It’s an inevitable fact. We’re all growing older every day. With age and body changes, medical issues tend to erupt, and dental care becomes even more important. At our dental office in Asheboro, we’d like to explain why regular visits for seniors is so crucial for a healthy body.

Healthy Mouth, Healthy Body

The mouth is the window to the rest of the body, and a lot of oral health problems are linked to problems elsewhere in the body. This makes it incredibly important to let your dentist in Asheboro know if you have certain health conditions that can affect your oral health. Some of these diseases include diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. When your dentist knows what’s going on in the rest of your body, they’re able to treat you properly. However, just like whole-body conditions can impact your oral health, your oral health can impact the rest of your body.

Gum Disease

Gum disease is incredibly prevalent among the older population. In fact by age 65, 1 out of 4 has gum disease. Additionally, the American Academy of Periodontology estimates 20-30 percent of adults have gum disease severe enough to put them at great risk for tooth loss. Gum disease not only increases the chance of losing natural teeth, it greatly affects the rest of your body.

This scary oral health disease has been linked to very serious conditions including diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Gum disease is treatable so it’s important to catch it early before it creates some dangerous problems. There are several things that can make someone more susceptible to developing gum disease including:

• Poor oral hygiene
• Bad diet
• Smoking
• Medications

Dry Mouth

Speaking of medications, they can work wonders in easing pain or treating chronic problems. However, they can also lead to a very dry mouth. Dry mouth is a big concern in keeping a mouth healthy. Without saliva, teeth are at increased risk for decay, oral infections can develop, and could lead to gum disease.

Grandparents, parents, and any elderly person should be seeing a dentist regularly to ensure optimal health. If it’s been awhile since the last dental visit, give our Asheboro dental office a call.

Accepting patients from Asheboro, Randolph County, Randleman, and nearby neighborhoods.

Even if you brush twice a day, floss once a day, and maintain regular visits to our dental office in Asheboro, you may be causing damage to your teeth without even knowing it. There are many common habits that most of us do subconsciously, and these habits can be detrimental to teeth.

1.  Teeth Are Not Tools. No matter how easy it may seem to simply use your teeth to open that bag of chips, remove that tag from new clothing, or open that jar of nail polish, it’s definitely not worth it! Using teeth as tools to open any pesky package can result in serious damage like chipped teeth and broken restorations. Saving a few seconds by using teeth instead of grabbing the proper tool just isn’t worth it.
2. Brushing Softly is Best. There’s no need to vigorously scrub your teeth. In fact, doing so can create serious damage. Hard bristles and rough brushing can contribute to sensitivity, worn down enamel, and irritated gums. Instead, choose a soft bristled toothbrush and gently brush teeth at a 45 degree angle for best results.

3.  Cool it on Ice Crunching. Ice is one of teeth’s worst enemies. It’s not only super hard, it’s also super cold; two things that don’t go well for teeth. Crunching on ice is a great way to fracture teeth and get tiny cracks in them. Down the road, these tiny cracks lead to much bigger problems.

4.  Keep Fingers Away! Biting nails is another dental habit that leads to tooth damage, among other things. Your fingernails are dirty and biting them allows all the germs hiding underneath to enter the body (yuck!). Also, fingernails are hard, really hard, and chronic biting can cause teeth to shift, break, or crack.

5.  And Pens Too! Like nail biting, it’s a common habit to park a pen or pencil between your teeth at meetings or when deep in thought. This, too, places a lot of pressure on teeth, causing them to shift, crack, or damaging dental restorations.

All habits are hard to break, and dental habits are no exception. So try your best to catch yourself and work on fixing them. Need some tips for helpful ways to break a habit? Talk to any of us at our Asheboro dental office!

Accepting patients from Asheboro,Randolph County, Randleman, and surrounding areas.

Our old friend the sun has a bad habit of disappearing quite often during the winter months. During the few hours of daylight we do have, it’s usually too cold to go sit outside and soak up some rays, or we’re all stuck indoors at work. When the sun decides to hibernate during the winter, our most plentiful supply of vitamin D is compromised. That’s bad news to all of us at our dental office in Asheboro!

You Are My Sunshine, My Only Sunshine!

The sun — it can give us a mood boost, jump start our immune systems, and keep our planet from freezing solid. Of course it has other benefits like giving us a nice summer glow and keeping us warm. Perhaps the most important thing the sun does (at least according to us!) is supply us with a whole lot of vitamin D.

It’s All About Vitamin D

Vitamin D is a pretty cool nutrient that not only helps boost our immune systems, but also can lower blood pressure, help the pancreas produce insulin, and aid in the absorption of calcium. Since we all know that calcium is crucial for strong bones and teeth, vitamin D is super important for a strong, healthy smile.

Where to Get Vitamin D

Like we often see during the winter, sometimes the sun isn’t a viable source of vitamin D. When this happens, it’s important to make sure you’re getting an adequate supply from somewhere else. Some great ways to keep up with your vitamin D intake is by:

• Eating Eggs and Fatty Fish
• Drinking Milk
• Taking Supplements

Having enough vitamin D is extremely important for your smile and your body. If you aren’t getting enough of it, you may develop a vitamin D deficiency. That’s serious stuff. In fact, research has linked a lack of vitamin D to osteoporosis, increased risk for type 1 diabetes, and even breast, colon, or prostate cancer.

No matter how you take your vitamin D, make sure you have some daily. Not just for a healthy smile, but for a healthy body. As always, regular appointments at our dental office in Asheboro can help keep both healthy for life.

Serving patients from Asheboro, Randolph County, Randleman, and nearby communities.