Brighten up Your Smile

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Between 5% and 8% of Americans avoid dentists out of fear.  A higher percentage, perhaps 20%, is apprehensive enough that they will go to the dentist only when they have a problem.  About two-thirds of these individuals connect their fear to a previous bad experience in the dentist’s office.  (webmd.com)

Studies show that dental anxiety is not so much worrying about pain as it is the lack of control of the situation that nervous patients perceive when in the dental chair.  This feeling of helplessness can trigger a “fight-or-flight” physiological response, and, for some patients, the fear becomes overwhelming.  ( Some patients even experience this feeling just walking into a dental office.)

Suggestions to Help Ease Your Dental Fears

Understanding “why” dental anxiety occurs can help.  Even so, we know it is sometimes easier said than done to “talk yourself into it” – this is where we come in!  A few tips that we have seen work with other patients:

• Get to know us -  It sometimes helps to meet me and my team prior to having any treatment completed.  We can schedule a brief introductory appointment in which we just sit together for a chat in our conference room, away from the clinical area.  In this meeting, I can learn more about your dental history and offer options to make you completely at ease while in our care.
• Bring along a friend or family member that is comfortable with seeing the dentist.  Having someone you trust close by is sometimes helpful and reassuring during treatment.
• Use distraction to your advantage.  Bring along your MP3 player or IPOD and listen to music during treatment  (One tip is to listen to music that you have never heard before, so you are more focused on the new music than your surroundings.)
• Try relaxation techniques, such as controlled, deep breathing or muscle group focus exercises, in which you consciously tighten and relax muscles to ease body tension.
• Ask questions about your dental treatment.  We make it a priority to help our patients fully understand their care.  This is very beneficial to all patients, and has proven especially helpful for individuals that are apprehensive about dental procedures  -  knowledge puts you in control.
• Talk with us about sedation options for dentistry, in which we can help you achieve a fully relaxed state to accomplish the dental treatment you need without fear.

Sedation Dentistry at Northside Dental of Newnan

Sedation Dentistry offers the option of having dental procedures completed in-office in a state of deep relaxation using prescribed oral anti-anxiety medication, or in some cases, in-office IV sedation.

Dr. Galbo has been administering sedation for 20 years and holds a State of Georgia sedation permit.

Read more:  http://www.northsidedentalofnewnan.com/sedation.html

and watch a video about Sedation Dentistry

http://www.northsidedentalofnewnan.com/videos-sedation.html

We invite you to Contact Us if you or a loved one is fearful of visiting the dentist – we can help!

It’s time for your End of Year Check-up!

Did you know that most dental insurance plans “start over” on January 1st?  Many Health Flex Spending Accounts are also a yearly ”use it or lose it” benefit.

If you have dental treatment needs, we can help you with a strategy to get the most from your coverage.

Contact Us Today to take advantage of these important benefits!

We want you to have a healthy, beautiful smile for a lifetime!  Following are a few dental care tips for you and your family:

1. We recommend that our patients brush two to three times per day and floss at least once a day.  Flossing is super-important!  Cleaning between the teeth helps prevent cavities and gum disease.  A few tips:

Make flossing fun – play a game with your kids and find the “coolest place to floss” - we have seen some great photos of folks flossing while standing on top of a mountain, in a fishing boat, or sitting in a deer stand. (Feel free to send these to us for our office Facebook page!)

Don’t rush when you brush - mentally sing the “happy birthday song” 3 times and make sure you brush each tooth on the top and sides, and gently brush your tongue to get your mouth squeaky clean.

Bedtime is the most important time to thoroughly clean your teeth.  The body’s systems slow down and give oral bacteria an undisturbed environment to multiply. Brush and floss thoroughly each night before turning in to reduce bacteria levels. 

2.  Eat healthy foods and avoid processed sugars. Avoid habits such as sucking mints or chewing sugary gum all day. This type of constant exposure fosters the processes that lead to tooth decay.  Sugar free gum and mints containing Xylitol®, which studies show may actually help inhibit the growth of oral bacteria, are better choices.

 Sugar is not the only culprit – even carbonated beverages that are sugar-free contain acids, which, with frequent exposure, can break down tooth structure and cause tooth erosion.  This can also lead to cavities or extreme tooth sensitivity.

 3.  Stay on schedule for your routine preventive visits.  Dr. Galbo will perform an examination and take necessary xrays to help address any problems early.  Be sure to ask about fluoride treatments and dental sealants to help protect your teeth.

 4.  When in doubt, call us!  Unlike other parts of the body, aches and pains with your teeth and jaw joints don’t occur just because of normal fatigue, and we typically don’t recover from dental troubles the way we get over a cold in a few days. 

Dental symptoms, such as pain on biting or chewing, or bleeding gums, should be addressed early to avoid bigger problems (and costs) that are inevitable if treatment is delayed for too long. 

Studies show that a healthy smile helps boost our level of confidence in our interactions in our social and business relationships.  We all need a smile that we feel good about when meeting a new customer or going into a job interview!

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, sports-related dental injuries account for more than 600,000 emergency room visits each year (www.cdc.gov). 

As we approach the fall sports season, we want to raise awareness about protecting the smiles of aspiring athletes.   As important as a helmet, shielding your teeth from impact trauma can help prevent painful injuries and costly emergency treatment.

 Teeth are tough -  but not THAT tough…

Teeth are designed to bite together in alignment and grind side-to-side as they work in unison to create powerful chewing forces.  They are, however, vulnerable to blows that strike the facial aspect, or front of the tooth. 

 - When you receive a blow to the mouth, be it due to human contact, a fall or encountering a hard object such as a fast-moving baseball, the teeth receive a jolt they are not prepared for.

 - Depending on the angle of the blow, teeth may break.  But, even if they don’t break, the nerves and blood vessels that keep the tooth vital and firmly in place may become severely “bruised”.  Often this results in permanent damage, requiring root canal and crown procedures to repair and save the tooth. 

 Speaking of hard objects…

In facial trauma, teeth can become an unyielding hard surface.  Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the human body – when the soft tissue of the lips and face hit the teeth, you get a “split lip”.   For patients with orthodontic wires and brackets, this can be a double-whammy.

Other Injuries

Not to use scare tactics, but even more serious injuries are possible:  In addition to broken teeth, a hard blow to the mouth and teeth can cause jaw fractures, with potential complications that include cerebral hemorrhage, concussion or neck injuries if the lower jaw gets jammed into the upper jaw.

Sports Mouthguards

We recommend the use of a sports mouthguard, a flexible appliance that is worn in athletic and recreational activities to help protect teeth from trauma. Mouthguards typically are worn over the upper teeth.  They act as a spacer between the teeth and soft tissue of the cheeks and lips; this helps prevent laceration and bruising, especially for those who wear orthodontic appliances.  They may also reduce the severity and incidence of related concussions in head trauma.

In what sports should I wear a mouthguard?

Anytime there is a chance for contact with other players or hard surfaces, it is a good idea to wear a mouthguard.  Athletes who participate in basketball, softball, football, hockey, wrestling, soccer, lacrosse, in-line skating and martial arts, as well as recreational sports such as skateboarding and bicycling, should wear mouthguards while engaged in these activities.

Fit Matters…

With any mouth appliance, if it is not well-fitted, it can impair breathing and speech.  And, if a blow to the face occurs, an ill-fitting mouthguard may become dislodged and thus become ineffective.

 Types of Mouthguards:

Over-the-Counter Mouthguards.  These come in a few varieties, the standard stock, non-fitted version being the least effective. “Boil and bite” mouthguards are designed to be warmed in hot water and fitted in the mouth by pressing the softened acrylic to mold it to the teeth; the acrylic is then set by running cool water over the guard.  It can be very difficult to achieve a proper fit with these products.

Custom-fitted Mouthguards.  These are designed by a dentist specifically to fit your mouth.  Because they are custom, it is possible to achieve a much better fit than over-the-counter types.  And, you guessed it, because fit is perhaps the most important factor, this is the type of mouthguard that we recommend. 

While custom mouthguards do cost more than the stock products, they are still quite affordable.  We work with a dental laboratory to fabricate our custom mouthguards; these can be constructed for moderate or heavy contact and provide the greatest level of protection.

Over-consumption of acidic beverages such as sodas, sports drinks and some box juice products can increase the potential for dental erosion, which leaves tooth surfaces weakened and more susceptible to bacteria that cause tooth decay.

In recent years, the American Academy of Pediatrics has cautioned parents about energy and sports drinks:

“Sports drinks, which contain carbohydrates, minerals, electrolytes and flavoring are designed to replace water and electrolytes lost through sweating during exercise.  Sports drinks can be helpful for young athletes engaged in prolonged, vigorous physical activities, but in most cases they are unnecessary on the sports field or in the school lunchroom.

Caffeine, a common ingredient in energy drinks, has been linked to a number of harmful health effects in children, including effects on the developing neurologic and cardiovascular systems. Energy drinks are never appropriate for children or adolescents, said Dr. Benjamin and co-author Marcie Beth Schneider, M.D.  In general, caffeine-containing beverages, including soda, should be avoided.”

By far, the most common recommendation for parents and athletes is to drink water before, during and after sports activities.

References

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2516950/

http://www.uiowa.edu/~c090247/Study_Guide.pdf

Dental Implants offer a solution to replace missing teeth like no other – these small surgical cylinders function as an artificial tooth root, which Dr. Galbo restores with a crown to create a natural-looking result.

Patients with dentures can also benefit from dental implants – dentures can be designed to lock into dental implants placed in the arch, giving the patient greater stability and allowing them to eat and enjoy food that may have been difficult to chew before dental implants were placed.

Watch our educational videos about dental implants:

Implant Support for Dentures

    Dental Implant Video  

CEREC

 The dental profession is evolving, and so should your experience. New technology helps diagnose problems earlier, allowing dentists to treat problems sooner and with less invasive techniques. Our office has invested in CEREC^® restoration technology, which allows Dr. Galbo to complete ceramic crowns, veneers, inlays or onlays in one appointment.  Using an optical impression of the damaged tooth, we can eliminate the messy and uncomfortable process of taking a physical impression. 

 A crown in a single visit?  Yes! Your custom restoration is engineered using CAD/CAM technology in our office while you wait, requiring no return visit.  The milled restoration is extremely precise, very durable and made with bio-compatible tooth-colored material, so no metal discoloration of that pearly white smile!  In addition, the procedure allows Dr. Galbo to treat patients more conservatively, as modern bonding techniques allow more healthy tooth structure to be saved.

 So, now you can get back to the more important things in life.  And smile on your way.

Watch the CEREC® video: 

Did you know?  Studies across the country cite dental problems as one of the main reasons children miss school. 

We see children of all ages, and recommend that they visit us at least twice a year for a routine checkup with necessary xrays so that Dr. Galbo can detect problems early.  Preventive care, such as cleanings, fluoride treatments and dental sealants can help protect your child’s teeth and will help them maintain their oral health as they grow up.

Help us spread the word about Oral Health!  We invite Teachers, Day Care Centers or Parent groups to contact us for Dental Health lectures during dental health month or throughout the year.