Smile with Confidence: A Comprehensive Guide to Dental Health and Care

Tag: dental checkup

family in dental office

How Young Is Too Young for a First Dental Visit?

Babies don’t need to see dentists, right? After all, they don’t even have teeth! Actually, babies do need dental checkups, and in many cases, the sooner the better. Okay, so you don’t have to grab baby and run to the dentist as soon as you get home from the hospital. However, it’s important to know that you also shouldn’t wait until your baby has her teeth before you schedule her first appointment. In fact, according to the American Dental Association (ADA), you can schedule your baby’s first dental visit as soon as you see that first little tooth surfacing. This event typically occurs before her first birthday. Here’s more information from dentists in South Orange that is especially helpful for new parents about baby’s first teeth, how to care for baby’s mouth, and when to whisk your little one off for her first dental checkup.

How to Choose a Dentist

For those who are searching for a new dentist, choosing the right one is a very important decision when it comes to oral healthcare. A dentist can help a patient maintain the health of their teeth and gums, while also renewing their smile and confidence. Here are some helpful steps on how to choose a dentist today.

Perform Adequate Research

Research may be as simple as asking friends, family, neighbors, or a primary care physician for referrals or it could include in-depth, independent research online. When using the internet to search for the best dentist in the area, spend ample time scouring the internet. Here are a few places to start:

How to Choose a Dentist

It may have been a while since the last dental appointment and a number of different factors could have occurred between that time and now to make it necessary to choose a new dental provider.  Relocation, changes in medical insurance, or simply because of personal preferences it may be time to choose a new dentist.  But what is the best way to pick a top dentist near you?  Here are a few steps to follow when choosing the best dentist to meet any patient’s needs.

How to Keep Teeth Healthy as You Age

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful older people are works of art.” How true! If you care for yourself, mind, body, and spirit, you just might live to be a hundred… without looking it. So how do you go about caring for yourself in order to age gracefully? How about starting with your teeth? Did you know that, if not properly cared for, your teeth can make you look older even more than your skin? In a recent survey on perception of age, participants were shown photos of adults ages 40 to 90. When asked how old they thought the people in the pictures were, those with bad teeth were thought to be as much as 20 years older than they actually were in reality! But a younger, more attractive appearance isn’t the only reason to keep your teeth healthy as you age. It’s also been learned in recent medical studies that tooth decay may be directly linked to some medical conditions, including heart disease and diabetes. That’s why dental offices recommend the following tips for keeping your teeth healthy as you move from one stage of your life into the next.

The First Cavity

All parents dreams of perfect dental checkups for their children. Every time you send your child off to the dentist, you hope to hear that all-important phrase, “Look, Ma, no cavities!” Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world, and that means that your child may, at times, return from a visit to the dentist with news of one or more cavities. So what do you do when you hear those words… ‘I have a cavity’… for the first time? Is there anything you, as a parent, can do about this cavity, or anything you can do to prevent the next one? The good news about cavities is that they’re virtually always preventable. And, yes, there is a lot you, as a parent, can do to help your child’s next and subsequent dental checkups be cavity-free. Here are some tips from dentists about cavities, how to react to your child’s first cavity, and concrete steps that you, as a parent, can take to prevent further cavities.

Teeth and Aging

Getting older can be challenging, especially considering all the health problems that can accompany this time of life. All too often, as we age, we begin to feel aches and pains that we never had before. We sometimes find we can’t do the things we used to, or at least we can’t do them with the speed or zeal we once did. But with all the challenges thrown at us as our bodies age, whoever considered their teeth would age too? Unfortunately, it’s true. Your teeth age just as the rest of your body does. In fact, as the health of your teeth goes, often so goes the health of the rest of your body. Recent studies have shown a link between the health of the teeth and the overall health of some of the body’s other functions, such as the cardiac system. So what can you do about this fact of life? Is there even anything that can be done to slow the aging process of your teeth? Top dental offices have answers to these and other questions about teeth and aging.