Williamsburg Dental Blog

Work is busy. You do a good job of oral hygiene at home. You have kid activities and errands. It’s not convenient now, so you’ll get to it later. You can come up with a hundred excuses for skipping a dental cleaning appointment, but this choice comes from poor judgment.

Try as you may, you likely won’t be able to catch every little piece of food debris and white, sticky plaque even when you brush and floss diligently. Within hours of eating, the plaque hardens and adheres to your teeth, and it becomes quite difficult to remove it on your own, which means you need a professional’s help! What can happen if you miss your regular cleaning appointment? Plenty!

When you speak, your brain clearly controls your mouth. It tells you what to say and how you feel. However, did you know that your mouth can have a profound impact on your brain? As one of the most common diseases in the world, advanced gum disease afflicts around 50 percent of the adult population over the age of 30 in the United States, and it is the leading cause of adult tooth loss worldwide. Although ignoring this “minor” mouth infection may be tempting, you put your mental and overall health at risk. Keep reading to learn how poor oral health can mess with your brain and lead to negative thoughts and feelings.

As the sixth most common kind, oral cancer doesn’t receive much public attention overall. While not as prevalent, this type comes with a high mortality rate: a little less than half of diagnosed patients will live longer than five more years. This morbid fact exists, not because cancer has not been adequately researched, but because it is often discovered in more advanced stages—when treatment comes too late.

Like other types, early detection of oral cancer can substantially increase the chances of survival. When you understand who is at a higher risk of oral cancer, you can keep a sharper eye out for signs like red or white scaly soft tissue, lumps or bumps, sores that don’t heal, and other irregularities in and around the mouth. Here are groups who should be extra diligent and see their dentist often to be screened for oral cancer.

When do you need to wear a sports mouthguard? Perhaps the answer seems obvious—when you play football, rugby, or hockey. Or when you practice martials arts, wrestling, or boxing. In these scenarios, you predict you’ll be struck in the face at some point, and it’s smart to prepare for it with an impact-absorbing appliance to protect your teeth. Otherwise, you could lose teeth in your smile and have a lot of pain! Other than these more obvious situations, what are other sports where you should wear a mouthguard? Keep reading to find out!

You can’t see them directly. You can’t feel them either, but you may notice the significant effects they have if you don’t maintain control. In a small space such as your mouth, it’s hard to believe you have around 700 species of microbes, but you do!

Before you panic, remember that there are both good and bad bacteria. Some can help with digestion, fight harmful microbes in your food, and perform other beneficial roles. Then again, others can cause infection or decay and permanently damage your smile as well as affect your general health. To learn more about these bacteria and how to keep them in check, read the information below!

Within the human body, no material is stronger than enamel, the outside layer of teeth. This ultra-thin shield, unlike bones, cannot heal itself, and yet, after baby teeth have come out, you get just one set to last your entire lifetime. How can enamel last that long? What is it made of? What can make enamel prematurely fail or wear down? What can you do to help your natural teeth go the distance? To learn the answers, keep reading the information below.

As a consumer, you have many decisions to make. Should you go with a professional-grade product or a more basic one you can buy over the counter. Many factors go into your choices, and sometimes the answer varies person to person. When it comes to selecting a nightguard for your mouth, understanding the differences between professional and commercial can help you identify the right one for you. Keep reading to learn why you would need one of these appliances and the advantages of both options.

When you think of someone who shows their advanced age, you probably imagine their white hair, wrinkles, and bags under their eyes. However, signs of aging aren’t always so obvious; subtle indications can point to a higher age, even if you don’t have the traditional clues. In fact, your smile can either help or hurt your perceived age, especially if you grind your teeth, making you look younger or older than you really are! Learn how this little habit can alter your appearance in the content below.

Whether the craziness of the holiday season is getting to you, or you simply have a lot on your plate on a regular basis, chronic stress can do more than just affect your mental health in the long term. In fact, you may notice unpleasant symptoms in your mouth because of your stress levels. What are these oral health problems, and what can you do about them? Continue reading to learn the answers!

In some situations, you can easily tell when your child has entered an emergency. A broken bone, a cut needing stitches, or something improperly ingested merits a trip to the emergency room. However, sometimes with dental emergencies, the lines are not so clearly demarcated. For instance, what should you do if your child has sensitive teeth? Does this even count as a dental emergency or a serious dental issue for little kids? In this post, you’ll learn how to manage this scenario and assist your child.