Brushing Before Bed for Healthier Teeth

Hopefully, you are well aware that you should be brushing your teeth twice a day and flossing at least once in a 24-hour period (according to the ADA).  But, what’s the big deal about brushing before bed, especially when we’re just going to wake up and do it again in the morning?  Can you guess?

What Happens to Teeth

Our mouths are breeding grounds for bacteria.  This is normal.  What’s not good is that when food is left behind. We are essentially inviting these little critters to a buffet.  The bacteria release substances that erode enamel which is the number one cause of tooth decay, gum disease and more.  Not to mention if you are a soda drinker, you are leaving acid on your teeth that continue to cause damage to enamel until it is neutralized.  Drinking water right after helps, but you should brush and floss before a long stretch of sleep.  We produce less saliva when our mouths are inactive which means we are laying down another defense measure.

Your Best Defense is a Good Offense

Dr. Williams believes in regular nightly brushing which basically wipes your slate clean before trotting off to bed for several hours.  After removing food particles through brushing and flossing, do not ruin the good you’ve accomplished with any midnight snacking.  The bacteria will not be fueled without food particles and won’t be able to reproduce, thereby reducing harm to your teeth.

Try to make brushing and flossing your teeth before bed part of your regular nighttime regimen and not a burden.  You’ll be surprised at how many other life-improving benefits pop up because of this one addition to your evening.  Your teeth will last longer and you should see a dramatic improvement at your check-ups with Dr. Williams.  If you are overdue for your cleaning, why not start with an even cleaner slate and have any plaque removed that is currently there?  Set yourself a baseline and see if nightly brushing and flossing makes a difference for you.  Believe it or not, tooth loss is not a necessary adjunct to the aging process.  With proper care to keep bacteria in check, your teeth can last a lifetime.

Contact our office today to book an appointment and feel free to ask our staff about nightly brushing and flossing if you have more questions.

What to expect when getting CEREC?

A friendly, healthy smile goes a long way to making an excellent first impression, but if you have decayed or damaged teeth, you might be used to hiding your smile. Crowns, or caps that cover tooth damage, can restore your smile and provide you with a confidence boost. Thanks to leading-edge technology, you can get that confidence boost faster than ever with CEREC crowns.

Short for Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics, CEREC technology allows dentists to develop, produce, and place your crowns at a single appointment. This means that you can see your smile go from frightening to flawless in a single day. Because the CEREC procedure is significantly faster and more convenient than the process of having crowns made in an offsite lab, many dentists and patients have begun turning to this new technology to restore smiles.

CEREC vs. Traditional Crown Process

The CEREC process is simple and quick, taking about two to three hours from start to finish. This includes the time it takes to prepare the tooth for the CEREC crown, create the crown itself, and bond it. On the other hand, the traditional crown placement process takes about two weeks and at least two dental visits. With a traditional crown, your dentist will prep the tooth for a new crown, then take molds of the tooth or teeth that need crowns and send the data to a lab, which will create a crown specifically designed to fit in your mouth. This can take several weeks. In the meantime, you will wear a temporary crown. Finally, your dentist will schedule another appointment, during which he or she will use a dental bonding agent to place your crown. If all goes as planned, it will fit and no adjustments will need to be made in which case the crown would have to be sent back to the lab.

How Does CEREC Work?

With CEREC, your dentist will use in-house, cutting-edge technology instead of an offsite lab to design and implement your tooth during a single office visit. Using an intraoral camera, design software, and a milling machine, your dentist will examine your teeth, input data into the software program, design a crown using that software program, and send it to the milling machine for grinding that same day. The entire milling process can take as little as six minutes.

What are the Advantages of CEREC?

With CEREC, your dentist can identify the need for a crown, prepare the tooth for a crown, make the crown and cement the crown in one sitting. Any adjustments to the crown that need to be made can also be done during that one dental appointment. Patients don’t have to come back later to complete the crown process. Patients don’t have to take two or more days out of their busy schedules to get a crown. Patients can even watch their crown being milled right before their eyes!

When you need a dental crown, it’s important not to ignore it and at Sierra Dental Care of Green Bay, we make the entire crown dental experience, a quick, comfortable, and effective one! Call us today!

Is Dental Work Safe During Pregnancy?

When you’re expecting a baby, chances are, your dental health is not on the forefront of your mind. But did you know that the same pregnancy hormones known for causing morning sickness, strange cravings and increased sensitivity can also increase your risk for periodontal disease? Additionally, any oral infection has the added chance of effecting the unborn baby so preventing and treating hormone-induced gum disease or any other dental problem, is important.

For this reason, visiting the dentist during pregnancy should be an essential part of your prenatal care. However, some women avoid the dentist during pregnancy because they mistakenly think that treatment is unsafe. However, the ADA, most dentists, and obstetricians agree that most dental treatments are 100% safe during pregnancy and your dental health should not be ignored!

Using Local Anesthesia during Pregnancy

Many women worry about the safety of local anesthetic during pregnancy. According to the FDA, most local anesthetics that dentists use are safe for pregnant or nursing mothers. Dentists base this recommendation on the fact that Lidocaine, Prilocaine, and Etidocaine, the most commonly used local anesthetics, are considered “Category B” drugs by the USDA. A “Category B” drug is one that has been scientifically tested and has not been linked to fetal abnormalities. Most obstetricians, dentists, and general practice doctors view these drugs as harmless, however waiting until the second trimester is recommended where possible. Most dentists also require written authorization from their patients OBGYN to receive dental work requiring local anesthetic just to make sure patient and baby are in good health. 

Focusing on Dental Health

Caring for your oral health during pregnancy is important for both you and your baby, so don’t avoid the dentist because you are concerned that dental procedures might be unsafe. Instead, have an honest discussion with your dentist about your pregnancy and your concerns. Your dentist and obstetrician will work together to ensure you and your baby receive the best possible care. If you are in the Green Bay area, Dr. Marty Williams would be happy to talk over your concerns. Please don’t hesitate to contact Sierra Dental today!
 

Do Toothbrush Bristles Really Matter?

Who knew that choosing a toothbrush required doing your research first? We did, and now you do, too.

The next time you’re in the market for a toothbrush, be sure to read the package to understand exactly what you’re getting. Toothbrushes come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and with different bristle firmness: you can choose soft bristles, medium bristles, or hard bristles. Each toothbrush advertises having its own advantages and disadvantages, but is there one best brush across the board? At Sierra Dental, Dr. Marty Williams strongly suggests soft-bristled toothbrush’s to all of his patients.

Our Green Bay dental practice prides itself in building lasting relationships with our patients; that means we’re always here to inform and answer questions. Keep reading to find out the difference between the different types of toothbrush bristles and why soft-bristled brushes are the best option for your teeth.

What the different Brushes Advertise vs the Truth

Given the manner in which different toothbrushes are advertised, you might wonder why soft brushes are the best option.

Each brush claims to have a different advantage to offer you should you choose them. Soft brushes might be gentler on the gums and on particularly fragile teeth, but hard brushes are supposed to be better at cleaning teeth. The firm bristles are said to be best for scrubbing away plaque and staining substances. And, if you want the best of both—better scrubbing than soft bristles, but gentler than the hard bristles—you could always choose a medium brush. These three types of brushes sound like perfect solutions for different problems, so why wouldn’t Dr. Williams recommend medium or hard bristled brushes?

Simply put, harder bristles have negative effects that outweigh any positives.

The Truth about Bristle Strength

You do not need harder bristles to get cleaner teeth. The ADA-approved toothpaste you should be using already includes mild abrasives, such as calcium carbonate, that already do the job hard-bristled brushes are said to do: scrub away plaque and surface stains more effectively. If your toothpaste and soft brush are not doing the job well enough, then it may be time to switch toothpastes rather than brushes. Harder bristles don’t grind these abrasive agents more effectively than a soft brush would, so their alleged benefit is a moot point.

Instead, medium and hard toothbrushes increase the risk for oral damage. When people use firmer-bristled brushes, not only are they using something that grinds harder against the teeth, but they are also in the mindset that harder brushing is better; that is, they believe that applying more force with a brush is a good thing. The combination of rougher bristles with more force carries with it a strong risk of damaging the gums, which support grown teeth. The resulting separation and recession of the gums from the teeth greatly increases the odds of tooth decay, tooth loss, and tooth sensitivity. This combination can also chip up the sides of the teeth, further increasing the likelihood of tooth decay.

With these penalties and without any supposed benefits, the only toothbrush worth using is the one that will not damage your gums and teeth: a soft-bristled toothbrush used in a very gentle manner.

Make an Appointment Today!

If you have more questions about your oral hygiene and are in the Green Bay area, feel free to give us a call at Sierra Dental today! We can walk you through the different types of oral hygiene options, and help you make the best choice for you and your family.

How does The Wand Minimize Injection Sensitivity?

If you're nervous about going to the dentist—especially when you know there's going to be an local anesthetic injection involved—you're definitely not alone. Most people have some fears when it comes to gum injections, and it's only natural to be a bit squeamish about being injected in such a sensitive area. If you've been avoiding going to the dentist for this reason, there's some good news: the development of technology such as The Wand is making it more comfortable to get much needed procedures.

What is The Wand?

The Wand makes those problems a thing of the past. It's a computer-aided dental anesthesia delivery system that makes dental injections so quick and painless you barely even know you've had a shot. This computer- aided technology allows the dentist to control things like the flow rate and pressure of the anesthetic as it's being administered, as well as the position of the needle. This monitoring makes the local anesthetic injection itself more predictable and more controlled, and typically causes much less discomfort than a normal local anesthetic shot.

Better yet, The Wand is so sensitive that it can deliver anesthesia to a single tooth and leave the adjacent teeth completely unaffected. That means there's less mouth numbness after the procedure, making recovery easier.

Don't Let Dental Fear Keep You From Getting the Treatment You Need!

Forgoing needed dental treatments due to anxiety over shots and other procedures is very common, but it's not a good idea to avoid getting treatment. Neglecting your oral health may lead to problems such as gum disease and tooth loss, so it's important to see your dentist regularly.

At Sierra Dental, Dr. Williams genuinely cares about patient comfort, and that's one reason why investing in technology such as the dental wand is a top priority. Dr. Williams is pleased to be one of the first dentists in the Green Bay area to utilize this technology. Thanks to The Wand there is no reason to fear local anesthetic or dental treatment anymore, so call us today at our Green Bay office to make an appointment.

How can an Oral Appliance Help My TMJ Problems?

The temporomandibular joint is the joint that connects the jaw to the skull. It's a hinge-like joint that opens and closes when the attached muscles are used, and it's what allows us to use our mouths for chewing and other functions. Disorders that affect this joint can be extremely painful, but an oral appliance from your Green Bay dentist may be able to relieve the symptoms.

What Causes Temporomandibular Joint Disorders?

Temporomandibular joint disorders, or TMD, can develop for a variety of reasons. A traumatic injury such as a blow to the jaw, whiplash injury, or dislocation, are common TMD causes. Some other risk factors include bone diseases such as arthritis, and tension or stress that causes reactions such as jaw clenching and tooth grinding. These reactions put stress on the joint and contribute to the development of TMD.

TMD Symptoms

People with TMD can also have symptoms such as headaches, toothaches, and earaches, and might have problems with their bite too. Problems with the temporomandibular joint can cause some very painful symptoms. The pain typically starts in the joint itself, but can extend to the face, neck, and shoulders, and is often worse when chewing or speaking.

How can an Oral Appliance Treat TMD?

There are several things you can do at home to ease pain caused by TMD. For example, over-the-counter medications like ibuprofen can help with the pain, and a diet of mostly soft foods helps prevent the additional discomfort of chewing. However, these things don't get to the root of what's causing TMJ pain — they just address the symptoms. In the long term, a more effective strategy is to see your dentist for advice.

Your dentist can help because there are some oral appliances and other dental treatments that can help ease the symptoms much more effectively than pain medication.

One common example of an effective oral appliance is the splint. This is worn in the mouth when you're asleep. It prevents you from clenching your jaw or grinding your teeth, so if these issues are the cause of your TMD, this oral appliance is an effective treatment. It prevents you from damaging your teeth or jaw if you do clinch your teeth.

Get Help for TMD Today

If you're experiencing TMJ pain you know how much it can affect your everyday life, but there is help available. Call Dr. Williams at Sierra Dental, your Green Bay dentist, today to find out what we can do for you.

Welcome To Our Blog

We're excited to announce the official launch of our Martin Williams, DDS. blog.

We'll be posting helpful dental tips, news from the dental industry, news from our practice, and more about the latest in dentistry.

We built our practice on the notion that we're there for our patients when they need us and we want our online presence to be a reflection of that principle. We hope this blog provides an extra level of service to our current and future patients.

If you would like to stay up to date on the latest from Martin Williams, DDS., simply click the RSS “Subscribe to feed” link located on our website and subscribe. Our subscribers will be updated when we make a new blog post.

Here's to your best oral health ever!