Diamons

Blog

Photography by Dr. Padval

Choosing Teeth Whitening

Ever since the invention of the mirror, people have been looking for an easy way to have whiter teeth. Brushing, flossing, and regular dental visits help by removing stains and deposits on the surface of the teeth. But for those patients whose teeth have dark, yellow or other internal discolorations, teeth whitening may be the answer. At about age thirty, there is a natural tendency for tooth color to dim, and if you smoke or overindulge in coffee or soda, darkening can be dramatic. [...]

By |2018-09-11T00:00:32-07:00September 11, 2018|Cosmetic Dentistry|

Keep Chronic Inflammation Under Control!

Inflammation is the fire your body builds to burn out attackers like bacteria, viruses or parasites. If you've ever gotten a scratch that grows swollen and hot to the touch you've encountered acute, or temporary, inflammation. Then the healing begins. Far more serious is chronic inflammation (CI). It's like a fire inside your body that never goes out and increasingly researchers are recognizing it as a significant factor contributing to heart disease. A simple blood test for chronic inflammation focuses on C-reactive protein (CRP), [...]

By |2018-09-04T00:00:41-07:00September 4, 2018|Periodontal Dentistry|

Saliva… Fantastic Fluid!

Your salivary glands make up to three pints a day of this fantastic fluid. Why so much? Because saliva plays an important role in keeping your teeth and gums fit and smiling. Saliva helps fight cavities by prevent food from sticking to teeth and gums, it also helps neutralize stomach acid preventing heartburn. Saliva even helps strengthen teeth by providing supplemental calcium and phosphorus. Unfortunately, some people are plagued by chronic dry mouth, often called xerostomia. While medical professionals no longer believe that old [...]

By |2018-08-28T00:00:45-07:00August 28, 2018|Patient Education|

Your Kids & Their Teeth

As modern dentistry continues to improve, children can expect entirely different dental experiences than Mom and Dad remember from childhood. Fluorides and sealants have virtually eliminated rampant decay problems. For kids nowadays, dental care is be a piece of cake. Baby teeth do grown-up duty Primary teeth work hard. Those 20 teeth pave the way for permanent teeth. If they're lost prematurely, replacement teeth can crop up in unexpected—and unhealthy—places. Keep every tooth you can in that young noggin. Accidents Happen Despite parent's best [...]

By |2018-08-21T00:00:43-07:00August 21, 2018|Children's Dentistry|

Bone Up on Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis, the loss of bone mass as we age, could affect half of all Americans over 50 by 2020. It is defined as bone loss of about 25 percent, which results in fragile bones that fracture easily. Its reputation as an old person's disease stems from the fact that bone loss doesn't hurt and osteoporosis victims can go years without a clue they are susceptible to the condition. You can guard against bone loss even if factors outside your control put you in one [...]

By |2018-08-14T00:00:53-07:00August 14, 2018|Patient Education|

Nervous When it Comes to Dentistry?

If You Have a Dental Fear Let's say you visit the dentist faithfully, and enjoy a high level of health. And yet, just before an appointment, you experience sweaty palms, increased heart rate, and you feel jittery and nervous. You—and 150 million other people—have a touch of dental fear. Dentistry today, with all the benefits of technology and technique, is virtually pain-free. So why are we jumpy? Lots of reasons. Maybe a bad experience from long ago lingers in the memory. Families can also [...]

By |2018-08-07T00:00:48-07:00August 7, 2018|Fear & Anxiety|

A Few Tips on Nutrition

Get Your Vitamins! Vitamin C is an extremely important in dentistry (and nutrition in general) because of how it helps control periodontal disease and other problems in the mouth. For one thing, Vitamin C—ascorbic acid—seems to help calcium do its job of halting the loss of bone. Animal studies at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine have shown that Vitamin C can inhibit bone shrinkage by 50% or more. But Vitamin C does a lot more than that! It's essential to construct the protein [...]

By |2018-07-24T00:00:40-07:00July 24, 2018|Nutrition|

Changing Smiles by Bonding

Skill, Technology, and a little "Magic" With the wonderful age of dental bonding, teeth can be made healthy and beautiful in most cases without multiple appointments, anesthesia, temporaries and at less expense than crowns. Magic? Not really. Bonding techniques have been around for years, and improvements in dental materials have made it one of the most effective and versatile treatments in dentistry. Bonding is a procedure in which a white composite resin is applied to the natural outer surface of the tooth. The tooth [...]

By |2018-07-17T00:00:57-07:00July 17, 2018|Restorative Dentistry|

Subliminal Stuff: Bruxism

Are You Subconsciously Grinding? Sensitivity to heat and cold. Loosened teeth, fractures, and debilitating headaches. All this can occur while you sleep—from grinding your teeth. Dentistry calls it bruxism. Talk about shell shock. Dentists see evidence of life in the fast lane everyday. As many as 90 percent of us grind our teeth each night, on the average of five episodes per evening. The bite force is so powerful—over 200 pounds per square inch—and the noise so fearful, you cannot physically duplicate this phenomenon [...]

By |2018-07-10T00:00:25-07:00July 10, 2018|Preventative Dentistry|

Every Mouth is Different

Custom Dental Care for Your Needs No two of us are alike. We all have our own smiles, speech patterns, eye and hair colorings. But we're just now beginning to learn how unique our mouth environments really are. Turns out, they're as distinctively different as fingerprints. One patient can go a year between checkups, while another might need to turn as often as every six weeks. The difference? The unique bacterial/chemical mix of each person's mouth. Professionally we call these differences "individualization." Tartar builders, [...]

By |2018-07-03T00:00:10-07:00July 3, 2018|Preventative Dentistry|