-water drinks. Sparkling water has seen quite the resurgence in recent years and many people drink one or more servings of sparkling water every day. Like normal water, most sparkling water doesn’t have any added sugars or colors, so it’s relatively good for your mouth. However, it is carbonated, which means that over time the carbonation can impact your teeth. This shouldn’t be much of an issue though, unless you’re drinking a lot of sparkling water everyday. 

Over 2 BILLION cups of coffee are drank around the world every day and chances are you drink coffee too. Coffee isn’t inherently all that bad for your teeth, but the brown color of coffee can cause staining on your teeth over time. Coffee can also cause bad breath, so make sure to pop a sugar-free breath mint after you finish your morning cup! 

In regards to your teeth, soda is essentially a combination of coffee and sparkling water, with extra sugar thrown in. The carbonation can cause tooth decay over time and the often dark color of soda can stain your teeth over time, just like coffee. Additionally, soda has LOADS of sugar which can stick to your teeth and cause buildup and tooth decay. 

Beer is most similar to soda. It can stain your teeth overtime and the carbonation and sugars present in the beer can lead to tooth decay.  Interestingly, some of the chemicals in wine have been shown to help in the fight with gum disease and decay. But, that doesn’t give you a free pass to drink as much wine as you want! Red wine can still stain your teeth and the sugars in wine can lead to plaque buildup and bad breath.