Like a case study of undergoing a complex dental procedure like oral surgery, root canal treatment, or extraction. And just after the process, you have nothing to recall about the discomfort, time it took, the noise, and the pain you anticipated earlier. There is a way which is called “sedation dentistry,” and we are pleased to offer our patient this safe and less stressful method. Sedation dentistry was introduced for those who are prone to anxiety when visiting the dentist. It is an anxiety-free dentistry method of sedation.

Benefits to get undergoing sedation dentistry include;

• No anxiety or fear experienced during treatment, no consciousness to remember an event that took place during the procedure (including sound or smell), and no record of time while under sedation.
• Patients who had to partake in this procedure can relate their seemly relaxing and straightforward experience to sedation dentistry.
• You may be nervous about being unconscious; they are a variety of sedation level available to you. You should note that these sedation levels are professional and respectful at all times and this practice is regulated by law. Dentist in Seattle have used this procedure with basically three levels of sedation.

 The levels of sedation are;

• Mild Sedation

This is the lightest form of sedation dentistry and is often used for a patient who has mild anxiety, lengthy procedures, or more complex situations. Even though you remain awake or sleepy throughout the process, you will feel a great deal of relaxation in your body, and you can breathe on your own. This procedure takes a few hours for you to recover from. During treatment, nitrous oxide inhalation (laughing gas) is a form of mild to moderate sedation.

• Moderate sedation

This is used mainly for a patient who has moderate dental anxiety level, and for those who need more lengthy or complex procedure. In this level, you will be awake all through the procedure but will feel a great deal of relaxation in your body. For the fact that this could take several hours to wear off of a patient with driven regarded to be unsafe, it would be recommended for a patient to be accompanied by a friend, spouse or parent.

• Deep sedation

In this level, the patient will be between consciousness and unconsciousness throughout the dental procedure. The patient is unable to respond to command during this period (even though they are awake), and do not have any recollection of the treatment.  It is also recommended, for the fact that this could take several hours to wear off of a patient with driven regarded to be unsafe for a patient to be accompanied by a friend, spouse or parent.

Two processes administer sedation:

• Inhalation: recovery is quick using this process, and you can return to your daily routine.
• Oral: the Popularly used technique of sedation. You will be prescribed a pill that needs to be taken hours before your appointment and does not involve the use of needles.

Having exceptionally white teeth is everybody`s dream. The perfect smile is a reflection of our eating habits. It is a blend of how often we visit the dentist together with appropriate oral hygiene. Flossing and brushing are an everyday thing to preserve your teeth white, bright, and healthy.

The teeth`s color comes from the outer layer called enamel and the dentin underneath it. The way they scatter the light together with the reflection it`s what creates their natural color. Dentist in Seattle together with dentists from all over the world can agree on one thing that some food more than other tends to leave stains on our teeth such as tea, red wine, and coffee and some habits, in particular, tend to have a great impact on their color such as smoking.

If you are wondering if there something to be done, don’t despair, there is.

Teeth whitening

Teeth whitening is well known and developed option to remove stains and discoloration. There are many options such as whitening done by your dentist and one that can be done home. In general, there are two types of stains, extrinsic- on the surface of your teeth and intrinsic-stained micro cracks deep into your dentin and in the enamel (the outer layer). The home whitening toothpaste is usually able to partially remove the extrinsic stains while teeth whitening agents are a must when it comes to removing the intrinsic stains.

The most common method in order to whiten up the teeth is the professional bleaching. Your dentist together with the entire dental team can perform this not so complicated method.

• The first thing that they will do is protect your gums with a rubber shield or a specially designed gel since these whitening product may do damage to them.

• The next thing is applying the whitening product with a custom-made tray according to your teeth, similar to a mouth guard. Most-usually the active ingredient is hydrogen peroxide that gets broken down and the remaining oxygen pierces through the enamel lightening the teeth color.

Done over a three or four week’s period, you will notice a significantly whiter smile. For starters, you will need to visit your dentist and together create a customized mouth guard for you to use at home. Ones you`ve started the process there is no need for constant dentist visits, yet you will have a guidance on your teeth whitening journey. Over the next few weeks, you will need to constantly apply the whitening product with the help of the mouth guard.

Opalescence whitening systems

One of the leaders in the teeth whitening industry and an innovator in the brand Opalescence. With a variety of tooth whitening products, you will notice a dramatically visible change in your teeth whiteness. They are affordable and they accommodate your needs. You can only get them through your dentist.

Choose more effective products than the common over-the-counter ones. Besides their whitening compound, they are completely safe and can improve your overall dental health, decrease your gums sensitivity, strengthen your tooth enamel and increase cavity prevention.

You can easily find the one product matching to your need since they are available in different strength levels and for different places such as products for home (white treatments/ home whitening gel), products on the go, products for the office, and aftercare products.

Even though at kids, we already been taught we need to brush our teeth every after a meal, after years we may realize that we are not really doing it right. Most adults are guilty of this crime, especially those who wear dentures and braces. For one, brushing your teeth may take 2 to 5 minutes or longer if you are wearing braces or dentures.

The Right And Proper Way Of Brushing Teeth: Includes Brace Brushing And Flossing Guide

This is how one should brush their teeth especially if they are wearing dentures or braces every day:

1. The first thing to do before you proceed to your daily chores is to spend two to five minutes brushing of your teeth and gums, and it is also the last thing you do before heading to sleep.

2. Begin with stroking the brush upward and downward direction. Start brushing on the upper set of the teeth and proceed with the lower teeth. When you had pre-brush your teeth, you need to remove the denture or brace you wear and brush the gum and teeth. After doing so, you can squeeze another small amount of toothpaste to brush for the brace or dentures. Rinse and spill out after that you need to do the flossing.

3. Before putting back the dentures or braces, make sure that you get thread or floss and insert it in between teeth. Pulling the thread or floss in and out will completely remove stuck food particles that may not be removed by brushing.

4. You must understand that you must do this brace brushing and flossing guide if you eat sugary foods or drink sodas to prevent tooth erosion and decay.

Why Brushing And Flossing Super Important

Many of dental problems are brought by poor oral hygiene. If everyone knows how to take care of their teeth properly, it will reduce having tooth decay that certainly, if not treated immediately with root canal treatment will lead to extraction of the tooth to prevent further dental problems. If one who wears a denture or brace and yet does not know the proper and correct brace brushing and flossing guide, he or she will surely suffer from bad breath.

Here are the following benefits if you follow the proper and correct way of brace brushing and flossing guide.

1. You will have fresher breath and have more confidence to talk and mingle with others.

2. You can protect your teeth, dentures or brace from having a stubborn stain.

3. Proper brace brushing and flossing of teeth even wearing dentures or braces will surely prevent tooth decay since simple brushing does could not completely remove those stuck food particles in-between your teeth.

There are so many dental and oral problems that can be prevented if only all people know how to brush their teeth properly and will not hurriedly do this task. If you take care of your oral hygiene properly, you are saving yourself from suffering other serious health conditions and future expenditure.

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The sores in the mouth or canker sores are an uncomfortable condition that generates a lot of discomfort for the sufferer. They occur on the inside of the mouth, usually near the cheeks, on the inside of the lips or on the tongue, the product of an injury or various health problems.

Mouth Sore Causes

It is very important to know the reasons why canker sores appear because both to cure them and to prevent them we will have to change some habits or treat some other health problem that is causing them. So, these are the reasons why sores leave in the mouth, either on the lips, gums or the inside of the cheeks: stress, malnutrition, biting, friction, allergies, etc. These are the main causes of mouth sores in adults, but some of them, such as biting, rubbing, hormonal changes and low defenses are also common causes of mouth sores in children. You may want to try and avoid doing these things if you want to stop mouth sores from forming.

Foods to avoid:

Certain foods can also exacerbate the pain and discomfort of mouth sores. Eating these foods can even cause the mouth sores to heal slower. You should avoid eating these foods when you have a mouth sore:

• Lemon and Citrus Fruits
• Acidic Foods
• Spicy Foods
• Chocolate
• Coffee and Tea

Steps to deal with and avoid mouth sores:

1. First of all to avoid sores in the mouth, gently brush your teeth and choose a soft bristle brush. Many times our way of brushing produces the formation of sores due to friction caused by the violence of movements. It is also recommended to use toothpaste for sensitive gums, much nicer than the common ones.
2. If you have dental appliances or a prosthesis, it is very important to be careful and always make sure before leaving the dentist’s office that nothing is bothering you. A rubbing with any wire of the dental appliance could generate a painful sore that will take a long time to heal. Visit your dentist frequently and always have wax for the dental prosthesis at hand.
3. It is advisable to eat slowly and chew the food calmly. Many people have sores in their mouths because they constantly bite their cheeks or the inside of their lips when eating. This lesion can later turn into a canker sore.
4. To avoid sores in the mouth it is essential to review our diet, especially when it is poor in nutrients. People who have an iron deficiency, vitamin B12, zinc or folic acid tend to have aphthae more frequently in the mouth than those who receive these nutrients. If you think this is your problem, a simple blood test will reveal if you need these nutrients.
5. A sore that always appears in the same place may indicate that something is not right with a tooth in the area. Maybe a lump that you have not noticed is touching any specific part of your mouth and causing damage. In this case, it is important to go to a dentist for a review.

If you need help to figure out why there are canker sore appearing on your mouth and how to maintain good oral health, visit the nearest Capitol Hill – Seattle Area dentist.

The reason why there are people who have difficult overcoming dental fear because of their experience with the dentist. There are cases wherein the dentist forgets to anesthetize a part of the gum where the tooth is going to be pulled out, which hit a nerve directly. Of course, when a nerve is hit that way, it would create trauma for the patient, vowing never to return to the dentist. They are also the ones spreading the fear of dentists, making most people avoid dental clinic at all costs.

The good thing is that most dentists these days are trained on how to handle patients that have difficulty overcoming dental fear through different treatments and methods that are made readily available that aids in reducing pain and at the same time alleviate their fear when they are facing the dentist right at the dentist chair.

What is the cause of it?

In the US alone, between 5 to 8 percent avoid the dentist because of fear. This is only an estimate though. Around 20 percent of them will only visit the dentist when they feel there is a necessity only, even if they fear the dentist entirely. Based on certain studies, around two-thirds of the patient tell about their fear because of a bad experience they had when they were young.

Overcoming Dental Fear

Some dentists go out of their way in creating an environment for their patients that will make them less or entirely not threatening at all. You will often find certain dental clinics that do not look like dental clinics at all. They changed the whole setting to let their patients feel comfortable and don’t remind them of what traumatized them about the clinic in the past. Many of them took down the posters that are filled with horrors regarding various gum diseases. There are a lot of objects that make the patient think about the horrible experiences they had in the past, in which the dentists have learned to take them down and replace them with something more pleasant. Dental Sedation is also recommended to help you relax before beginning dental treatment.

If these are not enough to overcome dental fear, here are some tips that will help you, the patient, deal with it.

Tips for overcoming dental fear

1. It is best that you understand your feelings. This means that you have to recognize them rather than running away. Write down your fears so that it will be easier for you to talk about it later.
2. One of the biggest parts of your dental fears is the kind of dentist you are working with. As much as possible, choose the right dentist that you are comfortable to work with. You can look this up at the local listings and even ask your friends or family for any recommendations.
3. You need to learn to communicate your anxiety and fears. This is one thing that will help you build up with the dentist. When you are vocal about your anxiety, fears, and apprehensions, it will help you and the dentist gauge with the situation and create an action plan that is best suited to your needs.

Dr. Anoosh Afifi is very professional when it comes to handling his patients with difficulty in overcoming dental fear. You can set an appointment with us or visit our Capitol Hill Seattle Dental office. 

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It’s uncommon for young kids to understand that the bacteria inside their mouth are what hurt their teeth. Therefore, it is vital that you have a dentist for your own child to assure that his or her teeth will remain clean and healthy together with your supervision. Here are the following tips that can help you choose the best pediatric dentist in town.

1. Seek for recommendation

If you have any friends whose child has own dentist, you must seek a recommendation from them. Especially if the dentist has provided excellent services for them, they can give you a name or two. Once you got the name of the dentists, search them up on the internet. If they have their own website, that would be even better. Check out the services that they offer and check reviews about their past clients as well. Pick one of the dentists you’ve searched and proceed to the next step.

2. Check his active license to practice

Make sure that you also check the active license to practice of the dentist as well as his credentials. You might want to choose a dentist who has undergone training for pediatric dental care. If you are satisfied that this dentist can do his job properly, you can now give him a call.

3. Evaluate during the first initial interaction

Once you gave him a call and queried about his services, try to evaluate the dentist’s behavior and management skills. Is he friendly? Does he sound genuine? This is the same voice and the same manner that would be talking to your child. The last thing that you wanted them to experience is to view dentists as unforgiving monsters. Make sure that he is good dealing with children otherwise your own kid will not want to attend any of his dental appointments, making it harder for you to keep his teeth clean and healthy.

4. Check out his office

Now, if you wanted to set an appointment with the dentist, it’s important that you visit his office first with your child. The environment must be inviting and not suffocate. Staff should be friendly, and everything should always be clean and sanitized. Most pediatric dentists put up colorful posters of animals or characters brushing their teeth to encourage children in doing the same, while appealing to their vision.

5. Consider the location

Lastly, you should consider the location. If you are working, you might want a dentist’s office that is located in the heart of the city or just near your house. You can visit our Capitol Hill Seattle Dental Office. In that way, it wouldn’t take that much time in driving your kid to his dental appointment and going places after he had been a good kid to the dentist.

There you go. Follow these tips in looking for the right kid’s dentist for your children. Since children love eating sweets and desserts, they are more prone to teeth damage. Protect your child’s teeth by making sure that he sees a licensed dentist who can manage his teeth properly.