Eating Nuts for Snacks Could Help Keep Your Teeth Healthy

Nuts are a delicious snack. Those who taste nuts for a living describe the flavor as sweet and buttery. A handful satisfies most midday appetites. They are crunchy. They are healthy. They are delicious. While not everyone can tolerate eating nuts, their delicious flavor appeals to many people. In fact, in recent years almonds have surpassed peanuts as America’s favorite nut. Did you know that eating nuts for a snack could help keep your teeth healthy?

Nuts Benefit Your Teeth

Nuts are a top choice for a snack. Almost all nuts are low in carbohydrates. Sugar and carbohydrates are the top two offenders in the mouth. Both ingredients can lead to a buildup of plaque, which is the first step in tooth decay. By avoiding sugar and carbohydrates, your teeth are less prone to cavities. Consuming raw foods, like fruits and vegetables, drastically reduces your risk of gum disease. Chewing nuts also reduces your risk of gum disease and nuts also helps to strengthen your teeth. Nuts can even remove bacteria as the texture of the nuts cleanses the surface of your teeth and increases your flow of saliva.

A Healthy Snack

Nuts can be eaten alone or paired with other foods to make a healthy snack. Everyone has their favorite trail mix, but did you think of nuts with steamed vegetables? Try tossing some pecans with steam green beans with a little olive oil and salt. Almonds can decorate the top of any favorite breakfast cereal which will enhance the flavor and texture as well. Walnuts can improve practically any salad. Nuts can even go inside tortillas with meat, cheese, and a vinegar-based dressing.

Call Our Offices

We like to help people keep their teeth healthy. Many lifestyle choices can impact the health of your teeth. While eating nuts may be one way to stay healthy, we would love to discuss other healthy practices at your next routine cleaning and checkup. Give us a call today at our Milwaukie or Oregon City offices!

Dental Care for People with Dementia

Maintaining good oral health can significantly boost your overall well-being. Regular dental can help to prevent different oral conditions like cavities and infections before they develop. This way, you can avoid pain when chewing, drinking, and communicating. However, people living with dementia are more prone to tooth decay and gum disease primarily because they can’t perform daily activities like others.

At ComfortCare Dental, our dentists can help you or your primary health giver set an oral hygiene routine to keep teeth and gums clean at all times.

The Link Between Sugar and Oral Health in Dementia Patients

A person with dementia can experience an increase in sugar cravings. This leads to excess consumption of sweets, candy, chocolate, and cake, creating a domino effect that leads to tooth decay and several health complications. Instead, people with dementia should opt for tooth-friendly snacks like vegetables, whole-grain bread, fresh fruit, and sugar-free dairy products.

If you’re experiencing toothache as a result of succumbing to your sugar cravings, we recommend visiting our dentists at ComfortCare Dental.

How People with Dementia Can Improve Oral Health

The best way to avoid consuming sugar is by banishing all sugary and unhealthy food from your fridge and pantry. People with dementia should ensure they clean their mouth twice a day. If they’re reluctant or unable to do it themselves, their primary caregiver should help them. Secondly, many people with dementia have dentures. You must ensure that they’re clean and tight at all times.

They might need to form new cleaning habits such as using a soft brush or a different toothpaste. This change in care or routine often confuses people with dementia and makes them uncomfortable. So, they need short and clear instructions to gradually adapt to the change.

• Learn more about Dentistry for Seniors

At ComfortCare Dental, our dentists can gently guide people with dementia and demonstrate what to do to ensure good oral health. To schedule an appointment with us, call us at our Milwaukie or Oregon City offices today.

Treatment for Dental Cavities

Dental cavities are one of the most common dental problems. They can be hard to catch right away and when left untreated, they can cause toothache, infections and even lead to tooth loss.

That’s why it’s so important to schedule regular visits with your dentist so that they may catch any cavities in their early stage when they are still treatable. So, call our offices in Milwaukie or Oregon City to book your appointment at ComfortCare Dental.

Here are some of the ways they might treat your dental cavities depending on their severity.

Fluoride Treatment

If the cavity is still in its early stage, your dentist might recommend some fluoride treatment that involves brushing a gel or liquid onto your teeth. This can help reverse the damage done by the cavity and restore your enamel.

Dental Fillings

If the bacteria have started penetrating the teeth and caused damage, your dentist will resort to fillings. They will drill a hole into the teeth to clean out any decay and damaged tissue and then fill it with resin or porcelain to seal the tooth.

Dental Crowns

If the cavity has spread even more and there is decay all over the tooth, your dentist will suggest you get crowns. Again, they will drill and clean out the decay and then fit a crown over your natural tooth to protect and restore its function.

Root Canal

If the decay has reached the root of the tooth, the dentist will have to perform a root canal. This will involve cleaning out the entire root or pulp of the tooth and any other damaged tissue from inside the tooth. Then, they will fill and seal the tooth with a crown.

Tooth Extraction

In case the cavity has caused so much damage that the tooth is beyond saving, your dentist will simply have to go for tooth extraction to remove the decay completely. You can then consider getting a dental implant or bridge for the missing tooth.

Dental cavities can often be quite painful and uncomfortable as well. If your dentist appointment is still a few days away, try brushing your teeth with warm water and avoid hot or cold food for a while to soothe your teeth.

How Many Times Should I Use Floss?

Even though brushing your teeth twice a day is very important, it is just as important to use a dental floss to clean in between your teeth and beneath the gum lines.

Food debris and bacteria can creep into the tiny spaces between your teeth and beneath the gum line, giving rise to plaque that can erode your enamel. The worst part is that you will never know about these hidden cavities until they become severe.

That is why Dr. Chung at ComfortCare Dental recommends using floss in places that your toothbrush cannot reach.

Should You Use Anything to Remove Food Debris Stuck in Your Teeth?

If you are relaxing on the couch watching your favorite Netflix show and you feel something stuck in between your teeth, it can be very tempting to pull it out using anything pointy that is nearby, most often your nail. According to surveys, about 61% of Americans use their fingernail and about 40% use a folded card to pull out food debris stuck in their teeth.

However, not only these improvised toothpickers not clean your teeth sufficiently, they may hurt your gums as well. It is important that you use dentist-accepted interdental cleaners like floss, dental picks, water flossers, and tiny brushes to clean food debris.

When Should I Clean In Between my Teeth?

As long as you floss your teeth at least once a day, it doesn’t really matter when. You can pick anytime of the day to spend a few minutes cleaning in between your teeth and beneath your gumline. You can also use floss to clean away food debris from between your teeth after every meal.

Parents should cultivate the habit of using floss in children as young as three years old. They should start cleaning in between their children’s teeth as soon as their child gets two teeth right next to each other. Since children cannot correctly floss on their own, you should help them floss at least until they turn eight.

Flossing or interdental cleaning is not supposed to be painful. It is normal to feel slight discomfort when you start cleaning in between your teeth after a long while, however, this feeling will quickly go away. If your gums continue to become irritated every time you floss, it could point to some other oral issue and you should get an appointment with us at our offices in Milwaukie, Oregon City, or our Mobile Dental Clinic to treat it.

Effects of Smoking on the Teeth

A healthy smile is the first thing you notice on a person’s face and is often considered as a basic grooming essential. Everyone knows that smoking is bad for health. However, what many people might not know is how smoking is bad for the teeth. Here are some of the effects of smoking on teeth.

Stained Teeth

There are numerous effects of smoking on the teeth, but one of the most apparent effects happens to be the blackening/yellowing of the teeth. The nicotine and tar present in cigarettes and other similar products can settle on the surface of the teeth, giving it that stained appearance.

These effects can be reversed if you quit smoking and resort to brushing your teeth regularly. However, in some severe cases, it becomes quite difficult to get rid of these stains. Furthermore, besides the teeth, smoking can sometimes cause the gums to darken as well.

Bad Breath

People also tend to develop a distinctively smokey breath right after smoking. However, more importantly, over time it can also cause bad breath that is hard to eliminate even after brushing. This is because the act of smoking often affects saliva production, which then leads to dry mouth and the growth of bacteria. These lead to bad breath.

Gum Diseases

Smokers, as compared to nonsmokers, are more likely to develop gum diseases, which usually attack the roots of the teeth, loosening the gums and making room for bacteria to grow. This in turn causes the teeth to fall out after developing decay.

Damage to Enamel

Our teeth are covered with a very sophisticated coating of enamel that naturally protects them from decay and certain problems, such as pain and sensitivity to certain foods and beverages. Long term smoking damages the enamel.

The best way to get rid of the effects of smoking on your teeth is by giving up smoking altogether. After that, if you still notice any problems or pain, you can contact our offices in Milwaukie, Oregon City, or our Mobile Dental Clinic for a consultation.