Focus on Calcium for Strong Enamel

Calcium is essential for strong tooth enamel, which acts as a protective barrier against decay. A diet rich in calcium helps to maintain the strength and structure of your teeth over time. Dairy products like milk, cheese, and yogurt are excellent sources of calcium, as are leafy greens such as kale and spinach. If you’re plant-based, many fortified foods like almond milk and cereals can provide the calcium you need to support strong teeth.

Get Enough Vitamin D

Vitamin D is key to helping your body absorb calcium. Without it, the calcium you consume can’t be used effectively, and your bones and teeth may not be as strong as they should be. Sunlight is the best source of vitamin D, but it’s also found in fatty fish like salmon and mackerel, as well as in eggs and fortified foods like milk and orange juice. Ensuring you get enough vitamin D will help your body make the most of the calcium in your diet.

Include Phosphorus-Rich Foods for Tooth Health

Phosphorus works in harmony with calcium to help build strong teeth. It also plays a role in balancing the pH levels in your mouth, reducing the risk of tooth decay. Foods like lean meats, fish, and poultry provide ample phosphorus, as do nuts, seeds, and legumes like beans and lentils. Adding these to your diet ensures that your teeth are getting the nutrients they need to stay healthy and strong.

Choose Crunchy, Fiber-Rich Foods

Fruits and vegetables with high fiber content are not only good for your overall health but also help keep your teeth clean. Crunchy foods like apples, carrots, and celery scrub your teeth naturally as you chew, removing food particles and plaque. Additionally, fiber-rich foods stimulate saliva production, which helps protect your enamel by neutralizing acids in the mouth. Including these foods in your daily routine provides a simple, natural way to maintain your oral health.

Stay Hydrated for Healthy Teeth

Water is essential for your overall health—and it’s just as important for your teeth. Drinking plenty of water throughout the day helps wash away food particles and neutralize acids that can damage enamel. Hydrating also supports saliva production, which is critical for neutralizing bacteria and keeping your mouth clean. Drinking water after meals is a great way to rinse away lingering food and help maintain a healthy mouth.

Limit Sugary and Acidic Foods

Sugar feeds harmful bacteria in your mouth, which can lead to plaque buildup, cavities, and other dental problems. Acidic foods, such as citrus fruits and soda, can erode tooth enamel if consumed in excess. While it’s okay to enjoy these foods occasionally, it’s important to limit their intake and drink plenty of water afterward to help neutralize acids and rinse away any sugar. Reducing sugary snacks and acidic drinks will go a long way in protecting your teeth from decay.

Drink Green Tea for Its Antioxidant Benefits

Green tea is a powerhouse for oral health. Packed with antioxidants, it can help reduce harmful bacteria in your mouth and lower the risk of gum disease. Additionally, green tea contains fluoride, which helps strengthen tooth enamel. Drinking a cup or two of unsweetened green tea each day can be a simple and effective way to support your teeth and gums.

Hydrate for Healthy Saliva Flow

Saliva is essential for keeping your mouth healthy. It helps wash away food particles, neutralize acids, and protect your teeth from harmful bacteria. Staying hydrated ensures that your body produces enough saliva to keep your mouth clean and your teeth safe from decay. Make it a habit to drink water throughout the day to support healthy saliva production and overall oral health.

At Aesthetic Family Dentistry in Denville, New Jersey, we’re dedicated to helping you achieve optimal oral health through healthy habits. By nourishing your teeth with the right foods and avoiding those that can harm them, you’re setting yourself up for a lifetime of strong, beautiful smiles. If you have any questions about how diet impacts your dental health, or if you’d like to schedule a checkup, don’t hesitate to contact us!

The post How to Support Healthy Teeth with Diet appeared first on Aesthetic Family Dentistry.

Here at Aesthetic Family Dentistry, we use medical ozone to treat a range of conditions and herpetic lesions are one of them.

Herpetic lesions

Herpetic lesions are the manifestation of the virus on the surface of the skin, commonly called cold sores or fever blisters. They often appear around the mouth or on the lip and usually last around ten days. They are caused by the herpes simplex virus that is passed through contact with infected food, drink, utensils or bodily contact.

While there is a negative connotation to having the herpes virus, the vast majority of adults across the world have it to one degree or other. It is not purely a sexually transmitted disease. There are two variants of herpes, HSV1 (Herpes Simplex Virus 1) which causes herpetic lesions and HSV2 (Herpes Simplex Virus 2) which is genital herpes. The majority of American adults have HSV1, the version we are talking about here.

The virus enters the body through a break in the skin or through the mouth. The virus hides within our cells, which is why it is so difficult to treat using conventional medicine. No current medicine or procedure has been able to tackle the virus without damaging the cell within which the virus hides, until now.

Ozone treatment for herpetic lesions

Ozone treatment has proved itself very effective at treating a range of oral conditions and helps in some interesting ways. As well as cleaning out root canals or removing tooth decay, medical ozone has also proven its worth in tackling herpetic lesions.

Ozone has powerful antiviral properties which makes it a very effective medical tool. One such virus it is effective at tackling is HSV1. Administered into the body, the ozone assists the immune system by destroying harmful viruses and bacteria, even when the virus hides inside a cell.

One of the most impressive things about ozone therapy is that it is complementary in nature. Ozone only targets ‘bad’ bacteria and does not harm healthy cells. As we have evolved around ozone in the atmosphere, we have learned to tolerate it and work with it, just like oxygen and nitrogen. This is why ozone therapy is so effective. Because it is a completely natural element that has some pretty impressive abilities!

Aesthetic Family Dentistry offers ozone therapy to tackle herpetic lesions as part of our service offering. If you’re interested in getting rid of cold sores for good, contact us today to schedule a consultation.

The post Ozone treatment for herpetic lesions appeared first on Aesthetic Family Dentistry.

Called the Pinhole Surgical Technique, it is a brand new way to treat receding gums without invasive surgery and extended recovery times. As holistic dentists, this is something we can really get behind. That’s why we are so excited to offer this new treatment.

So what is gum recession, what causes it, how was it treated and what advantages does the Pinhole Surgical Technique offer?

What is gum recession?

Receding gums is something all of us will have to contend with to some degree as we get older. Our gums naturally recede a little as we age This process can be accelerated or aggravated by lifestyle choices such as smoking, piercings, oral hygiene and diet. Periodontal disease is a prime cause of gum recession.

The phrase ‘long in the tooth’ refers directly to gum recession, as older people experience receding gums that expose the length of the tooth.

Why are receding gums cause for concern?

Receding gums exposes more of the tooth and can go as far as the root. The gum protects the parts of the tooth with less protective enamel offering essential protection from bacteria and wear. Without the gum, this part of the tooth is exposed and susceptible to disease. Exposed roots can also cause sensitive teeth and further complications including tooth loss.

Receding gums don’t look the best either which can have a knock-on effect to self-confidence.

How was gum recession treated before the Pinhole Surgical Technique?

Before the Pinhole Surgical Technique became available, treatment for receding gums involved soft tissue grafts. Donor tissue was grafted above each tooth and sutured into place. Once healed, the tissue would merge with the gum to make a new gum line. The procedure is very effective but it is also very involved.

The surgery is also quite invasive. It requires quite a lot of recovery time and can be uncomfortable too. The nature of the procedure means we can only do 3 or 4 teeth at a time, meaning multiple surgeries to treat an entire mouth.

The Pinhole Surgical Technique

The Pinhole Surgical Technique changes all that. Rather than requiring tissue grafts, the procedure uses a single needle that is inserted into the gum above each tooth. We use specialized instruments designed specifically for the Pinhole Surgical Technique to complete the procedure.

We loosen the gum tissue from the inside and cause it to expand back into place. The tissue then heals as normal, recovering any recession. As we only use a single needle, recovery is fast, within an hour or two and discomfort is minimal. That’s why we like it so much!

Aesthetic Family Dentistry is very pleased to offer the Pinhole Surgical Technique to our patients. Contact us today if you would like to know more.

The post Everything you need to know about the Pinhole Surgical Technique™ appeared first on Aesthetic Family Dentistry.

Caring for your child’s teeth is one of the most important things you can do as a parent and one of the most important life skills you can teach your child. Teeth are an integral part of our identity and our lives, so teaching your child how to care for them properly is an incredibly important part of their development.

Primary teeth

The primary teeth or “baby teeth” begin to appear sometime between six months and one year old. The process will continue until your child is around 33 months old. By age three, your child should have all 20 primary teeth.

Habits formed early are ones we carry with us throughout our lives. Children who have healthy teeth are also many times more likely to have healthy teeth as adults. So it’s important to create these good habits as early as possible.

Your child will begin losing their primary teeth from around age 6 and will likely be replaced by adult teeth by age 12. There should be 32 adult teeth in all once fully grown.

Caring for your child’s teeth

Caring for your child’s teeth is much the same as caring for your own. As mentioned, creating good oral hygiene habits early on makes them second nature and provides the best possible start for their long-term health. Dental visits need to start when all 20 primary teeth are in the mouth.

Caring for a child’s teeth includes:

• Brushing twice a day using a suitable brush and toothpaste
• Teaching proper brushing technique and explaining why it’s so important
• Teaching not to rinse the mouth after brushing
• Providing a healthy, balanced diet without too much sugar, soda or candy
• Visiting your dentist regularly and teaching that the dentist is nothing to be scared of

Habits

Introducing healthy habits as early as possible will give a child the best possible chance to lead a healthy, happy life. Teaching them to brush as soon as practical is the first of these good habits. Visiting the dentist from an early age, even if for a quick informal check will introduce them to our environment and teach them that we’re nothing to be scared of. It’s a vital part of their development and will have far reaching consequences as they get older.

Diet

Diet is an incredibly important part of your child’s development that has a huge influence on how healthy and happy they are. Diet isn’t just about teeth; it’s about growth, mental development, resistance to diseases and preparing them for adult life.

The more varied you can make their diet the better as it not only gives your child the nutrients they need, it also gives them a wide base of foodstuffs they will be used to be the time they get older. As holistic dentists, we believe in a complete approach to health and starting young is the very best way to ensure a long, productive and most of all, happy life!

If you live in Denville, Dover, Morristown, Morris Plains, Mountain Lakes, Randolph, Rockaway and need to know more about dental care for kids, contact Aesthetic Family Dentistry. We can help!

– See more at: https://aestheticfamilydentistry.com/blog/how-to-properly-care-for-your-childs-teeth/#sthash.jrhI7yi4.dpuf

The post How to properly care for your child’s teeth appeared first on Aesthetic Family Dentistry.