The Dental Center At Easton Town Center

We’ve spent many years in the Columbus area providing comprehensive and emergency dental services to our clients. And one question we always hear from our patients is, “What are other ways, besides brushing and flossing that I can improve my dental health?”

Often when one thinks of licorice, the vision of red or black chewy rope candy comes to mind. Licorice candy certainly is not something dentists or doctors encourage their patients to indulge in, but dried licorice root is! Licorice root is a natural herb that promotes good dental health and comes in many forms, such as sticks, loose tea, powder, and liquid extract. Its sweet menthol flavor makes it a tasty supplement to the basic daily ritual of brushing, flossing and rinsing.

The benefits of using licorice root are numerous.

• Freshens breath
• Remedies sore throats
• Prevents oral infections
• Inhibits the growth of plaque and tartar
• Soothes digestive issues
• Decreases inflammation
• Enhances the immune system

This is a great thing to know, especially since the World Health Organization reports that “tooth decay affects more than one-fourth of U.S. children aged 2-5 years and half of those aged 12-15 years.” Those are high percentages, as is this startling statistic: “one-fourth of U.S. adults aged 65 or older have lost all of their teeth.”

If you are thinking about adding licorice root to your daily dental regimen, talk with your doctor or local dentist first. As with any herbal supplement, there are slight risks for adverse reactions with medications and complications in certain medical conditions, such as high blood pressure and pregnancy. Most often than not, though, licorice root can be used safely in moderation.

Certainly, licorice root seems to be a wonderful supplement that promotes good dental health and hygiene, but it should never be a replacement for brushing, flossing, and regular dental checkups. It is definitely something to sink your teeth into! Teeth and gums are two personal assets worth tending to and improving for a lifetime of eating and smiles!

Live in Central Ohio? Schedule your appointment today with The Dental Center at Easton Town Center!

The Dental Center at Easton Town Center wants to let you know that April is Oral Cancer Awareness month and we wanted to take the opportunity to talk about the “not so famous” cancer that can affect anyone. Even though more than 40,000 cases of oral cancer are diagnosed in America each year during routine dental appointments, it has not yet reached the ranks of notoriety as other types of cancer (i.e. lung cancer, breast cancer, skin cancer). Oral cancer doesn’t have any high profile fundraisers. In fact, many do not know that the red and white ribbon is the symbol for oral cancer awareness. Therefore, there is no better time than today to take a closer look at the nitty-gritty of this disease.

Could you be at risk? Oral cancer is certainly on the rise. In decades past, tobacco users were at the top of the list for developing oral cancer. However, the “at risk” group has now expanded to also include men and women who consume an excessive amount of alcohol, spend a lot of time in the sun, and/or are the carrier of HPV (the human papilloma virus).

What are the warning signs? In its early stages, there’s rarely any pain associated with oral cancer. A discolored patch or lumps in or around the mouth, consistent hoarseness, and/or difficulty swallowing are the most common warning signs. The longer the cancerous tissue is left untreated, the more painful it becomes.

Routine Screenings. Screenings are a valuable tool that can save your life. Local dental professionals are trained to assess and evaluate the health of the tissue of the cheeks, gum, palate, tongue and lips. In fact, screenings are routinely done at six-month checkups and regular cleanings. However, if you feel something looks or feels different in your mouth or throat in between your dental checkups, it is very important to let your dentist know. The earlier oral cancer is detected, the greater likelihood it can be treated!

Prevention.
• Avoid all forms of tobacco.
• Limit or drink alcohol in moderation.
• Get HPV vaccination.
• Schedule regular dental exams.

Not only is oral cancer not-so-famous, it is not-so-fun. The death rate from oral cancer is higher than cervical cancer, yet there is less national publicity regarding the crux of the disease. We at The Dental Center at Easton Town Center want to do our part during Oral Cancer Awareness month— we want to get the message out to the public that routine dental screenings are essential to a long healthy life!

As your local dentist, for Columbus residents, we’d be happy to schedule an appointment for an examination in the near future. If you feel you have an emergency situation, we are ready to help!

Tooth loss and decay are often associated with aging and the elderly tend to have more tooth loss and decay than the rest of the population. This doesn’t mean that there is a causal connection between poor teeth and age. Tooth loss and decay are the effects of poor habits over a long period of time. For instance, if you eat a cup of sugar every day for 20 years without experiencing any conspicuous effects, you may think nothing is wrong. Just because you don’t see the effects doesn’t mean they’re not there.

For this reason, tooth decay is more common in the elderly even though tooth decay is not caused by old age. Our enamel is tough, so it takes many years of bad oral hygiene and eating habits to affect our teeth. Eventually, enamel does wear away or become brittle, making it easy for decay to take over. In addition, many medications that elderly people take cause saliva production to be much less than in people of other age groups.

This delayed response should be of no surprise to anyone. Our body works this way in response to many external stimuli. Eating an ice cream cone doesn’t make you fat right away, just like going to the gym once doesn’t make you healthy right away. Our body, like our character, is the result of what we consistently do.
Of course, sugary diets and a lackluster effort at oral hygiene are the main causes of tooth decay, but other factors can contribute as well. A struggling immune system, increased systemic diseases, and prescription medications can negatively affect the body’s ability to naturally fight decay. We need healthy gums to have healthy teeth!

Just because your baby is going to lose his or her baby teeth doesn’t mean that they’re unimportant. Baby teeth are place holders for adult teeth, so if a baby tooth comes out too early due to improper care, then the adult tooth that fills in the space will invariably be crooked or misaligned. For this reason, it is extremely important to care for baby teeth in the same fashion as caring for adult teeth. We need to be as diligent about baby tooth decay as we are about adult tooth decay.

Symptoms

Tooth decay can appear as soon as the first baby tooth comes into the mouth. The initial stages of baby tooth decay occur in the same way as the initial stages of adult tooth decay. The tooth may appear yellow or darker than normal. The child may complain of discomfort when chewing or biting on food. The latter stages and symptoms of decay are much more obvious. The majority of tooth decay in infants and toddlers is caused by a baby bottle. This is why baby tooth decay is often referred to as “baby bottle tooth decay.” The other of the infant can transfer bacteria from her mouth to that of the infant. Also, the baby may be drinking too much fruit juice or sweetened milk, both of which cause and encourage decay. Pacifiers that are dipped in honey are also culprits in baby tooth decay.

Prevention

Though baby bottle tooth decay is scary, it is completely avoidable and preventable. Just incorporate the following steps into your baby’s oral hygiene routine to ensure a solid foundation for healthy teeth, gums and a dazzling smile.

Improve your oral health if you’re the mother or primary caregiver for the infant. Mothers and caregivers often wipe off the nipple of bottles with their own saliva. This is fine so long as the mother or caregiver has great oral hygiene. It is completely possible to spread bacteria from the mother or caregiver to the infant via the nipple on the bottle.
After each feeding, wipe the baby’s gums with a clean, damp cloth. After teething, gently brush the child’s teeth with an infant sized toothbrush and warm water. It is important not to use fluoridated toothpaste when brushing a toddlers teeth until he or she understands how to spit out the toothpaste.

Avoid giving your child fruit juices or any other sugary drink. If the infant or toddler does get to drink juice, make sure to mix it with at least half water.

Treatment

The best treatment for baby bottle tooth decay, as with any disease, is prevention. Make an appointment with the Dental Center within six months of seeing the first baby tooth erupt in the mouth! This simple “happy” visit can more than pay for itself when you child effortlessly grown into a healthy smile.

When should you begin caring for your infant’s teeth and gums? Dental care for infants begins soon after birth, and even though your baby doesn’t have teeth yet you can start your child on their way to a great smile for life. First steps, before teeth appear, you may keep their gums clean with a clean wet washcloth or gauze, after feeding. This can also be helpful when teething, soothing their irritated gums.

Once your baby develops teeth, usually between six and 12 months, buy an infant toothbrush which has extremely soft rounded bristles that won’t scratch his gums. Ask your dentist about fluoride toothpaste. Fluoride can cause problems over time. You may want to brush your babies’ teeth with just water.

Even though baby teeth will fall out and be replaced by permanent teeth. It’s still important to keep them clean brushed and flossed. This is because the baby teeth are actually placeholders for permanent teeth and if the baby teeth fall out prematurely, permanent teeth may grow in crooked.

As your child grows, make sure you teach him or her how to use their toothbrush properly and how to floss their teeth. You may need to be involved in this process until the time they are six or seven just to make sure they’re getting all their teeth cleaned and flossed properly. After they master the skill of brushing and flossing, you may just need to check up on them regularly in order to make sure they’re doing the proper procedures.

As far as regular dental visits, most dentists recommend bringing your child in for his first check-up soon after the age of one or when teeth appear. Your dentist can help you keep your child’s mouth, teeth, and gums healthy throughout the many stages of childhood from infant to teenager. Establishing good dental health and good dental health routines are critical to your child’s overall health.

Home comings and high school graduations just got a whole lot more glamorous. No more metal braces. Having straighter teeth for teens no longer involves wires and metal brackets, or visits to the dentist to get braces tightened leaving your mouth and gums sore and irritated for days. Welcome to Invisalign Teen which is a series of clear aligners custom-fit to the teeth of the individual. Your Easton emergency dentist has information for both teens and their parents to see if Invisalign is the right choice for your teenager.

Full treatment takes about one year, and teens don’t have to wait until all of their permanent teeth have come in. Some benefits of Invisalign Teen over braces include:

Snaps easily on to the teeth

• Clear in color, close to being invisible on the teeth
• Comfortable, non scratching/scraping against the tongue and gums
• Moves the teeth is small continuous increments
• Switched about every two weeks with custom-fit replacements to further move the teeth
• A “Blue-Dot” system allows the teen to know when it’s time to switch to a new Invisalign aligner. The dot fades to white in about two-weeks if worn the appropriate amount of time each day (your Easton emergency dentist will help you with the time-line)
• Easily removed when ready to brush or floss the teeth, or simply to have an evening out with friends without the aligner
• You may be able to get up to six replacement pair if lost

Here’s how Invisalign Teen works:

You’ll meet with the Easton emergency dentist to decide if you are a good candidate for Invisalign Teen

• Pictures and impressions will be taken of your teeth
• Once digitized, your impressions are used to map out the necessary movements to achieve desired goals, and your aligners are made custom-fit to your teeth
• You’ll wear your aligners approx 20-22 hours every day. Remember, they can be removed before eating or brushing your teeth. By wearing the aligners less than recommended, total treatment time could be longer.
• You’ll visit your dentist approx. every two weeks to switch out your aligners to new ones

Invisalign is an FDA-cleared orthodontic treatment currently being used by more than 1,000,000 Americans. Call your Easton emergency dentist today to schedule an appointment. Keep smiling!

A new development in dentistry could lead to fewer trips to your Emergency dentist in Columbus Ohio.

 Scientists are excited to report an advance toward what could be the next big treatment revolution in dentistry – the end of root canals. Instead, root canal therapy would bring diseased teeth back to life, instead of leaving a “non-vital” or dead tooth in the mouth. According to a report in the monthly journal ACS Nano, a first-of-its-kind, nano-sized dental film shows early promise for achieving this long-sought goal. Gone would be the days of one of the most feared procedures in the history of dentistry.

The report cites the root canal procedures as helping to prevent tooth loss in millions of people each year. During the procedure, your Emergency dentist in Columbus Ohio removes the painful, inflamed pulp, which is the soft tissue inside the diseased or injured tooth that contains nerves and blood vessels.

 The process of regenerative endodontics develops and delivers tissues to replace diseased or damaged dental pulp, and also has the potential to provide a revolutionary alternative to pulp removal. 

The scientists says that the development of a multilayered, nano-sized film that is only 1/50,000th the thickness of a human hair contains a substance that could help regenerate dental pulp. Previous studies show that the substance has anti-inflammatory properties, which could also greatly reduce the discomfort that is often associated with dental procedures. In laboratory tests, alpha-MSH (or alpha melanocyte stimulating hormone) in combination with a widely-used polymer produced a material that fights inflammation in dental pulp fibroblasts. Fibroblasts are the main type of cell found in dental pulp. Nano-films containing alpha-MSH also increased the number of these cells. The scientists conclude that this discovery could help revitalize damaged teeth and reduce the need for a root canal procedure. 

 While this procedure won’t entire eradicate the need for root canal altogether, your Emergency dentist in Columbus Ohio is here to meet all of your dental needs.

What are you looking for when it comes to teeth whitening? Do you want the popular laser teeth whitening? Or do you want whiter teeth in one hour?  Over the past couple of years, we have seen a boom in the teeth whitening market.  In fact, teeth whitening is so popular that people commonly refer to well-known teeth whitening systems like Zoom or Britesmile as laser teeth whitening. 

This is actually inaccurate – both systems actually fall into a category called light activated tooth whitening as there is no actual laser that whitens the teeth. Both systems work very well, so why is one system better than another? 

Britesmile was the biggest player in the market when they first hit the market and they spent millions of marketing dollars to build audience recognition through many sources of media.  Many dentists jumped on board and were certified to offer this incredible whitening system. Soon after a company called Discus Dental started to become well known with their competitive system called Zoom, which became very popular due to its exposure on hit TV shows like “Extreme Makeover” and “the Swan.” 

Because Britesmile and Zoom both work well, how do you determine which to use for your whitening session?  Individual dentists set the price they charge for teeth whitening sessions. What determines the difference in pricing are whether or not they include take home whitening kits for touch ups, whether they require a paid first visit to assess your teeth, and how many uses of carbamide peroxide gel are included with the take home kits. 

Teeth whitening is a relatively simple procedure that is performed by the practice’s hygienist, who is certified in administering the system.  Whether you’re seeking laser teeth whitening or  light activated tooth whitening, your dentist can help determine the best system to give you a dazzling smile.

Remember the kid in your fourth grade classroom with the mouth full of wire? Or the girl in your junior year of high school that everyone picked on and called “metal mouth”? Well, those days are long behind us. The dental industry has developed a new product called Invisalign and although the Dental Center at Easton Towne Center is well known as one of the best emergency dentists in Columbus Ohio, they are now happy to offer Invisalign to their patients.

Braces were bonded to your teeth, which made them difficult to remove. You could always tell the kids who had just gone to the dentist to get “readjusted” because they couldn’t eat anything. Tenderness and irritation to the tongue, lips, and especially the inside of the cheeks made it difficult for a couple of days to enjoy anything other than liquids. Certain foods were forbidden for fear of getting stuck in the braces, or pulling the metal wires away from the brackets and possibly even loosening the brackets. Hygiene was another issue altogether, especially in smaller children, and even some teens. Keeping the braces, mouth, and teeth clean could become cumbersome and sometimes difficult.

Enter the new age. Invisalign is an array of clear, uniquely designed trays. One of the many wonderful advantages to choosing Invisalign is being able to remove the trays whenever you want to drink, eat a particular food, and to ensure proper oral hygiene with brushing and flossing. And no one knows you’re even wearing them. Invisalign creates the same type of force as braces, making the teeth move, just without the wire and brackets. People suffering from TMJ pain, speech impediments, teeth grinding, difficulty eating, and/or chewing, and even tooth decay and gum disease may benefit from Invisalign.

As with braces, it’s important that you work with your dentist to ensure that you make the best choice for the desired results, as well as to determine if you are a good candidate for Invisalign. Those also living with tooth crowding, crooked teeth and even an overbite may make good candidates for Invisalign.  

If you don’t want the look of metal and “clear” is what you’re after, consider Invisalign. Presently, over 3 million people across America and Canada wear braces. If you’ve waited to make your decision regarding braces, and you’ve already been advised to get them, or just want to improve your smile, pick up your phone, or go online and contact Dr. Brad Gilmer at the Dental Center at Easton Towne Center to make your appointment now.