Your oral hygiene is about more than just keeping your teeth healthy. After all, your mouth has a significant connection to the rest of your body, and problems with your teeth and gums can easily translate to health problems elsewhere. If you fail to stave off gum disease, you may even be putting yourself at an increased risk of serious cognitive disorders.

This is according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Central Lancashire School of Medicine and Dentistry. This study demonstrated that age-related brain diseases like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease may be directly linked to poor dental health. Researchers looked at samples of brain tissue taken from ten healthy brains and ten brains taken from people who had struggled with such diseases; in four of the brains that suffered from dementia, researchers discovered signs of a type of oral bacteria that is known to thrive in mouths afflicted with gum disease.

The specific link between gum disease and brain disorders is not well understood. It could be that poor dental health causes such disorders, or it may only be that it serves to aggravate an existing condition. One way or another, though, it is clear that your dental appointments have an important relationship with your mental health. Contact our Bellevue dentist to schedule an appointment today!

The London Olympics of 2012 attracted many athletes in peak physical condition from throughout the world. Unfortunately, despite their well-toned bodies and exceptional constitutions, their impressive health did not extend to their teeth and gums. It was observed that about a fifth of the participating athletes exhibited some form of oral health problem. Some had toothaches, others bleeding gums, and some were suffering so badly that it threatened to disqualify them from the games.

Indeed, the athlete’s lifestyle is not conducive of good oral health. A big part of the problem is the diet employed by the average athlete. When quick energy is a concern, you tend to consume a carbohydrate-heavy diet, which lends itself to tooth rot.

Further, when you exercise, the water in your body is expelled. Taken to an extreme, this dehydrates you and impairs your mouth’s ability to protect itself from decay. It also doesn’t help that many athletes will try to replenish their fluids by drinking sugary sports drinks.

If you’re an athlete, be sure that you’re giving yourself the dental care that you need. Consult our Bellevue dentist to learn more.

If you’re suffering from tooth decay, you may want to take a look at what foods may be to blame. One of the obvious culprits is candy and other sugary substances. If you’re already cutting back on the sugar, though, you may want to look at other potential tooth-rotters, like pickles.

Though pickles may not occur to you as a food with strong tooth-rotting potential, a diet rich in pickled substances can take its toll on your enamel fairly quickly. Though light in sugars or carbs, the vinegar and other substances used in the pickling process makes them highly acidic. This acid can weaken your tooth enamel just as easily as the acid secreted by your oral bacteria does

In a study conducted in 2004, British researchers took a look at the dining habits of a selection of teenagers. It was found that those who ate a significant number of pickles experienced more tooth decay than others. If you, too, enjoy eating pickles every day, be sure to be mindful of your habits and never skip your regular cleanings at our Bellevue dentist.

If you’re suffering from a dry mouth, it may be because many of your salivary glands have ceased to function properly. When this happens, your mouth has a reduced ability to clean your teeth and fight infections. Unfortunately, when a salivary gland becomes inoperable, it is not very good at repairing itself. This is why research coming out of the University of Texas in San Antonio is so important.

This research, which is described in Tissue Engineering Part A, involves using cell therapy to build new salivary glands for patients. The team has had some success in constructing a scaffold of silk fibers, which they used to guide stem cells into place. After this is done, a nourishing medium is used to facilitate growth of the cells. The cells will then form into a solid structure, which could potentially be inserted into a patient. The silk would then biodegrade and leave the body.

The process it not yet ready for use on patients, but the team hopes to be able to produce a functional salivary gland in the near future. Meanwhile, if you are struggling with dry mouth, you can count on our Bellevue dentist to assure the continued health of your teeth and gums.

Dental emergencies can happen at any time. However, it’s not uncommon for a dentist’s office to see an influx of chipped or broken teeth during the holiday season. This is because the candies and other sugary foods we indulge in over the winter holidays are not the only threats to our oral health.

If you’re like many adults, the holidays are a time to kick back with a few alcoholic beverages. A few glasses of wine, a tumbler of eggnog, and a piece or two of rum cake can quickly impair your judgement and motor skills. During parties, it’s easy to drink for hours on end, consuming far more than our usual limits without even noticing it. This creates an environment where people are prone to hitting themselves in the teeth with their cups, walking into glass doors, or falling flat on their faces.

The best thing you can do to avoid an emergency this holiday season is to be mindful of your limits and drink in moderation. Try to limit your drinking to mealtimes so that it is easier for you to control your portions. Should the worst happen, visit Overlake Family Dental in Bellevue.