Always Listen to Mom

My mom sent me this from a website she found....and I wanted to share it with you all!
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The link to the original article is here

5 Ways Poor Dental Care Makes You Sick
Holly C. Corbett, Prevention
Thu, Dec 08, 2011
 
Even if you brush your teeth daily, you may still have dangerous bacteria growing inside your mouth. Not only could that lead to periodontitis (an advanced form of gum disease that comes with symptoms such as bleeding when you brush and gum pain), but studies also find a link between poor oral hygiene and major health issues. Here are some ways that missing the mark on oral care could harm your heath.
1. It may hurt your heart.
People with gum disease are almost twice as likely to suffer from coronary artery disease compared to those don't have periodontitis. Researchers aren't exactly sure of why this might be, but one theory is that harmful bacteria from your mouth enters your blood stream and attaches to fatty plaques in your heart's blood vessels, leading to inflammation and upping your risk of clots that can trigger heart attacks.

2. Your memory may suffer
Some research suggests there may be a tie between poor oral health and an increased risk of dementia. One study that followed 118 nuns between the ages of 75 and 98 found that those with the fewest teeth were most likely to suffer dementia. Experts think oral bacteria may spread to the brain through cranial nerves that connect to the jaw or through the bloodstream, and may contribute to the type of plaque that's been linked to Alzheimer's.

3. It might worsen your body's control of blood sugar.
People with diabetes are more likely to have periodontal disease than those without diabetes. While this may be because diabetics are more susceptible to infections, there's also been research that finds gum disease could make it harder to control your blood sugar, and that treating it helps improve diabetes symptoms.
4. It may affect your breathing
Gum disease may increase your risk of getting respiratory infections, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and pneumonia, according to the Journal of Periodontology. The infections might be caused when bacteria from the mouth are inhaled into your lungs, possibly causing your airways to become inflamed.

5. It could make it harder for you to have a baby.
Women of childbearing age with gum disease took an average of just over seven months to become pregnant – two months longer than the average of five months that it took women without gum disease to conceive, discovered researchers in Western Australia. Other research finds that pregnant women with gum disease might have higher odds of miscarriage.


How can you tell if you're hitting the mark when it comes to good oral care? "Generally, your teeth and gums should not bleed, be painful, or feel rough or sharp to your tongue," says Pam Atherton, RDH, a dental hygienist for Dr. John Carlile, DDS in Skaneateles, NY. "Your breath should be fresh for at least a couple of hours after brushing in the morning and after having eaten breakfast." One of the easiest ways to prevent gum disease is to clean your teeth properly, so try these tricks for a healthier mouth.

1. Rinse your mouth.
If you use mouthwash twice a day, you'll slash your risk of gum disease by 60 percent, says Marjorie Jeffcoat, DMD, Professor of Periodontology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine in Philadelphia. Ideally you should aim to rinse for about 30 seconds with a mouthwash that has microbial protection to fight plaque and gingivitis, such as Listerine®.

2. Floss first.
You should floss before you brush your teeth, rather than after, says Jeffcoat. "That way you'll be able to brush away any food that was stuck between your teeth to prevent bacteria from growing." If you find dental floss hard to hold onto, Atherton suggests trying floss picks, such as Plackers® dental flossers, instead.

3. Get the right toothbrush.
Soft or extra soft bristles are best. "Gum tissue can't make a callous; therefore, when a person uses a medium or hard-bristled toothbrush, it literally scratches the tissue away over time, exposes the root surface underneath and leads to possible bone loss," says Atherton.

4. Brush smart.
To really clean your teeth, aim to brush them for a full two minutes. "Make sure you brush both your tongue and cheeks as well as the chewing surfaces to improve the removal of harmful bacteria in the crevices," says Atherton. To get your kids to brush the full two minutes, sing "Happy Birthday To You" or the "Alphabet Song" twice through at a normal speed for each half of your mouth. And be sure to replace your toothbrush about every three months.

SMILE

This is a great video of the end of the movie “Modern Times” starring Charlie Chaplin in 1936. The comedian brought smiles to the faces of people around the world, which is why it is fitting that he wrote the music you hear playing in the background. In 1936, this theme song was nothing more than a beautiful melody, but in 1954, lyrics and the title “Smile” were given to this popular standard.

The message of the song is that even in the worst of times, you can make it through if you just smile. We all face difficult times, and sometimes, you just don’t have a reason to smile. But even forcing a smile can actually make you start to feel better as endorphins are released when you smile, helping to relieve physical and emotional stress. Just focus on putting happy thoughts into your head, take a few deep breaths, and smile. Smiling will not only make you start to feel better, but it will put others at ease and make them feel good as well. When you are facing a particularly hard time, offer up a smile. You’ll send a message that you are accepting the world around you, and the world will, in turn, smile back at you.

What is your New Year’s resolution?

Let’s face it- when was the last time you managed to keep a New Year’s resolution? We at Salins Orthodontics believe the key to sticking to a goal is picking one that is both reasonable and attainable. If you haven’t yet picked a New Year’s resolution, consider setting one that will improve your oral health!

For example, resolve to brush twice 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! For more oral health-themed resolutions for you and your family, check out this article.

We would love to see what you come up with, share with us by commenting on this post or on our Facebook page. Whatever your New Year’s Resolution, we wish you the very best for 2012!

-Happy New Year, from your friends at Salins Orthodontics

How important is your smile? From Salins Orthodontics

At Salins Orthodontics, we are dedicated to using the most advanced orthodontic technology in order to provide comfortable, accurate, customized orthodontic treatments. Our office offers a modern, friendly, open environment where patients and their families are encouraged to get involved in their treatment.

The bottom line is, we know your teeth are important.

In fact, in a poll conducted by Glamour Magazine earlier this year, people were asked, “If you had to pick between having perfect teeth, eyesight or hair, which would you choose?

Well, 44 percent of folks out there chose teeth! In addition, the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, or AACD, conducted a study and found that 99.7 percent of those polled believed a smile is an important social asset. Respondents said straightness, whiteness, cleanliness, as well as the sincerity and sparkle of a person’s smile were all important factors not only socially, but career-wise as well.

Please contact our practice at 650-952-1010 or 510-475-4153 for a FREE orthodontic consultation. We look forward to working with you and your family! We have proudly served the Daly City, South San Francisco, Millbrae, San Bruno areas and Union City, Fremont, Newark, Hayward (California) areas.

Watch what you eat this holiday season!

At Salins Orthodontics, we know maintaining a healthy diet over the holiday season can prove a difficult task. After all, who can resist the tasty treats of Christmas? With grandma and everybody else offering you candy, chocolate logs or Christmas pudding, you just can’t say “I’ll pass” each time. But trouble lurks: every time you chow down on that chocolate or candy, the bacteria in your mouth have a feast on the sugar—at your expense. The sugar turns into acid, and the acid eats away at the enamel on your teeth and between your braces. Then, you start getting cavities.

Instead, try fudgy cocoa bites, marvelous molasses cookies, wonderful waffles or other braces-friendly recipes, courtesy of the American Association of Orthodontics, or AAO, and “The Braces Cookbook” by Pamela Waterman.

If you must indulge in chocolaty goodness this Christmas or holiday season, remember to brush your teeth after eating sugary treats. Hope this helps! Give us a call if you have any questions!

Happy Holidays!

Loving Your Braces Can Lead to Love

Love is in the air at Salins Orthodontics. One of my patients was sitting in the chair the other day making a big to-do about the fact that she couldn't go to Vegas and have fun with her girlfriends because she had her braces on. She said she didn't feel comfortable dating. "I'm on a dating hiatus," she said. Another patient a couple of chairs down had overheard her complaining and said, "Are you kidding me? I met my boyfriend this way, and now I know he really likes me for me." Everyone started laughing.

A lot of my single adult patients worry about being able to date with braces. Anxiety can arise with the thought of going through orthodontic treatment. "I'll never be able to date." "Men won't find me attractive." "Women won't think they are sexy." "Braces are going to ruin my game." "I won't be pretty." Some people decide that they aren't going to date at all. Honestly, would a woman kick Tom Cruise out of bed for having ceramic braces? Would a man not be interested in Nikki Taylor or Gwen Stefani because their teeth adorn little brackets? Not so much.

Think of having braces as a time to reform and transform. Carry off a positive attitude, and you'll have no problem carrying off braces. Find someone who is interested in you for being the incredible person you are and put some faith into the fact that you look amazing with or without your braces. If other people can't see past your braces, they aren't even worth your time.

It's been a joke at our office lately that love is in the air because lots of patients are getting braces before weddings or meeting their soul mate with their braces. A couple of patients are getting married with their braces. Some of my women patients in their forties and fifties don't mind keeping their braces on even longer than they need to because the braces give their lips the "botox effect." They love them because it makes their lips feel fuller and they attract younger guys. As for my male patients, braces make them seem like a risk taker and make them look younger - what isn't attractive about that? The truth is, the object of your affection is going to be interested in you regardless of what's in your mouth (unless what's in your mouth is yesterday's breakfast and seriously bad oral hygiene - nothing attractive about that). So put a big smile on your face and your best foot forward, and nothing, not even a mouth full of metal, will stand in your way.

A Happy Marriage: You and Your Retainer

Retainer, meet patient. Patient, meet retainer. Get to know each other well because you will be seeing a lot of each other. In fact, I now pronounce you patient and retainer til death do you part. Yes, retainers are for life, but the good news is, your teeth are straight for life as well! 


Retainers are completely loyal to you as long as you are loyal to them. But if you should decide that you would rather be single for awhile, when you come back to your retainer, the retainer may not be the right fit for you anymore. So what happens when your retainer doesn't fit? Well, it's time to schedule a visit with me. The best case scenario - I'll make you a new retainer. Worst case scenario - you will need to start treatment all over again to get your teeth straight again. 


If you have found that you haven't been tried and true to your retainer and it isn't fitting right anymore, schedule an appointment with us as soon as possible. If you think that all hope is lost, it might not be. There are affordable products available that can help make small changes - perhaps that's all you need. Either way, it's best to see an orthodontist just to make sure your bite hasn't shifted and that everything is aligning properly.


After you have finished your treatment and have been in retention (wearing a retainer) for over a year, I always recommend that my patients schedule a yearly appointment to make sure that everything is fitting properly.


There are a few different kinds of retainers. I've highlighted a couple of them below:

Hawley retainers are very common and you probably have seen this type of retainer before. These retainers are removable, and usually gum-colored, but they are available in a number of different colors and patterns. They are a great option for most patients and are a sturdy, reliable retainer.

This is a fixed retainer and is a permanent retainer, so it cannot be removed. It consists of a passive wire bonded to the lingual (tongue) side of the teeth. The wire is thin and barely noticeable. This is a great option for patients who aren't compliant, lose retainers, or don't want to deal with a removable retainer!

For Invisalign and Invisalign Teen patients, Vivera retainers are a good option. They are clear, just like aligners, but are thicker than typical aligners to help hold the teeth in place. These are nice retainers, but for long term, permanent use, I try to encourage other types of retainers.

Spring aligners can serve multiple functions. In addition to being a retainer, they can also be used as a night guard because they are made from a hard acrylic. Spring aligners are also great for making minor adjustments to teeth.






Retainers are essential to keeping your teeth, jaw, and bite in the alignment they were in when you got your braces off and finished your treatment. The key to a happy marriage? Wear your retainer.