Dental Ideas Straight to the Point

What your Dentist loves to hear We love when you tell us that your teeth are feeling great.  When we ask how your teeth are doing and you tell us that your teeth are great, we feel like our job here is done. Contrary to popular belief, we are not obsessed with money. We love it when our patients have a clean bill of dental health. We feel like we did our job and are happy to spend the extra time that's usually saved for treatment to talk to you about your life and learn more about our wonderful patients. We love when your teeth are flawlessly clean. Again this gives a feeling like we were able to educate and take care of your mouth to the best of ability. We see the drastic difference in health when you first come into our office to now. We love when you trust in us . I love when a patient tells me "doctor do whatever is best for me." I understand dental treatment is costly but in most cases in the long run doing what is necessary can save you the most amount...

Root canal or implants.   With the new development of implant dentistry dentist have been able to do so much more with dentistry. However conventional dentistry still has its place. The dreadful words of root canal makes people cringe and most people don't understand why it can cost so much for a root canal and crown to protect the tooth. The truth is it takes just as long for a dentist to do a good root canal and crown as it does to complete an extraction implant. In fact it probably takes more time. The truth is your natural teeth is king. If you ever talk to anyone who had a complicated case with implants they will tell you not everyone individual is that straightforwards. Implants can be an easy procedure but when problems arise it is very difficult to fix.   Why natural teeth? Even when we do a root canal and your nerves are dead you still have these nerves called periodontal ligaments which attach to the root of your teeth. These ligaments still provi...

Whitening First come in for your normal hygiene appointment and tell  my team that you are concerned about your stains. 90 percent of the stains can be removed from your regular hygiene appointment. Most of the stains are attached to the plaque and calculus stuck to the rough surfaces of your teeth. These stains can be removed with the ultrasonic machine. However, not all stains can be removed as seen below on the left those are stains that we can remove. The general yellowing of the patient on the right can not be removed with a cleaning.             CAN BE CLEANED                                                                                            CANNOT BE CLEANED After your clean...

Whitening Dental whitening is not for everyone, but it probably is for you.   Patients ask me about how they can receive dental whitening at my office before their wedding or after college where you want to look the absolute best for those close up photos and job interviews. Patients always ask me how do you keep your teeth so white? There are three factors in keeping those teeth white.   1. DIET! The new fad with coffee and tea have been the bane of our existence. Although, we personally can't live without it but trying to clean coffee and tea stains at every recall appointment is a challenge. Stains on your plaque and calculus are removed very easily but stains in the nooks and cranny of your teeth can only be removed with whitening or fillings or crowns. For my Asian American patients the act of dipping soy sauce with your food can cause significant staining if not immediately cleaned or rinsed. However, we all know caffeine is a drug and your no...

Treating Bad Breath (halitosis) Lets discuss first the major causes: 1. Poor oral hygiene- increase bacteria load 2. Dry mouth- saliva is our first line of defense against bacteria;therefore, whenever your mouth is dry that means your saliva flow is low and you will immediately experience an increase in bacteria.  3. Post nasal drip  - this is more difficult situation to deal with and may require a visit to the ENT if severe, but when the mucus from your sinuses and nose drips into your mouth that also increases the level of bacteria and a smell.  4. Diabetes - there is something called the Diabetic ketoacidosis that causes your breath to smell like ketone (nail polish) when a patient's diabetes is uncontrolled. Diabetics also tend to have decreased immune systems and that causes dental issues and increases bacteria.  5. Coffee and alcohol- both of these can cause dry mouth and just the natural smell of the liquid can cause the smell. Alcohol ...

Hey everybody, This is the first of many blogs from Canaan Dental to you. The first topic we will discuss will be regarding bad breath! So here's a scenario: Imagine you were on a blind date and your date is the man/woman of your dreams. She is beautiful, intelligent, and shares the same hobbies as you. You guys go to an amazing modern restaurant in San Francisco. Dinner goes well and you two just have so much in common.  As the two of you get to his/her apartment, you bring up the courage to go in for the first kiss. As you finish the kiss your date gives you this slightly nasty look and goes in without inviting you up. Was it the kiss? Was it too soon? Was it my breath?  We can not improve your kissing skills, however we can talk about how to fix that breath.  Bad breath (aka) halitosis is every young adult's nightmare. Bad breath is very multi factorial, but we will discuss things we can change for the better. Of course as dentist we will first talk a...