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You’ve learned a lot from your dentist and your family about how to take care of your teeth. You brush and floss, you wear a mouthguard when you’re active, and you have regular checkups and cleanings at our Cooper City, FL office.

And everything you’re doing is wonderful! The smile you see each day in the mirror reflects your hard work.

But what about the part of your smile you can’t see? Let’s take a look beneath the surface, and talk about your roots.

While our teeth look solid from the outside, there’s really a lot going on inside each tooth.

• The outside of every tooth is covered with a hard protective surface.

Enamel is the hardest material in our bodies, and covers the crown. This is the part of the tooth we can see above our gums.

Our roots are hidden below our gums, and are covered with cementum instead of enamel. Cementum is hard, but it’s not nearly as strong as enamel.

• Just below a tooth’s enamel and cementum layers, we have dentin.

Dentin is a hard tissue, only a little softer than enamel. Most of our tooth is made of dentin. It surrounds and helps protect the center of the tooth and supports the enamel and cementum on the outside.

• Inside the center of each tooth, there’s an area called the pulp chamber.

The pulp holds tiny blood vessels and nerves. The blood vessels give the pulp nutrients, and the nerves are the reason that our teeth can feel sensitivity or pain.

Inside the roots, we also find pulp in the root canals. These canals are very small tunnels that run from the pulp chamber down through the root, ending in a tiny hole in the tip of the root. Blood vessels and nerves running through the canals connect the pulp tissue to our bodies’ blood and nervous systems.

Around your roots, there’s a lot going on, too. Smaller teeth like the incisors, our front teeth, usually have only one root. Bigger teeth, like molars, usually have two or three roots. And while you’re busy biting and chewing, what’s holding these roots in place?

• In your jaws, you have a spot where each tooth fits called a socket. But your tooth roots don’t just sit in the socket. That wouldn’t be very secure!
• Instead, you have a periodontal ligament surrounding the roots of each tooth. Think of the ligament as groups of tissue fibers that can attach to both the cementum on your root and the bone in your jaw. This double attachment holds your teeth firmly in place. The ligament also helps cushion your teeth from the heavy pressures of chewing.
• To make things even safer for your roots, your gums help cover them and protect them from bacteria and decay.

As you can see, your body is working hard to protect your roots. What’s the best thing you can do to keep your roots healthy? Do everything you’re already doing!

• Keep up with your brushing and flossing, and your visits to our office. These good habits protect the teeth and gums you can see, and also the roots that you can’t see.
• Avoid oral habits that put lots of pressure on your teeth and roots. Biting down on pencils, or ice, or nut shells, or anything not meant for regular eating means you’re risking a cracked tooth.
• Be safe! Wear your mouthguard when you’re active.
• Don’t wait to tell your adult if your tooth hurts. Remember, those nerves inside your teeth and roots are there to warn you if your tooth is damaged. Dr. Gary Yanowitz will be able to find out what’s wrong and have you feeling better in no time.

Even though you can’t see them, your roots are one important reason you have your beautiful smile. Taking good care of your teeth now is a way to make sure you have beautiful, healthy smiles for a lifetime!

Here is some surprising yet worthwhile advice you might be hearing for the first time: Brushing after a meal can be incredibly bad for your teeth if you do it after eating certain foods.

Enamel is an extremely hard mineral on the exterior of each of your teeth. It’s actually the hardest substance in the human body: It’s even stronger than your bones! Its only weakness is that acids in the food we eat can easily destroy enamel.

Healthy teeth thrive in an environment that has the proper pH balance. That ensures your mouth doesn’t start the process of demineralization. That’s what happens when alkaline turns into acid, which attacks and softens the enamel on the surface of your teeth. Pores and fissures form, and that’s when the harmful bacteria go to work.

Our mouth’s pH level fluctuates depending on what we eat throughout the day. Examples of the most common highly acidic foods include citrus fruits, soda, and sugary foods. Highly acidic foods tip the balance of pH in your mouth from a healthy alkaline to a dangerous acid.

Can brushing your teeth immediately after a meal lead to even more damage? The answer is yes!

Eating highly acidic foods causes your teeth to be more susceptible. If you brush your teeth when they have been weakened by acids, even more destruction can happen to your enamel. Your toothbrush’s bristles will actually wear away some of your enamel. So it’s healthier to wait at least an hour after eating or snacking to brush.

Good preventive measures to take instead of brushing after you eat include:

• Rinsing or drinking water
• Chewing sugarless gum
• Consuming dairy or non-acidic foods to conclude your meal

These practices help produce saliva, which in turn restores a healthy pH level in your mouth and coats the teeth with minerals they need.

Once you’ve allowed time for your mouth to be restored to a healthy pH level, you may brush your teeth as you normally would. Keep in mind that acidic foods can weaken the enamel on your teeth and take the right measures to prevent spiking pH levels.

Most important, don’t forget to wait to brush at least one hour after you eat!

Still have questions? Call our Cooper City, FL office and schedule an appointment with Dr. Gary Yanowitz.

It’s peak cold and flu season, a time to be especially conscious about your health. We have some suggestions to help you navigate this contagious time of year, with bonus tips for a healthy smile.

• Wash Up! 

Bacteria and viruses can live for hours and even days on non-porous surfaces like doorknobs, phones, and keyboards. That’s why it’s so important to wash your hands before touching your mouth, nose, and eyes, before brushing and flossing, and before you cook or eat. Washing with plain soap and water will eliminate most germs.

Bonus Tip: Keeping your fingers away from your mouth does more than prevent the transmission of bacteria and viruses. Fingernail biting can damage enamel. Prolonged thumb or finger sucking can affect tooth and jaw alignment. Delicate gum tissue can be injured or infected by broken or dirty fingernails. If you’d like to break harmful oral habits, talk to Dr. Gary Yanowitz for suggestions.

• Stay Hydrated

Hydration supports healthy skin, helps regulate blood pressure and body temperature, and is vital for digestion and other bodily functions. Proper hydration is also important for a healthy immune system and healthy mucous membranes, which will help you fight off colds and flu. Talk to your doctor about your ideal amount of daily hydration, whether from water, other fluids, or water-rich foods.

Bonus Tip: We also need to be hydrated to produce healthy levels of saliva. Saliva washes away food particles and bacteria and helps neutralize enamel-eroding acidity in the mouth.

• Eat Healthy Foods

A healthy diet is crucial for a healthy immune system, with foods such as lean proteins, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products.

Bonus Tip: A balanced diet is good for your oral health, too! We need vitamins A and C for healthy gums and oral tissues, minerals like calcium and phosphorus to keep tooth enamel strong, and dairy products enriched with vitamin D, which enables our bodies to absorb the calcium we get in our diet.

What happens if you become ill despite your precautions? 

• Reduce the Chance of Infecting Others

If you’re ill, you can help stop the spread of germs by limiting contact with other people, covering your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze, washing your hands frequently, and cleaning the common surfaces in your house which harbor germs. 

Bonus Tip: Sharing isn’t caring when it comes to colds and flu. No matter how close you are to your family members or roommates, your toothbrushes shouldn’t be close at all. Let your brush air-dry in an upright position away from other brushes to avoid contamination. 

• Be Choosy about OTC Medications

If you take sugary cough or cold medications, brush or rinse afterward. Sugar-free cough drops are better for your teeth than sweet lozenges which bathe your enamel in sugar as you let them dissolve. 

Bonus Tip: Don’t bite into cough drops! You risk chipping or cracking a tooth.

• Keep Up with Healthy Habits

Be sure to keep hydrated, especially if you’ve been suffering from vomiting or diarrhea. Get the sleep you need to recover. Eat a well-balanced diet.

Bonus Tip: Stay on top of your dental hygiene and brush and floss as usual, with one caution. Vomiting brings up harsh stomach acids which weaken the mineral bonds keeping tooth enamel strong, so brushing right away can be abrasive. If you throw up, rinse your mouth with water and wait 30 minutes before brushing to allow your enamel to come back to full strength.

• Stay Home When You’re Sick

You’ll get better faster with proper care, which includes getting the rest you need to recover. And you won’t be sharing germs with the people around you.

Bonus Tip: If you have an appointment scheduled with your dentist, reschedule if necessary. Your dental team at Gary Yanowitz, DDS will be happy to accommodate you to prevent the spread of germs and to make your dental procedure a more comfortable one.

It’s the height of cold and flu season in Cooper City, FL, but you’re not alone! Talk to your doctor about immunizations and other preventative measures. If you do become ill, follow your physician’s recommendations. And if you have any dental concerns, your dental team is prepared with timely advice—at any time of year.

If the scariest part of Halloween in Cooper City, FL is trying to figure out which treats are braces-friendly and which treats are braces-frightful, we have a fiendishly simple suggestion to help keep your brackets and wires safe from harm: ghost any treats which are chewy, crunchy, hard, or sticky!

It’s no mystery how certain candies and treats can cause trouble for your braces. The pulling effect of chewy candies like caramels can pull a bracket right off your tooth. Biting into a hard candy can break a wire. Crunchy treats can get stuck under wires and damage braces. Sticky foods pull on your wires and brackets.

Broken braces are no fun. Loose or detached brackets can be uncomfortable. Bent or broken wires can cause sores and cuts inside your mouth. Damaged braces mean extra trips to the orthodontist for repairs, and can even delay your treatment if the damage is significant or you can’t see your orthodontist right away. 

And chewy, crunchy, hard, and sticky treats have a haunting effect on your dental health as well. These foods stick to brackets and wires and can be difficult to brush or floss away. Cavity-causing bacteria feast on the sugars and food particles left behind, putting you at greater risk for cavities.

So, what specific treats should *vanish* from your candy collection this Halloween? Here are some of the most damaging to braces: 

• Chewy caramels, taffy, fruit chews, gum, and licorice
• Crunchy candied apples, caramel popcorn, peanut brittle, nuts, and popcorn balls 
• Hard and hard-shelled candies, lollipops (especially with gum centers), and jawbreakers
• Sticky gummies, jellybeans, and candy corn

But it’s not all frightful news! There are many spook-tacularly good treats which you can enjoy without putting your braces in jeopardy:

• Peanut butter cups
• Soft chocolate bars (with no nuts or caramel hiding inside!)
• Soft cupcakes
• Pudding cups
• Mint patties
• Ice cream
• Sugar-free gum (if it’s okay with Dr. Gary Yanowitz and your orthodontist)

And here are a few good tricks for keeping your teeth and gums healthy, whether or not you wear braces:

• Brush and floss after treats. 
• Enjoy sweets in moderation. 
• Skip the sour candies. Acidic foods can damage tooth enamel.
• Eat treats with a meal. Eating increases saliva production, which helps neutralize acids and wash away food particles.

Don’t let a damaged bracket or wire spoil your Halloween fun. Talk to the team at Gary Yanowitz, DDS to learn which candies are a treat for both you and your braces and you’ll stay on the fast track to a boo-tiful, healthy smile!