Author: MK & C Dental Group

We’ve recently stumbled across a debate about whether or not you should brush your teeth at work. Some people consider it weird to walk into the office restroom and find co-workers with a mouth full of toothpaste. Others think it’s better to brush than plague the cubicles with stinky breath. At my Middletown and Kettering dental offices, we think brushing at work is smart and we highly encourage it.

The Importance of a Brushing Break

We hope that brushing in the morning and at night is part of your daily routine, but brushing at work, specifically after lunch, is just as important to maintaining a healthy smile. Why? After we eat, tiny pieces of food particles can linger around, and if left there can cause serious dental problems like decay or gum disease. Brushing after all meals, including your morning bowl of cereal, lunch, and after dinner, is key to preventing these concerns.

Help Your Smile, Help Your Job

Another interesting thing about the importance of brushing at work is that it can help your career. No, it won’t be the reason behind your promotion, but it may boost how others perceive you and keep your co-workers happy.

A study conducted by the Academy of General Dentistry and Oral-B actually dug into eating and brushing habits while at the office and how a healthy smile affects others.

The researchers surveyed 1,000 people and their answers support brushing at work.

The Results

• 75% of respondents ate twice or more while at work
• Of those, only 14% brushed their teeth
• Interestingly enough, 32% said bad breath is the worst habit of co-workers
• And 40% cited the smile as the first thing they notice about fellow employees

Help your smile say the right thing about you by getting into the habit of brushing after each and every meal — including lunch and snacks at work. Pair this routine with regular visits to my dental office in Middletown or Kettering, and you’ve found the best way to ensure you have a great, healthy smile free from bad breath that will keep you and your co-workers happy.

Serving patients from Middletown, Franklin, Springboro, Kettering, Beavercreek, Centerville, and Oakwood.

At our dental offices in Middletown and Kettering, we always talk about how important it is to brush everyday, twice a day, and to floss at least once. Following this routine is a great way to keep your mouth protected from harmful bacteria and acid, but there’s one thing we’re forgetting and want to make sure you don’t forget about it too.

The Tongue

We often forget about our tongues when we talk about oral hygiene. But we shouldn’t. A clean tongue is just as important as having clean teeth and clean gums. The tongue is home to about 10,000 taste buds and tons of other tiny bumps called papillae. These bumps and crevices create a great place for bacteria and acid to thrive. And that makes a clean tongue very important for a healthy mouth.

The Cleaning Routine

Every time you brush your teeth, make sure to gently scrub the surface of your tongue. This easy task is the best way to keep your tongue, and your mouth, healthy.

Sometimes we have patients who can’t successfully brush their tongues due to a sensitive gag reflex. For these patients, we recommend using a tongue scraper. A tongue scraper is just as effective, if not more so, as brushing. A gentle scrape with this tool can immediately lower the amount of bacteria in the mouth and keep your mouth, and your teeth protected.

The Reason

Your teeth and your tongue are almost always touching. This means that anything on the tongue is directly affecting your teeth. If acid and bacteria are left to linger on the tongue, your chance for tooth damage increases. What’s more, a cleaner tongue can actually make food taste better since your taste buds aren’t covered with taste-inhibiting bacteria.

Along with proper brushing and flossing, and a clean tongue, you’re well on your way to getting your smile healthy. To ensure everything is working well for you and there aren’t any potential problems, it’s also really important to maintain regular appointments at our Middletown or Kettering dental office. We’ll work with you to ensure you’re getting the proper care you need and that your mouth is healthy for a lifetime.

Welcoming patients from Middletown, Franklin, Springboro, Kettering, Beavercreek, Centerville, and Oakwood.

Pregnancy is pretty incredible. You’re bringing a new life into the world, you’re growing your family, and you’re becoming a parent again or for the first time. But the reality is, not all things that go along with pregnancy are awesome. At our dental offices in Middletown and Kettering, we’d like to talk about one of those less exciting aspects of pregnancy: we’re talking about morning sickness.

Around 80 percent of pregnant women experience some sort of morning sickness. You don’t need us to tell you how much this reality is a huge burden and inconvenience to all aspects of life. We know that during this time your teeth are probably the last things on your mind, but you only get one set, so we’d like to share some information and tips to protect your mouth during pregnancy..

Vomiting or reflux caused by morning sickness can expose the teeth to a large amount of stomach acid. This acid can lead to decay and result in serious oral health concerns. But what can you do to decrease the amount of acid exposed to teeth if you continue to experience morning sickness?

Minimize the Risk of Decay

If you suffer from morning sickness, here are a variety of tricks to help keep your teeth healthy during pregnancy.

• Rinse with water after vomiting. Water is a great way to help remove dangerous acids from the teeth and can diminish the chance of decay.
• Wait to brush. Brushing immediately after vomiting can actually lead to more damage. Since the stomach acid can weaken enamel, scrubbing it with your toothbrush might cause scratching and more dental problems.
• Apply toothpaste. Smearing a small amount of toothpaste on your teeth can protect them against acid.
• Rinse with mouthwash. Choosing an alcohol-free mouthwash to swish around following any episode of morning sickness can also help keep teeth protected from stomach acid.

If you’re pregnant, first accept our sincerest congratulations. Then, call our Middletown or Kettering dental office to get a preliminary check up. We’ll make sure there’s nothing of concern in your mouth and we’ll talk with you about ways to keep your teeth healthy for the duration of your pregnancy and long after.

Welcoming patients in Middletown, Franklin, Springboro, Kettering, Beavercreek, Centerville, Oakwood, and everywhere in between.

At our dental offices in Kettering and Middletown, we love animals, and we want to let all of our patients know that dental care for pets is just as important to keeping your furry loved ones healthy as it is to keeping your own smile healthy. While we don’t accept four-legged patients, we do want to provide you with some insight to proper pet dental care.

Signs of a Problem

Before we discuss how to keep your pet healthy, it’s extremely important to know the signs of some serious dental concerns.

• Bad breath
• Loose teeth
• Excessive drooling
• Bleeding
• Refusal to let you near the mouth

If you notice any of these symptoms, please contact your vet as soon as possible as they may be signs of something serious.

Chew on This

Anyone who has ever owned a puppy can attest to the fact that dogs specifically have a natural desire to chew. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing (we know, tell that your favorite pair of now-shredded slippers). Chewing helps strengthen teeth, massage gums, and scrape away tartar. So stock up on chew toys and let them chomp away.

Brush, Brush, Brush

Clean teeth are just as important to pets as they are for humans. Like their owners, pets can develop serious dental disease that not only affects their mouths, but their whole body. Certain dental problems can lead to heart, lung, or kidney disease. Don’t take pet dental care lightly. It’s recommended that all pets receive professional cleanings at the vet once a year. In between those visits, you can brush at home. All it takes is a clean piece of gauze wrapped around a finger, some pet-friendly toothpaste, and some practice. Get in the habit and brush two or three times a week.

Following the advice above can help keep your pet’s teeth healthy for a lifetime. Following a proper at-home oral health care routine and maintaining appointments at our Kettering and Middletown dental offices can help keep your own health in its best shape. Don’t let dental problems plague you or your pet. Make the commitment to proper oral health.

Welcoming patients from Middletown, Franklin, Springboro,Kettering, Beavercreek, Centerville, Oakwood, and nearby neighborhoods.

You work hard, and you deserve the right to play hard too. That’s the whole reason for vacation days. But too often, vacation days are used for something other than fun times with the family. In fact, 164 million work hours are lost each year because of dental problems. At our dental offices in Middletown and Kettering, we’d prefer you save days away from the office for something fun other than visiting us (although we promise we really like seeing you!), and we know just the way.

It’s All About Prevention

There’s plenty of reasons we recommend you come to see us at least twice a year. Sure, we love to see you and catch up on how things are going, but in order to ensure your mouth isn’t lurking with some scary stuff, we need to get you in the chair and check out what’s happening.

Preventive appointments with your dentist are crucial to catching any potential problems before they become big, big problems. There’s a common belief that if you have a problem with your teeth, you’d know it. Unfortunately, that’s not true. Many times when you start to become aware of a problem, it’s already progressed into something more serious.

Gum Disease

Gum disease is one of those sneaky oral health concerns that can show no symptoms. However, when it does, it’s usually overlooked as normal. We’re talking about bleeding gums when you brush or floss. Bleeding is never ok and is a sign that something needs serious attention. If caught early on, gum disease is treatable. If it’s left to fester, it can lead to tooth loss and whole-body problems like heart disease and stroke.

Cavities

Cavities rarely have any symptoms early on, and if you keep regular hygiene appointments, we often catch them in the beginning stages, making them easier to treat. It’s when we don’t catch them before they have a chance to affect the nerves when you will have pain. When this happens, treatment is usually more advanced and may warrant a root canal or another procedure.

Don’t let dental problems keep you from enjoying your time off. Make an appointment at our dental office in Middletown or Kettering. We’ll make sure to get and keep your smile in it’s healthiest form so it’s ready for all those smile-inducing moments this vacation.

Accepting patients from Middletown, Franklin, Springboro, Kettering, Beavercreek, Centerville, Oakwood, and surrounding areas.

Let’s face it, nobody enjoys spit. It’s some pretty gross stuff. But to all of us at our Middletown and Kettering dental offices, it’s one of the most useful and fascinating things about the mouth. Think we’re crazy? Let us explain.

That’s A Whole Lotta Spit

On average, we produce 25,000 quarts of spit in our lifetime. That’s plenty to fill a standard size swimming pool. Pretty gross, huh? Well, not necessarily.

Spit is extremely important for a healthy, cavity-free mouth. Spit helps remove food debris that may stick around after a meal. The more spit we produce, the more food is rinsed away and the better off your teeth are. Saliva can also help neutralize acid which may protect your pearly whites from decay. If you’re not producing enough spit, chances are you have a chronically dry mouth. This isn’t something to take lightly. An inadequate supply of spit could increase your risk for decay as well as oral infections. Is all that spit still pretty gross? We think a healthy mouth is much better.

Bone Marrow and Spit

This may seem like an odd pair, but trust us, it’s pretty cool. Bone marrow is typically used in the treatment of blood cancers, and the prevalence of these cancers is extremely high. Every three minutes, someone in the U.S. is diagnosed with a blood cancer. Which makes bone marrow really important. But not any patient can use any bone marrow. There has to be a match. BeTheMatch.org is an organization that encourages people to join the bone marrow registry by simply swabing the inside of the cheek and submitting it to their library where they’ll scan the registry to help find matches for patients.

Get to Know Yourself

Again, with a little swab of the cheek, you’re able to access so much information about who you are. I’m talking about your DNA, and yes, it can be analyzed through just a smidgen of spit. When the swab is rubbed against the cheek, you’re picking up cells. Inside each cell there is a nucleus, which contains the chromosomes that house your DNA. While you won’t be able to see your DNA from your spit, there are labs that will analyze it for you and help interpret what they find.

At our dental offices in Middletown and Kettering, we don’t mind spit so much because it helps keep your mouth clean and washes away bad bacteria. But it’s still really important to see us regularly so we can keep an eye on things. Even if it’s been awhile since you’ve seen a dentist, give us call today!

Accepting patients from Middletown, Franklin, Springboro, Kettering, Beavercreek, Centerville, Oakwood, and nearby neighborhoods.

A healthy mouth often leads to a healthy body. This is a fact that doesn’t disappear with age. In fact, as we age, dental care becomes a more critical part of our overall health. At our dental offices in Middletown and Kettering, some of the most special smiles we care for belong to seniors, and we’re always glad to see them since many parts of aging can directly impact oral health.

Dry Mouth

Both prescription and over-the-counter medications can not only help whatever ails you, they can also have a negative impact on your mouth. Some medicines lead to a reduction in saliva production, which can cause dry mouth. Dry mouth is much more serious than it sounds. Despite the fact that a dry mouth is uncomfortable, it contributes to severe tooth decay and even gum disease. And it’s a big issue among our older patients. An estimated 30 percent of America’s seniors suffer from dry mouth, and are at risk for oral health concerns.

Gum Disease

Gum disease is dangerous for everyone, but especially those over the age of 40. By age 65, 1 out of every 4 people has gum disease. This scary health problem can lead to incredibly serious overall health problems like heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. A majority of things can increase the chance of developing gum disease, but some of the most common are:

• Poor Diet
• Inadequate oral hygiene routine
• Smoking
• Medication

Gum disease is reversible, but it’s crucial to catch it early. This makes regular appointments at our dental office in Middletown or Kettering even more important for seniors.

Existing Conditions

Certain medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer can affect your oral health. It’s always important to talk to your dentist about all your general health issues so you get the best whole-health treatment and know your dentist is meeting any special needs.

In all, it’s always important to make sure to keep up with regular dental appointments as well as medical care, especially as we age. If you’re without a dentist, call our Middletown or Kettering dental office and schedule an appointment. We’d love to have you!

Welcoming patients from Middletown, Franklin, Springboro, Kettering, Beavercreek, Centerville, Oakwood, and surrounding areas.

Your oral health care routine is spot on: You brush twice a day, you floss at least once a day, and you maintain regular visits to our dental offices in Middletown and Kettering. So why are you still at risk for tooth damage?

Many of us have some dangerous dental habits that could lead to serious damage. We’d like to talk about the top five habits you should work on breaking to keep your mouth as healthy as possible.

1. Lay off the ice! Once you’ve finished quenching your thirst with an ice-cold beverage, do you crunch on the leftover ice cubes? Don’t! The hard texture of the frozen delights can cause tiny tooth fractures and even create cracks in the enamel. Down the road, these tiny cracks may lead to big problems.

2. Don’t use teeth as tools! We’ve all done it. Instead of grabbing a pair of scissors to open pesky packaging, we tear it open with our teeth. This isn’t what teeth are made for and this habit could lead to serious damage including broken teeth, chipped enamel, and weakened structure. Don’t use your teeth, grab the proper tool instead.

3. Brushing shouldn’t cause you to break a sweat! One of the most common misconceptions is that the harder you brush, the more effective it is. However, if you brush hard, you could actually cause damage. Brushing should be done gently with a soft bristled brush for a minimum of two minutes. And no sweating allowed!

4. Keep pens away from your chompers! If you visit any office or school, a common sight is a parked pen or pencil resting between teeth. This places an abnormal amount of pressure on the teeth and can cause shifting, cracking, or damage to existing dental restorations

5. Fingers don’t belong in the mouth! A nervous habit of many is to chew on fingernails. Not only can this habit lead to unsightly hands, it can also cause major tooth damage. Habitual nail biting can result in shifting, cracking, or even breaking. Keep fingers away from your mouth!

Working to break these habits isn’t easy, but everyone at our dental offices in Middletown and Kettering is here to help. Talk to us about some of the habits that seem particularly hard to break. We’re full of useful information and would love to pass it on.

Serving patients from Middletown, Franklin, Springboro, Kettering, Beavercreek, Centerville, Oakwood, and nearby communities.

During the winter months, our friend the sun tends to disappear on us. When it is out, we might be at work or it’s just too cold to go soak up some rays. With less sunlight during the winter months than the rest of the year, we get shortchanged on our natural supply of vitamin D. At our dental offices in Middletown and Kettering, we like vitamin D because it helps keep your smile healthy.

The Sun Will Come Out, Tomorrow (or we hope so!)

The sun is a powerful thing. It not only keeps our planet from going into a deep freeze, it also provides quite a few health benefits. Getting a daily dose of sunshine can boost your mood, improve your immune system, and kickstart vitamin D production.

So What’s So Great About Vitamin D?

Since vitamin D helps to regulate your immune system, it is your first line of defense. Studies have shown that vitamin D can help your pancreas make insulin, lower blood pressure, and aid in the absorption of calcium. Since calcium makes our teeth and bones super strong, a healthy supply of vitamin D is extremely important for a healthy mouth.

No Sun? Eat Your Vitamin D!

The sun isn’t the only source of this nutrient. You can also increase your intake of vitamin D by eating foods that contain a lot of it such as:

• Eggs
• Fatty fish like Salmon
• Milk
• Supplements

No matter how, make sure you’re getting enough vitamin D.  Research shows that a lack of vitamin D can lead to osteoporosis, increased risk for type 1 diabetes, and even serious cancers of the breast, colon, or prostate.

Make sure you’re doing everything you can to keep your smile healthy, including eating a healthy, well balanced diet and visiting our Middletown and Kettering dental offices regularly.

Accepting patients from Middletown, Franklin, Springboro, Kettering, Beavercreek, Centerville, Oakwood, and surrounding areas.

Cold drinks, hot soup, and a whole lot of pain. If you’re struggling with eating what you want without pain, especially if it’s common with hot or cold foods, you’re probably suffering from sensitive teeth. At our Middletown and Kettering dental offices, we hear this often and we’d like to help.

The Why

There are many reasons your teeth could be susceptible to pain while eating or drinking something hot or cold. One of the most common is the tooth’s root structure has become exposed. This anatomy of the tooth contains a lot of nerves, and when it’s open to contact with elements, the pain can be extreme. The root structures typically become exposed through gum recession or eroded enamel, both of which can be caused by grinding, a lot of acidic drinks, and even aggressive brushing.

How to Fix It

• Toothpaste Choice. By simply changing your toothpaste, you can help ease pain caused by sensitivity. If you have sensitive teeth, it’s wise to avoid toothpastes that contain sodium pyrophosphate, which is found found many whitening and tartar-control pastes. Instead, choose a toothpaste that designed specially for sensitive teeth and use it regularly.

• Softer is Better. When selecting a toothbrush, make sure you choose one that has soft bristles. Hard-bristled brushes can contribute to wear and tear on the tooth’s enamel and put you at increased risk for sensitivity. Additionally, brushing too hard can lead to similar results. If your brush’s bristles are sporadically angled, chances are you’re brushing too hard.

• Easy on the Soda. And acidic juice and food. The more acidic the food or drink, the more damage to your tooth enamel and the more likely you’ll suffer from sensitivity pain. Choosing water over soda is always wise.

If sensitive teeth are keeping you from enjoying the foods and drinks you love and you can’t seem to ease the pain, call our dental offices in Middletown and Kettering. We’ll work with you to determine what may be causing your sensitivity and talk about proper treatments to get you back to eating and drinking without pain. Some common treatments may include application of a desensitizing agent, bonding, or sometimes a root canal.

Accepting patients from Middletown, Franklin, Springboro, Kettering, Beavercreek, Centerville, Oakwood, and neighboring areas.