Skip The Candy This Halloween Season and Keep Your Gums Healthy

With Halloween and the holidays right around the corner you may be tempted to reach into those candy bags, but stop yourself. The more candy you consume the more damage you could potentially be causing to your healthy smile. Sugar mixes with bacteria that is in your mouth, which then causes decay and cavities. Decay and cavities that are not taken care of can eventually cause problems for your gums as well.

When food stays on your teeth for two or more days the plaque hardens and becomes tartar. This tartar sits on the gum and is a hard substance that is difficult to get off of your teeth with normal brushing and flossing. You may scrub and scrub but it will not come off. Tartar on your teeth can then lead to gingivitis. Once your gums are impacted with gingivitis, if it is not taken care of, it can lead to periodontal disease. Dr.Denine Rice and her team, can help put together a plan that will get your smile back on track.

For more information on the impact of sugar on your gums, contact Dr. Rice and her team today.

4 Effective Strategies To Create A Flossing Habit

You may believe you do not need to floss to keep your teeth. There may even have been years between when you have decided to floss. Dr. Rice and her team sees the impact every day for people who do not floss. While it may seem that the problem stays in your mouth or does not impact you at all, in fact, years of not flossing can cause a major problem not only with your body, but with your gums and your teeth. Here are 5 effective strategies to create a healthy flossing habit that keeps your smile happy.

1.     Floss at the same time every day. It takes 21 days to create a habit! Get up every day and floss, or before you go to bed, floss. Put it in your purse and floss at work the first time you go to the restroom.

2.     Find floss you love. There are so many variations out there. So, just keep searching for one until you find one that fits your needs.

3.     Visit the periodontist if you are flossing and your gums are bleeding. No amount of blood is normal. Dr. Denine Rice and her team can help work out a plan to get your smile back on track.

4.     Set a timer. If you forget to floss after deciding on this new habit, don’t give up, instead set a timer on your phone in order to remind you to complete this task.

Flossing is essential to keep your teeth healthy and happy for years to come. Contact Dr. Rice and her team today for more information.

5 Most Common Excuses People Give About Why They Didn’t Floss

Dr. Rice and her team stress the importance of flossing to all of their patients. While they know that people often forget or say they floss and they do not, this important activity continues to be a priority for Dr. Denine Rice and her team. Here are the 5 most common excuses patients give about flossing and how to turn the excuse into a healthy routine.

1.     No time. Place floss in your purse and other areas around your house, in order to make floss easily accessible.

2.     Your gums bleed. Bleeding gums is the result of gingivitis or periodontal disease. Taking time to floss and visiting the periodontist can help to heal your gums so they do not bleed.

3.     Your teeth are close together and the floss breaks. Using waxed floss can help prevent floss from breaking or using a Waterpic can give you the benefit of flossing without breaking the floss.

4.     It hurts to floss. Flossing can help to strengthen your gums. Overtime this can reduce the pain you feel when flossing.

5.     I do not have food stuck between my teeth. There can sometimes be food between your teeth even if you do not feel that there is food there. Flossing helps to ensure that there is nothing below the gumline.

For more information on the importance of flossing, contact Dr. Rice and her team.

Love Your Gums!

It be easy to blow off the care that your gums need. You may think, "what’s one day of not flossing or brushing? How bad can it be?" You may even think, "no biggie I’ll catch them up tomorrow by flossing twice." Unfortunately, while your gums and your periodontist appreciate you flossing and brushing the next day when you forget, regular habits is the way to show your gums you love them and keep them for a lifetime.

Your gums are more sensitive than you think. Food left on the gums and teeth can cause damage, decay and even bleeding. Left for too long without the love they need in order to be healthy, and they begin to recede, become puffy and eventually you may lose teeth due to the neglect of your gums. While one day or night may not show you the wear and tear on your gums that is going to do permanent damage, not engaging in this critical routine can create the long lasting damage that is difficult to repair.

If you struggle to floss because you cannot find a time of the day, try doing it right after you eat lunch or dinner. Put floss in various locations around your house, in order to alleviate the excuse that you have to walk up the stairs.

Your Gums are designed to last a lifetime, for more information on your gum health, contact Dr. Rice and her team.

Do Not Wait For Your Gums To Bleed

Brushing and flossing may seem like a chore some days and an activity you can push off a day or two without negative repercussions, but you should not wait until your gums are swollen and bleeding before you decide your oral health is important. “Make a decision today, to love your gums for a lifetime and they will love you back,” says Dr.Denine Rice.

            Regular brushing and flossing routines are the only way to remove food from the surface of your teeth and between your teeth. Without brushing and flossing the food begins to build up, causing gingivitis or worse, periodontal disease. Once your gums are bleeding, this is a sign of gingivitis the first stage of periodontal disease. No amount of bleeding is normal. You may think one or two days without brushing and flossing is not going to harm your smile, but just a few minutes after eating, the food mixes with the bacteria that is already in your mouth leaving you open to major and minor dental problems.

With regular brushing and flossing habits you can avoid this potentially costly decision and enjoy a healthy smile that will last a lifetime. For more information on your smile and how to improve your gum health, contact Dr. Rice and her team today.

Kathleen’s Journey – Part 1: Where It All Began

Kathleen’s first visit to our office was a step of trust and faith. She had not been to a dentist in years and was struggling due to her only having a few upper root tips. This first visit was almost two years ago. She began her journey by first utilizing the internet to search for a periodontist that was going to be able to meet her needs. We were lucky she chose us after reading several of our reviews. We have been so fortunate to work with amazing patients who have helped share our hard work, so that patients like Kathleen could benefit.

When she first entered our office, we could tell that her confidence had diminished, along with her smile, and her health was suffering.  Overall, she struggled with being anxious when visiting the dentist. We began by a simple full mouth x-ray in order to determine exactly what would need to be done. This was just the first step in the journey, but it helped us to come up with a plan so that Kathleen could rebuild her smile, her confidence and her life. 

We knew after reviewing the x-ray that this was going to be a long journey, but we also knew that with incremental steps, we would be able to rebuild a smile that would bring back her joy.

For more information on Kathleen’s story contact Dr. Rice and her team.

6 Unhealthy Habits That Wreak Havoc On Your Gums

You care about your smile and spend time regularly brushing, but when it comes to flossing it may be weeks in between time. Or it may have been years. “Whatever the case, flossing is important in order to keep your gums in tip-top shape and to keep your teeth for a lifetime,” says Dr. Rice. Here are 6 unhealthy habits you may be doing that are causing problems for your overall gum health.

1.     Not drinking enough water. Water helps to remove food from the surface of the teeth as well as between the teeth. This decreases the amount of bad bacteria that is able to take over your mouth.

2.     Eating foods high in sugar. Too much sugar can increase your risk of decay and cavities.

3.     Forgetting to floss. Flossing is the only way to remove food from between the teeth. Food that is left between the teeth, increases your risk of gingivitis and periodontal disease.

4.     Skipping the vegetables and Fruits. Fruits and vegetables have a high concentration of water. The more water, the better it is for the health of your smile.

For more information on healthy habits to improve your gum health contact Dr. Denine Rice and her team today.

Cooler Weather

With the cooler weather moving in, it can be a time for people to dig out the warm food, high carb recipes. While these dishes can keep you warm and bring out the family, be careful of recipes with too many carbohydrates and not enough healthy vegetables. For years, dieticians and doctors have explained the importance of eating 8 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. But the health of your smile is dependent on this choice as well.

Potato soups, chili and cornbread, and lasagna may make your house smell delicious, but the pasta, starches and breads can stick to the teeth and gums. The longer food stays stuck to the surface of your teeth or gums the more chance that bacteria have to grow and cause decay and other problems. Brushing immediately after consuming carbs is the best way to keep your smile healthy. But if you cannot do that, eating a green pepper or other vegetable with a high water concentration can restore your smile to a healthy place. You can also pop in a piece of sugar free gum in between brushing to help remove any extra food from your teeth.

For more information on the importance of consuming vegetables contact Dr. Rice and her team today.

Find Your Smile

It can be easy to forget about yourself when you are running from place to place and trying to get everything in your life done. But your smile is important. Take time to find your best smile by having laser periodontal procedure and improving your gum health. Periodontal disease impacts more than just the look of your smile. It can impact your overall health and happiness.

Healthy gums can unfortunately begin to break down only after a few days of unhealthy habits. Brushing, flossing, drinking water and eating healthy can keep bad bacteria under control and increase the likelihood that you will be able to keep your natural teeth for a lifetime.

Once you have periodontal disease, while it can be managed, it will never go away. It will be important for you to keep your gums healthy and begin a periodontal treatment that will clean out the bacteria from below the gum line and restore your gums. Laser periodontal procedures take less time and do not require sutures, which can help you get back to life just a day after the procedure.

Dr. Rice and her team are dedicated professionals who want to help you establish healthy routines that will keep your smile for a lifetime. Contact them today for more information on Laser Periodontal Procedures.