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What to do when your child has dental anxiety

Children | Dental Advice

Is your child afraid of the dentist?

Fear and anxiety about the dentist can turn a child’s dentist appointment into a difficult event, but that doesn’t have to be the case. If you are worried that your child has dental anxiety, you may avoid or procrastinate booking their dental appointments even though postponing your child’s oral care can lead to problems in the future. By working together with a great pediatric dentist in Saskatoon, you’ll find there are easy ways to make oral appointments fun for kids. Don’t let dental anxiety be a detriment to your child’s oral health. Here are some tips to make dental visits easy and comfortable for your child. Read more

What to do when your child has dental anxiety

The History of Toothpaste

Blog | Dental Advice | Dental Care | Dental Health | Gums

Our ancestors determined that oral cleaning meant better oral and dental health dating back to 3500-3000 BC, when the Babylonians and Egyptians fashioned early forms of toothbrushes by fraying the ends of twigs. And long before the predecessor of the toothbrush was engineered, as far back as 5000 BC in ancient Greece, people were using tooth powders to practice oral hygiene. People have been thinking of dental care long before dental clinics were established.Read more

History of Toothpaste

Getting to the Root of Root Canals: What Are They and Why Do They Happen

Dental Advice | Dental Care | Dental Health
Saskatoon Dentists And Root Canal Therapy

If you’re in need of an endodontic procedure (root canal), you’re not alone. According to the American Association of Endodontists, more than 15 million endodontic procedures are performed every year. For those who may not be familiar with what a root canal entails, it is a procedure whereby a dentist or endodontist removes inflamed or infected pulp encased inside of the tooth or the dead debris of such former remnants. Next, the inside of the root canal is cleaned, shaped and internally filled. From there, a dental impression, which is a negative imprint of hard and soft tissues in the mouth, is used to create a crown that will cover the tooth. In this article, we will take a closer look at what this type of dentistry entails and why it may be needed.Read more

Oral Fixations and How they Ruin your Smile

Dental Advice | Dental Care | Dental Health
Are Oral Fixations Something You Need to Worry About?

Many individuals can be found chewing or having something in their mouths, whether that is a toothpick, pens, one’s thumb, or a cigarette. We want to keep our mouth occupied, as it can relieve our nerves for the time being.

Remember in middle and high school when you had a big test, and when pondering over a question, you found yourself chewing on the end of your pen or pencil? You were not hungry, but you find yourself doing this peculiar behavior multiple times. It makes you feel comfortable or allows you to vent your frustration physically without causing harm to others. This is an oral fixation.

People with an oral fixation need some type of oral or mouth stimulation. As you got older, you noticed your smile isn’t the same as it used to be. The culprits are the items one puts in their mouth or activities that harm their oral health. The common form of oral fixation are chewing on pens or pencils and smoking.Read more

3 Reasons Dental Cleanings Are Essential

Blog | Dental Advice | Dental Care | Dental Health

When it comes to regular dental checkups, most people know that it is something they are obligated to do. Unfortunately, many people don’t understand the real importance behind it.

Getting dental cleanings is not just something that we do because our parents told us to growing up. The truth is that cleanings and checkups are absolutely essential to good oral health.

Here are some of the ways in which dental cleanings can significantly impact your teeth for the better.Read more

How to Deal With a Chipped Tooth

Blog | Dental Advice | Dental Care

Although we never think that it is going to happen to us, chipping a tooth is quite common. People will often chip their teeth on hard pieces of food while playing sports or in accidents. Sometimes we have surface stress and fault lines in our teeth from clenching and grinding and simply a piece of bread can be ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’. Or we ‘mysteriously’ find a piece missing in the morning due to our unbeknownst to us neuromuscular activity. Although it may seem like a catastrophe at the time, there are a number of things that people can do to deal with a chipped tooth. Read more

Aging And Oral Health

Dental Advice | Dental Care | Dental Health

The great thing about advances in medicine and care means that people are living longer than ever, and also able to keep up their quality of life for a longer period of time as well. Teeth and oral health are both great examples. For example, keeping your teeth as you age not only is good for your confidence, but it also makes it easier to eat, which can be important when it comes to getting a balanced diet to match your new nutritional needs. But what goes into oral health as you age, and what can you do to preserve your teeth?

For one thing, that same healthy diet is also good for your teeth. You may not be eating junk food every day, but it’s a good idea to try to get regular amounts of calcium as well as look for food high in fiber and low and sugar. However, good oral health habits for the elderly aren’t necessarily limited to just eating and brushing well. For example, dry mouth could pose a problem, since saliva has lots of different materials that help balance bacteria in your mouth. Make sure that you are hydrated, and check to see if some of your medications may cause dry mouth. Some of the common medications that lead to dry mouth include anti-depressants and Parkinson’s medication.

Another potential issue that you may end up dealing with that you get older is receding gums. Older people are more susceptible to gum disease, and receding gums are a major reason why. As the gums recede, they expose the root surface of your teeth, which isn’t naturally protected by enamel. In addition, this added surface means that you may not be brushing in an area you need to be. The exposed roots of your teeth are a primary target for decay and plaque.

In some cases, a few basic changes in habits as you get older is enough to keep your teeth and mouth healthy. In other cases, you may need to make more extreme measures, or even find a way to replace teeth that can’t be saved. In both cases, it’s a good dentist who’s going to guide your hand to the best options. Be sure to visit the dental professionals at Midtown Dental Clinic to get regular checkups on your teeth as well as make sure that you’re in good general oral health.

Is Cosmetic Dentistry For Me?

Dental Advice | Dental Care | Dental Health

A lot of people may get the idea that cosmetic dentistry is exclusively for the rich and famous, but this isn’t the truth at all. The cosmetic dentistry field has grown by quite a lot in recent years, meaning that different procedures are more accessible than ever. Here’s how to decide whether or not it is a match for you.

One good thing to do when it comes to any cosmetic procedure is making sure that you have realistic expectations. For example, you can improve the appearance of your smile with a treatment, but some people think that this will instantly improve their relationships or other issues, and this isn’t realistic. However, a lot of people have practical goals for cosmetic dentistry, like a better ability to eat. After understanding your goals for the procedure, you need to think about the nature of the cosmetic dentistry you want. This will depend on your budget and needs. Here are some key options.

At the lower end of the spectrum is whitening. While this doesn’t actually restore any lost or damaged teeth, it can be used to try and help with discoloration caused by smoking, health issues, and reactions to medication. This is done by the dentist taking impressions of your teeth and creating plastic trays from them. These are then filled with a whitening solution and need to be worn for a certain amount of time depending on your teeth.

For people who are missing a few teeth, but don’t want to invest in dentures or implants (more on those later), bridges are a good option. Generally, these are made out of a combination of crowns on either side of the gap, and a false tooth or teeth in the middle. Note that bridges can never be removed, as they require permanent tooth modification.

At the high end of the spectrum are permanent dental implants. These are dental implants made in the jawbone, with a false tooth placed on top. These are among the best options for replacement teeth for eating and appearance, but also are expensive and take months to fully install. 

There are a lot of different options out there for cosmetic dentistry, so don’t feel that you’re limited when it comes to your procedure of choice. Be sure to visit the dental professionals at Midtown Dental Clinic to get regular checkups on your teeth as well as to make sure that you’re in good general oral health.

Two Peas In a Pod: Why Brushing and Flossing Come Hand-in-Hand

Dental Advice | Dental Care | Dental Health | Gums
Two Peas In a Pod: Why Brushing and Flossing Come Hand-in-Hand

Brushing and Flossing, it’s a subject we deal with every time we go to the dentist. After a while, it begins to feel like white noise.

Sure, we all know that brushing is important, but flossing seems kind of redundant. Do we really need it? Why are both of them necessary?

In the next few paragraphs, we’ll try to break down the benefits of brushing and flossing and explain why you should be doing both. Read on to learn more.

The Weird World of Teeth

Dentistry can be potentially traced back to the ancient Egyptians, who were incredibly skilled as far as ancient doctors go. They were the first to understand that a broken bone could be set and would grow back together.

They also may have pioneered dentistry. Granted, that was a simpler time when a dental problem meant an untreated abscess or cavities from accidentally eating sand, and they couldn’t even cure that.

Let’s jump ahead a few thousand years to the mid-nineteenth century when the medical model now known as germ theory was becoming popular among the masses.

This brings us to today and the question of why flossing is important. Flossing and brushing combined help in the treatment of gingivitis, which is caused by bacteria. However, that’s not the only benefit.

It also helps to destroy other forms of plaque and bacteria, which could lead to more serious issues. In fact, your mouth can be thought of as the metaphorical canary in a coal mine.

Plaque in your mouth can potentially lead to a higher risk of heart disease, as well as mouth infections, which can spread to other areas of the body. Plus, paying close attention to your mouth can help you notice signs that might be a sign of another issue somewhere else in the body.

Brushing and Flossing

As great as toothbrushes are, they can’t do everything. Their shape is not particularly well-designed for cleaning in between teeth.

This helps to prevent bacteria from forming in the hard-to-reach areas of your mouth. It may seem like a hassle now, but in the long run, it can save a lot of money on dental procedures.

Plus, it helps to cure bad breath, and can even make your teeth appear whiter by cutting away particles you wouldn’t otherwise notice.

Oral Hygiene

It may seem like your dentist is beating a dead horse every time they talk to you about the benefits of brushing and flossing, but it is true. Brushing and flossing help cut down on plaque and bacteria, which can prevent a lot of problems later on.

Additionally, brushing and flossing can also help your mouth look better and smell better.

If you want to know more about dentistry and how to keep your mouth healthy, please visit our website. Maybe you have bleeding gums but aren’t sure why. We can help. Perhaps you want to know which foods you should avoid if you want to keep your teeth healthy.