Summer is just about here, and it’s getting warm enough to start playing sports, riding bikes, and more out in the fresh air. But you need to be careful, as falling hard or an accident can damage your teeth. Unless you’re looking forward to restorative dentistry like dental crowns or dental implants, you can benefit from a custom-fitted athletic mouthguard.
Many leagues and schools require mouthguards. By calling our Winnipeg, MB dental office today at 204-977-8515, you can schedule a visit to have an athletic mouthguard custom-fitted to your teeth.
As a parent, you know it’s your responsibility to help kids take care of themselves. They’re just too young to do it themselves all the time. But it can be hard for kids to take care of things if they really do not like going to the dentist.
That’s why you need to call our Winnipeg, MB dental office today at 204-977-8515 and make a family dentistry appointment. Our dental team knows how to work well with kids, and our dentists can see children as young as three years’ old.
Your Child’s First Dental Appointment
How you grow up affects your life as an adult. For example, if you had a bad experience with a dog growing up, you could have a fear or dislike of dogs as an adult. That’s true for dentistry as well, which is why that first dental appointment is so important.
If your child has a bad experience at their first dental visit, that can build dental anxiety in them. This can get in the way of getting needed dental exams and dental cleanings. Adults with bad dental experiences as a child can be more likely to skip visits.
Our dental team understands that, which is why they go out of their way to help children feel welcome and safe. By having such a great first dental visit, your child can be more likely to make future appointments as an adult.
Why Your Kids Still Need Dental Care
Although baby teeth are just going to fall out, you still need to take care of them. If a baby tooth gets a cavity, it can keep growing until it infects the tooth. This causes a bad toothache which a young child is not ready to handle. Such infected teeth can need to be removed.
Children can also start to have problems with gum disease. That’s why cleaning the teeth at home and regular dental visits are still very important to your children, even if they don’t have a single adult tooth yet.
Dental Care Tips For Your Children
PROBLEMS WITH TEETHING
When those baby teeth first start showing up, babies can get fussy. That’s because it’s uncomfortable for teeth to erupt through the gums. There are several things you can do to help with teething.
Clean your finger and gently massage the gums. You can also use a cold teething ring, as the coldness and pressure help alleviate some of the pain. (Just don’t use a frozen ring. That’s too hard and can hurt more than help.) You can also use a numbing gel approved for infants.
CARING FOR BABY TEETH
Just because baby teeth are going to fall out doesn’t mean you can ignore them. Gum disease can strike at any age, and if a tooth gets infected, your child can face inflammation problems. Don’t use a fluoride toothpaste yet. Instead, use a soft-bristled brush and water to clean the teeth and gums.
HELPING KIDS FEEL SAFER
For many kids, the dentist’s office is too strange to feel comfortable in. That’s because even the best dental office for kids is going to be full of strangers, unusual noises, and weird tools and equipment. Plus, some strange person is going to be touching their teeth!
You can help alleviate dental anxiety in kids by going with them to their appointments. For young kids, they might be able to sit in your lap while getting a dental exam or dental cleaning. Older kids can’t do that, but you can still make an appointment for yourself back-to-back with theirs. This way, your kids know you’re there with them.
BUILDING GOOD DENTAL HABITS
A great trip to the dentist is one where there are no problems found. That means taking care of teeth and gums at home is so important. To help your kids develop great dental habits, let them pick out their own toothbrush. Get a toothpaste they like. You can also let them see you brush and floss so they know dental care is what “grown-ups” do too.
Call Lakewood Dental Centre today at 204-977-8515 or use our online form to schedule family dentistry appointments for everyone in your home.
Every now and then, you’ll come across some fake news online saying that fluoride is somehow bad for you. Here’s a simple truth: Fluoride in water and toothpaste makes your teeth stronger and does not harm your body. Here’s a short video explaining why.
Call our Winnipeg, MB dental office today at 204-977-8515 and schedule your next appointment. Fluoride treatments can help your teeth grow stronger and fight cavities or damage like chips and cracks.
Many people get their teeth straightened with braces when they are teenagers. Getting orthodontics before that age doesn’t make sense because too many people’s teeth are still moving somewhat. Your teeth can easily fall back out of alignment even if you had braces.
But since your teeth never really stop moving, that can still happen. It just takes years. That’s why some adults can find themselves with crooked teeth or gaps between them even if they had braces many years ago.
Call our Winnipeg, MB dental office today at 204-977-8515 and make your initial appointment for Invisalign clear aligners. This is not braces! Instead of metal and wire, you get smooth, clear plastic trays that fit over your teeth. The Invisalign results are comparable to what you’d get with braces.
Why You Might Have Crooked Teeth
Some adults have great, aligned smiles that need no more work. For the rest of us, teeth can get a bit crooked over time. Here are a few reasons why.
- You never had braces as a teen: While it’s true that many families give braces to their teens, some do not. It may have been the cost, or your teeth at the time might not have been this bad.
- You had an injury to your mouth: Getting hit in the mouth by a stray puck or ball can do more than just chip teeth. It can knock them out of their proper place.
- Your teeth are never locked in place: It’s not like your teeth are moving all the time, but even after an orthodontic treatment like braces, they’re not stuck there. Decades of chewing can put enough pressure on your teeth to make them move slightly.
That’s why you should call Lakewood Dental Centre today at 204-977-8515 to make your first appointment for Invisalign clear aligners. After a thorough dental exam, you’ll have a better idea of how Invisalign can help your smile in particular.
Invisalign Fits Many Adults Well
Many adults choose Invisalign as their orthodontic treatment. Here are some reasons why Invisalign works so well for adults.
1. Invisalign is often complete around one year after starting it.
Adults have busy lifestyles. In fact, they’re usually the ones taking care of teens who have braces! That means your time is valuable. Normally, traditional braces will last 2-3 years before you can get them taken off.
However, Invisalign is often done sooner. Some people are complete with Invisalign in around one year. That can mean a big difference if you have a busy schedule or need your teeth ready for a big event like a wedding.
2. Invisalign is very hard to see when worn.
One reason adults might not like braces is how they’re so obvious. You’ll have a hard time not letting people see the metal and wires in your mouth whenever you talk, eat, or laugh. Because braces remind people of teenagers, that can be embarrassing.
The plastic trays that make up Invisalign are clear. When worn over your teeth, people will have difficulty seeing them. Invisalign is definitely more discreet for your orthodontic care.
3. Invisalign is comfortable in your mouth.
Some people do not like having metal brackets and wires in their mouth for a few years. It’s not too hard to cut yourself on the brackets, as they can catch on the inside of your lips and cheeks. And if you get hit in the mouth, there could be some serious damage.
Since Invisalign clear aligners are made from smooth plastic, there’s nothing to catch on the inside of your mouth. They’re more comfortable that way. Plus, getting it the mouth won’t be as bad.
4. Invisalign can be taken out at any time.
With braces, you have to be careful about what you eat. Chewing something very sticky or tough can damage your braces. But there’s not much you can do because those braces have to stay where they are.
Invisalign clear aligners can be taken out whenever you need. They have to stay on your teeth for almost the whole day, but when it’s time to eat, you can pop them out and eat what you want. Then clean your teeth and pop them back in.
Call Lakewood Dental Centre today at 204-977-8515 or use our online form to schedule your first appointment for Invisalign clear aligners. Although they are smooth and there’s no metal, the Invisalign results will compare to those you’d get with braces. Straight teeth without wires or metal brackets? That’s something adults can get behind.
Why do you sometimes have bad breath? It could be because of something you ate, but chronic bad breath (also called halitosis) is a sign of gum disease. If not treated, this dental condition can lead to swollen gums and even lost teeth.
Call our Winnipeg, MB dental office today at 204-977-8515, you can make an appointment for a thorough dental exam. If you do have gum disease, you can get nonsurgical gum disease treatments that can help keep your gums healthy.
Years of dark foods and drinks like coffee and tea can leave tiny stains behind on your teeth. The same is true for cigarettes. Because these stains are so small, you don’t notice any change at first. But years later, and it’s clear that your smile is now dark and dingy.
Call our Winnipeg, MB dental office at 204-977-8515 to get your bright smile back with professional teeth whitening. Our dentists are trained in three teeth whitening systems: Zoom, Opalescence, and KöR. All three are cosmetic dentistry treatments that will remove stains on your teeth so your smile is bright again.
Going to the dentist’s office can make some people anxious. Even if you don’t have dental anxiety, it can still be hard to imagine what might need to be done.
By calling our Winnipeg, MB dental office today at 204-977-8515, you can make an appointment with a dental team that is warm, friendly, and pleasant. Whether you need a regular dental exam or something more involved like cosmetic dentistry, our Winnipeg dental team is here to help you feel welcome and relaxed.
If you are missing a tooth, you shouldn’t ignore it. It might be tempting to just live with that gap in your smile, but that’s a bad idea for a few reasons. It certainly doesn’t look good, but it can also lead to crooked teeth and a deteriorating jawbone.
Call our Winnipeg, MB dental office today at 204-977-8515 to make an appointment for a dental implant. This long-lasting dental restoration replaces a lost tooth with a durable replacement that makes your smile complete again.
What Is A Dental Implant?
Simply put, a dental implant is a tooth replacement. It’s used when you’ve lost a tooth due to gum disease, sports injury, or a needed dental extraction. It has three components:
- An artificial root made from titanium.
- A dental crown that serves as your replacement tooth.
- An abutment that securely connects the two.
The dental implant procedure is fairly routine. First, you’ll receive a thorough exam to make sure your jawbone under that spot is healthy enough to hold an implant. Then our dentists partner with a specialist in 3D imaging for the proper placement of the implanted artificial root. Finally, the replacement tooth will be connected to the root.
Why is there an abutment between the tooth and root? If you ever damage your replacement tooth, it can be replaced without having to remove the implanted root.
A Lucky Accident Made Them Possible
Believe it or not, the idea of dental implants is very old. Archeologists discovered evidence that the Mayans used shells and crystals as primitive implants for lost teeth. Most likely, they had a problem with getting the implant to stay in the jawbone.
That was solved by accident by a scientist researching how bones work. To study how blood flowed through bones, he had surgically implanted some tiny titanium rods in a rabbit’s leg bone. After collecting the data he needed, he tried removing the rods — but discovered they had fused with the bone. No other metal reacts that way.
After some more research into this lucky accident, dentists started making artificial tooth roots out of titanium. This allowed the dental implant to fuse with the bone, giving it a similar strength and stability to your natural teeth.
How Dental Implants Can Benefit You
The biggest reason you can benefit from a dental implant is by giving you a complete smile. But what does that specifically mean for you?
Dental implants can make it easier to chew and talk clearly.
This depends on what tooth is missing. If you have lost one of your back teeth, you could have trouble using molars to grind up your food. If you’re missing a front tooth, you could have difficulty tearing apart your food. Plus, you use some of your front teeth to pronounce words. Missing one of those could make it harder for people to understand you.
That’s where a dental implant can help. It replaces the lost tooth so you can chew and talk like you did before it went missing.
Dental implants help keep your jawbone healthy.
Whenever you chew, pressure from that goes down the roots of your teeth and into your jawbone. This provides a stimulation that helps keep the bone tissue there from deteriorating. When you lost a tooth, you also lost its root — and the stimulation that traveled down it. That means your jawbone can start to weaken.
Because dental implants include an artificial root, you can stimulate your bone tissues when you chew again. This can prevent bone deterioration in your jaw.
Dental implants can last 20 years.
No dental restoration lasts forever. Even cavities often need to be replaced after so many years. That said, a dental implant lasts a long time. Many people keep using their dental implant without a problem for 20 years or so. That translates into fewer trips to the dentist’s office for a new dental restoration.
Call Lakewood Dental Centre today at 204-977-8515 or use our online form to schedule your next appointment for a dental implant. After all, your teeth do not grow back. If you have lost one, you can enjoy these benefits and more with a dental implant.
What starts out as a small, hairline cracks can eventually grow big enough to threaten your tooth. Plus, harmful bacteria can slip through a crack and infect the inside of your tooth. Ignoring these problems is often a bad idea.
That’s why you should call our Winnipeg, MB dental office today at 204-977-8515 and schedule an appointment to get a dental crown. These restorative dentistry treatments can do more than just seal up cracked teeth. They can strengthen teeth worn down by teeth grinding, replace missing teeth in dental bridges and dental implants, and more.