Category Archives: Blog

How to Overcome Your Dental Anxiety

It’s not uncommon to experience a debilitating anxiety when you need to visit the dentist. This is a phenomenon that occurs in between ten and twenty percent of the population, serving to prevent many people from seeking the dental care that they need. Fortunately, there are ways to overcome your anxiety so that you can be comfortable in the dentist’s chair.

When you come in to our International District dentist office, try discussing your fears with our staff. Communication is a big concern when it comes to anxiety; the more you feel like you understand what is going on, and the more power you feel like you have over your treatment, the less anxiety you will experience. Further, you may be surprised at how little pain is associated with many dental procedures; though you may have developed your anxiety due to an early dental-based trauma, modern advances allow us to conduct even a root canal with little or no discomfort to you.

How Can I Stop Biting My Cheek?

Every so often, you’ll probably bite down on the inside of one of your cheeks. It’s a painful experience, and one that often gets worse before it gets better. When it happens, some people get to wondering if they might have a problem. Could my teeth be at fault? Is this something I should take to my International District dentistry clinic? Fortunately, the answer is quite simple.

Biting your cheek is quite normal, even if you have perfectly straight and healthy teeth. The trouble that people experience when they bite their cheeks is that you’re likely to get some swelling in the cheek tissues, which makes it all the easier to bite yourself in the same place and make the swelling worse. When this happens, it can be easy to think that you might have a chronic problem.

What you want to do in this situation is to be mindful of your injury. Take care when you chew so that you can let the tissues heal and break the vicious cycle. In some instances, you may benefit from some sort of orthodontic wax or another product to protect your cheek. Consult your dentist for more information.

Brush Your Way to a Better Memory!

Do you find yourself forgetting a lot of important dates or appointments? Our International District Dentist advises that one of the best things you can drill into your memory is your regular oral hygiene routine! Not only is this a good habit to get into for the sake of maintaining tooth and gum health, it can also help you keep up on the other important things going on in your life.

Recent scientific research managed to link loss of memory to gum disease. Adults with swollen or bleeding gum tissues showed poorer performance in memory and cognitive skills, like verbal recall and subtraction, while subjects with healthier gums were able to perform better. Therefore, if you find your mind slipping on some of your day-to-day tasks, it may help to “brush up” on your memory!

Should I Yank My Child’s Loose Tooth?

So, your child’s baby teeth are starting to come loose. Should you get in there and yank out? This is an important question when it comes to your child’s oral health, and our International District Seattle dentistry clinic advises that you should probably allow the teeth to come out on their own.

Remember that your child’s mouth is a delicate place. Sticking your fingers inside his or her mouth and pulling out a tooth before it is ready will damage the fragile gums. Only your child really knows just how much pain is going along with forcing the tooth out, and he or she should therefore be allowed to decide when the tooth is ready.

One concern that parents often have in this situation is protecting the child from swallowing a tooth when it comes out unexpectedly. This may happen, but it’s really not something to worry about. A tooth can pass through your child’s system harmlessly. Ultimately, you should really only think about removing a loose tooth if the permanent tooth starts to come in underneath it; when this happens, there may be some risk of the permanent tooth coming in crooked, and you should bring a stubborn baby tooth to the attention of your dentist.

Choosing the Right Floss

Do you know what to get when it’s time to replenish your floss supply? For something as simple as a length of string, there is a surprising number of options available to accommodate your dental needs. You can ask our International District Seattle dentistry about what floss might be right for you, or you can follow these simple tips to find the perfect floss for yourself.

One important factor to consider in your floss is thickness. Some people have particularly narrow gaps between their teeth, and the average floss frequently gets stuck during the flossing process. If this sounds familiar, you should look for a finer floss. If you’re comfortable with a thicker thread, however, you’re probably better served with such string.

It’s also a good idea to look out for a floss that offers fluoride. Fluoride is a substance that is found in most toothpastes, and serves to reinforce the enamel of your teeth. The spaces between your teeth may not be reached by much of the fluoride in your toothpaste, so a little extra help may be warranted.

There are also some people who don’t have the manual dexterity needed to properly use their floss. Maybe you have bad finger joints, poor coordination, or fingers that are just too large to fit into the back of your mouth. If you are such a person, you might benefit from one of several varieties of flossing aids. Look for these at your local drugstore, or consult your dentist for further information.