Many people think of braces as a right of passage that we subject pre-teens & teens to in the midst of their most awkward years just to ensure they have a nice straight smile by the time they reach adulthood. But the truth is that braces can benefit people of all ages & not all of the reasons to get braces are aesthetic.

We've all heard that the pen is mightier than the sword. You might also say that the toothbrush is mightier than the drill! That's because if you wield your toothbrush properly, it's a very powerful weapon against tooth decay & gum disease. But like any tool, if you want it to work best, you need to take care of it.

Like any relationship in life, having good communication with your dentist is the key to success. The five tips listed below are intended to help you improve your oral health by communicating better with your dentist & /or dental hygienist.

Root canals have earned a bad reputation. This procedure has become the butt of jokes on TV shows & in games of “Would You Rather”. It has also become the subject of an unusual amount of anxiety because patients expect the procedure to be painful, despite recent advancements that ensure this isn’t the case. But from a health perspective, root canals are heroic: they are a life-saving procedure for your tooth!

Wearing a mouth guard during sports activities is one of the best ways to avoid injuries to your child's teeth & emergency dental care. Mouth guards, which are made from a plastic or rubber material & fit over the top arch of teeth, not only protect your teeth, but also protect lips & cheeks from being damaged by teeth during an impact.

Over time, plaque (a thick, bacteria-filled film) and tartar (a hard calcium-based build-up) can build up on your teeth & eventually lead to tooth decay. While regular brushing & flossing at home can help prevent this buildup, it can't necessarily remove it. That's why going to your dentist for a professional cleaning is so important.

Everyone knows about cavities & how they affect your teeth and your oral health, but you never hear very much about gum disease. What is gum disease? How can you protect your gums and teeth from gum disease? And what causes it anyway?

Many millions of people suffer from tooth sensitivity at some point in their life, usually in the form of tooth pain in reaction to heat or cold. Tooth sensitivity has many causes, some more easily fixed than others. However, it's important to know that tooth sensitivity is sometimes a sign of a more serious dental problem of condition.

There is more than one type of dental procedure that may be casually referred to as a cleaning. For example, there is a regular cleaning & then there is what is referred to a deep cleaning. It's important to understand that there is a big difference between these procedures & implications that each of these procedures have when it comes to your oral health.

Wisdom teeth are the name for your third permanent molars, which typically appear from age 17-25. It is thought the name "wisdom teeth" comes from the fact that they appear long after all your other permanent teeth, when you a much older & wiser. Most people have four wisdom teeth, one in each quadrant of the mouth (upper left, upper right, lower left, lower right).