Stress and Our Smiles
MENTAL HEALTH AND physical health are tied together in ways we don’t always expect. That even extends to the relationship between oral health and stress. Fortunately, there are a lot of tools we can use to protect our smiles from the effects of stress. Stress Could Be Behind a Teeth-Grinding Habit Habitual teeth-grinding and jaw-clenching are […]
Your Teeth Are Not Tools!
HUMAN TEETH ARE awesome. We wouldn’t have dedicated our professional lives to working with them if we didn’t think so. There are so many things they can do, from chewing food to providing support for the structure of our faces to facilitating clear speech to being part of our beautiful smiles. Unfortunately, a lot of people […]
Stopping the Grind of Bruxism
WHEN LIFE GETS stressful or frustrating, a pretty common physical response is teeth-grinding. Unfortunately, it can do a lot of damage if it becomes a habit, and it can even happen while we’re asleep. Chronic teeth grinding is called bruxism. The Causes of Bruxism Teeth grinding during the day is sometimes the result of stress, while […]
Stress and Our Mouths
MENTAL WELL-BEING or lack thereof can often have an impact on physical health. Among those impacts are the ways that oral health can be affected by stress, and we want to make sure our patients are aware of the connection so they have more tools to fight back. Grinding Your Teeth? Stress May Be Behind It. […]
What Makes Teeth Sensitive?
IF YOU CAN’T REALLY enjoy ice cream because every bite sends a nasty jolt through your teeth, then you know what it’s like to deal with tooth sensitivity. You aren’t alone in that; at least one in eight people in the U.S. has sensitive teeth, including kids. So why does this happen to so many of […]
Gum Recession: Minimizing Your Risks
THE EXPRESSION “getting long in the tooth” refers to gum recession, but this oral health problem isn’t necessarily connected to age. Gum recession is when the edge of the gingival tissue moves away from the crown of the tooth, exposing the root. The reason we tend to think of it as an age-related problem is that it tends […]
Temporomandibular Disorders
OUR JAWS DO A LOT of work throughout the day, opening and closing over and over so that we can do ordinary things like talk, eat, and yawn. Ideally, all of the anatomy involved functions as it should and we can perform these tasks without trouble, but many people struggle with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders because […]
Night Guards For Teeth Grinding
HAVE YOU EVER woken up with a sore jaw, tooth pain, or a headache? These are common symptoms of sleep bruxism, or teeth-grinding. The American Dental Association estimates that 10-15 percent of adults struggle with sleep bruxism, and children can experience it too. Because it happens during sleep, it can be difficult to control or stop. One way […]