Month: November 2021

Importance of dental fluoride in caries prevention

Dental caries are caused when the caries causing bacteria come in contact with carbohydrates such as sugar on the tooth surface over the time. One of the most effective ways to prevent dental caries is by promoting re-mineralization and slowing down of demineralization. To achieve this fluoride has become an indispensable ingredient.

Fluoride is a natural mineral that strengthens teeth enamel and prevents tooth decay. Several experts opine that using fluoride is the best way to prevent caries. In children younger than 6 years, fluoride is incorporated into the enamel of the permanent teeth making the teeth resistant to the attack of bacteria and acids present in few food & beverages consumed by them.

Sources of Fluoride

Use of fluoride from multiple sources can stop damage of teeth. Fluoride is present in small amounts in water and it can be found in foods such as fish, eggs and meat. Manufactured source of fluoride include toothpaste, mouth rinse, professionally applied products and supplements. Major source of fluoride include:

Groundwater: Naturally occurring groundwater contains fluoride, but the concentration varies. Some areas may contain dangerously high levels of fluoride; this may lead to serious health problems.

Fluoride supplements: Fluoride supplements are available as drops or tablets and are generally recommended for children over 6 months of age who have high risk of developing cavities and live in areas with non-fluoridated water supplies.

Dental care products: Fluoride is added to a number of dental care products such as mouthwash and toothpaste.

Certain foods: A few food articles may be processed using fluoridated water or may absorb fluoride from the soil. Tea leaves, especially old ones may contain fluoride in higher amount than other foods.

Like many other nutrients, fluoride is safe and effective when used and consumed inappropriate amounts. It can prevent caries but ingesting it in large amounts may lead to serious health problems.

Ways Veneers can Improve Your Smile

 

Do you envy the smile of your favorite superstar? The perfectly aligned and pearly white smile can be yours with the magical dental veneers. The thin veneers mostly made of porcelain are custom-made to match your natural teeth and can correct a number of flaws. Intrigued? Keep reading to know the ways dental veneers can enhance your beautiful smile.

  • Covers gaps, straightens misaligned teeth: Rather than going for costly dental treatments or dental procedures that are time consuming to cover the gaps in your smile or get a straighter smile, you can simply opt for porcelain veneers to remedy these problems.
  • Hides stains and discoloration: As we know there are several factors that may cause our teeth to lose its natural shine and turn yellow over the time. Certain stains caused by drinking too much caffeine or use of tobacco can be removed by professional teeth whitening. But if the stains are caused by using certain medications or trauma, you need veneers to get back your perfect smile. Dental veneers will do the job instantly for you.
  • Protecting the enamel: The outer layer of your teeth is known as the enamel, and it is an extremely strong protective coat. It wears off over the time due to different reasons including ageing, abrasive brushing or having food that is high in acidic content. The thinning of the enamel can cause further tooth decay. To avoid this, your dentist can suggest the use of dental veneers as an extra protective layer.
  • Hide Imperfections: If you are tired of hiding a chipped or cracked tooth behind a closed lip smile, you should opt for dental veneers. Besides enhancing your smile, veneers will also help prevent any further tooth decay or damage.
  • Say goodbye to gummy smile: Do you want to show more teeth and less gum while you smile, getting veneers can help. Dental veneers are custom made according to your requirement and desired smile.

So if you want a flawless smile that is as good as your celebrity crush and think dental veneers can help, book an appointment at the nearest dental clinic now.

5 Reasons To Stop Skipping Your Dental Exam

A lot of people visit the dentist only if they experience severe tooth ache or other oral problems. Fixing a regular dental examination appointment can save you from a lot of trouble by detecting changes in your teeth or gums that could be an indication of severe health issues.

The regular dental check-ups are equally imperative as brushing or flossing your teeth every day. Keeping a track of your dental exam can save you from the pain of undergoing complicated and expensive procedures that could be avoided if detected early. Going for a regular dental exam, even if you are not facing any dental issue may have several benefits including:

  • Preserve your Perfect Smile: Brushing your teeth daily is an extremely important part of maintaining a good oral hygiene but that alone cannot ensure that your teeth are healthy. You may develop tooth decay without even experiencing any symptom. A thorough check-up by your dentist can reveal a cavity on the interior surface of your teeth and timely measure like using dental fillers, to treat it can help in preserving your teeth as well as your smile.
  • Identify Potential Health Risks: You may not realize but sometimes mouth ulcers, bad breath, dry mouth or swollen gums could be a sign of an underlying health issue and can be recognized by your dentist. Regular visit to your dentist can lower your risk of overlooking a chronic health condition.
  • Keep your Gums Healthy: By examining the firmness and recession of your gums the dentist can detect early stages of a common gum disease known as gingivitis. Your dentist uses a special tool that can measure the space between each tooth and your gum line. If the depth exceeds 4mm it can be an early warning sign of the disease. If treated early on it can save you from a lot of distress.
  • Deep Cleaning: While you visit your dentist for a regular check-up they will provide you with a preventive cleaning using mildly abrasive toothpaste and high powered tooth brush. It will give you a deep cleaning that can’t be achieved while brushing at home. It will also help you whiter teeth as the cleaning helps in removing plaque and tartar that can dull your outer enamel.
  • Detecting Oral Cancer: Regular dental visits are a way to ensure early detection of oral cancer. Early detection can help in the successful treatment of various kinds of oral cancers. Your dentist may find red or white patches or any other unexplained growth that might have missed your attention, by a painless visual examination.

Don’t wait any longer, take charge of your oral health and book an appointment at Sunny Dental Clinic today. Our experienced dental professionals are ready to help you keep your smile healthy and beautiful.

Cosmetic & Medical Uses of Botox

Botox is a protein made from Botulinum toxin, which is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Though it is a toxin, but when medical practitioners use it correctly and in small doses, it can have several amazing benefits including both cosmetic and medical benefits.

As most of us are aware, botox injection is a magical way to reduce wrinkles and fine lines. It is helpful in various other treatments including eyelid spasms, excessive sweating, some bladder disorders, and migraine. In this blog we will tell you about its various uses, benefits and potential side-effects.

What is Botox & How does it Work?

Botox is a neurotoxin and botox injections are manufactured with very small doses of Botulinum toxin. The drug can temporarily paralyze muscles, which can benefit people with various muscle or nerve disorders.

Medical practitioners use Botulinum toxin by diluting the powder in saline and injecting it directly into neuromuscular tissue. Botox targets the nervous system, disrupting the nerve signaling processes that stimulate muscle contraction. This is how the drug causes temporary muscle paralysis. In order for any muscle to contract, the nerves release a chemical messenger called acetylcholine at the junction where nerve endings meet muscle cells.

Acetylcholine attaches to receptors on the muscle cells and causes the cells to contract, or shorten. Botox injections prevent the release of acetylcholine, which stops the muscle cells from contracting. In this way, the toxin helps the muscles to become less stiff helping with the reduction of fine lines and wrinkles.

Cosmetic uses

The primary use of botox injections is to reduce wrinkles and fine lines including, wrinkles around the eyes, known as crow’s feet, horizontal creases in the forehead, lines at the corners of the mouth and even for face contouring.

Medical uses

Medical conditions that may benefit from Botox include excessive sweating, any type of muscle spasms, teeth grinding (bruxism) and migraines. Other issues and medical conditions that may benefit from off-label Botox use include, facial redness and flushing, scars from wound healing, Hidradinitis Suppurativa, an inflammatory skin disease, blistering lesions due to Hailey-Hailey disease, a rare genetic disorder.

Possible Side-effects

The common side-effects of Botox include dry eye, numbness, mild pain, swelling or bruising around the injection site, a headache or a temporary eyelid drooping.

Permanent Laser Tattoo Removal Treatment

Tattooing is an ancient form of permanent body art that has been practiced for thousands of years for religious, political or aesthetic purposes. While the popularity of tattoos is rising in recent times, so is the number of people seeking to remove them. The reasons range from change in job or lifestyle or simply because they don’t like the tattoo anymore.

While tattoos are generally considered permanent as the ink granules are deposited below the skin’s surface, it is now possible to remove them with laser. The standard treatment to remove tattoos fully or partially involves the use of Q-switched ND:Yag and other lasers. It usually takes a few laser treatment sessions to get the desired results.

How Laser Tattoo Removal Works?

The healthcare provider focuses laser beams that use concentrated bursts of energy to heat up the large ink particles beneath the skin. This breaks it into smaller particles. Those smaller ink particles can then be then eliminated naturally by the body’s immune system. Tattoos with different colors may require use of multiple lasers operating at different frequencies.

Can Tattoo Removal be Painful?

For some people it feels the same as getting the tattoo, while for others it is like feeling a rubber band being snapped against your skin. Your dermatologist may suggest the use of a topical cream to reduce the pain depending on the location of the tattoo and your pain tolerance.

Smaller tattoos require fewer laser pulses and larger ones require more. In either case you may require multiple visits. The color of your skin as well as the depth of the tattoo pigment in the body also affects the removal technique.

Generally the tattoo may be removed in 3-8 visits or sometimes more.

Benefits of Laser tattoo removal

  1. The procedure is effective and permanent and is safer than other options.
  2. It can be done on an outpatient basis.

The Struggle with Maskne – The New Acne

Wearing a face mask has become a part of our daily routine to protect ourselves as well as others from Covid-19. Though this is helping us to stop the spread of the virus, it has given rise to maskne- acne and irritation caused by the continuous usage of face masks. Healthcare and other front-line workers are at higher risk of getting maskne as they wear it for prolonged periods and are sometimes even required to wear double masks.

How is it caused?

When you talk or breathe while wearing your mask, it tends to trap in a lot of hot air. This creates a humid environment that is ideal for bacteria to grow. The bacterial imbalances and friction from the mask can promote acne and rosacea flare-ups. This also gives rise to fine pimples and boils to appear around mouth and nose.
The problem is not only seen in adults but also in children, with inflammatory lesions in O-Zone of the face. Like normal acne, maskne too can leave acne scars and dark spots over the skin, that’s why it is important to prevent it.

How to prevent Maskne?

Modifying the daily skin routine can lower the chances of getting maskne. Here are a few tips that can be followed to minimize these skin breakouts:
Use a gel based moisturizer: using a gel based moisturizer can soothe and protect protect your skin from mask friction.

Use a salicylic acid based face cleanser:

Salicylic acid helps to remove the excess oil on the skin and in turn reduce the clogging of pores and bacterial growth.

Oral hygiene:

Residue food and other particles can spread from the mouth to the surrounding skin.
This can cause irritation and eventually acne. Washing the mouth after meals and brushing twice a day can help.

Teeth Whitening is the Quickest Way to Look Years Younger

You might find a new anti-aging product every time you visit a shopping mall, from a wide range of anti-wrinkle creams to special serums that claim to help in reversing the signs of aging. However, just taking care of your skin will not prove to be helpful if you want to look younger than your actual age. It might come as a surprise to many but your dull or yellow smile can make you look older.

Various studies and research proved that whiter smiles are immediately considered as criteria of youthfulness. You might be curious to know how to go back in time and achieve a pearly white smile to look and feel your best. There may be various reason that might be causing your teeth to turn dull and yellow including:

  1. Staining can be one of the major culprit, and could be caused due to various reasons like having too much coffee or soda. Smoking and chewing tobacco also causes stains.
  2. Aging is the most obvious reason. With time our enamel that makes our teeth look luminous, wears off exposing the dentin that turns yellow with age.

How to Get Whiter Teeth?

Having a proper oral care routine can be beneficial for many people. Regular brushing and flossing teeth are essential. You can speak with a dentist near you about how to improve your oral hygiene.

Though you may be thinking of getting a teeth whitening kit at home but they don’t offer the best results. You need professional teeth whitening solutions offered by the dentist, to look younger and smile more often.

Zoom Teeth Whitening

It is a laser whitening service considered to be safe, effective and quick. It uses a blue LED light-activated gel, Amorphous Calcium Phospate (ACP) and fluoride to soothe and protect teeth. . The advanced dentistry can help you get rid of the stains and lighten your teeth up to eight shades.

How Veneers Can Brighten Your Smile and Boost Your Confidence?

Are the gaps between your teeth, severe stains or chipped teeth hampering your beautiful smile? You can get rid of all the above mentioned dental problems by opting for porcelain veneers and claim back your perfect smile.

Dental veneers are thin shells made of porcelain that are directly attached to the front of a patient’s teeth. Each veneer perfectly fits over your natural teeth as they are custom made for you. If taken proper care veneers can last for around 15-20 years. In case they wear off, you can easily replace them with a new set. Though it can be made out of other materials, dentists usually prefer porcelain due to its color and durability.

Not everyone is born with a perfect set of teeth and veneers have been popularly used in cosmetic dentistry to resolve a number of imperfections and enhance your smile. Several adult patients who are unhappy with the appearance of their smile make an ideal case to get veneers. Veneers can brighten your smile in the following ways:

Whiter Smile makes a Brighter Smile

The color of your teeth may change as you age as well as several other factors may cause teeth to lose the natural whiteness. Though teeth whitening can be a simple fix for this problem but if the dental stains are caused to certain medications, teeth whitening products may not be helpful. In such cases veneers can be your go to option.

Cover Chipped Teeth

Chipped teeth can have a direct impact on your confidence and self-esteem. If you have cracks or chips in your teeth, besides helping aesthetically veneers can also add an extra layer of protection and avoid further damage.

Straighten your Teeth

If you want a straighter smile without having to undergo a major cosmetic treatment or undergoing the pain and hassle of getting braces, veneers may be just for you. It will make your teeth appear more aligned.
If you feel veneers are a good fit for you, contact a dentist near you.

Benefits of a Dental Bridge

Are you looking for an effective way to replace your missing teeth? If so, a dental bridge can be the fastest and easiest choice. A dental bridge consists of two crowns known as abutment teeth or implants on either side of the gap in mouth, in addition to a pontic (false tooth) that joins the two crowns.

The material used to construct the false teeth may vary in each case. Widely-popular materials are usually metals such as gold, silver or porcelain. Besides aesthetic purpose dental bridges also have several functional benefits. Let’s have a look at some of the main advantages:

Smile & Speak with Confidence

Do you feel shy while smiling for a photograph because of a missing tooth? A dental bridge is the easiest option to restore your confidence as well as your smile.
Losing multiple teeth can lead to difficulty in speaking. Dental bridges can get rid of difficulty in pronouncing certain words.

Makes Chewing Easy

After losing a tooth or multiple teeth chewing certain types of food can be uncomfortable and challenging. Another important benefit of getting a dental bridge procedure done is it improves your ability to chew.

Easy to Maintain

Dentures need to be removed for cleaning whereas dental bridges can be cleaned by brushing just like your natural teeth.

Prevents Drifting
When you fill in gaps in your smile with a restorative procedure like a dental bridge, it helps in preventing adjacent teeth from moving into the space of the missing tooth.

Keeps Jawline in Shape

Tooth loss can even result into jawline weakening because it is the tooth roots that stimulate bone cells present in the jawbone. In absence of the stimulation jawbone starts deteriorating causing further tooth decay and changes in facial structure. To prevent it is important to make sure that area of gums where tooth is missing is stimulated this is where dental bridges help.

Halloween Safety Tips for your Kids

Halloween Safety Tips for your Kids

Halloween equals costumes and treats and kids eagerly wait for this night of the year. But sometimes if you fail to take safety measure the occasion can turn out to be dangerous. Keep the following tips in mind to ensure that your children have a happy and safe Halloween.

Plan costumes & makeup in advance:

Halloween costumes and makeup are the most exciting part of the celebration for the children. As parents you should make sure that the costumes fit well. If the costume is too long it can cause your child to trip. If your child wants to experiment with their look and try out a scary make-up, make sure that you test it for any reactions or allergy on a small patch of your child’s skin to make sure that there are no unpleasant allergic reactions on the big day.

Never allow small children to carve pumpkins:

Your child may want to carve the pumpkin, but allowing them to do so may end up in a mishap. Carving needs a sharp object and kids might hurt themselves while using a blade. Allow them to draw a face with markers but carving should be parents’ responsibility.

Use glowstick instead of candle: To light up your pumpkin using a candle may not be the safest option. It is always better to use a flashlight or glowstick to avoid any mishap.

Restrain pets:

Although most animals are friendly but still there are chances of children getting bitten by them. If you have pets at home, they might jump or bite the trick-or-treaters coming to your house, so it is advisable to restrain them.

Remove tripping hazards:

Many trick-or-treaters might visit your house on Halloween day, make sure you clear anything that a child could possibly trip over, including lawn decorations or garden hoses.

Never leave young children alone:

With younger children it is advisable to plan Halloween activities earlier in the day. Do not let the children visit the neighborhood after it is dark. If your older children insist on going alone, review the route they take and make sure they have extra flashlights with them and agree on a specific time for their return.