Category: Blog

When you are choosing any healthcare professional, it is important that the task is taken very seriously. These people are responsible for your general well-being and health now, and into the future. It is essential that these are people that you trust, and that you know that they have your best interests in mind when recommended or providing any care administered. This includes oral healthcare professionals. There are many things that one must look for when selecting an oral health professional, and knowing what those things are can be vital to helping ensure you are picking the best professionals your plan will cover.
Consider what the dentist’s office hours are. Are these hours flexible, and do they work with your schedule? Can you easily schedule appointments when you need them? This includes your 6 month cleanings to prevent future problems from occurring. Moreover, is the location convenient and easy to get to from home or work? This is important because if the office is significantly out of your way you are more likely to reschedule, push off, or avoid check-ups and preventative treatment that may end up costing you more serious problems in the future. If it’s easy, convenient, and pain-free to keep an appointment then you are likely to keep up on preventative care, and avoid many problems in the future. Choosing a dentist that believes in preventative care is also important. It helps you avoid problems in the future to take steps to prevent them now.
It’s also important to understand your dentist’s background as to where he was trained and what school he attended. Also, understand how often he/she goes to ongoing education conferences or takes classes. New information is always surfacing, and doctors including dentists need to understand the implications new practices have on their field, and more accurate ways that they may treat existing problems to help prevent them from becoming more severe. Dentists who are up on the “latest treatments” help save patients more pain in the future, and also improve costs of quality care to their patients as future problems are often avoided.
It’s vital to understanding if the dentist provides out-of-hours care to patients, or if he refers that service to someone else. If so, is that practice also covered under your insurance in case you need after-hours care. When you are seeing your own dentist, it’s also important to know what types of anesthesia they are certified to provide, and which procedures are done in-office versus those that are outsourced to other locations. It’s likely more convenient if the dentist you see can handle out-of-office-hour calls/appointments, and do mots procedures themselves in their office, rather than forcing you to go many different places to meet your dental needs. If you must seek out-of-office care, ensure your insurance will cover those expenses before consenting to receive that treatment. Otherwise, you might be in for a rather expensive treatment if you have to pay out-of-pocket.
Far as expenses for treatment and services go, it is also important to understand what the dental practice or insurances cover, versus what you are expected to cover individually out-of-pocket. You should confirm with both the billing department and the dentist himself that they participate in your dental plan, and that they accept the insurance you have. It is also important to know what the flat-costs of procedures without insurance are, in case you have to pay out-of-pocket. What is the most you will have to pay? Can you afford it? That is VITAL to understanding if this dentist is a good fit for you. It’s also good to note what the office has as policy on missed appointments are, and what fees are charged. This helps incase emergencies ever arise and you do have to miss an appointment on short or virtually no notice.
Finally, it’s also important to tour the office before you get dental work done there. Is the office environment and the equipment clean? Remember, that equipment is vital to the procedures that are performed there, and dirty or unclean equipment can result in health concerns of illnesses and conditions that may be passed from patient to patient. There are few better ways to spread illnesses than not properly sterilizing equipment that goes into more than one person’s mouth. IF the equipment at a facility is not clean, then find another facility with clean and sterilized equipment.

If you have any questions regarding this article please contact us or call 909-465-1016.

The Ramona Dentistry Team
“Where Family Comes First”

It’s that awful moment when you wake up in the morning and something stinks – real bad. Then you realize, it’s your breath. Morning breath is not something new. Many people experience it, but a sip of water or brushing your teeth should solve that problem. However, for some people no matter what their breath DOES stink, even after brushing or taking a drink of water. For those few there are simple steps one can take to help lessen the stench.
If you are not regularly brushing your teeth doing so more often can help keep the stench at bay. Brush at least 2 times a day and floss once. If you are over concerned about stinky breath maybe brushing 3 times and flossing 2 times is OK, but do not go overboard. Overdoing it can make your teeth more prone to decay. When you are not brushing your teeth sip water frequently to keep hydrated and keep your mouth moist. Rinse out after meals or snacks to keep the food from settling in and making your breath smell even worse!
It may sound gross, but one big problem most people forget that is causing the stench to their bad breath is their tongue. Scraping your tongue to get rid of bacteria that may grow there can often help eliminate many sources of stinky breath. Comfortably brushing to the back of your tongue with your toothbrush works OK, but if that is not comfortably you can use a scraper as well to gently run across the tongue to pick up any excess bacteria.
It’s also best to avoid foods that sour your breath. Eating things heavy with onions or garlic will not help your breath smell any better either. Eat them sparingly or at least when you are going out in public. Try things that are more mild and neutral in flavor and odor. Also kick the after-dinner mints or candies as they can often leave sugars that decompose in the mouth making breath smell worse than it otherwise would. Opt just for a glass of water, or if you must have something with flavor a piece of sugarless chewing gum should work fine!
If you smoke or have a tobacco habit this is another reason to kick that habit! These habits can make your breath smell even worse than usual, and can also help infect the gums which can give breath and even more putrid odor. If you have at cigarette or tobacco habit see your doctor to help get on a non-smoking or a quitting plan. It can save your health and your breath.
One final step is to ensure that you have a humidifier in your home, and that the cold dry air of winter isn’t drying out your mouth. Moreover, ensure you are sipping water frequently to keep the mouth moistened and to avoid buildups of excessive bacteria in the mouth from occurring. If all steps fail despite these efforts see your doctor to see what may be the issue. It may be from some rare medical conditions where a diagnosis and treatment plan may be the need.

If you have questions regarding this article contact us or call us 909-465-1016

The Ramona Dentistry Team
“Where Family Comes First”

Tea is known to be a drink with many health benefits from helping people lose weight to helping others sleep better. Many people rely on tea as a calming, relaxing drink. Many others choose it as an alternative to coffees or sodas. The problem with teas is that they are not so healthy for your teeth. The basic black varieties of tea are the worst offenders. Black teas can actually cause more staining damage to the teeth than coffee. Herbal and white teas tend to wear away more enamel on your teeth, but can also cause stains even if they are lighter in colors.
Many people like sauces that go on their foods also known as condiments. Who doesn’t? But going easy on those sauces may do more than just saving you unwanted sugar and calories in your diet. Going easy on the sauces and condiments may also benefit your teeth by not staining them as deeply as those who go heavy-handed on the condiments. This is especially true of darker-colored sauces like soy, tomato, or curry-based sauces. To save the impact on the teeth, use lighter-colored sauces and brush when done eating.
Acidic foods and drinks can also affect your teeth. Some of the main offenders of this include energy and sports drinks often packed with extra sugars that can cause stains and also erode enamel. Water is the best choice for your teeth during workouts. Wine is also another issue, especially red wine which can stain teeth. White wine, however is also very acidic and can cause damage, too. Sodas are also another one that can damage teeth. The acids and dyes are usually darker-colored, which can stain teeth, and the sugars can ruin enamel as sodas are one of the drinks highest in sugars. If you were looking to give up soda to whittle your waistline, you can also do it to help save your teeth!
Fruit is another thing many people think is good for them, and it is! But it may not be as good for teeth. Especially darker-colored fruits like blueberries, blackberries, cherries, pomegranates, etc. that can leave darker stains on teeth. Same can be said for juices, even whole 100% fruit juices, that are dark in color. Eating or drinking such foods can soften the enamel and wear it away over time.
Candy and sweets, besides being terrible for you, also can wreck some havoc on the teeth. The worst candies are the ones that change the color of your tongue. If they have that much dye in them they can also stain your teeth if they stain your tongue.
One way to lessen stains on your teeth is to cut back gradually on things with a lot of sugar. Cut down the amount the energy drinks, sports drinks, sodas, and other sugary beverages you consume. If you must consume such drinks use a straw to do so to ensure the liquid doesn’t sit in your mouth as long as it otherwise would. Sip more water. Eat more vegetables, and consume fruits more moderately since they do have health benefits as well. Eat and sweets sparingly, one or two times per week. Brush after you are through with the sugary foods at meals.
Once you are done with foods or drinks that cause stains then brush your teeth soon thereafter. Swish your mouth with water immediately when done eating, then soon as you can brush your teeth after that meal. Keep the sugars from settling in on your teeth too long to minimize stains as well as the enamel that can be worn away from those foods sitting there over time.

If you have any questions regarding this article please contact us or call us at 909-465-1016.

The Ramona Dentistry Team
“Where Family Comes First”