Parents understand that teen years present unique challenges. When it comes to your teen’s dental health, rapid changes occur almost daily. Collaborating with our team at Elite Dental Art can help you and your teen navigate dental challenges.

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It’s easy to ignore, but a little bit of tooth decay or gum disease usually leads to a little bit more. However, one thing is certain. If left untreated, it almost always results in pain, emergency treatment, and tooth loss.

So why does this happen?

Do I Have an Infection?

Millions of bacteria are present in our mouths. Most of them are harmless, and many are beneficial. But a few love nothing more than eating away at our mouth’s hard and soft tissues. Like all living creatures, they need an energy source. Sugars are their food of choice, and they use simple carbohydrates from our diet to manufacture energy.

Like all living creatures, they also produce waste. These acidic wastes deposited on the teeth erode the hard surfaces, weaken the enamel, and form holes known as cavities.

Some bacteria produce a toxic waste that causes bleeding gums and destroys the bone around the teeth. This is called periodontal disease. Periodontal disease is the leading reason people lose their teeth and end up with dentures.

Most infections can be cured with antibiotics, but mouth bacteria require a different approach. Regular checkups and cleanings help us find new cavities and remove plaque and tartar that harbor millions of harmful bacteria. High-risk patients will especially benefit from a customized dental treatment strategy with our team. We have many methods to strengthen weakened enamel that has not yet developed into decay.

The complex cycle of inflammation and infection extends beyond the gums and mouth. In fact, research continues to uncover the many ways that our oral health affects the overall health of our bodies, including heart health. Our oral health can influence medical conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, and even some types of cancer.

For example, mouth bacteria enter the bloodstream through inflamed and bleeding gums. Like a river, blood flow carries the bacteria to the small vessels of the heart and brain. Here, they can damage the intricate vessel lining, leading to blockage of the vessel. A heart attack or stroke can even result from bleeding gums.

Tips For Maintaining Dental Health:

• Brush for at least two minutes twice a day and floss at least once a day: It sounds like a long time, but it makes a real difference. Consider buying an electric toothbrush with a built-in timer or set the timer on your phone. If you don’t like to floss, consider toothpicks, proxabrushes, or a Waterpik.

• Rinse your toothbrush thoroughly and replace it every three months: Bacteria linger on your toothbrush, finding their way back into the mouth the next time you brush.

• Drink sugary liquids through a straw: A straw helps keep sugar from bathing the teeth directly before swallowing.

• Drink water after eating a meal: Water helps clean larger deposits of food from your teeth. Plus, we all could use more hydration!

• Get cavities treated immediately: Cavities rarely hurt until they reach a critical stage. And don’t forget: a little bit of tooth decay usually becomes a little bit more.

• See your hygienist every six months: The risk of critical dental problems diminishes significantly if you’re visiting us twice a year. Patients who fit preventive dentistry into their schedule typically enjoy fewer dental visits and expenses over time than those who wait for emergencies to develop.

Our goal is for our patients to require the least amount of dental treatment possible. Children who enter adulthood with the fewest restored teeth generally have the lowest risk of future problems.

Sealants can dramatically reduce the number of cavities a child might develop throughout their childhood. On the chewing surface of molars, deep grooves run into the center of the teeth. Under a microscope, these crevices might look like a deep canyon. In reality, most of them are narrower than a single toothbrush bristle, but that is still wide enough for bacteria to hide. It’s easy to see how cavities can form in such a perfect hideout.

If the grooves in permanent molars are sealed at a young age, the risk of decay decreases dramatically. Fortunately, this procedure can be done quickly and without any discomfort or anesthesia. The sealant material creates a smooth surface, filling in the grooves and making the biting surface more manageable for little hands to keep clean. A resin material is flowed over the grooves and is sealed quickly with a blue curing light. Within a few minutes, your child’s teeth are protected against cavities.

Sealants only last a few years and may need to be repaired or replaced periodically. However, research confirms a 90% reduction in tooth decay along the chewing surface in sealed molars. This cost-effective, simple step may help your child enter adulthood with fewer fillings.