Your Family History and Your Dental Care

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by Lynnwood Song Dental

How Family History Affects Your Dental Health

Your family’s dental history can give clues about your own oral health. If your parents or relatives had gum disease, cavities, or tooth loss, you might be at higher risk. Genetics can affect things like enamel strength, tooth alignment, and your chances of developing inflammation. Knowing this helps you make better decisions about your care.

Common Genetic Dental Issues

Some dental problems run in families. These include gum disease, weak enamel, misaligned jaws, and oral cancer. Even if you brush and floss regularly, your genes may increase your risk. Be sure to tell your dentist about any family history so they can adjust your care as needed.

Steps to Stay Ahead

You cannot change your genes, but you can protect your teeth. Brush twice a day, floss daily, eat healthy foods, and visit your dentist regularly. Tell us if your family has a history of any of the following so that we can plan your treatments accordingly:

  • Gingivitis: Some families are more prone to gum disease than others.
  • Crooked teeth: If you family has a lot of gaps between their teeth, you probably will as well.
  • Bleeding disorders: A family history of clotting problems or similar blood-related issues can affect the treatments you receive.
  • Certain chronic diseases: Your oral health can be deeply impacted by diabetes or other conditions that tend to run in families.

At Song Dental Care, we include your family history when planning your treatment. Preventive care and early detection are the best ways to protect your smile.

The Perils of Sugar-Free Soda

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Many people reach for sugar-free soda as a healthier alternative to regular soft drinks. While it’s true that these beverages contain less or no sugar, they’re still not great for your dental health. In fact, sugar-free sodas can still damage your teeth in surprising ways.

Acid is the real problem. Most diet sodas contain phosphoric or citric acid, which weakens tooth enamel over time. Without strong enamel, your teeth are more vulnerable to cavities, sensitivity, and discoloration.

Why Sugar-Free Doesn’t Mean Tooth-Friendly

Even without sugar, the acidic pH of diet soda can lead to dental erosion. This erosion is a gradual wearing away of the tooth surface, which cannot be reversed once it happens. And because diet sodas don’t cause pain right away, many people don’t realize the damage until it’s advanced.

Some sugar substitutes may also increase your cravings for sweet things. This can lead to snacking more frequently, which raises your risk of tooth decay. So, while you’re avoiding sugar, your teeth may still be under attack in other ways.

Protecting Your Smile from Soda Damage

If you enjoy soda, try drinking it with a meal rather than sipping throughout the day. Use a straw to reduce contact with your teeth, and rinse your mouth with water after drinking. Most importantly, avoid brushing your teeth immediately after soda, as the acid softens enamel and brushing can wear it down even more.

Regular dental checkups are key to catching early signs of enamel erosion. At Song Dental, we’re here to help you keep your smile healthy—whether you drink soda or not. Contact us to schedule a visit and learn more about protecting your teeth.

Unclenching Bruxism in Lynnwood Dentistry

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The Unconscious Sleep Disorder called Bruxism

Sleep bruxism is considered a sleep-related movement disorder more common in children. Bruxism can happen both in the day and night time, but it is at night that the sliding or grinding of tooth surfaces are at its height. Though adults may also clench or grind their teeth during sleep, they are likely to have other sleep disorders, such as snoring and sleep apnea.

Mild forms of bruxism may not need treatment, but severe bruxism can lead to teeth damage, headaches and disorders of the jaw. You may not know it, feel pain at all while you’re unconsciously grinding, but waking up to a sore jaw is not uncommon.

So why does it happen?
Stress seems to cause bruxism but causes vary from person to person. Some experts point to the level of anxiety, ability to relax, sleep posture, sleeping habits, eating disorders, and misaligned teeth. Signs of the condition are found evident on the teeth, like worn, flattened surfaces and sometimes a chipped or broken tooth, exposure of the deeper layers of teeth that may be sensitive or not. You can have an earache and jaw ache or a headache at the temple areas, have soreness or tightness of facial and jaw muscles, marks on the insides of your cheek as well as on your tongue. A locked jaw can be a possibility.

What must you do then?
See your dentist right away. He can help determine the extent and severity or find a psychological component that a sleep specialist can manage. Otherwise, the dental approach may ease the effects of bruxism – like splints and mouth guards and correction of misaligned and damaged teeth. These aim to reduce pain, prevent permanent damage to teeth, and reduce clenching as can be possible.

Dental Help for Bruxism in Lynnwood

Bruxism need not get serious. With early intervention, you can diminish potential damage to teeth and jaws. Visit Song Dental in Lynnwood and know more about how to manage this condition in a variety of ways.

What Toothpaste Should My Child Use?

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Fluoride is an important part of maintaining healthy teeth. This is the material that reinforces your enamel against the acids that try to break them down. This is why our Lynnwood Dentistry advises that all children should be using a fluoride toothpaste as soon as they start developing teeth.

If your child is younger than three years old, a smear of toothpaste that covers less than three quarters of the brush should do the job. Look for a toothpaste that has at least 1,000 ppm (parts per million) of fluoride. Kids between the ages of three and six should use a pea-sized drop of toothpaste between 1,350-1,500 ppm of fluoride. Instruct your children to not swallow their toothpaste, as ingesting large amounts of fluoride is unadvisable.

Crown Problems

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If you have a crown, it may occasionally give you problems. This can come from an improper fitting, decay, or simple wear and tear on the cement that holds your crown in place. Most crown problems are reasonably easy to remedy, but you will want to bring them to our Lynnwood dentistry clinic as quickly as you can in order to avoid more severe damage.

Firstly, a lot of people experience some degree of pain or sensitivity. When this happens, you may simply need to brush with a paste designed for sensitive teeth. If you experience pain when you bite down on your crown, the crown may be too high up; your dentist should be able to fix this problem for you.

Sometimes a crown will loosen or fall off. If this happens, a very vulnerable part of your tooth is exposed to decay. Be alert for a loose crown, and tell your dentist immediately if you notice anything askew. Should your crown come out, clean both the crown and the tooth and replace it with temporary dental cement until you can get it to your dentist to be refitted.

What Causes TMD’s?

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A TMJ disorder represents any kind of problem with the temporomandibular joint.  In simple terms, it’s a problem with the joint of your jaw or the muscles that manipulate it.  The cause of any individual TMJ disorder is frequently unclear, but our Lynnwood dental clinic advises you to be on the lookout for the following possible culprits:

  • An injury to the jaw area, including around the head or neck.
  • Grinding or clenching in your teeth puts unnecessary strain on your jaw, and can cause TMD.
  • Oral cancer and certain dental problems can affect the way your jaw fits into your skill, bringing about a TMD.
  • Osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis in your jaw can manifest as a TMD.
  • In general, women are more likely to suffer from TMD than men.  Specifically, women between the age of twenty and forty represent the most cases.  Reasons for this are unclear.

Should you find yourself with a TMD, Song Dental Center can help you.  Contact our office for more information.

Caring for Teeth While Wearing Braces

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Braces can make your normal tooth care routine difficult. Wire braces offer food and bacteria more places to hide from your brushing, making brushing and flossing all the more essential. Your orthodontist should provide you with a special flosser to use around your braces if you need it. You may also want to schedule more check-ups with our Lynnwood Dentistry for as long as you have braces.

If you have braces that can be routinely taken out, you should always remove them before eating. If your braces can’t be removed, it is best to steer clear of foods that can stick to or damage them. Hard, gummy, and chewy candy is out, as is popcorn and gum. Sodas and sugary juices are unadvisable as well.

Some pain is to be expected as your teeth adjust to the braces. In this event, simple painkillers should be enough to help you cope. All the same, you should be aware of any poking or scratching sensations in your mouth that may be the result of a broken wire; damaged braces should be brought to your orthodontist as soon as possible.

The Dangers of Mouth-Breathing

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Do you have a child who habitually breathes through his or her mouth? This is fairly common. About half of all children under the age of eight do some degree of mouth-breathing. If he or she hasn’t grown out of the habit by the age of eight, though, it might be wise to bring this to the attention of your Lynnwood dental clinic.

One of the problems that comes with mouth breathing is that it dries up your mouth. Your mouth requires saliva to protect it against harmful bacteria and fungus, so a lack of sufficient moisture can invite serious problems to your teeth and gums. People with dry mouths are highly prone to tooth decay, gum disease, and other such conditions. Stay on the lookout for mouth-breathing and save your child’s mouth!