Our Blog

Now that you’re entering the working world, or heading off to college, or pursuing any of the many adventures awaiting you in adult life, you’re ready to take on more adult responsibilities. And one of those responsibilities is making sure you maintain your dental health.  

Luckily, it’s not that hard! Successful adulting often means simply making small proactive choices which add up to big long-term benefits. So, let’s look at a few of the everyday habits of dentally successful adults.

Choose a Healthy Lifestyle

• Eat well.

Just like the rest of our bodies, our teeth and gums need a healthy diet to thrive. Sugar-fueled study sessions and energy drink-filled work hours should be the rare exception, not the norm. A diet rich in vitamins and minerals keeps gums healthy and enamel strong.

• Don’t use tobacco products. 

Cigarettes, cigars, pipe smoking, chewing tobacco—any form of tobacco products, especially combined with alcohol use, can greatly increase your chances of developing mouth and throat cancers.

• Talk to your doctor about the HPV vaccine.

HPV (human papillomavirus) can also cause mouth and throat cancers. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends the HPV vaccine for kids ages 9 through 12. If you haven’t been vaccinated yet, talk to Dr. Parulkar about the potential benefits of the HPV vaccine. 

Keep Up with Your Orthodontic Care

If you’ve spent several of your teen years in braces or aligners creating a beautiful, healthy smile, you don’t want to see all your hard work go to waste. Retainers are designed to make sure your teeth stay just where they belong for a lifetime. 

When retainers aren’t worn as directed, especially when braces or aligners first come off, the teeth can shift back to their old positions. Sometimes going back to your regular retainer schedule can fix any minor movement, but sometimes patients need to go back for repeat orthodontic treatment.

How to avoid orthodontic do-overs?

• If you have a retainer, wear it as scheduled to maintain your alignment and healthy bite. 
• Put your retainer in a case when you’re not wearing it. A bent or broken retainer won’t keep your teeth aligned properly and can damage delicate oral tissues!
• If your retainer is damaged, see the dental team at Delaware Pediatric Dentistry in Lewis Center, OH ASAP for repair or replacement.

 Practice Good Oral Hygiene

• Brush at least twice a day, for two minutes each time. 

Plaque begins to build up within hours after your last brushing. Removing plaque morning and evening also removes the cavity-causing bacteria which live in plaque. These bacteria erode enamel and lead to cavities.

• Floss at least once a day. 

Flossing helps remove plaque from your gumline. When plaque accumulates over time, it becomes tartar, a substance so hard that you’ll need a dental professional to remove it. The bacteria in plaque and tartar irritate your gums, and this irritation is the beginning of gum disease. Early stage gum disease (gingivitis) can often be reversed with better brushing and flossing habits—but, even better, help stop gum disease before it starts with daily flossing.

• See your dentist regularly. 

If you’ve been seeing your pediatric dentist since early childhood, you’ve probably developed a great partnership. You know that a visit twice each year, or as recommended, for an exam and a professional cleaning will make sure your smile stays its healthy, sparkling best. 

And now that you’re entering adulthood, it might be time to make a transition to your adult dental team. Some pediatric dentists suggest that patients transition to a new dentist around the age of 18, while others treat young patients through early adulthood. Talk to your dentist about how to graduate most easily and comfortably to a new dental team for your adult years—and then make regular checkups and cleanings with your new dentist a priority.

Not so difficult, right? In fact, you’ve probably adopted most of these healthy habits already. Take charge of your dental health now, make good habits a part of your daily routine, and you’ll be prepared to enjoy a lifetime of healthy, attractive, adult smiles!

Are you thinking about getting braces or aligners? Are you already in orthodontic treatment? If so, you already know that braces and aligners help straighten teeth and create a confident, beautiful smile. And those visible benefits are amazing! But orthodontic treatment has an even more important purpose than creating a beautiful smile—and that’s protecting and improving your oral health. 

What else can orthodontic treatment from Dr. Parulkar do for you?

Protect Your Tooth and Gum Health

• Lower Your Risk of Cavities

When teeth are crooked or overlap each other, it’s easier for cavity-causing plaque to get trapped between them, and harder to remove it. Straighter teeth let you remove plaque more easily and effectively.

• Keep Your Gums Healthy

When plaque and tartar build up around the gums, gum tissue becomes irritated and red, which is how gum disease begins. When teeth are straight and evenly spaced, brushing and flossing are easier and more effective, helping your gums stay their healthiest.

Create a Better, More Comfortable Bite

When the teeth and jaws don’t fit together the way they should when you close your mouth, it’s called a malocclusion, or bad bite. There are different types of bite problems, from barely noticeable to more serious, and they affect us in different ways. When your orthodontist corrects your bite, you’ll get benefits which don’t show up in the mirror!

• Stronger Teeth and Healthier Gums

Teeth and jaws which don’t fit together properly put extra pressure on your teeth and gums, which can cause worn enamel, cracked teeth, and shrinking gums. A well-aligned bite helps protect your teeth and gums.

• A Pain-Free Bite

Left untreated, malocclusions can cause problems like temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD), headaches, face and neck pain, earaches, limited jaw movement, and painful chewing. Correcting your bite will help relieve the discomfort and pain caused by a malocclusion. 

Other Possible Benefits

For people with more serious malocclusions, orthodontic treatment might improve daily life in unexpected ways:

• Improved Speech

It takes a lot of coordination to produce different sounds. The lips, the tongue, the alveolar ridge (the part of the jawbone which holds our teeth), the hard and soft palates, parts of the throat, and, yes, the teeth all play a part in creating speech. Some kinds of malocclusions contribute to speech disorders such as lisps, which orthodontic treatment can help correct.

• Improved Digestion

Digestion starts in the mouth, not the stomach! As we chew, we break down our food into small particles which are easier for the stomach to digest. If you can’t chew properly because your teeth are misaligned or a bad bite makes it too painful to chew food as thoroughly as you should, you won’t be getting the full nutritional benefits of your healthy diet. Orthodontic treatment helps you bite down painlessly and break down foods easily for better digestion.

• Improved Sleep

Bite problems can sometimes lead to sleepless nights. More serious malocclusions may cause mouth breathing, which, in turn, can affect the quality of your sleep. If you’re having trouble sleeping, your doctor can help you discover the source of your problems. If you can’t sleep because of tooth or jaw misalignment, orthodontic treatment might be the solution!

Talk to Dr. Parulkar to learn about all the options available to align your teeth and jaws for a healthy, attractive smile. Braces or aligners might be all you need to correct a mild malocclusion. Appliances and headgear can guide the growth and position of the jaw if needed. In some cases, surgery, together with braces, can be used to treat a more serious malocclusion.

If you want a more confident smile, stronger teeth and gums, and a comfortable, healthy bite, talk to the dental team at Delaware Pediatric Dentistry in Lewis Center, OH to discover how orthodontic treatment can help you achieve all of your smile goals!

The community health awareness group Oral Health America has reported that 82 percent of adults are unaware of the role that infectious bacteria can play in tooth decay or cavities, and almost three out of five children aged 12 to 19 have tooth decay. Since June is National Smile Month, Dr. Parulkar and our team at Delaware Pediatric Dentistry thought we’d remind our patients about the importance of good oral hygiene visits between office visits.

To keep your family’s smiles healthy and beautiful for years to come, be sure to:

• Brush at least twice a day with fluoride toothpaste
• Floss every day to clean between your teeth
• Eat a healthy, well-balanced diet
• Reduce your intake of sugary foods and drinks
• Visit Dr. Parulkar for scheduled appointments

If you want to know more about healthy home care habits, feel free to ask our team at your next appointment, or ask us on Facebook!

Many parents are unaware that children can also suffer from symptoms of halitosis, better known as chronic bad breath. This common oral problem affects a majority of the population, including both adults and children. During treatment for this condition, it’s worthwhile to focus on the cause of the problem. Take a look at the most common reasons why your child might develop bad breath.

Having constant bad breath can be embarrassing and troublesome. Most often, boys and girls develop halitosis as a side effect of some sort of upper respiratory infection. It may be a common cold, allergies, or flu symptoms.

When the nasal passages are blocked, it’s more likely that your child will breathe through the mouth. Mouth breathing may also occur if your youngster is put on medication that decreases saliva flow. Mouth breathing can make bad breath much worse if there isn’t enough saliva to cleanse the area.

Another cause of halitosis in children can be tonsillitis. When your child’s airway is constricted, he or she is more likely to mouth-breath. When the tissues in your mouth dry out, bacteria will grow and increase in potency. If you notice symptoms of tonsillitis in your child such as a fever, swollen throat, trouble swallowing, chills, or congestion, get your little one to treatment right away.

Halitosis in children is can also be caused by an infection of the mouth. If your child’s teeth or gums are infected, odor will developed if untreated. Infection can occur due to inadequate brushing and flossing, which can lead to gum disease or cavities. If cavities are left untreated, they can develop a strong, noticeable odor. If you think your child has an infection or cavity, contact Delaware Pediatric Dentistry and schedule an appointment.

Other causes of halitosis may be certain pungent foods your child eats, or bacteria built up on the tongue. Make sure your son or daughter brushes and flosses thoroughly every day. Some mouthwashes may be beneficial for your child to alleviate bad breath caused by leftover bacteria in the mouth. Other ways of treating of halitosis can vary, based on the cause of the problem.

If you’re unsure about why your child has halitosis, contact Delaware Pediatric Dentistry and we can help you figure out where the issue originated. Remember, masking symptoms of bad breath with gum or mints will be only a temporary fix. Your child’s bad breath problems can be helped with a little investigation from Dr. Parulkar. Always feel free to call our Lewis Center, OH office if you are concerned about your child’s oral health.