When you hear the word sedative, what comes to mind? You may think about being knocked out for a medical procedure or becoming comatose or delirious with medication. But not all sedatives have this kind of effect on you.

For dental care, nitrous oxide doesn’t make you unconscious—you stay awake the entire time you receive it. It is a gentler sedative, which means it will not put you to sleep. However, that doesn’t mean it’s ineffective. Keep reading to learn how nitrous oxide works and why you should seriously think about getting it for your next dental appointment.

As a young adult, you may think you’re invincible, that nothing bad can touch you—until you get to the dentist’s office. The team tells you that your wisdom teeth, or third molars, are impacted, which means they are at an angle, instead of being vertically straight. Your dentist strongly recommends removing them before they cause problems.

But what kinds of bad things can impacted wisdom teeth lead to? What kinds of issues will extraction prevent? Learn the answers in the post below.

After having a severe toothache, you’re more than ready to be done with treatment and get back to normal life. Your dentist has put a crown on your tooth, but that’s not necessarily the end of the story! It doesn’t mean you can do anything with that crown right away. To learn more about the aftercare for dental crowns, keep reading the information below.

Did you know that human eyes can perceive over one million colors? Your eyes are undoubtedly remarkable, but they can sometimes trick you. Optical illusions can make something look one way even if reality is quite different. Companies regularly manipulate images or videos to do this all the time, but even everyday people can use certain tricks to improve their appearance.

For example, most people want to give the impression that they have white teeth because this color implies that teeth are clean, young, and vibrant. But there is a sneaky way to make your pearly whites appear even brighter! If you wear lipstick, you can put on certain shades either to give the illusion of a perfectly white grin or to put it on full display.

If you go onto TikTok, you can find people from all walks of life sharing their stories in short clips. Among these endless videos are attractive adults in their 30s or 40s taking out their dentures and showing off toothless smiles. It isn’t every day that you see someone young with dentures, right? Isn’t tooth loss an “old people thing”?

The truth is that about 120 million people in the US are missing at least one tooth, and 36 million have no natural teeth left at all—and not all of them are seniors! Modern dentures are much more subtle, comfortable, and lifelike than they used to be. Adults of any age could be wearing dentures without your knowledge. Keep reading to learn how this stigma can affect younger adults and why tooth loss really happens.

After waiting for several weeks and a few fittings, you finally receive your new dentures! They’re beautiful and fit really well, and you love that you now have a complete smile again. In your excitement, you don’t ever want to take them out!

However, you will need to remove them. In fact, they should be out of your mouth for between six and eight hours per day. Usually patients take them out right before bed, put them in a glass or cup of water, and put them back in the next morning. But why is this time important? Here are three reasons you must take this step every day.

You never want to go through this pain ever again. Your aching tooth is keeping you from eating, from sleeping, from functioning as you normally would. Treatment is just a phone call away to your dentist, but you hesitate because you don’t want to go through more pain after root canal therapy.

But you don’t need to suffer! You shouldn’t really feel pain after the procedure. Keep reading to learn how this treatment can relieve your discomfort and take care of the problem for good.

Replacing missing teeth can be a life-changing process. Not only can your nutrition and diet improve dramatically but your confidence and quality of life can significantly rise as well! However, some denture wearers fall into bad habits, which can negatively affect your dentures and your mouth. In this post, you’ll learn what some of these bad habits are and how to avoid them.

One day, after you’ve finished brushing your teeth, you notice that your gums look swollen and darker than usual. In other words, they are slightly irritated and inflamed. How did this happen?

Understanding the potential causes can help you know what to do to address this problem, so keep reading to learn four ways that you can disrupt and disturb gums.

Gum disease—at first it may not seem like a huge deal, but when you look at the facts, it can be downright frightening. About half of adults over the age of 30 have untreated gum disease, which is the leading cause of tooth loss. Those who have this pervasive condition are two to three times more likely to experience a cardiovascular event like a heart attack or stroke. Countless studies have brought to light undeniable links between gum disease and other serious and potentially life-threatening diseases.

So how can you prevent or treat this condition before it wreaks havoc on your smile and your body? Although professional help through cleanings and periodontal therapy is required, you can do your part through your diet choices. Below are foods and drinks that actually help fight gum disease!