Dental Health: Seeing a Dentist after Years of Neglect

While most people look forward to holidays such as Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Easter with eager anticipation, your family dentist has more ambivalent feelings. Each of these holidays are celebrated with an abundance of candy and other sweets that are often still available long after each holiday has passed. All of the advice about curtailing sugar given by dentists is forgotten for several months. What's so bad about sugar? There is nothing wrong with sugar and other carbohydrates in moderation, but one word that doesn't come to mind around the holidays is moderation.

When people talk about the dangers of oral piercings, they mostly discuss the risk of infection, swelling and nerve damage to the tongue or lip. These are all possibilities, but you should know that oral piercings also present direct threats to your teeth. For example, piercing your cheek, tongue, or lip increases your chances of developing: Gum Disease When the jewelry comes into contact with your gums, they can cause injury to the tissues.

Do you need a root canal? Are you concerned about the effect it will have on your health? While the FDA has declared root canals and the materials used in them to be safe for use in humans, a growing number of people prefer a holistic approach to medicine. This preference includes dentistry. The good news is that there are holistic dentists in nearly every state. These dentists practice their craft with an eye toward natural treatments, and pay attention to the effect a dental procedure may have on the rest of the body.

In the event that you lose your natural teeth, there is a good chance your dentist will recommend that you get dentures. Even though dentures have been around for years and you most likely already know a great deal, there are a few surprising facts that you may find a bit amusing or in some cases, a bit comical. Here are three of the most interesting you should consider as you are being fitted for your own prosthetic teeth.