Children's Oral Health Month

At Elite Dental Arts, we advise parents to start taking care of their children’s teeth at a young age. This February is National Children’s Dental Health Month, which stresses the importance of kids developing a good relationship with oral hygiene. Tooth Decay is the leading chronic disease among children despite it being controllable.

When your children’s baby teeth first come in, you should brush their teeth with a soft-bristled toothbrush and a dab of toothpaste. Children’s baby teeth act as placeholders for their permanent teeth so keeping them clean and cavity free is important. When your child is capable of brushing properly on their own, we encourage you to show them how to floss and get all of the access food and bacteria off.

Regardless of how well your children brush, we want all of our patients to follow a healthy diet. A diet that consists of plenty of vitamins and nutrients will help your teeth to be clean and healthy.

Don’t forget, bringing in your children for a cleaning twice a year will help ensure their teeth are clean and developing as they should. We want all of our patients to have the brightest smile! 

To learn more about children’s dental health and all the services provided at the practice, visit www.elitedentalarts.com for more information.  To schedule an appointment with Dr. Nick Mobilia at Elite Dental Arts in New York, NY, call 212-681-0939.

Causes of Bad Breath

As cosmetic and prosthodontic specialists, we at Elite Dental Arts in Midtown have provided lots of patients with assistance cleaning their removable oral appliances. Keeping dentures clean is good for your health as well as your breath, and advances in denture retention have allowed more people to get by without the odor-causing denture gel that led people to avoid prosthetic teeth in past decades. But there are other sources of bad breath that patients should know about, too.

Halitosis is caused by the odor of decay-causing bacteria. These bacteria not only live between the teeth and in the gum pockets, but also on the tongue and in the spaces between the gums and removable dentures. As they metabolize sugar, they secrete acid, imperiling natural and artificial oral structures alike. Bacteria on the tongue can be controlled with daily use of a tongue scraper, as well as by brushing the tongue and using mouthwash. Gums also require brushing before dentures are put in, and the undersides of dentures need to be brushed as well as the toothy parts.

Dry mouth puts patients at higher risk for oral infections, and therefore at higher risk for halitosis. Drinking plenty of water, as opposed to sugary, caffeinated, or alcoholic beverages can mitigate this risk. Garlic and onions can cause bad breath because the gases they carry are transmitted to the lungs, but they can also trigger acid reflux, which would leave the odor of stomach acid on the tongue. Chewing gum is a strategy for combatting dietary risks, as long as the gum is sugar-free.

Nick M. Mobilia, DDS
ELITE DENTAL ARTS
9 East 45th Street, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10017

 

Acid Reflux and Teeth

Preventive dental care usually focuses on oral hygiene, but tooth decay isn’t the only threat to tooth structure. At Elite Dental Arts in Midtown, we want our patients to enjoy a healthy lifestyle and diet that will protect their teeth from acid reflux.

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) refers to chronic, recurring acid reflux. Commonly but inaccurately known as heartburn, acid reflux happens when the sphincter separating the stomach from the esophagus opens at the wrong time. Stomach acid travels upward, burning the esophagus as it goes, and it sometimes gets as far as the oral cavity. When that happens, it erodes enamel, beginning with the inward-facing sides of the upper back teeth. As enamel loses minerals, it takes on a chalky appearance and the teeth become more sensitive.

Acid reflux can have many causes, but there are steps patients can take to prevent it. Those include not smoking, avoiding large meals before lying down, and avoiding large quantities of food such as red meat, spices, citric juice, tomatoes, garlic, and onions, as well as avoiding caffeine and alcohol. Patients should also take care that they eat in an upright posture and that they drink plenty of fluids, since adequate saliva production is one of the body’s best defenses against acid reflux.

Nick M. Mobilia, DDS
ELITE DENTAL ARTS
9 East 45th Street, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10017

 

Avoiding Tooth Decay during the Holidays

Sugary treats, drinks, and snacks abound during the holiday season. We at Elite Dental Arts in Midtown want everyone to have a good time and would hate to see our patients develop tooth decay. We decided to provide a few tips that will keep everybody’s teeth safer while allowing them to enjoy toasts and feasts.

Tooth decay occurs when oral bacteria eat food debris and excrete acid. While highly sugary treats are not healthy, it is the length of time food remains in contact with teeth that determines how much decay could result. One of the most common sources of decay is sugary drinks, including pumpkin spice lattes, eggnog, apple cider, and wine. People typically consume them over a long time without sips of water in between, allowing sugary residue to accumulate. Hard candies are another problem, because of the amount of time they are in contact with teeth and because they cause the mouth to dry out, preventing saliva from washing sugar away. Starch can also be a food source for bacteria, so it’s important to not allow bits of food to remain stuck in the teeth while snacking over an extended period.

People produce the most saliva during meals, so it’s best to limit sticky and sugary foods to then. Even at times when you can’t brush right away, you can try chewing sugar-free gum to stimulate saliva production and pull away food particles. Xylitol-flavored hard candies are tooth-friendlier than sugary ones. As for drinks, you can eliminate residue by alternating with swigs of water. If you are going somewhere without fluoridated water, you could bring some along in bottles.

Nick M. Mobilia, DDS
ELITE DENTAL ARTS
9 East 45th Street, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10017