Crunchy Fruits

Crunchy fruit such as apples, pears and carrots can help improve your oral health if consumed regularly. Eating these types of food can help remove plaque. Make sure the fruits you choose are firm, this will help act as a brushing agent on your teeth and help remove unwanted particles.

High Protein Foods 

For a healthy mouth eat more foods with high protein such as cheeses, chicken or other meats, nuts, and milk. These foods are thought to protect tooth enamel by providing the calcium and phosphorus needed to remineralize teeth (a natural process by which minerals are redeposit in tooth enamel after being removed by acids).

Green Tea
Drinking green tea can help improve your teeth in many ways. Green tea contains camellia sinensis a substance that kills bacteria in your mouth that turn sugar into plaque. Plaque is a sticky mass of bacteria, sugars, proteins, and fats and it produces cavity-causing acid when it comes in contact with sugary or starchy foods. Catechins can also wipe out the bacteria that cause bad breath.

Water
The best beverage choices include water (especially fluoridated water), milk, and unsweetened tea. Limit your consumption of sugar-containing drinks, including soft drinks, lemonade, and coffee or tea with added sugar. Also, avoid day-long sipping of sugar-containing drinks — day-long sipping exposes your teeth to constant sugar and, in turn, constant decay-causing acids.

A bright smile starts with a positive dental care schedule!

There are several reasons to implement and maintain a dental care schedule. The professional team at Tualatin Dental Care is here to help every patient establish a routine that works for them, from daily cleaning habits to check-ups and procedures for the whole family.

Create a Daily Routine

This is a very vital aspect for the dental care schedule of every patient. It helps to make brushing teeth a part of a morning routine, just before or after a shower. This promotes a habit of daily cleaning to prevent gum disease, plaque buildup, tooth decay and gingivitis. It also helps to keep floss, a brush and toothpaste next to other toiletries when traveling, as this will keep a patient from skipping their daily routine on a vacation, business trip or other extended time away from home.

Plan Ahead with Tualatin Dental

Tualatin Dental Care’s staff knows that a busy work day, school schedules and other obligations make it tricky to establish a routine for visits. It is even trickier to schedule an appointment for a specialized procedure that Tualatin Dental offers, but the staff is always willing to work with patients and work out an appointment time that will work. Planning afhead for check-ups, procedures and other visits are key to a positive dental care schedule, so be sure to schedule an appointment as early in advance as possible.

Build Good Habits with Kids

The best way to promote a lifelong positive dental care schedule is to establish its importance early. Children with a daily cleaning plan, regular communication with the Tualatin Dental staff and good traveling dental habits are more likely to steer clear of painful dental damage or disease later in life, so work with the kids to find them toothbrushes they like, floss they will use regularly and simple, practical tips on the proper brushing method.

Be sure to ask Tualatin Dental professionals about any issues that come up with care, as it is best to have these questions answered firsthand. Everyone’s dental health is unique, so the best answers will always come from someone with experience and who will help establish a positive dental care schedule for every patient!

Causes and Treatment of Bad Breath

Bad breath (or halitosis) lurks inside the mouths of everyone from time-to-time. Several factors can contribute to bad breath:

What a person eats directly effects how his or her breath smells. A lunch heavy on the onions and garlic gets absorbed into the body’s bloodstream and transferred to the lungs, where the smell leaches out with every breath. This type of bad breath can only be masked until the body fully digests the food and works the remnants out of your system.

Brushing and flossing remove the build up of food particles that remain in the mouth after eating. If left alone to fester, food particles will begin to rot, collecting bacteria that cause bad breath. Brushing the tongue, along the gum line, and flossing between your teeth will remove excess food particles from your mouth, leaving your breath fresh.

Dry mouth (or xerostomia) causes bad breath when a decrease in the flow of saliva occurs in the mouth. Saliva helps to cleanse the mouth, and wipe away particles that cause bad breath to occur. Certain medications, problems with salivary glands, and continuously breathing through your mouth can all lead to dry mouth and bad breath. Increasing your fluid intake, sucking on sugarless candy, or talking to your dentist about prescribing you an anartificial saliva can all help eliminate dry mouth.

In certain cases, bad breath may be a sign of a more serious health problem. Persistent bad breath could be a sign of a respiratory tract infection, chromic bronchitis, diabetes, and even a liver or kidney ailment. If your dentist cannot find an oral cause of your bad breath, you should consult your family physician.

Prevention

Preventing gum disease and practicing good oral health will drastically reduce bad breath. Regularly visiting your dentist for a professional teeth cleaning and checkup will keep your gums healthy and bacteria free. Brushing twice daily, along with flossing, will remove any remaining food particles from your teeth and gums, and prevent any odorous bacteria from growing inside your mouth. Oh, and not ordering extra onions on your burger at lunch can’t hurt either.