Blog

Ages & Stages: Kids & Oral Hygiene

Very few opinions are universally shared, but we’re willing to bet on one: the best dental checkups are the ones where Dr. David Case says the beautiful words: “No cavities!” At-home oral hygiene routines are the most effective tool people of any age have to keep their teeth healthy, but when it comes to pediatric dentistry, it also helps for caregivers to remember what stages children are in to encourage age-appropriate oral hygiene routines at home.

• Kids under 6 years old have mouths that are still growing and changing, and they probably want to brush themselves (“I do it!”) whether they have the fine motor skills to reach all their teeth or not. Let them brush on their own and encourage their efforts but lend a hand when needed.
• When kids reach the “tween” years of 7 through 12, they know how to take care of their teeth—they just may not want to be bothered. Keep emphasizing the health benefits of diligent dental self-care, and as their sense of personal responsibility and accountability for their own health choices continues to evolve, we promise your efforts will start to sink in—even if it doesn’t seem like that now!
• The teenage years are crucial ones for dental health. Cavity formation is at its highest in very young kids, but those rates spike again in the teen years—and the daily oral care practices of teenagers are likely to be the ones they take with them into adult life.

If you want to know more about kids and oral hygiene or you’d like to schedule an appointment for a visit with Family Dental Health, don’t hesitate to give us a call!

The content of this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.

TMJ: The Root of Your Pain

Temporomandibular joint dysfunction is a really long name… so let’s call it TMJ.  That sounds more familiar—you’ve probably heard it before. Maybe some lingering pain in your chewing muscles and bones even have you wondering if you have it.

TMJ dysfunction is sometimes called TMD, TMJD, or TMJ Syndrome, especially if there seem to be a number of other jaw-related issues. Dr. David Case at Family Dental Health is here to tell you more about TMJ and what to do if you’ve got it.

What is TMJ?

A sailboat requires a complex system of ropes, pulleys, and hooks to catch the wind in its sails and get moving. Your jaw is also made of an incredible team of muscles, bones, joints, and tissues working together in order to function. If anything affects any one part of these pieces in your jaw, it could lead to chronic pain and problems with the joints in your jaw. TMJ is a broad term that includes any of this pain or dysfunction.

TMJ can feel like anything from a headache to an inner ear infection, with pain moving from your face and head down to your neck and shoulders. If you have TMJ, talking, chewing and yawning can be very uncomfortable. You might also hear clicking in your jaw, feel your jaw lock in place, or experience muscle spasms.

READ MORE

Filling in the Gaps: Restoring Your Smile & Quality of Life

Life is full of unexpected surprises, and while we’d love for all of them to be smile-inducing, that’s not entirely realistic—and there may be many reasons you hide your smile. If you’re hiding your smile because of one or more missing teeth, we want you to know you’re not alone. In fact, 120 million people in the U.S. are missing at least one tooth, and more than 36 million Americans do not have any teeth at all.

Whether the cause is tooth decay, gum disease—#1 on the list of reasons, with 50% of Americans over the age of 30 having the most severe form of periodontitis—illness, or injury, there are solutions. Dr. David Case at Family Dental Health would like to fill you in on your options, which have expanded and improved over the years thanks to technological advancements and continuing education.

READ MORE

Salivary Diagnostics: What Can Your Saliva Reveal?

If you’ve tuned in to any crime scene investigation shows, you’ve probably heard of salivary testing, but did you know it’s becoming increasingly common in dental offices? Salivary testing has a bright future in medicine because of how much it can tell us about your state of health—both oral and overall.

One of the reasons it’s especially important in the dental office is because we screen for oral cancer, and the number one culprit for diagnoses in recent years is human papillomavirus (HPV), which can be detected through saliva.

READ MORE

Crowning Glory: Esthetic Dental Crowns

The first known dental crowns were made as far back as 200 A.D. when Etruscans used gold to create crowns and bridges. Can you imagine what the process must have been like without the technology we have now? If you’d rather not, we can’t blame you!

Thanks to digital x-rays and impressions, dentists today can create crowns that blend in so well with the rest of the mouth, you’ll forget you weren’t born with them. The updated materials appear very natural, especially ceramic and porcelain.

But I Love Gold!

Gold is still an option for crowns today, and it’s not a bad option in terms of durability—they’re extremely fracture-resistant and seal well to prevent recurrent tooth decay. However, gold is usually the most expensive material for the creation of crowns, and most people want their dental restorations to be a secret only they know—especially if the tooth in need of crowning is an incisor or canine.

For those anterior (front) teeth, porcelain and ceramic are excellent crown options; they’re the most economical solution and can be color-matched to blend in with your smile perfectly.

READ MORE

Good, Clean, Wholesome Family Dentistry

You love your teeth. You brush them twice a day, floss once a day, and see your dentist regularly. Right? We love your teeth, too! In fact, there’s so much to know about caring for your oral health that dentistry has quite a few categories of specialties and different kinds of dentists.

The primary dentist in your life should be your family dentist, also known as a general dentist. Your family dentist is who you will see most often for dental check-ups. But how exactly is family dentistry different from other kinds of dentistry? Portland dentist Dr. David Case shares more below about family dentistry.

Types of Dentistry

All dentists have an undergraduate degree and then go on to about four years of dental school. This earns them either a doctorate of dental medicine (DMD) or a doctorate of dental surgery (DDS). To become more specialized, the dentist will need additional education and clinical experience.

READ MORE

When a Toothache is Not a Toothache

Most of us have experienced a toothache. At their mildest, toothaches may cause just enough discomfort to get on your nerves and disrupt your concentration, but at their worst, they can be debilitating. Because the pain feels like it’s coming from your tooth, it’s natural to assume that all toothaches are caused by cavities, gum disease or some other tooth-related problem. However, Dr. David Case would like you to know that not all toothaches are related to your teeth.

Wait, what? Toothaches that have nothing to do with teeth? Yes– as anyone at Family Dental Health will tell you –it is possible and it does happen. That being said, most toothaches are tooth-related.

How can a toothache not come from your tooth?

Your mouth is a complex organ that contains a number of different types of tissue, nerves, and microorganisms. While run-of-the-mill dental problems like tooth decay and gum disease are responsible for the majority of toothaches, there are many other conditions that can cause localized pain in one or more teeth –and some of them have nothing to do with your teeth. Here are a few examples:

• Temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJ or TMD)
• Trigeminal neuralgia
• Maxillary sinusitis
• Shingles
• Oral herpes

READ MORE

Rising Oral Cancer Rates – Have You Been Screened?

The prevalence of oral cancer in America is increasing, with an estimated 49,750 people being diagnosed in 2017 alone. Of those newly diagnosed individuals, it is projected that only 57% will live 5 years beyond receiving the news. Oral cancer will cause almost 10,000 deaths annually, equating to nearly 1 person per hour.

These statistics are a lot to digest and can cause quite a bit of fear. This fear might be elevated when we look at the reason oral cancer death rates are high—not because it’s more difficult to remove, but because it’s usually discovered in late stage. This makes sense knowing that only 14-18% of dentists in the United States screen for oral cancer. That’s right, 14-18%.

However, Portland dentist Dr. David Case wants to provide you with peace of mind by educating you on what to look for and screening you for oral cancer regularly. Read on to learn more and feel free to give us a call with questions and concerns.

Open Up

A lot of us feel we’re familiar with the appearance of our mouths. We conduct diligent oral hygiene routines (we certainly hope this is true!) and take note of any discomfort, pain, and/or abnormal coloring of our tongue, teeth, and gums. But what about your cheeks, hard and soft palates, uvula, tonsils, and underneath your tongue? Do you regularly examine your inner lips, lift the top and lower the bottom in order to see more of your gums?

READ MORE

Warning Signs of Impacted Wisdom Teeth

Nicknamed for the fact that they come into your mouth and your life by the time you are mature and supposedly “wise”, wisdom teeth are simply the last set of molars that grow furthest back in your mouth. If you’re experiencing some specific pain in your gums and jaw, you may be wondering if you have impacted wisdom teeth.

Dr. David Case takes care of wisdom teeth from all around Portland! Let us tell you more about impacted wisdom teeth and what to do if you have them.

What are Impacted Wisdom Teeth?

Your wisdom teeth are the third and final set of molars you’ll get. They usually come in when you are between 17 and 21 years old. Sometimes they appear later in life, while some people’s wisdom teeth never grow in at all. (Does that mean those people never become wise? Hard to say.)

As with other teeth, wisdom teeth are expected to break through the gums and become totally visible when they emerge. However, in some situations, they remain deep in the jawbone or never break through the gums. These are examples of impacted wisdom teeth.

READ MORE

The Science of Tooth Decay

If you’ve visited our blog before, you know that we love to talk about tooth decay. The chances are, everyone has had or will have tooth decay at one point. It is classified by the National Institutes of Health as the most prevalent disease in the world. Today we’re going to talk about a few of the factors involved in causing tooth decay and what you and Portland dentist Dr. David Case can do to protect your smile.

The Unique Makeup of Your Teeth

Even within your own mouth, teeth vary widely in shape, size, and enamel quality and consistency. Some teeth are harder than others, and some—especially molars—may have deep fissures that can trap bacteria, causing decay. Additional defects in enamel formation can cause yellow or brown areas on your teeth that are more susceptible to caries (tooth decay).

The pH Level in Your Mouth

Research indicates that acidity in your mouth plays an important role in developing tooth decay. A low pH (an acidic state) allows decay-causing bacteria to thrive. Acidity is affected by the quality and flow of saliva, diet, and a number of other factors. For example, after eating carbohydrates, people will experience a temporary drop in the pH of their saliva.

Diet

One of the biggest and most easily controlled risk factors for tooth decay is diet. An unhealthy diet rich in sugars and sticky foods will increase the amount of plaque formed and lower the acidity of your saliva.

Saliva

READ MORE