Ten Great Dental Resolutions for the New Year

When was the last time you managed to keep a New Year’s resolution? Most of us would be lucky to keep just one. I believe the key to sticking to a goal is picking one that is both reasonable and attainable. If you haven’t yet picked a NewYear’s resolution, consider setting one that will improve your oral health!

For example, resolve to brush three times and floss once a day. Good oral hygiene only takes a few minutes a day, and can make a big difference in your oral health and overall health too! I have listed a few oral health-themed resolutions for you and your family.

1.    Stop eating sweet snacks! Although we all crave sweets, snacking on them definitely makes us predisposed to tooth decay. Constantly dosing yourself with sucrose tends to expose your teeth  to a more acidic environment since the bacteria coating your teeth easily metabolize sucrose. Acids are a byproduct of their metabolism.

2.    Have at least two dental cleanings a year. I find that the majority of patients, although they mean to, actually do not achieve this goal. It turns out that on the average they have about one cleaning every 8-10 months. For this reason, I advocate scheduling our patients recall appointments with my hygienist immediately after their cleaning, while they are still in the chair. Although many patients prefer a six month call to remind them that it is time, this practice is more likely to result in cleanings scheduled less frequently than every six months.

3.    Go ahead and restore that tooth that your dentists keeps reminding you to crown. Why wait until it starts hurting? Although few patients look forward to having a crown done, procrastinating is not a good idea. With our Cerec technology, crown procedures are more comfortable and completed in one appointment!!

4.     Stop chewing on hard things that can result in chipped or cracked teeth. Chewing on ice cubes, bones, hard candies, pens, pipe stems or finger nails can definitely damage your teeth.

5.    Stop smoking!!!! Aside from the obvious health problems associated with smoking, it's bad for the health and appearance of your teeth. Smoking is associated with bad breath, yellowing of teeth, staining of teeth, periodontal disease and oral cancer.

6.    Start using a good electric tooth brush. Although many people feel that a standard tooth brush is all they need, most benefit from using a good electric model. Most require less time and technique to do a thorough job.

7.    Although most people would benefit from wearing a night gurard, few choose to wear one. As a dentist practicing for 20 years,  I see a majority of patients experiencing wear and chipping of their teeth associated with bruxism, also called grinding of teeth. Most are unaware of this activity, which occurs while you sleep, but wear patterns of anterior teeth are a definite tell-tale sign of this night-time activity. If your anterior teeth are displaying wear at the edges  most likely a night guard would be beneficial.

8.    If you have whitened your teeth more than a year ago then its time to perform a touch up. These can easily be performed in an hour or two if you have a set of custom whitening trays or come into our office and we can schedule a whitening after a regular cleaning using our 20-minute Sinsational Smile system.   

9.     Start cleaning the plaque from between your teeth. Forty percent of tooth surfaces are not cleaned by brushing alone. Using floss, stimudents  or a small interdent brush will clean the areas that your brush misses. You can also use a Waterpik appliance that will tend to reduce the amount bacteria found in crevicular fluid. Reducing plaque between your teeth will definitely lessen gingival inflammation and give your gums a healthier appearance.

10. Improve your smile. Although this sounds like a blatant plug for cosmetic dentistry I truly believe it is not without merit. I have witnessed the change in patients after having some minor cosmetic modifications of the their anterior teeth. Once whatever was making them self conscious about their smile is fixed they seem to smile more easily and more frequently. There are plenty of articles proposing that happy people are probably healthier. Stress and worry can cause us to lose sleep, weaken our immune systems and develop health problems. If having an attractive smile encourages us to smile more then just possibly we will experience more happiness. If minor tooth movement, whitening or minor bonding might help, why not go ahead and treat yourself to a better smile this year.