When we think about issues regarding our health, we often don’t think about our teeth. However, maintaining our oral health is key to preventing serious complications in the future. Frequent visits to the dentist can be very beneficial to your overall oral health, along with establishing an open line of communication with your dentist. Speaking freely with your dentist about your concerns and how you can improve is always helpful.

Here are three questions to ask when visiting the dentist and why you should ask them:

What can I do to improve my oral health?

When asking this question, it is important to remember that everyone’s mouth is different. Some might have to do less, while others will have to do a lot more. Your dentist will give you information on what to do, specific to you. Some might have you brush or floss more, and who knows, they might even recommend that you use a different toothbrush. There is a lot more that goes into maintaining your oral health than one might think. If you feel a little uncomfortable asking your dentist this question, don’t! Just as one would speak with a doctor about health concerns, you should also feel comfortable doing so with your dentist.

What can you do to improve my oral health?

Like we said before, each mouth is different, meaning each mouth is going to have different problems. Some might grind their teeth and others might be self-conscious of bad breath. Either way, your dentist isn’t a mind reader. When you ask what you can do to improve or fix these things your dentist will be able to help you more effectively. It’s important to express your concerns and work together as a team in order to achieve your goal. Especially when you are experiencing pain or discomfort, this will help your dentist understand what is going on and hopefully prevent future problems.

What is the current status of my oral health?

Just as you get general health updates, it is important to not only know, but understand the status of your oral health. When asked, a dentist can perform a general exam of your mouth area, searching for lumps or anything else that might not belong. This can include gauging bone density and checking for unintentional wear due to teeth grinding. This just ensures that everything is functioning properly and is all preventative. If they find something of concern you can then begin to discuss proper treatment options along with suggestions to further prevent more damage.

Whether it’s something or nothing, it is always better to be on the same page with any of your healthcare providers. Talking with them about concerns or questions helps your dentist to better do their job and help you in the long run. Many diseases and health issues can stem from the mouth and neck area, so if you have any concerns please share them with your dentist. Always better safe than sorry! An open line of communication will help us to build a better relationship with all of our patients.

The month of October is known for many things, Halloween being the most exciting. But, did you know it’s also National Dental Hygiene Month? You know what that means- a perfect time to go over the do’s and don’ts of basic dental hygiene. Dental hygiene can include anything from fresh breath, healthy gums, strong teeth, and more! But what is it exactly? It is the habits or practices that are conducive to maintaining the overall health of teeth or gums. With that being said, let’s start with the obvious!

Dentist Visits

Visiting your local dentist often, or at least twice a year helps regulate your oral health. Regular checkups and cleanings allow for your dental hygienist to keep everything in check. If something seems to be lacking the problem can be fixed before it gets out of control. During cleanings they will remove any build up, whether that be plaque or tartar, which helps prevent gum diseases. It is recommended that this happens at least twice a year or more often depending on the person and what your hygienist might suggest.

Brushing Tips

When it comes to brushing our teeth, we want it to be quick. However, it is very important that it is efficient and doing the job, rather than sweeping some bristles across the front of your mouth. Teeth should be brushed at least twice a day, and it is recommended to be morning and night for two minutes each. To ensure you are getting the most out of these two minutes you want to make sure you are cleaning both your teeth and gums with a soft-bristled brush. Brushes and bristles should be replaced every three to four months depending on how frayed the bristles are. If you aren’t quite sure what kind of brush or toothpaste you should be using, talk to your dentist or hygienist for recommendations specific to you!

Flossing

Flossing can be one of the easiest things to forget when it comes to your daily dental hygiene routine. So what makes it so important? Flossing helps breakdown plaque buildup, but also prevents future buildup, which eventually could lead to issues dealing with tartar. Flossing also improves the overall look, brightening your smile by taking away leftover food and plaque. The tiny little piece of minty string is also able to reach some of the areas that your toothbrush might not be able to. Now if you think that flossing just benefits your oral health, think again. Research has found that infection of the mouth, just like any other infection, can inflame blood substances. This could potentially advance blood clots and slow blood flow throughout the body. This of course is uncommon, but can be prevented by regular flossing.

Mouthwash

While mouthwash can’t replace brushing your teeth or cure bad breath, it certainly can play a significant role in improving your oral health. Mouthwash can help kill bacteria, prevent gingivitis, and strengthen enamel. However, all mouthwashes are not the same, so if you are looking for one to treat something in particular, again, you might want to consult your dentist or hygienist.

What to Drink

Most of us crave some sort of bubbly drink every once in a while. But how often is too often when it comes soft drink intake and oral health. Unchanging consumption of sugary drinks is one of the most common culprits of tooth decay. Sugars in juices, soda, and alcohol combined with already existing bacterias create acid that then attacks our teeth. Cavities are often linked to sodas and other acidic drinks, and are part of the early stages of tooth decay. A couple ways to prevent this other than stopping all intake is to drink quickly. In doing so the drink will have less time to sit and rot. The next thing you can do is wash your mouth out almost immediately after consumption. This will not allow the sugars and acids to sit on your teeth, hours on end.

While oral health and dental hygiene might not be the most interesting, they are certainly necessary. These are just a few tips and tricks to help improve and maintain your oral health and keep get that smile brighter!

If you need to visit with a dentist or hygienist to receive a second opinion on your teeth just contact us at on our website or by calling 208-939-4111.

Do you ever stop and wonder what Lidocaine actually is? In an effort to better educate our patients, Here’s a short description and explanation of the product.

What’s In Lidocaine?

Lidocaine, sometimes referred to as Lignocaine, is a medication used to numb a specific area of tissue. Also known as a local anesthetic. To allow for larger doses for numbing, Lidocaine can be mixed with small amounts of epinephrine. It can also help to decrease bleeding and to make the numbing effect last longer. It helps relieve pain and vascular spasms as a recommended treatment of injections.

Lidocaine is an antiarrhythmic medication of the class Ib type. This means it works by blocking sodium channels and thus decreasing the rate of contractions of the heart. Local neurons cannot signal the brain when it is used locally as a numbing agent.

Discovered in 1946, Lidocaine became more publicly available in 1948. It’s considered one of the most essential, effective, and safe medicines needed today. It’s available as a generic medication and it’s not very expensive. Xylocaine is one of the brand names it is recognized under.

We understand that a lot of this sounds like rather unnecessary information. However, it’s good to establish a baseline when introducing a topic such as this.

How Long Does The Numbness Last?

When injected, the numbing effects of Lidocaine can begin working very quickly. In as little as four minutes and can last from 30 minutes up to three hours.

However, other factors can play a role in how long the drug’s effects last. It’s a fast-acting local anesthetic. While its effects normally last for 30 to 60 minutes, it can last much longer if administered alongside epinephrine. Something we mention earlier. Other factors include the dosage, the individual, and the presence of the infection.

The higher the dose of Lidocaine, the longer the numbing effects will last. The amount administered depends on the type of procedure being performed. It can also depend on the number of nerves being numbed and the size of the area being treated. For example, a root canal treatment will require more Lidocaine than a simple filling.

The More You Know

In sum, Lidocaine is safe and effective. It is commonly used in dental offices across the country. Here in Eagle, Idaho and at Eagle Dental Care, we strive to constantly be at the top of our game. We firmly believe in educating and informing our patients so they always feel comfortable in the work that we do. If you have any questions at all regarding the use of Lidocaine or other anesthetics, please don’t hesitate to call us or ask during your appointment.

Periodontal Cleaning/Treatment

At some point, you may have been told that you have periodontal disease and require a different type of teeth cleaning. The word periodontal means “around the tooth.” When plaque and calculus are not removed, they begin to destroy the tissue and bone which support the teeth. This results in periodontal disease which can cause bad breath, red, tender or swollen gums, painful chewing, loose teeth, sensitive teeth, receding gums and in severe cases loss of teeth.

Periodontal disease can be diagnosed at a patient’s initial appointment and treatment recommendations vary. A periodontal cleaning requires a deeper cleaning referred to as “scaling and root planing”.

Many patients are not aware they have periodontal disease because the disease is usually painless in the early stages. Periodontal disease is the number one reason for tooth loss and research suggests there may be a link between periodontal disease and other medical diseases. Before starting treatment, it is our goal to address all questions and concerns about treatment, prognosis, cost and even insurance reimbursement.

Prophylaxis Treatment

Prophylaxis is basically a dental term for a regular teeth cleaning. Regular prophylaxis appointments are recognized by the American Dental Association and dental insurance companies as a necessary preventive measure once every six months. A prophylaxis appointment means that you will receive a thorough teeth cleaning by a dental hygienist and a complete examination by a dentist. At interval prophylaxis appointments, you may have x-rays and photos taken. The dentist will use these images to assist in a thorough examination of your mouth to determine if there is need for any treatment.

Dr. Thomason working on a patient

Benefits of a regular teeth cleaning include the removal of tarter and plaque build-up, fresher breath and healthy appearance. Tarter and plaque buildup naturally occur. But if left unremoved, they can lead to serious dental problems and even become the source of serious medical concerns. Regular prophylaxis appointments will help keep your teeth, tissue and mouth in good health. It can also prevent or halt the progression of gum disease.

We follow the ADA guidelines and recommend a regular teeth cleaning every six months as a preventative measure. Since this prophylaxis appointment involves a thorough examination of the mouth, we are able to screen for oral cancer, evaluate the risk of periodontal disease and often spot signs of other dental problems. We can also provide recommendations for changing your home care routine to improve the overall health of your mouth and smile.

In Summary

A prophylaxis cleaning is a preventive cleaning to help keep your teeth and gums
healthy. A periodontal cleaning is considered treatment to treat Periodontal Disease and restore
your gums to a healthy and stable condition.

Get a Consultation

We would love for you to give us a call or stop in if you have any questions regarding prophylaxis cleaning and periodontal cleaning. You can find us at 151 N Stierman Way in Eagle, Idaho or give us a call at (208)939-4111. You are also welcome to visit our Contact Us page and shoot us a quick message.

Here at Eagle Dental Care, we’ve been kicking around the idea of starting a recurring tidbit on our blog. We’re calling it “Eagle Dental Care Answers”, and it’s a piece where we answer simple questions surrounding the field of dentistry. Sometimes it’ll be humorous, other times it will be informative, but it will always be interesting.

To kick things off, we’re tackling wisdom teeth. It’s something that comes up in conversation fairly frequently. But, have you ever asked yourself, why are they called wisdom teeth?

Well not to worry, we’re here to answer your question. But first, let’s provide a little more depth and context.

What exactly is a wisdom tooth?

A wisdom tooth is one of the three molars in each quadrant of the human mouth. Basically, it is the last of the three toward the back of your mouth. People generally get their wisdom teeth sometime in their late teenage years to their early twenties. Most adults have four wisdom teeth, one in each of the four quadrants. However, it’s possible to have none, fewer, or even more, which are referred to as supernumerary teeth. It is common for wisdom teeth to affect other teeth as they come in, which often leads to them being extracted before any problems occur.

Why are they called wisdom teeth?

Now that you know what a wisdom tooth is, here is the answer to your burning question:

Although officially known as third molars, they are commonly called wisdom teeth because they appear so late. Much later than other teeth. They come in at an age where people are presumably “wiser” than they were as a child. The appearance of wisdom teeth has been known to cause dental issues for hundreds of years; it was noted at least as far back as Aristotle:

“The last teeth to come in man are molars called ‘wisdom-teeth’, which come at the age of twenty years, in the case of both sexes. Cases have been known in women upwards of eighty years old where at the very close of life the wisdom-teeth have come up, causing great pain in their coming; and cases have been known of the like phenomenon in men too. This happens, when it does happen, in the case of people where the wisdom-teeth have not come up in early years.” -Aristotle, The History of Animals

And now you know why they are called wisdom teeth. This has been Eagle Dental Care Answers!

How many times have you heard the following lines:

“We strive to provide the best quality…”
“Here at ____, we do our very best to…”
“You can count on receiving the very best care at…”
“We believe in honesty and quality…”

It seems like pretty much every business will say those words in some way or another. We’ve even used the same phrases. Our point is, how do you truly know who provides the best quality and the fairest price? The short answer is, probably a lot of establishments. But the long answer is that it takes a little research and dedication.

Eagle Dental Care – Eagle’s Premier Dentist Office

People say that you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, but that’s basically what the internet encourages. We look a brief snapshot of a business, whether it be a restaurant, bank, hotel, etc., and we judge it. We all have different tactics. Many include glancing at the pictures or logos, looking at where they’re located, and maybe checking out a few reviews.

We’d like to cut through all of that white noise at Eagle Dental Care. We do believe that we are Eagle’s premier dentistry location. But we’re not going to pitch you on our quality or our website, we want you to come check things out for yourself. Come meet Dr. Thomason and see if he’d be a good fit for you and your family.

We can tell you all day long that we are the premier dentist office in the greater Boise area. We can tell you all day long that we offer the highest quality and have the best doctor and staff, and so on and so forth. But at the end of the day, none of that matters unless you actually feel that way.

Our Invitation

We encourage anyone looking for a new dentist to make the time to visit us and see what “premier” really looks like. We’d love for you to meet our staff, tour our office, and understand our products and how billing works. We’re not keeping any secrets, we want you to feel as comfortable as you possibly can when visiting the dentist.

Premier Service From A Premier Dentist

We think we do a good job here at Eagle Dental Care. We do believe that we offer the best service at a fair price. We’d love for you to learn more about us. Please feel free to poke around our website, take the virtual tour of the office, read about our services, etc. Then stop by or give us a call at 208-939-4111.

Having a toothache is absolutely no fun. It can be made a little tougher as well if you don’t know what’s causing it. You might feel a dull pain, soreness, or ache and you tooth could be sensitive to temperature or certain foods, painful when chewing or biting, or it might even be accompanied by a sharp pain. None of which are enjoyable.

Figuring Out The Cause Of The Toothache

We have many different methods we use to determine the cause of a toothache. We’ll ask you several questions like: Is it sensitive to cold or heat? Does it hurt to eat? Has it woken you up in the middle of the night? These help us narrow down the possible causes of a toothache.

We might also take x-rays to check for abscesses, cavities, or other hidden problems.

Some other tests might include a percussion test where we’ll gently tap on areas of the tooth or surrounding teeth to help identify the precise location of the pain. A biting pressure test, which can be used to pinpoint what area of the tooth is causing the pain. The cold air test uses a stream of cold air blown directly on the tooth to figure out where the sensitivity is coming from.

Once we figure out the cause of the toothache, we’ll take the appropriate steps to correct it and get you feeling better, whether that is through medication or an immediate procedure. If left untreated, toothaches will get more painful over time, so we strongly encourage immediate action.

Common Causes of Toothaches

• Tooth decay
• Inflammation
• Abscess
• Cracked or impacted tooth
• Gum disease
• Sensitive teeth

inflammation, an abscess, a cracked or impacted tooth, gum disease, and sensitive teeth.

Maybe you’ve read an article on the internet? Maybe you’ve talked to a friend who’s had a bad experience? Or perhaps you’re just skeptical by nature. Whatever the reason, the question remains the same: Is teeth whitening safe?

Here at Eagle Dental Care, we proudly offer KöR Whitening, a system that works by restoring your teeth’s youthful ability to absorb oxygen. But before we dive into the details as to why we like this method, let’s talk about how it works. And let’s answer the question: Is teeth whitening safe?

How Teeth Whitening Works

The oxygen from the whitening gel is absorbed into the tooth, dissolving and removing stain molecules. Most patients have no discomfort from whitening and have amazing, long lasting results. We have found KöR Whitening to be the gentlest and best whitening system available. So to first answer your question.

Q: Is teething whitening safe?

A: Yes. Yes it is.

Kor Whitening’s gel is formulated to be highly effective, yet gentle to avoid causing teeth sensitivity. This unique formula is kept at cool temperatures at all times to maintain its precisely calibrated potency.

The secret to this whitening system is to restore your teeth’s ability to absorb oxygen. This allows the oxygen from the whitening gel to be absorbed deeply into your tooth allowing it to break up and clear stains and dark spots.

You will receive a mouth tray designed to fit you, and a plan to apply the gel that will allow for exceptional results. Possibly getting 16 shades whiter!

For long lasting and exceptional results, teeth whitening requires a thorough cleaning so that the high-potency gels will make unobstructed contact with your enamel. The gels have been specially formulated to remove stains, without causing discomfort or increased sensitivity to your teeth. After decades of clinical treatment, teeth whitening has proven to be a safe and effective way to brighten your smile!

So, I guess you could say that teeth whitening is safe. Especially when using
KöR Whitening.

View how people have whitened their smile, and increased self confidence. Browse before and after photos.

There are many reasons why one should avoid eating popcorn. It’s commonly thought of as a healthy snack because it’s low in calories and can be easily snacked on without bloating or feeling weighed down. However, popcorn is very hard on your teeth. It creates lactic acid in your mouth. And before you can even pick out the kernels, that acid starts to work on your teeth. If you do snack on popcorn, rinse your mouth frequently with water and have a toothpick on hand to quickly pick out the pieces. Some sugar free gum can also be helpful.

While it’s almost impossible to eat popcorn without getting some stuck in your teeth, you can act quickly to help mitigate any damage. With a healthy flossing you should be able to get those thin husks out from between your teeth. The word healthy needs to be emphasized, because unfortunately, if you don’t clean them out it can lead to infection and even an abscess.

And furthermore, those hard, unpopped kernels are very good at breaking and cracking teeth. Be careful as you devour a big handful, especially if it’s at the bottom of the bag. Cracked teeth usually means you’ll be in need of a crown which equals a hefty bill from the dentist.

I guess what we’re trying to say is, be careful while eating popcorn and make sure to take the necessary steps to not allow it to damage your teeth.

Why do my teeth hurt?

If you’ve asked yourself the question “Why do my teeth hurt?” recently, then you might want to consider a visit to the dentist. There is a number of reasons as to why your teeth might hurt. It could be anything from an abscess or deep cavity to a cracked or chipped tooth. Regardless, you’ll want to address the exact reason why your teeth hurt as soon as you can.

Although it can be difficult to just pay to find out what’s wrong, trust us when we say it’s worth it. Dental issues aren’t issues that just disappear or go away, but rather continue to haunt you until fixed. Bottom line, if your teeth hurt, fix them.

It’s difficult to say how we would go about addressing each individual option, but we can tell you that they all require a visit to the dentist. This isn’t a sales pitch, it’s just the hard truth. If you live here in Eagle, Idaho we recommend you call and make an appointment for as soon as you can.

Why do my gums hurt?

Maybe you know it’s not your teeth but rather your gums that are causing you pain. What’s the first step? Well, much like if your teeth hurt, you should see your dentist as soon as you can. Secondly, you can try to figure out what it is based on this criteria:

• Is there bleeding, swelling, or redness?
• Do your gums hurt from small white sores?
• If you press around your gums do you feel pain deep down where a root might be?

If you answered yes to any of these you should visit your dentist. Your gums could be suffering from gum disease, an abscess, or even oral cancer.

Canker sores are not a reason to immediately visit. However, if your gums hurt from them frequently or if they don’t go away, you should schedule an appointment.

You can get an infection in your gums from something as simple as eating popcorn. Check out this blog post for more details on why popcorn can be dangerous. Your gums could also be suffering from the gum disease gingivitis. That could very easily be the reason your gums hurt. Be sure to read more about how good oral hygiene can actually save your life on our blog.

What is gingivitis?

Gingivitis is a gum disease that causes irritation, redness, and swelling of the gums. While gingivitis can be caught and treated early, it’s important to not let if fester for too long. It can cause your gums to hurt significantly and even require surgery if not properly taken care of.

Symptoms of gingivitis include swollen or puffy gums, red or dark red gums, gums that bleed easily when brushing or flossing, bad breath, receding gums, and gums that are tender to the touch.

The most common cause is plaque on your teeth that eventually becomes tartar. With simple and consistent brushing and flossing you can avoid this problem. Also avoid tobacco products, they can quickly lead to gum diseases including gingivitis.