Tips to Save Your Teeth For a Lifetime

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Wouldn’t it be nice if you could keep your teeth and gums healthy for your entire lifetime? There are many cosmetic dental treatments available for issues ranging from missing teeth to discolored teeth; but it’s almost always easier to use preventive measures to take great care of your natural teeth. Here are some tips to save your teeth for a lifetime!

Visit the Dentist Regularly

Your dentist isn’t just the professional you turn to when something goes wrong. You should also make a practice of visiting the dentist on a routine basis. During every visit, the dentist performs an oral exam to see if there are any developing problems. If your dentist sees anything amiss, they will work to nip the problem in the bud so you don’t risk permanent teeth damage. Of all the tips on this list, visiting the dentist regularly is the most important!

 

Avoid Sugar

Professionals know with absolute certainty that bacteria consume sugar for survival. The more sugar you consume, the greater the population of bacteria in your mouth. Bacteria rot your teeth over time, so it’s crucial for dental health to do everything in your power to control bacteria levels. If you avoid sugar, you’ll be setting yourself up for a lifetime of healthy teeth. This includes avoiding sugary drinks like alcohol, too. Keep sugary snacks to a minimum or avoid them altogether.

 

Floss Teeth

Even after brushing, small food particles can remain in your mouth, between teeth. If you’ve ever had something stuck in between your teeth, you know how easily this happens. Flossing helps to get rid of those smaller food particles that brushing leaves behind. If you want to avoid tooth loss in the future, make a habit of flossing after each meal. This will go a long way toward ensuring your teeth last a lifetime.

 

Use ADA-approved Products

There are many tooth care products on the market, but they are not all equal in quality and effectiveness. To ensure you’re using the correct toothpastes, rinses and brushes, use only ADA-approved products. It’s easy to spot them; you’ll see the ADA label on anything that’s approved.

These are the best ways to take care of your teeth so they last as long as you need them. For more tips, talk to your professional dentist.

 

Diabetes and Your Smile | Important Things to Know

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It is estimated that just over 10 percent of the American population is living with diabetes. Being diagnosed with diabetes means you have a few more health concerns than the general person, and one of those concerns is regarding your oral health. Take a look at some of the things you should know about your smile as a diabetic.

You will need more vigilant attention to oral health.

Having diabetes can mean you are more at risk for a range of oral health problems. Therefore, you will have to be more attentive to your oral health. Regular brushing and flossing, routine visits to the dentist, and careful monitoring of your blood sugar levels can help you maintain a healthier smile.

You could be more prone to tooth loss.

People who are diabetic have been found to lose twice as many teeth as people who are not according to the latest research. Changes in saliva, blood flow, and other bodily functions that affect the mouth can heighten the risks of losing your teeth. Any small issue that you notice should be immediately assessed by your dentist to help prevent your risks of losing teeth due to an issue.

You have to watch out for signs of gum disease.

Gum disease affects a high percentage of adults who have diabetes. Unfortunately, gum disease has a direct link to tooth loss, so it is an oral health issue that you have to be watchful of as a diabetic. Some signs of gum disease to watch for include:

  • Excess bleeding from your gums
  • Discoloration around the gum line
  • Changes in the color of your gums
  • Swelling and inflammation of the gums
  • Foul breath with no explanation

Reach Out to Us for a Dental Checkup in Owensboro, KY

Even though you have diabetes, it does not necessarily mean you have to lose your smile. There are many proactive measures you can take to prevent dental problems, and it starts with keeping your blood sugar levels in check. If you would like to schedule an appointment to get a thorough assessment of the health of your smile, reach out to us at Travis Wilson Family Dentistry in Owensboro, KY.

Spring Is Near | Plan for a New Smile with These Options

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There is no time like spring to do some changes for the betterment of your self-confidence, and your smile is a good place to start. Find out about some of the ways the pros at Travis Wilson Family Dentistry can help transform your smile.

Consider Zoom Whitening for a Brighter Smile

Zoom teeth whitening is a type of teeth whitening that is only offered through qualified dentists. This whitening procedure can remove some surface stains and help brighten the shade of your teeth so you feel assured when you open your mouth and share your happiness. The procedure is simple and ideal for use on most patients who do not have issues with dental sensitivity.

Mend Small Imperfections with Cosmetic Bonding

Cosmetic bonding involves using composite material to fix small imperfections. For example, if you have one tooth that is discolored or if you have a gap between two teeth, the composite material can be used to cover the imperfection to give you a more uniform and aesthetically pleasing smile. These procedures can take place in our office, usually within one visit, and the results can be incredible.

Replace Missing Teeth with Single-Tooth Dental Implants

Single-tooth dental implants are one of the most popular modern solutions for individuals who have lost a permanent tooth. We can help you fill the gap in your smile with a single tooth dental implant if you are a good candidate for the procedure.

Consider a Crown or Bridge to Replace Multiple Teeth

Maybe you had to have a few teeth extracted, and you now have a large gap in your smile at certain points. If so, something like a bridge to replace those gaps could be possible. If you have teeth that have damage, a crown is also something to consider.

Contact Us to Get Your Spring Smile Ready

Your smile is a huge part of who you are as an individual. If you would like to see a smile you feel better about sharing with the world, talk to us at Travis Wilson Family Dentistry. We have a range of cosmetic treatment options available to help you build a more confident smile.

Halloween Candy: Some Varieties Are More Tooth Friendly Than Others

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With Halloween just around the corner, now is a great time to review the best practices when it comes to candy consumption. Candy tastes good, which means it will be extremely difficult to persuade your children into boycotting these delectable treats; instead of a boycott, consider controlling your child’s candy consumption. This can be accomplished in several ways: By choosing the specific times when your child eats his or her candy as well as making suggestions as to the types of candy your child eats. The truth is that some forms of candy have the potential to damage the teeth and create cavities quicker than others.

Why Does Candy Cause Cavities?

Sugar is the major cause of cavity development. The sugar feeds the naturally-occurring bacteria that live in the mouth, the bacteria then release an acid, which attacks the hard, protective coating on the tooth (i.e., enamel). Once the enamel is compromised, the tooth is vulnerable to decay.

What Kinds of Candy Tend to Damage the Teeth Quicker?

Since chewy and sticky candy remains in contact with the teeth for long periods of time, they tend to be more damaging than other types of candy. When a child eats taffy, caramel or fruit-flavored chews, remnants of these candies remain on the surface of and in between the teeth. The longer the sugary substance remains on the teeth, the longer the bacteria have to consume the sugar and create acid. Additional acid means an increase in the likelihood that your child will develop cavities.

Controlling your child’s consumption:

  • Limit your child’s consumption of sour candy — In order to intensify their sour flavor, these candies frequently contain citric acid, which can damage the teeth through erosion and cavity development.
  • Give your child candy that he or she can eat quickly — This limits the amount of time the sugar has contact with his or her teeth.
  • Encourage your children to thoroughly rinse their mouths after they eat any kind of candy — This is a good practice to establish following the consumption of anything (e.g., a meal, beverage or a snack). Once a half-an-hour has passed, your child can go ahead and brush his or her teeth. Your child needs to wait half-an-hour to brush because the enamel on the teeth remains soft for some time after eating and/or drinking.
  • Try to steer your children away from the sticky treats — Avoid gummy candy, popcorn balls, taffy, and caramels.
  • Before you send your little ones out to trick-or-treat, have them eat a good meal — This will make them less likely to fill up on candy while they are out.
  • If you are handing out treats, consider purchasing something other than candy to hand out — Check your local department store. Chances are you will find a variety of fun, non-food Halloween items.

5 Tips to Protect Your Child’s Teeth

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As a parent, you may not automatically know what you need to do to protect your child’s teeth. For instance, it’s very common for parents to ignore the health of children’s teeth until the first permanent teeth come in. This is just one mistake first-time parents make. Here are X tips to protect your child’s teeth.

1. Get an Early Checkup

The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends that your child has their first dentist visit by their first birthday, or within a few months after the appearance of the first “baby” tooth. It’s important to understand that tooth and gum problems can occur this early in life, even before the first baby tooth erupts. To ensure a good start with dental health, get an early checkup.

2. Avoid Sugary Drinks

Try to avoid letting your youngster sip on a baby bottle of juice too frequently. Remember that even purely natural, no sugar added fruit juices contain natural sugars. This bad habit could lead to tooth decay in your child.

3. Teach Good Habits

Children can learn a lot about good dental care by watching their parents. Be a role model for dental health. Let your child watch you brush and floss after each meal. Instruct your child in how to clean their teeth with child-appropriate toothbrushes and toothpaste.

4. Ensure They Wear Protective Mouth Guards

Once your child is old enough to participate in organized sports, make sure your child wears a protective mouthguard. The unexpected physical impact can chip or otherwise damage teeth, but a mouth guard may keep an injury from occurring.

5. Have Issues Treated

If your child has crooked teeth, an overbite or underbite or some other dental issue, have the issue treated as soon as you can. Left untreated, dental issues tend to get worse, not better. Consult with your child’s dentist to learn about available treatment options so you can plan accordingly.

When your child grows to adulthood, their teeth will be their responsibility. In the meantime, you can do a lot to protect your child’s dental health. Use these five tips to help ensure your child enjoys a lifetime of healthy teeth and gums.

 

bad breath

Got Bad Breath? Good Questions to Ask the Dentist

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Medically referred to as halitosis, bad breath affects a number of people, even though many people never share their concerns with other people or their dentist. If you are experiencing breath that makes you self-conscious when you open your mouth, this is an issue you should discuss with your Owensboro dentist. Here are a few questions to ask.

Do you have gum disease?

Gum disease and bad breath can be directly linked, and if you have gum disease like gingivitis, it can mean that the health of your teeth is at risk as well. Gum disease may generate a host of symptoms beyond halitosis, such as:

  • swollen gums
  • receding gums around your teeth
  • red, irritated gums that bleed easily

If you struggle to combat bad breath, make sure to ask your dentist if gum disease could be to blame. If issues with your gums are not addressed, it can make problems with bad breath far harder to control.

Are there products you can use to thwart bad breath issues?

Products with baking soda can help keep poor-smelling breath at bay, mouthwash may offer some relief, and even sugar-free gum can help. However, your dentist may actually prescribe something like a medicated mouthwash specifically formulated to eliminate the germs and bacteria that can cause bad odors. Your dentist may also offer helpful recommendations, such as recommending that you come in for hygiene visits more frequently or switch to a different type of toothpaste.

Is there anything the dentist can do to help with halitosis?

Some people have problems with bad breath due to issues with their teeth. For instance, if your teeth are crowded, it can make it easier for food to get trapped between your teeth, which leads to bacteria in your mouth and more instances of foul-smelling breath. Your dentist may be able to combat some problems through typical dental treatments.

Bad breath can make you self-conscious about how you interact with the world around you, but this issue is not uncommon and you should never e embarrassed about asking for advice. Reach out to us at Travis Wilson Family Dentistry and set an appointment so we can help you out.

Woman holds fingers on her cheek showing toothache

Exploring the Common Causes of Tooth Pain

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When tooth pain comes on suddenly, it can feel so intense and distracting that you can think of little else except feeling better. Irritation or damage to the nerves of a tooth are the most common reasons to experience tooth pain. This type of discomfort can arise from severe tooth decay or one of several other common causes that we explore below.

Tooth Decay

When you have a cavity, the plaque on your teeth converts to bacteria and acid that can erode the outer enamel of your tooth and cause significant pain. Extreme sensitivity occurs once the bacteria succeeds in forming a small hole in your tooth. At the same time, bacteria reaches the soft dentine located in the enamel underneath your tooth. You probably have a mild cavity if you have throbbing pain that comes and goes. Severe sensitivity to touch and temperature usually occurs as the decay gets closer to the dentine layer.

Gum Disease

As gum disease progresses, the gums pull away from the teeth and expose the roots. This can result in significant pain. Before gum disease reaches this point, it can cause discomfort due to chronic inflammation. This can cause a toothache, irritation of the gums, and gum abscess before eventually causing the gums to pull away and expose the roots.

Teeth Grinding

Although this is a common habit, many people don’t realize they do it because it occurs during sleep or during times of great stress. Chronic teeth grinding, also known as bruxism, can cause pain due to the extensive loss of tooth enamel and dentine. It can also cause one or more teeth to chip or fracture. Unfortunately, tooth pain caused by bruxism usually extends to several teeth.

Tooth Sensitivity

For most people, the first sign of tooth sensitivity is pain when consuming a hot or cold beverage or piece of food. You can also trigger sensitivity just by brushing and flossing the affected tooth. This typically occurs due to the exposure of dentine micro-tubules that enable stimulus to reach the roots and nerves of the tooth.

Contact Dr. Travis Wilson as the First Sign of Tooth Pain

With offices conveniently located in Owensboro and Beaver Dam, Kentucky, Dr. Wilson is available to assess and treat your tooth pain promptly. Please contact the office nearest you for an appointment.

Benefits of Dental Implants

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For years, dental implants have remained one of the most popular options for people looking to replace missing or broken teeth and improve their smile. Below, we’ll take a look at what dental implants are and the benefits that they offer to help you decide if dental implants are right for you.

What are Dental Implants?

Dental implants are screw-like components that are placed in your jawbone in a spot where a tooth is missing or has been pulled. After the implants bond to your bone, they serve as a connection point for artificial teeth, known as crowns. Since crowns that are connected via dental implants are indistinguishable from regular teeth both in terms of aesthetics and function, they are an incredibly popular choice for people who wish to replace broken, worn down, or missing teeth.

The Benefits of Dental Implants

Dental implants owe their popularity to the full range of benefits that they offer. To start, dental implants are designed to feel, look, and function like your natural teeth, leaving you with better oral health and a more confident smile. The fact that dental implants are long-lasting is another benefit that they offer, and, with proper care, dental implants can last as long as natural teeth.

Lastly, dental implants have a very high success rate. With proper installation on behalf of the dentist and proper care and maintenance on behalf of the patient, dental implants offer the highest success rate of any teeth replacement procedure.

Broken or missing teeth can cause many problems, including difficulty chewing and speaking, gum diseases, and lack of self-esteem. Thankfully, though, dental implants allow you to replace these missing or broken teeth with crowns that are entirely indistinguishable from your natural teeth.

At Travis Wilson D.M.D, we specialize in providing expert dental care to people throughout Owensboro and the surrounding area. If you would like to learn more about how we can help give you a smile that you’ve always wanted through dental implants, we invite you to contact our office today to schedule an appointment.

Missing Teeth: Don’t Let Them Affect Your Ability to Eat

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If you’re missing multiple teeth in your upper and lower jaw, take steps to replace them. Even if it’s not a big problem now, you’re missing teeth can eventually affect how well you chew food and stay nourished later. In addition, tooth loss can cause problems with your remaining teeth.
This post discusses how tooth loss affects your ability to eat and what you can do to stop it.

How Tooth Loss Affects Your Ability to Chew

Each tooth has its own unique placement in your mouth. Your molars and premolars grind food into tiny bits, while your incisors and canines cut and tear food into bite-size pieces. When you lose teeth to decay, gum disease or trauma, you disrupt the positions and functions of your remaining teeth. These changes eventually affect how you eat.
Your remaining teeth gradually migrate or move toward the empty tooth sockets of your missing teeth. The migration causes some of your remaining teeth to lean, turn sideways, or twist in their own sockets. These issues can affect how well your teeth cut, slice or grind the food you eat.
When you get the point where you can no longer chew properly, you’ll probably choose foods you can mash with your tongue or swallow easily, such as boiled potatoes and tuna. However, if you limit your diet too much, your body won’t receive the nutrition it needs to be healthy and strong.
In addition, you could potentially experience digestive problems from tooth loss.  When you eat, your teeth and tongue work together to stimulate the saliva inside your mouth. Saliva contains special chemicals that make it easier for food to slide down your throat and enter your digestive system.
If you act now, you can prevent or slow down the problems mentioned above.

What You Can Do About Your Missing Teeth

One of the most important things you can do is see a dental provider about your missing teeth. A dentist offers many solutions to replace your lost teeth, including dentures, bridges and veneers. However, dental implants may be a better solution for you.
Dental implants are metal or ceramic posts that look, function and behave just like your natural teeth. The posts fit discreetly into the empty sockets of your mouth. Once the implants bond with your natural bone tissue, they become permanent fixtures.
Implant treatment can be a long procedure and it can take up to six months to fully heal. The length of time usually depends on how many teeth you need to replace, as well as the condition of your jawbones.
If your jawbones are thin or weak from tooth loss, you may need to undergo a bone grafting procedure prior to your implant procedure. Although it doesn’t occur with every adult, some people can experience a loss of bone tissue in their jaws once they lose teeth. Bone grafting replaces or rebuilds the lost bone tissue.
After a dentist rebuilds your jawbones and places your implants, they cover the implants with crowns. Crowns can prevent your natural teeth from shifting position or migrating in the future. It’s important to maintain good oral care when you get your new crowns. Although crowns are artificial, they can still build up with plaque and food, just like your natural teeth.
Your dental implants may last for a lifetime with good oral care and regular dental visits. Dental implants also allow you to eat a variety of foods, including fresh vegetables and solid meat. A healthy diet containing vitamin D and calcium can keep your jawbones strong and healthy.
If you’re ready to replace your missing teeth, contact Travis Wilson D.M.D for a consultation and possible treatment today.

Missing Teeth — Woman Smiling at the Dentist Office in Owensboro, KY

Creating Smiles

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Everyone has teeth, and everyone can smile, but not everyone has a great smile. Fortunately, Travis Wilson D.M.D. has been helping to create great smiles since 1998. Sometimes it takes a little extra work to get all the teeth to line up appropriately, so we offer orthodontic services to coach a great smile into being.

Orthodontic dental procedures sound scary, especially to the parents who have to pay for the child’s procedure; however, modern developments have made treatments much more accessible to our patient’s wallets. We accept multiple insurance types, and financing plans make this procedure affordable for everyone.

What used to be an obtrusive wire structure in your mouth now resembles nearly invisible or even personalize tidy wires. There are even clear plastic mouthpieces that align the teeth in stages, which can be removed in public settings. The options today for orthodontic treatment are much greater and easier than ever for our clients.

Have you ever wanted a perfect smile? Maybe a tooth has always bothered you with the way it is positioned in your smile. Talk to Travis Wilson today about how you can improve the smile you have always just tolerated. Our office looks forward to working with you, contact us today!