Is Your Nighttime Habit Destroying Your Oral Health?

Posted December 10, 2012 by Dr. Coon

A lot of factors can threaten your oral health, from poor oral hygiene to eating too much of certain foods. In some cases, genetics may even play a role in your risk of developing oral health issues. Sometimes, however, you can be your oral health’s worst enemy through habits that prove detrimental to your teeth and gums. One common habit can even affect your oral health for years to come, and if left unchecked, can lead to the need for extensive dental work to repair the damage. Sheridan dentist Dr. Coon explains how nighttime bruxism devastates your oral health.

What is Bruxism?

Most people grind or clench their teeth on occasion, usually when frustrated or angry. Some people do it without even realizing it, and some people do habitually. This habit is called bruxism, and often occurs at night, when the patient is asleep. Being nocturnal, the habit typically is not discovered until damage to your teeth begins to manifest itself. (more…)

Choosing a General Dentist in Sheridan

Posted December 3, 2012 by Dr. Coon

Selecting a dentist is different from selecting a home or a car. In many ways, it’s more important. Emotionally speaking, you will place your faith and trust in the dentist you select for your family, and you need to know that your decision will be rewarding long term. Logistically, your family requires a dentist office that offers the services you require, a convenient location, and hours compatible with your family’s schedule.
This questionnaire will help you thoughtfully consider some of the attributes you desire in the ideal general dentist.

What are the ages of your family members, and what are their foreseeable dental needs?

In most cases, dental patients select dentists who are in a similar age range, if available. If you have a young family, you might be best served by a dentist who is also in the parenting phase of his life. If you’ve retired from the workplace, perhaps you’d like a dentist at the end of his working years. The empathy and understanding between dentist and patient is important for a healthy, rewarding doctor-patient relationship.
Be sure to ask your candidate dentists if children are welcome, if they are open to seeing full families, or if they have a specialty service area.
What procedures will your family need over the next decade? A general dentist can provide checkups, cleanings, and restorations. However, will your children need braces? Will you need new bridgework or dental implants? Might cosmetic dentistry help your career? (more…)

Sheridan Dentist Explains How Gums Age

Posted November 26, 2012 by Dr. Coon

As we grow older, our bodies become more susceptible to illness. Arthritis, heart-related issues, and dementia, among many others, seem to become more common among the older population than among their younger counterparts. Numerous studies have shown that oral health is no exception, and gum disease also seems more prevalent amid older generations. Dedicated Sheridan dentist Dr. Coon explains why your gums may suffer with age, and the steps you can take to help protect your oral health in your later years.

Age Progression and Gum Recession

A common telltale sign of gum disease is the recession of your gum tissue. When plaque, which is comprised almost entirely of oral bacteria, accumulates on your gum line, the germs release a toxin that irritates your gums and causes them to pull away. The germs also cause gum inflammation, and the swelling contributes to the destruction. As gum disease progresses, it eats away the connective tissue between your gums and teeth and the separation grows. Eventually, the destruction spreads through your gums and into your jawbone, which soon falls victim to deterioration as well. (more…)

Calm Down for Better Oral Health

Posted November 19, 2012 by Dr. Coon

What you eat isn’t the only thing that can affect your teeth; your state of mind plays an important role, as well. Elevated stress levels can lead to dentally detrimental habits, and if proper care is not taken, irreversible damage can occur. To help you stay aware of how everyday worries can affect your teeth, Sheridan dentist Dr. Coon explains the relationship between stress and your oral health.

How Stress Affects Your Teeth and Gums

Unfortunately, stress can attack your oral health on two different fronts. It can directly affect your mouth’s health (studies have shown that excessive stress can lead to issues such as canker sores) and it can affect your diet and daily routine, often leading to poor oral hygiene practices. If you feel overwhelmed with stress, everyday routines can seem less and less important (including the few minutes spent brushing and flossing your teeth every day). As stress grows and these essential routines fall by the wayside, so too does your oral health in the face of stress-induced neglect. (more…)

Why Teeth are More Thankful Now Than During the First Thanksgiving

Posted November 12, 2012 by Dr. Coon

As homage to the wide variety of food offered at the first Thanksgiving, many people’s tables will be laden with different kinds of meat, fruits, vegetables, sides, and desserts this year. The inevitable assault on your teeth is sure to raise at least a little dental health awareness, and we hope that you brush and floss your teeth to prevent so much food from feeding the bacteria in your mouth (which can lead to bad breath, tooth decay, and gum disease). However, if the feast began hundreds of years ago, how did early Thanksgiving feasters care for their teeth before and after the holiday? In the interest of historical dentistry, Sheridan dentist Dr. Coon lists some interesting facts about tooth care in Colonial America.

Thankful for Teeth!

Early European settlers had a lot to contend with in their new land. Hygiene should have been one of them, but cleanliness was apparently not at the forefront of the pilgrims’ minds. Most only bathed once a week, if that often.
Although a few dentists accompanied the first pilgrims, dental health care providers of the time focused only solving problems rather than preventing them. (more…)

Make Whiter Teeth a Part of Your After-Halloween Costume

Posted October 29, 2012 by Dr. Coon

Brown, yellow, or otherwise stained teeth may be perfect for the purpose of celebrating Halloween, but most people would not want their teeth to look so ghoulish after the festivities, or for any other part of the year, for that matter. Aside from fake teeth, your natural teeth are also exposed to quite a bit of struggle as they are bombarded with sweets and candies, many of which can leave stains on your teeth as well as contribute to tooth decay. As a dedicated dentist in Sheridan, Dr. Coon offers this advice to protect your teeth’s pearly luster, and offers professional tooth whitening treatment to erase any stains that may appear.

Protect Your Teeth from Stains

Some foods, such as certain fruits and earthy vegetables, can help keep your teeth clean and healthy. The fibrous textures of some of these foods, such as apples, work to scrub away traces of food debris and minor stains on the surface of your teeth. Unfortunately, there may not be many fruits and vegetables to go around during the Halloween festivities, at least not enough to counteract the damage done by the more commonly–present candy. To help reduce some of the damage caused by sugary and acidic candies, swish some water around your mouth after you eat a treat. (more…)

Scientists Use Innovative Technique to Reduce Gum Inflammation

Posted October 22, 2012 by Dr. Coon

While you may not hear as much about gum disease as you do other maladies, it still remains one of the most widespread chronic infections among the human population. In the United States alone, nearly 75% of adults have gum disease of varying degrees, and the illness is the number one cause of adult tooth loss in America, as well. Our failure to completely defeat or control gum disease, however, is not for lack of trying. Scientists around the world are researching ways to get a leg up on the destructive disease, especially in light of compounding evidence that our oral health my influence our physical wellbeing. At the University of Louisiana, School of Dentistry, researcher David Scott, PhD, has taken an innovative approach to the dilemma that has some experts rethinking our strategy of gum disease prevention and treatment. Sheridan dentist, Dr. Coon, explains how we may be able to prevent the destruction of gum disease by interrupting cellular communication.

The Traditional Fight Against Gum Disease

As destructive as unchecked gum disease can be, it begins in a relatively simple manner; the accumulation of bacteria along your gum line. Excessive plaque buildup can irritate the gums until the tissue pulls away from your teeth, creating small pockets for bacteria to collect. The progression and destruction of gum disease, however, is a result of the inflammation that is characteristic of the oral health issue. (more…)

Sheridan Dentist Offers One-Visit Crowns

Posted October 8, 2012 by Dr. Coon

Can you imagine walking in for a dentist appointment and walking out that same day with a crown? That’s not how things worked in the past. In general, dental crowns took multiple appointments for making impressions, fitting you with an uncomfortable temporary crown, sending specifications to an outside source, bringing you back in for a fitting on another day, and hopefully finalizing the crown then. All of those steps can now take place in one visit, if your dentist has embraced the latest technology. Your Sheridan dentist, Dr. Donald Coon, explains the benefits of Chairside Economical Restoration of Esthetic Ceramics (CEREC).

Why Are Dental Crowns Necessary?

Crowns are recommended by a dentist for a variety of reasons. A crown is essentially a cap that fits over the remains of a tooth that is not at full function. When a tooth needs extra protection after being weakened by decay, and a filling will not offer enough support, you will likely be a candidate for a crown. Cracked teeth with parts that need to be held together, restoration of worn down or broken teeth, and severely discolored teeth would be other reasons a patient might opt for a ceramic crown. (more…)

Sheridan Dentist Connects Gum Disease to Arthritis

Posted October 1, 2012 by Dr. Coon

Brushing and flossing your teeth are considered not negotiable if you want to have the best oral hygiene. Floss reaches the areas between teeth where the bristles of a toothbrush can’t fit. However, brushing twice a day, and flossing every day, is often neglected by people who are busy, tired, or just can’t seem to develop good oral hygiene habits. If staving off gum disease and tooth decay isn’t enough incentive for you to brush and floss properly, a new study claims that the benefits of diligent oral hygiene extend to joint health. Dr. Donald Coon, your Sheridan dentist, explains the details of the research that links gum disease to arthritis.

Oral Bacteria Found in the Knees

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland, OH, examined DNA to determine that bacteria from our mouths can travel all the way down to the knees, potentially exacerbating existing cases of arthritis. Our knee caps are surrounded by synovial fluid. In people with good joint health, this fluid is sterile. When arthritis is present, however, bacteria can settle in the knee (more…)

Sheridan Dentist Discusses Abscess Prevention

Posted September 25, 2012 by Dr. Coon

The formation of an abscess is common for patients of all ages, primarily those affected by tooth decay or gum disease. Building a wall around the infection, an abscess is actually one way the body attempts to protect itself from harm.

Tooth Decay and Gum Disease

Tooth decay and gum disease are both driving factors in the development of bacterial infections. Appearing at the tooth’s root, a periapical abscess generally affects those patients with tooth decay. Untreated cavities can devolve quickly, sometimes resulting in an absess, so proper preventive oral care is always recommended.
Unlike a periapical abscess (located near the root of a decayed tooth), a periodontal abscess is usually attributed to an infection located between the tooth and gum. In many advanced periodontal disease cases, food becomes lodged between a tooth and the gumline. Without care and treatment from your local Sheridan dentist, the resulting infection could spread to the rest of the body.
(more…)

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