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By Brookside Dental Care
January 11, 2022
Category: Dental Procedures
TomBradyandGiseleBundchenACelebrityCouplesSecretsforaBeautifulSmile

Love at first sight—it's an endearing notion found in movies and novels, but perhaps we're a little skeptical about it happening in real life. Then again, maybe it does once in a blue moon.  According to supermodel Gisele Bündchen, something definitely happened the first time she met pro quarterback Tom Brady in 2006. And it all began when he smiled.

“The moment I saw him, he smiled and I was like, 'That is the most beautiful, charismatic smile I've ever seen!'” Bündchen said in an article for Vogue magazine. That was all it took. After a three-year romance, they married in 2009 and have been happily so ever since.

Both Brady and Bündchen have great smiles. But they also know even the most naturally attractive smile occasionally needs a little help. Here are three things our happy couple have done to keep their smiles beautiful—and you could do the same.

Teeth whitening. Bündchen is a big proponent of brightening your smile, even endorsing a line of whitening products at one point. And for good reason: This relatively inexpensive and non-invasive procedure can turn a dull, lackluster smile into a dazzling head-turner. A professional whitening can give you the safest, longest-lasting results. We can also fine-tune the whitening solution to give you just the level of brightness you want.

Teeth straightening. When Bündchen noticed one of her teeth out of normal alignment, she underwent orthodontic treatment to straighten her smile. Rather than traditional braces, she opted for clear aligners, removable trays made of translucent plastic. Effective on many types of orthodontic problems, clear aligners can straighten teeth while hardly being noticed by anyone else.

Smile repair. Brady is a frequent client of cosmetic dentistry, sometimes due to his day job. During 2015's Super Bowl XLIX against the Seattle Seahawks, Brady chipped a tooth, ironically from “head-butting” his Patriots teammate Brandon LaFell after the latter caught a touchdown pass. Fortunately, he's had this and other defects repaired—and so can you. We can restore teeth as good as new with composite resin bonding, veneers or crowns.

This superstar couple, known for their advocacy of all things healthy, would also tell you a beautiful smile is a healthy one. You can help maintain your smile's attractiveness with daily brushing and flossing to lower the risk of staining and dental disease, regular dental visits, and “tooth-friendly” eating habits.

And when your teeth need a little extra TLC, see us for a full evaluation. You may not be in the spotlight like this celebrity couple, but you can still have a beautiful smile just like theirs.

If you would like more information on ways to enhance your smile, please contact us or schedule a consultation.

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By Brookside Dental Care
January 01, 2022
Category: Oral Health
Tags: shingles  
ACaseofShinglesCouldImpactYourUpcomingDentalVisit

Most childhood sicknesses are highly treatable and quickly fade from memory afterward. But there's one viral infection that can reappear years later, albeit in a different form and this time it might not be as forgettable. It could even impact your dental care.

Varicella, more commonly known as chicken pox, is a viral infection that mainly affects children. Fortunately, the itchy blisters and other symptoms associated with it usually clear up on their own. But the virus itself, varicella zoster virus (VZV), can remain behind and become dormant.

Fast-forward a few decades, and the child once with chicken pox is now an adult, usually over 50. In 20-30% of former chicken pox patients, the virus reactivates as a new infection known commonly as shingles.

Shingles often begins with an itching, burning or numbing sensation on the skin that develops into a severe rash. Because of its effect on surface nerves, the rash often takes on a striped or belt-like pattern on the skin. A shingles outbreak can also cause fever, fatigue and pain, the latter of which in rare cases can be quite severe.

Shingles in its early stages is also highly contagious, transmitted easily through either physical contact with the skin lesions or through airborne secretions. This is especially troubling for certain groups: pregnant women, patients undergoing cancer or other serious disease treatment, or those with compromised immune systems. For them, shingles can pose a significant risk for complications.

Because of its easy transmission, and the danger it can pose to certain groups, dentists typically postpone treatment—even routine dental cleanings—for patients experiencing a shingles outbreak, especially a facial rash. Once their outbreak subsides, those procedures can be rescheduled.

If you develop what you think is shingles, you should seek medical attention as soon as possible. Certain prescribed antiviral medications can ease the symptoms and hasten recovery, but they're most effective if started within three days of the onset of the disease. There's also an effective vaccination for shingles recommended for people over 60 to help avoid the disease altogether.

One other thing! If you do develop shingles and have an upcoming dental appointment, let your dentist know. Better to reschedule your visit after you've recuperated than to put others' health at risk.

If you would like more information on shingles and dental care, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Shingles, Herpes Zoster.”

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By Brookside Dental Care
December 22, 2021
Category: Oral Health
Tags: gum disease  
TroublingDataSaysSmokingMarijuanaCouldWorsenGumDisease

It seems with each new election cycle another U.S. state legalizes marijuana use. It remains a flashpoint issue that intersects politics, law and morality, but there's another aspect that should also be considered—the health ramifications of using marijuana.

From an oral health perspective, it doesn't look good. According to one study published in the Journal of Periodontology a few years ago, there may be a troubling connection between marijuana use and periodontal (gum) disease.

Gum disease is a common bacterial infection triggered by dental plaque, a thin biofilm on tooth surfaces. As the infection advances, the gum tissues become more inflamed and lose their attachment to teeth. This often results in widening gaps or "pockets" between the teeth and gums filled with infection. The deeper a periodontal pocket, the greater the concern for a tooth's health and survivability.

According to the study, researchers with Columbia University's College of Dental Medicine reviewed data collected from nearly 2,000 adults, a quarter of which used marijuana at least once a month. They found the marijuana users had about 30 individual pocket sites on average around their teeth with a depth of at least 4 millimeters. Non-users, by contrast, only averaged about 22 sites.

The users also had higher incidences of even deeper pockets in contrast to non-users. The former group averaged nearly 25 sites greater than 6 millimeters in depth; non-users, just over 19. Across the data, marijuana users appeared to fare worse with the effects of gum disease than those who didn't use.

As concerning as these findings appear, we can't say that marijuana use singlehandedly causes gum disease. The condition has several contributing risk factors: diet, genetics, and, most important of all, how well a person manages daily plaque removal, the main driver for gum disease, through brushing and flossing.

Still, the data so far seems to indicate using marijuana can make gum disease worse. Further studies will be needed to fully test this hypothesis. In the meantime, anyone using marijuana should consider the possible consequences to their oral health.

If you would like more information on marijuana and oral health, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation.

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By Brookside Dental Care
December 12, 2021
Category: Dental Procedures
Tags: Dental Implants  
DoYouHaveEnoughSupportingBoneforanImplant

Upgrades can be exciting—moving on to a larger house, the latest smartphone, or maybe a new car. And, the same can apply with tooth replacements: Maybe you're ready now to upgrade your existing restoration to a dental implant, the most advanced tooth replacement method now available.

But you might encounter a speed bump in your plans: whether or not you have enough bone available for an implant. Here's why your bone may not be adequate.

Like any other cellular tissue, bone has a life cycle: older cells die and newer cells form to take their place. This process stays on track because of the forces generated when we chew, which stimulates new growth.

But that stimulus disappears when a tooth goes missing. This slows the bone growth cycle to the point that bone volume can gradually dwindle. You could in fact lose up to a quarter of bone width in just the first year after losing a tooth.

And, you'll need adequate bone to provide your implants with sufficient strength and stability, as well as the best possible appearance alongside your other teeth. If you don't have enough bone, we must either enhance its current volume or opt for a different restoration.

Fortunately, we may be able to do the former through bone augmentation or grafting. With this method, we place a graft of bone tissue in the area we wish to regenerate. The graft becomes a scaffold upon which new bone cells build upon. It's possible for grafting to produce up to 5 mm in additional width and 3 mm in height to supporting bone.

We can also use this method to prevent bone loss by placing a graft immediately following a tooth extraction. Some studies show the graft can help preserve bone up to 10 years, giving patients time to consider or prepare for a dental implant.

 There are circumstances, though, where bone loss has been too extensive to make up enough ground to place an implant. If so, there are other effective and life-like restorations to replace missing teeth. But there's still a good chance augmentation can restore the bone you need for a new smile with dental implants.

If you would like more information on dental implant restorations, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation. You can also learn more about this topic by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Dental Implants After Previous Tooth Loss.”

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By Brookside Dental Care
December 02, 2021
Category: Oral Health
PatriotsBelichicksUniqueBetween-TeethCleaningMethodCaughtOnFilm

Earlier this season, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick got together with his longtime QB, Tom Brady. This time, however, they were on opposite sides of the field. And although Brady and his Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the game, Belichick—or specifically his teeth and a pencil—may have garnered most of the media attention.

After noticing something between his teeth during the game, Belichick used the point of his pencil to work it out. Many of us are also guilty of such a dubious teeth-cleaning method, but we're not likely to be coaching a professional football team on national television while doing it. As you can imagine, hilarity ensued on social media concerning the video clip of Belichick's dental faux pas.

Lesson #1: Before you start digging between your teeth, be sure you're not on camera. More importantly, Lesson #2: Be choosy with what you use to clean between your teeth.

While we don't want to heap any more razz on the good coach any more than he's already received, a pencil should definitely be on the "Do Not Use" list for teeth cleaning. But, it's not the worst item people have confessed to employing: According to a recent survey, 80% of approximately a thousand adults admitted to working the edge of a business card, a strand of hair, a twig or even a screwdriver between their teeth.

Where to begin….

For one, using most of the aforementioned items is simply unsanitary. As your mother might say, "Do you know where that toenail clipping has been?" For another, many of these objects can be downright dangerous, causing potential injury to your teeth and gums (how could a screwdriver not?). And, if the injurious object is laden with bacteria, you're opening the door to infection.

There are better ways to rid your teeth of a pesky food ort. If nothing else, a plastic or wooden toothpick will work in a pinch—so long as it's clean, so says the American Dental Association.

Dental floss is even better since its actual reason for existence is to clean between teeth. You can always keep a small amount rolled up and stashed in your wallet or purse. Even better, keep a floss pick handy—this small piece of plastic with an attached bit of floss is ultra-convenient to use while away from home.

To summarize, be sure to use an appropriate and safe tool to remove that pesky food bit from between your teeth. And, be prepared ahead of time—that way, you won't be caught (by millions) doing something embarrassing.

If you would like more information about proper oral hygiene, please contact us or schedule a consultation. To learn more, read the Dear Doctor magazine article “Daily Oral Hygiene.”

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