Despite the old adage that says you can’t wear white after Labor Day, at my Buckhead dental office, we think it’s always in style to wear a white smile. While habits and time itself can take a toll on your grin and make your pearly whites less than bright, there are some things you can try in order to get, and keep, your smile its ideal shade of white.

One of the best ways to get your smile bright and white is with a professional whitening from your Buckhead dentist. After all, these whitening treatments are stronger than what you can get in the store and the trays are custom-fit to your teeth. A tight fit means there’s is less chance of the whitening solution reaching your gums and causing damage, and it can also help lead to an even white across all teeth. But a professional whitening is only one step you can take in creating a long-lasting white smile.

After you get your teeth nice and white, it’s important that you strive to keep them that way. Some of the most common causes of a dull smile are found in what we eat. Just by avoiding the smile-fading foods and opting for less damaging choices, your whitening treatment will be sure to last longer. 

In addition to choosing more smile-friendly options, you can also help keep your teeth white by drinking any soda, tea, or coffee through a straw as it will help keep the ingredients away from your teeth and avoiding smoking.  Of course whenever you have those times when you expose your teeth to things that will stain them, brushing and flossing afterward will help.

As always, one of the best ways to keep your smile not only white but also healthy and strong is to maintain regular visits to my dental office in Buckhead. Routine visits help catch any problems before they become worse, and we can even provide you with a little whitening boost if you need it at that time.

Serving patients in Buckhead, Atlanta, and Sandy Springs.

Visiting the dentist is never at the top of anyone’s fun list; and we’ll be honest, sometimes it hurts our feelings. There are some top reasons people avoid going to the dentist, but no matter what your reason for not seeking the care you need at my dental office in Buckhead, we’ll be happy to reassure you that you’re coming to the right place and that we’re here to help you.

Dental Phobia

Some people are scared of spiders, others of clowns or snakes. There are even people with an incredibly real fear of the dentist. Dentophobia, or fear of dentists, plagues an estimated 75% of the population and ranges from mild to severe. This fear can result in some scary health concerns too. Since those with a high level of fear completely avoid the dentist, they’re never checked for oral cancer, gum disease, or potential problems that can lead to whole-body issues like heart disease, strokes, and many other dangerous and scary complications.

Fear of Being Sold

Many patients relay to us how refreshing it is to feel like they are not constantly being pressured to buy some service in our office.  Instead they feel in control of the decisions about their health and comfortable with the choices they make for themselves.  They get the chance to decide what is best for them after having the opportunity to first understand the present condition of their oral health.  They then choose the best solution for themselves.  This is done by a process that doesn’t leave them feeling like they are being pressured to have something done to them.

Worry About Pain

When we talk about treatment options at my Buckhead dental office, we’re often asked, “Is it going to hurt?” The short answer is that modern dentistry and advancements in technology have made it easier to manage pain. Of course, the more detailed answer is found in the way we treat our patients. All of our care is designed to make you comfortable and relaxed, and our technology makes your treatments easy and virtually pain free. There should not be pain during your treatment in the office.  If you are still worried that your treatment will hurt, just talk to us about it. We’ll discuss the procedure in detail and get you completely comfortable before we begin.

The Sounds

Some of the most up-to-date technology allows for easier, pain-free treatments. But they can still sound scary.  Sometimes the noise of the drill and other tools can be loud and instill fear.  Technology in our Buckhead dental office can also decrease these noises while you are receiving treatment.  We have noise reducing headphones that will allow you to hear your favorite music instead of the noises of our instruments.  We can go online and pick out whatever you like to listen to.

There are many reasons people avoid the dentist, and we’ve only touched on a few. But even if your reason for avoiding a visit to my dental office in Buckhead isn’t listed, please know that we’re hear to listen and we definitely don’t judge. Our goal is to make you feel comfortable with everything that is involved in your care so we can work together to get and keep your smile healthy.

Serving patients in Buckhead, Atlanta, and Sandy Springs.

Wisdom teeth tend to begin to develop and show on x-rays in our early teens. And that’s the best time to start monitoring their growth to see if your wisdom teeth can stay, or if it’s better for them to be removed. While all wisdom teeth don’t necessarily have to be removed, and some people don’t ever get them, all of us at my dental office in Buckhead want our patients to know that if wisdom teeth removal is recommended, it’s for a good reason.

Sometimes, wisdom teeth are growing in just fine and there is no reason to discuss or consider removing them. In most cases, if your wisdom teeth are healthy, completely grown in, positioned correctly so as to not inhibit proper bite or neighboring teeth, and are able to be cleaned properly, they can stay right where they are. However, it’s more common that they will need to be removed, sometimes before they’re fully erupted, or even after.

Even if your wisdom teeth came in without a hitch, you may not necessarily get to keep them. In fact, one of the main reasons wisdom teeth need to come out even after they are fully erupted is that they are difficult to care for. Your wisdom teeth, which are typically the four molars way back in your mouth, are hard to reach with a toothbrush, and even harder to floss. This tends to cause an increase in the chance of gum disease and cavities in those “third molars.” If during your routine checkups with your Buckhead dentist any issues are noticed, removal may be recommended to reduce the risk of more cavities and infection later.

Another reason – the most common reason – why wisdom teeth need to be removed is because there isn’t enough room in your mouth. This can often be handled with an easy wisdom teeth removal before any teeth begin to erupt through the gums. However, if the procedure is delayed or avoided, the teeth can get trapped in the bone and become impacted. Once wisdom teeth are impacted, the surgery is a bit more complicated, but still easily managed.

Keeping up with your regularly scheduled appointments at my Buckhead dental office is an important step in monitoring your wisdom teeth and making sure that everything in your mouth is healthy, functioning correctly, and looking great. If you need someone to check out your wisdom teeth, or your smile as a whole, give us a call today.

Serving patients in Buckhead, Atlanta, and Sandy Springs.

There’s a lot of information that’s important for my patients to know. That’s why I try to educate them about their oral health at every visit. But there are some “VIPs,” or “very important points,” that I want to make sure everyone who visits my dental office in Buckhead understands, learns, and follows.

Nothing Looks Wrong, Nothing Feels Wrong, Everything’s Good, Right?

Wrong. It’s a common misconception that you can skip dental appointments if your teeth look good and nothing hurts. In fact, there are so many oral health problems that don’t hurt at all, or have any symptoms, but are really serious. One danger that could be lurking in your mouth without you even knowing it is oral cancer. This disease is so serious that every hour of every day, one person in the U.S. dies from it. While this is a scary fact, the disease doesn’t have to be so scary. If it’s caught early, it’s easily treatable. Another danger that doesn’t always cause pain is gum disease. These reasons, as well as others, is why regularly scheduled checkups at my Buckhead dental office is so important.

Keeping Your Mouth Healthy Keeps Your Body Healthy

A healthy mouth can literally mean that your body is healthy too. On the other hand, if you have dental problems or disease, your body can also suffer. Gum disease, for example, is directly linked to your overall health. In addition to causing tooth loss, gum disease has also been linked to heart disease, strokes, dementia, and a whole lot more. If caught in the early stage, gum disease can be treated and reversed. Daily brushing, flossing, and visiting your Buckhead dentist regularly is the best way to prevent gum disease and protect your mouth, and your body.

Your Gums Should Never Bleed

Many people think that it’s normal for gums to bleed while brushing or flossing. The truth is, healthy gums don’t bleed unless they’re damaged in an injury. Simply brushing and flossing should never cause your gums to bleed. If they do, it’s a sure sign that your mouth is trying to tell you something’s not right. Bleeding gums is a sign of gum disease, and should be a trigger to schedule an appointment as soon as you can. If an exam shows that you don’t have gum disease, your hygiene routine may be inadequate, and gum disease isn’t far away. In fact, research shows that healthy gums can become diseased gums within 24-36 hours of improper brushing or care.

We’ve only begun to touch on some of the “VIPs” that all of us at my Buckhead dental office want to make sure our patients know. We’re full of useful information that can help get and keep you healthy. If you have questions about your oral health, want to learn more about our “VIPs,” or need to schedule a checkup or treatment, give us a call today!

Serving patients in Buckhead, Atlanta, and Sandy Springs.

During the warm summer months, there are tons of yummy foods available for us to snack on – fresh fruit, delicious salads, and mouthwatering barbeque. But not all of these foods are healthy for your teeth. At my Buckhead dental office, we’d like to talk about smile-friendly summer snacks. As we all know, limiting the amount of sugary foods and drinks we consume is important for dental health. In the summertime, many people are quick to turn to soda, sweet tea, and sports drinks to quench their thirst. While most of these can succeed at making us less thirsty, they can also contribute to tooth damage. Instead of choosing all the sugary options available, opting for water is a smarter decision that your smile will thank you for. If you must have a soda or sports drink, try drinking it with a straw to limit how much of the liquid gets on your teeth. Another popular beverage of choice during the summer is iced coffee. Regular morning coffee drinkers tend to drink more iced coffee when the weather is hot. The problem is that iced coffee isn’t typically just enjoyed in the morning, but rather throughout the day. By doing this, you’re increasing the amount of time your teeth are exposed to the sugar and acid, and allowing the opportunity for more damage to occur as well as staining. Even though citrus foods are delicious, they aren’t the best snacking choices for a strong and healthy smile. Fruits like oranges, grapefruits, lemons, and limes are extremely acidic. The acid in these foods can damage tooth enamel which can eventually lead to decay and cavities. A good way to avoid this damage is to rinse with water after eating an acidic fruit. The water will neutralize that acid and it won’t have a chance to harm your teeth. One last smile-damaging snack of summer is barbeque. This doesn’t mean you have to completely avoid all cookouts this year, it just means that all of us at my dental office in Buckhead encourage you to moderate the amount of barbeque you eat, specifically the sauce. Barbeque sauce is acidic, and as we’ve already covered above, acid is bad for your teeth. Not only that, the dyes used in many sauces can cause discoloration. So instead of loading up on sugary drinks and barbeque sauce this summer, make more smile-conscious choices like fresh vegetables, water, and calcium-rich cheese. Also remember to rinse with water after eating fruits that are extremely acidic.  Not only will your summer snacks taste great, it will make your dentist in Buckhead, and your smile, happy. Serving patients in Buckhead, Atlanta and Sandy Springs.

When people sleep in the same room, there’s always a chance that someone will not get a good night’s sleep. Whether it’s because one of the individuals steals the blankets, or the other one is a loud snorer, co-sleeping can sometimes be less than ideal. However, with all of the possible causes of a restless night, only one can actually kill you. At my dental office in Buckhead, we want to create awareness for one of the scariest disorders that can haunt our sleep: Sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea is a term used to describe what happens when an individual stops breathing, sometimes several times, during the night. Often confused with simple snoring, sleep apnea is a dangerous disorder that can lead to some pretty scary health problems. Unfortunately, it is often times not sufferers who realize they have this disorder, it’s the person they share a room or bed with.

Sleep apnea has been linked to:

• High blood pressure
• Stroke
• Heart Attack
• Car accidents caused by drowsy driving
• Diabetes
• Depression
• And much more

While sleep apnea has a strong correlation with obesity, even some fit individuals can experience it. Sleep apnea occurs when the soft tissues in the back of the throat collapse, making it difficult for an adequate supply of air to get through. This often causes the sleeper to awake suddenly, gasping or choking for air. What’s even scarier is that this can happen multiple times a night and can cause people to stop breathing completely, sometimes for a few minutes at a time.

Some other common symptoms of sleep apnea besides snoring can include excessive daytime sleepiness and even unintentionally falling asleep during the day, feeling as if you never get enough sleep, waking up choking or gasping for breath, and chronic fatigue. All of these symptoms don’t need to be present to indicate sleep apnea and only a sleep study can officially diagnose the disorder.

Once your disorder is diagnosed, there are a few treatment options available. From a CPAP, which is a mask that’s worn during sleep and forces air into the nose or mouth, to a mouthpiece worn at bedtime to keep the airway open, at my Buckhead dental office, we urge anyone who has any symptoms of sleep apnea to undergo evaluation and follow the treatment that’s right for them. Don’t settle for sleeping with a killer; get checked and start treatment as soon as you can.

Serving patients in Buckhead, Atlanta and Sandy Springs.

When you’re on vacation, the last thing you want to deal with is a dental emergency. They can be painful, and, sometimes, just a pain. There are several ways you can help prevent a dental issue while on vacation, but if one does happen, my dental office in Buckhead has some tips you can try so that you can stop worrying about your smile, and start getting back to relaxing.

Before starting out on your vacation, begin thinking about some of the snacks you may encounter while you’re relaxing poolside or during movie nights. By avoiding some common dangerous foods for your smile, your chance of a dental emergency decreases. Keep the popcorn away, leave the sticky sweets at home (or even better, at the store), and let your ice chips keep your drink cold but don’t crunch them. Simply making wise food choices can keep your smile in its best shape for vacation, and for life.

Another way to help keep dental problems away is to see your Buckhead dentist before you leave. A checkup is a great way to make sure your teeth are healthy and that there are no potential problems waiting to ruin your vacation. Before you head out on your well-deserved vacation, make an appointment with my dental office in Buckhead. Once we’ve completed the exam and wished you bon voyage, remember to watch what you eat while you’re away.

Serving patients in Buckhead, Atlanta and Sandy Springs.

We’ve all heard of some good urban legends throughout our years – alligators in the sewers anyone? What makes an urban legend a classic is when it’s believable. But at my dental office in Buckhead, we don’t really like those urban legends about dentistry – especially when they scare our patients. So we’re here to expose the truth behind some common dental urban legends.

One of the more well-known legends is that if you leave a tooth in a glass of Coca-Cola overnight, it will be totally dissolved by morning. While soda can be detrimental to your teeth if consumed habitually, a cup of Cola won’t do that kind of damage overnight. It does, however, contain acid and could stain or cause enamel to wear away.

Here’s another myth that hurts the feelings of our team members at my Buckhead dental office. Some years ago, people tried to blame tooth sensitivity on too many professional cleanings and “scrapings.” This is not only silly, it can be detrimental your oral health if believed. Tooth sensitivity can be often caused by brushing with too hard of a brush, eating too many acidic foods, gum disease, or tooth grinding. To keep sensitivity away, we recommend regular cleanings with your dentist in Buckhead to ensure that all dangerous plaque buildup is removed, your gums are still healthy, and that your smile is strong and not prone to sensitivity.

A dangerous misconception relates to baby teeth. Many people think that baby teeth aren’t important, so it really doesn’t matter if they fall out before they’re ready or get cavities. The truth is, it’s crucial that baby teeth stay healthy and in place until they naturally fall out. Baby teeth are place holders for permanent teeth, and by keeping them healthy and secure, adult teeth will erupt as nature intended and extensive dental problems later on can be avoided.

There are plenty of other legends and myths that we simply don’t have room to cover here. If you’re interested in learning more about what’s actually true and what’s just as true as the alligators in the sewer, call my dental office in Buckhead. We’ll set the record straight and get your teeth sparkling clean.

Serving patients in Buckhead, Atlanta and Sandy Springs.

Are you a chronic teeth grinder? Not really sure if you are or not? It’s not surprising: of the roughly 30 million people that grind their teeth out there, very few realize that they grind. A common reason could be that teeth grinding or clenching is often done either while sleeping or subconsciously throughout the day. And while it may not seem like a big problem, at my dental office in Buckhead, we consider tooth grinding a huge issue. Here’s why.

Tooth grinding, or bruxism, can cause severe damage to your teeth and your mouth. Broken restorations and fillings, damaged teeth, lost enamel, and tooth sensitivity are only some of the problems associated with severe bruxism. Chronic tooth grinding or clenching can also lead to more serious problems like jaw dysfunction or temporomandibular disorder (TMD). This is what makes visiting your Buckhead dentist so important if you’re experiencing symptoms of being a bruxer.

Symptoms of chronic tooth grinding or clenching include:

• Contractions and/or soreness of the jaw muscles
• Pain in the jaw joint
• A grinding sound at night as described by your bedmate
• Pain in the face
• Headaches
• Damaged or broken teeth

There are also signs of grinding and clenching that are less likely for you do be aware of because they don’t cause pain and are more subtle.  These include:

• Wearing of your teeth
• Changes to the bone and gum support around your teeth
• Craze lines or cracks in your teeth
• Slight movement of your teeth when grinding

Whether you are experiencing pain and headaches or are curious if you have any other signs of grinding your teeth, call our Buckhead office for help.  At our dental office in Buckhead, we’ll complete a thorough exam, talk about what you’re experiencing, check your bite, and take x-rays of your jaw and mouth. An in-depth exam will allow us to see exactly what’s going on, determine how severe your bruxism is, and decide on the best way to treat it.

Whatever your unique needs may be, my Buckhead dental office can help diagnose your condition and determine the best treatment for you. The pain and other effects associated with tooth grinding doesn’t need to be chronic. Give us a call today. It’s the first step to a better, pain-free smile.

Many people walk to the fridge, pull out a can, and pop open the tab of a quenching can of diet soda when they’re thirsty. It’s better for you because it’s diet and there is no sugar in it, right? While you’re correct in the fact that there’s no sugar, it’s not necessarily better for you. At my dental office in Buckhead, we want everyone to be aware that diet soda can be detrimental to your teeth.

In fact, excessive consumption of diet soda can cause damage to your smile similar to the damage caused by methamphetamine or cocaine. All of them have high levels of acid, and acid can cause damage to tooth enamel. With the loss of tooth enamel, smiles are at greater risk for developing cavities, discoloration, sensitivity, and other damage like cracked or broken teeth. By keeping up on regular appointments with your Buckhead dentist, you’re able to better protect your smile from the damaging effects of dangerous acid.

Even if you do maintain a healthy at-home hygiene routine and keep up with visits to my Buckhead dental office, you’re still at risk for an unhealthy smile if you drink a lot of soda.

The similarity between diet soda drinkers and illegal drug abusers was found in a study published in a 2013 edition of the Academy of General Dentistry journal, General Dentistry. The study took volunteers with different backgrounds of former cocaine use, methamphetamine abuse, and excessive diet soda drinkers and examined the damage of their teeth. The results of the study showed strong similarities in their oral health.

If you’re overdue for a dental checkup, or if you’re addicted to soda, already have damage caused by soda, or even damage caused by a past drug use, call my dental office in Buckhead. We’ll conduct an in-depth exam, get to know you, and work with you to get your smile healthy and looking great.