Tips For Keeping Your Teeth Healthy This Summer

Summer is nearly here. This is the time when we’re out and about, enjoying the weather playing sports, and cooling down with sweet, cold beverages and ice cream. We want to give you a few tips to make sure you keep your teeth healthy while still enjoying the many summer activities.

1. Don’t use your teeth as tools.

Using your teeth to open bottles, chew on ice, and other harmful habits can cause damage to your teeth even if you don’t see it at first. The consequences of using your teeth as tools are “hairline” or micro cracks that are hard to see, but will lead to problems in the future.

2. Protect your teeth while playing summer sports.

Whether you’re a recreational or a professional sports player, you should always protect your teeth by wearing a mouth guard. Mouth guards are fairly inexpensive, they can protect you from chipping or losing a tooth from impact, or they can help your jaw and teeth from “clenching,” which many people do when competing or doing anything with endurance.

3. Eat sweets with caution.

It’s certainly refreshing to enjoy an ice-cream cone during the hot summer days or a cool can of soda, but those things are filled with added sugars which can cause cavities, enamel loss and plaque. The bacteria in your mouth love sweets, which is converted into acids, resulting in damages to teeth. Our advice is to not avoid sweets completely, but be cautious: Eat sweets as part of your meal versus snacks, brush or rinse after you eat or drink something sweet, or chew sugarless gum for 20 minutes to reduce tooth decay.
We hope this will help in making your summer happy and healthy. If you have any questions about mouth guards and/or would like to schedule an appointment for a consultation, please contact our office today.

You can make an appointment with our cosmetic dentist by calling our friendly staff at (305) 532-9114 or by visiting www.precioussmiles.com. Please don't hesitate to contact Precious Smiles if you have any questions about cosmetic dentistry.

 

The Ugly Truth About Your Toothbrush

The Ugly Truth About Your Toothbrush

Your toothbrush may be nastier than you think. Find out when to ditch it.

Do you know what's lurking on your toothbrush?
Your toothbrush is loaded with germs, say researchers at England's University of Manchester. They've found that one uncovered toothbrush can harbor more than 100 million bacteria, including E. coli bacteria, which can cause diarrhea, and staphylococci ("staph") bacteria that cause skin infections.
But don't panic. Your mouth wasn't exactly sterile to begin with.

Mouthful of Bacteria

"The bottom line is, there [are] hundreds of microorganisms in our mouths every day," says Gayle McCombs, RDH, MS, associate professor and director of the Dental Hygiene Research Center at Old Dominion University.
That's no big deal. Problems only start when there is an unhealthy balance of bacteria in the mouth. McCombs says.
"It's important to remember that plaque -- the stuff you're removing from your teeth -- is bacteria," says dentist Kimberly Harms, DDS, consumer advisor for the American Dental Association. "So you're putting bacteria on your toothbrush every time you brush your teeth."

Could Your Toothbrush Be Making You Sick?

Probably not. Regardless of how many bacteria live in your mouth, or have gotten in there via your toothbrush, your body's natural defenses make it highly unlikely that you're going to catch an infection simply from brushing your teeth.
Fortunately, the human body is usually able to defend itself from bacteria, So we aren't aware of any real evidence that sitting the toothbrush in your bathroom in the toothbrush holder is causing any real damage or harm. We don't know that the bacteria on there are translating into infections.
Still, you should exercise some common sense about storing your toothbrush, including how close it is to the toilet.

Don't Brush Where You Flush

Most bathrooms are small. And in many homes, the toilet is pretty close to the bathroom sink where you keep your toothbrush.
Every toilet flush sends a spray of bacteria into the air. And you don't want the toilet spray anywhere near your open toothbrush.
You also wouldn't eat after going to the bathroom without first washing your hands. The same advice applies before brushing your teeth, McCombs says.

Toothbrush Storage Tips

Once you've moved your toothbrush away from the toilet, here are a few other storage tips to keep your brush as germ-free as possible:

• Keep it rinsed. Wash off your toothbrush thoroughly with tap water every time you use it.
• Keep it dry.  Avoid using toothbrush covers, which can create a moist enclosed breeding ground for bacteria.
• Keep it upright. Store your toothbrush upright in a holder, rather than lying it down.
• Keep it to yourself. No matter how close you are to your sister, brother, spouse, or roommate, don't ever use their toothbrush. Don't even store your toothbrush side-by-side in the same cup with other people's brushes. Whenever toothbrushes touch, they can swap germs. 

You can make an appointment with our cosmetic dentist by calling our friendly staff at (305) 532-9114 or by visiting www.precioussmiles.com. Please don't hesitate to contact Precious Smiles if you have any questions about cosmetic dentistry.