Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Dental Health for Seniors

Today, life expectancy is longer than ever before.  Many of us can expect to live active and vibrant lives well into our golden years.  Through exercise and healthy living our bodies are able to help us continue to enjoy many of the activities that we love; although maybe at a slower pace!

As part of your health care team, we at Dr. Ian Gray Dental do our best to make sure your teeth and mouth can keep pace with your active lifestyle and not slow you down or get in the way.  
By far, the most successful approach to ensure your teeth and mouth can keep up with your active lifestyle as you get older is 

  1. Great home care with brushing and flossing  
  2. Maintain you professional hygiene appointments - 3 to 4 month intervals is ideal 
  3. Use a grinding appliance if recommended 
  4. Be aware of how your medications can affect your mouth – individual recommendations will be helpful in many cases.
Many of our patients avoid having dental work done while they are younger for reasons of cost and time or are not motivated because many significant changes occur slowly over time and do not hurt, only to find that problems become magnified with age.  Often at an older age it is difficult medically to have certain treatments or physically it is tough to be in the dental chair for extended time periods.  Some patients will even reason that “I am too old to spend the money because I won’t be around long enough”.  As a result, rather than being active and vibrant many patients suffer quietly and don’t enjoy life the way they could.  Proper oral function including chewing, talking and smiling are vital for overall health and well-being.  Without good nutrition it is easy to decline at an older age.

Our philosophy at Dr. Ian Gray Dental is to encourage our patients to work to make their mouth stable by the time they are 65yrs old.  Our definition of stable is “to require very little dental work, if at all, other than maintenance “.  This is entirely possible but does require some effort and planning.   

If you think it is time to do some long term planning for your mouth please give us a call.  Please also remember if you have an aging parent, sibling or other friend or relative that they may be great at getting to medical appointments while dental care is often forgotten. A great question to ask is when they last had their teeth and gums checked?

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Causes of Bad Breath & Foods to Help Fight It!

Have you been wondering what causes bad breath?  Do you want to know how to fight bad breath?  Maintaining your oral hygiene regularly, is essential to fighting bad breath, but so is regularly visiting your dentist or hygienist in order for routine check-ups.

At Dr. Ian Gray, we have a great team that can help you maintain your oral health and eliminate bad breath!  We are a family friendly dentist in Newmarket.

The most common cause of bad breath is poor dental hygiene.  Every time you eat, bacteria breaks down the particles in food, and sulfur compounds are produced that cause odor.
There is a large list of causes of bad breath, including smoking, tooth decay, and alcohol consumption. Even certain foods like garlic, onions, curry, fish, and some cheeses take up to 24 hours to be removed from our blood system, which can cause bad breath for extended periods of time.
Bad breath affects 25% of the world’s population globally, so if you experience it, know that you are not alone. Keep reading to learn how to fight bad breath!

How do I treat bad breath?

The best way to deal with bad breath is brushing, flossing, and hydrating your teeth regularly.  Visiting your dentist regularly for checkups and cleaning also helps to eliminate bad breath.  Your dentist will remove any plaque, tartar, and buildup that causes bad breath. You should always inform your dentist if you are experiencing bad breath, or have a bad taste in your mouth as there could be underlying reasons.
Eating certain foods also can help eliminate odors in your mouth.  Foods like lemon, parsley, apples, pears, carrots, crunch oils, mint, berries and yogurt, all facilitate the production of essential oils in your mouth and remove food particles from your mouth.

Drinking lots of water also helps the production of saliva and eliminates bad breath by washing away bacteria in your mouth.
Take charge of your bad breath. Book an appointment with our family friendly dentistry office in Newmarket today by filling out a form or calling the office