Dentist Blog - Grand Rapids Dentist | Eric Hull DDS Aesthetic and General Dentistry

Nov18

Chewing tobacco and its side effects

Everyone knows that smoking causes lung cancer, but did you also know that smokers and tobacco users are susceptible to a variety of oral health problems at a faster rate than non-smokers? Smokeless tobacco use in the United States continues to increase each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It may be smokeless, but it certainly isn’t harmless.

You’ve probably seen baseball players chewing or dipping tobacco, but it’s important to know that as soon as you use tobacco products, you risk developing serious health issues, including cancer, heart attack or stroke. You are also more likely to experience any of these oral health problems:

• Gum disease
• Tooth loss
• Loss of bone in the jaw
• Gum recession
• Delayed/impaired healing process after oral surgery or any other treatment
• Decreased success rate of dental implant (tooth replacement) procedures
• Mouth sores
• Loss of your sense of taste and smell
• Bad breath
• Tooth and tongue stains

Quitting tobacco is difficult because all forms of it—cigarettes, cigars and spit (chewing) tobacco—contain nicotine, which is the highly addictive agent in tobacco. If you are interested in protecting your oral health, we strongly recommend you quit using tobacco products! We suggest all tobacco users come in for regular dental check-ups with Dr. Bruce A. Stewart.

Nov10

Halloween Candy Buy-Back Success

All of us at Dr. Bruce Stewart’s office are happy to announce that our Halloween Candy Buy-Back program was a success again this year. However, there is always room for more families to participate!

We had twelve children participate, representing seven families. We enjoyed seeing the children come in, and smiled when some of them had trouble parting with their candy. The youngest children seemed to have the most difficult time saying goodbye to their candy, and did not quite understand why they were leaving their candy behind. The children brought 53 pounds of candy and we paid a total of $93 to those who participated. Some children left us over five pounds of candy, even though the individual limit for purchase was five pounds. Just think of the possible cavities prevented and how much healthier their young bodies are because they did not consume an additional 53 pounds of candy! We will be taking the candy to a subsidized, independent living, senior citizen apartment complex where people do not have much income available for extra treats.

Our Halloween candy purchase program is an annual event and we would like to double or triple the amount of participants next year. Please consider bringing your children to the office to sell us their candy for $2 a pound. Even if they only part with some of their treats, their bodies and piggy banks will be healthier. Once again, thank you to everyone who participated this year!

Nov4

5 ways you can avoid plaque

At Dr. Bruce Stewart’s office, we know nobody likes getting plaque on their teeth. Here are five other ways you can avoid that dreaded enemy of the teeth, courtesy of WebMD.

Let’s start with brushing regularly. Brushing your teeth twice a day with a fluoride-containing toothpaste is vital to a healthy mouth. Make sure you softly brush all the surfaces of your teeth.

Next on the list is flossing daily: a simple daily flossing between teeth clears away plaque before it can cause damage and can also clean plaque at the gum line. Plaque is known to reach the spaces between teeth.

Also, evading a trip to visit Dr. Stewart is probably not a great idea. Let’s say you brush and floss daily. You’re still at risk for plaque. With time, the plaque hardens and turns into tartar. Consider visiting Dr. Stewart’s office at least twice a year or as recommended, and you have a lower chance of getting cavities or losing your natural teeth.

You’ll also want to stop avoiding those fruits and veggies. Believe it or not, there are foods out there that play a key role in keeping plaque off our teeth. They include apples, carrots, cucumbers and other raw fruits and vegetables. You can still eat these types of fruits and veggies if you’re wearing braces, but be sure to cut them up into bite sized pieces to avoid breaking off brackets.

Finally, before you pick up that candy bar, remember to not give in to your sweet tooth. Consuming sugary drinks or eating candy or other junk food allows sugar to stick to our teeth. The bacteria, then, becomes plaque, which turns into acid and damages our teeth. Avoiding these five bad habits keeps your plaque in check and your mouth as healthy as can be. If you have any questions, give us a call or ask us on Facebook!

Oct27

How technology helps us all, from Dr. Bruce A. Stewart

Dr. Bruce A. Stewart wanted to share this story about how technology helped a recent patient get expert advice without leaving our office.

I had a patient the other day who had a severely damaged tooth. I wasn’t sure if it could be saved, so we took an intra-oral picture and an x-ray of the tooth. We emailed it to a periodontist who looked at the x-ray and the picture and decided that the best option was extraction and an implant. He felt the tooth could be removed and an implant placed the same day.

Our patient was extremely happy to get all this information while sitting in our office. He saved the time and cost involved with an office visit to the specialist to get this diagnosis, as well as gasoline costs.

I thought you would enjoy this story of how our technology can be of help to you, should you have a problem.

Oct21

Smile! October is National Dental Hygiene Month!

Did you know that October is National Dental Hygiene Month? For our staff at Dr. Stewart’s office, that means only one thing: Reminding you that your teeth are an important part of your body, and keeping them clean helps keep your mouth and your body healthy. By taking care of your teeth, eating a balanced diet and visiting our convenient Comstock Park, MI office on a regular basis, you can have healthy teeth and an attractive smile throughout your entire life.

We encourage you to check out the American Dental Association website as well, which provides pointers on keeping your mouth clean and healthy. Lastly, has it been six months since your last checkup? If the answer is yes, we encourage you to give us a call to set up an appointment with Dr. Stewart.

Oct14

Second Annual Candy Buy-Back

Halloween is an exciting time of year for children, with Halloween parties in elementary schools and trick-or-treating on Halloween night. Most of us remember the excitement of running from house to house filling our bags with lots of treats, mostly candy. As adults we have a slightly different view of these festivities, as we understand the link between the sugars in sweets and tooth decay and overall health. This cache of candy can mean trouble for teeth, and is particularly bad for children with braces. So why not encourage your children to sell their candy to us at Dr. Bruce Stewart’s office? Have them pick out a few of their favorite pieces and then bring the rest of the loot to our office.

From Tuesday, November 1 through Thursday, November 10, we encourage all former costumed characters to bring us their candy loot. We will pay $2 for every pound of candy, up to $10 per child. Parents of these former ghosts and goblins can enter their name into a drawing for a $40 gift card to Meijers. The drawing will be held at the end of the day on November 10 and the winner will be notified that day.

Cash versus cavities—the choice is easy. Choose Cash!!!

Oct5

Biofilm–What is it? Why do we need to be aware of Biofilm?

Biofilm is a group of micro-organisms existing together in a moist, gel-like film. It is everywhere that water contacts a non-sterile surface. It is found in the human body and in nature. Here are a few facts about biofilm:

• We all have biofilm in our mouths, cheeks, teeth, gums, tongue.
• These biofilms cause tooth decay, gingivitis and periodontitis.
• The inflammation in the mouth caused by microbes in biofilm has been implicated in general health problems, such as cardiovascular disease.
• Dental plaque, or biofilm, can contain as many as 500 different microbes.
• The longer the biofilm stays uninterrupted, the greater the potential for dental problems.
• Disrupting the biofilm growth through brushing, flossing and rinsing is key to your dental health.

If you have any questions about biofilm, feel free to ask us at Dr. Eric Hull’s office!

Sep28

Dr. Stewart answers your frequently asked questions

Today, Dr. Bruce Stewart wanted to address some questions that our office hears regularly and may be of interest to many of our patients. If you have any more questions, feel free to leave us a comment or ask us at the office!

Q. Are x-rays really necessary?

A. X-rays allow us to see cysts, abscesses, and decay between the teeth, as well as periodontal disease damage. Without x-rays, we would not be able to see the problem until it was larger.

Q. Why, in my retirement, am I suddenly getting new cavities when I went many years without cavities?

A. Often cavities in advanced years are associated with decreased saliva flow. This can occur simply with age. However, more likely it is medication that has a side effect of making the mouth dry. A significant number of common medications can cause dry mouth. Snacking between meals and sucking on mints, lemon drops, etc…can also promote rapid tooth decay.

Q. How can I prevent decay when I have receding gums?

A. The result of gum recession is exposed roots. They are much more susceptible to tooth decay than the upper portion of the tooth which has an enamel covering. Professionally applied fluoride varnish, xylitol gum and mints, and prescription-level fluoride toothpaste are all beneficial in helping to prevent, or minimize, decay around exposed roots.

Q.How can I help my decay-prone teenagers prevent tooth decay?

A. Caution them about the high sugar and acid levels in sports and energy drinks, which are often comparable to the levels in soft drinks. What dentists have been saying for years is true: candy and soft drinks (sugar) are bad for teeth. The same products that can help prevent decay around exposed roots will help prevent or minimize tooth decay in teenagers. Brushing and flossing daily are very beneficial in preventing decay. Decay really can be controlled and is preventable!

Sep23

Link Between Alzheimer’s Disease and Cold Sores

The link between Alzheimer’s Disease and the cold sore has been in the news lately, with Oprah and Dr. Oz on TV and John Tesh on the radio. In fact, researchers from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and the University of Manchester in England and have found a link between cold sores and Alzheimer’s Disease. They stress that cold sores do not cause Alzheimer’s, but can be one co-factor in developing Alzheimer’s.

The research indicates that the HSV1 (herpes virus) travels to the nerve cells of the brain as we age and alters the brain’s waste-removal capabilities. The virus also releases chemicals in the brain that cause abnormal twisted fibers to develop, similar to what is found in Alzheimer’s sufferers. As a result of these findings, experts advise treating a cold sore quickly to minimize the time the virus is active.

If you get a cold sore, please call Dr. Bruce Stewart’s office and get treatment. We can call in medication that will hasten the healing of your cold sore. A better alternative would be to come in and have us use a laser on your cold sore. The laser has been effective in hastening healing, preventing spreading, and containing the size of the herpes outbreak.

Sep15

Check Your Flex and Health Savings Accounts

School has begun, the air is getting cooler and fall will officially arrive next week. After a summer filled with warm-weather activities and relaxed schedules, we are all getting into our new fall routines. This is a good time to check your Flex Accounts and Health Savings Accounts to make sure you will use all the money you have set aside. If you have dental treatment that was diagnosed but not completed, we will be happy to give you estimates on the costs of the treatment. If you have insurance we will do our best to give you an accurate estimate of your portion after insurance. Let us help you maximize your benefits. In the process you will be improving your dental health and over-all physical health. That is a win-win!

–Dr. Stewart and team

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