Seems our patient family is growing.  We’ve had a number of patients with new babies and we have been getting this question alot lately, so I thought it a good topic for this blog…

Though you lose them early in life, your primary teeth, also called baby teeth, are essential in the development and placement of your permanent teeth. Primary teeth maintain the spaces where permanent teeth will erupt.  Without maintenance of these spaces, crowding can occur, resulting in complications later in life.  Primary teeth also help develop proper speech patterns.  It is important to take care of your child’s primary teeth, even though primary teeth last only a few years.  Decay, cavities and infection can take its toll and may require expensive treatment to repair. Baby teeth also are primers for teaching your child good oral care habits. 

When do baby teeth come in?

Your child’s primary teeth generally make their appearance when he or she is 6 or 7 months old, though it can occur as early as birth. There are 20 primary teeth, followed by 32 permanent teeth that will eventually replace them. Generally, your child should have all his or her primary teeth at age 3 and will keep them until age 6 or 7, when they begin to loosen and fall out. This process usually lasts until the child is 12 or 13.  Wisdom teeth, that grow behind the permanent teeth, usually erupt between the ages of 16 and 20.

What can relieve my child’s discomfort during teething?

Between the ages of 6 months and 3 years, your child may experience sore gums and general oral discomfort as primary teeth erupt. While some lucky children experience no apparent discomfort during eruption, many others do. Signs that eruption is causing discomfort in your child include crankiness, lack of appetite, excessive drooling, restless behavior, pink or red cheeks, coughing, upset stomach and chewing or sucking of fingers and toys. There are ways you can bring your child relief. A cold, wet cloth for your baby to suck on can sooth gums. There are also teething accessories and toys your child can chew on to relieve discomfort. Thumb sucking also brings relief, however, dentists recommend this practice should cease upon the arrival of the first permanent teeth, so it does not interfere with the normal development of a child’s oral cavity.

Oral Hygiene

You should wipe your baby’s gums with a soft washcloth or soft infant toothbrush and water each day. Introduce fluoridated toothpaste at about age 2.  Although baby teeth tend to be well spaced it is a good idea to introduce floss early as it helps establish the habit for later in life.

In addition to early oral hygiene, you may be able to help decrease your baby’s risk of later getting cavities if you:

• don’t share utensils, cups, or toothbrushes, since that might help spread the bacteria that can cause cavities from your mouth to your baby’s mouth
• avoiding giving your baby too much fruit juice, and no fruit juice before six months, or any fruit drinks
• ask your dentist about fluoride suppliments
• don’t let your baby fall asleep with a bottle of formula or frequently nursing at night once he or she has teeth

In addition to learning to care for their baby’s gums and teeth, one of the easiest things that parents can do for their kids is take care of their own oral hygiene and regular visit their dentist to make sure their own teeth are healthy.

I strive to get to know our patients – what makes them comfortable in the office, what time they like to come in, which one of our fantastic hygienists they like to see each time.  I also like to hear about their lives – where they are from, where they work,  where they took their recent vacation, what their kids are up to.

Trusting you and your family’s dental health to someone is often not an easy task!  When choosing the right dentist (or any professional for that matter) I think it’s important to like that person  and  know something about them.  So I thought this would be a good opportunity to tell you a little bit more about myself

I grew up in Nova Scotia and moved west to Victoria in 1999 in search of warmer climates!  I attended Dalhousie University, receiving my B.Sc. and D.D.S.  It was while attending Dal that I met my wife Stephanie.  We have been married now for 13 years and are the proud (but busy!) parents to 3 amazing little boys – Haydn, Reece and Chase.

Life is busy – but lots of fun.  In our spare time we enjoy boating (it doesn’t get much better that the Gulf Islands for boating) and scuba diving (although diving has been more difficult since the boys were born but we intend to get back into it as soon as they are old enough).   This year I started to pursue my life long desire to fly and have been attending ground school at the Victoria Flying Club and am getting closer to my private pilots licence.

We are teaching the boys to swim, ski, skate, and ride their 2 wheel bikes and in the Spring they will get started in soccer.

I personally enjoy golfing and basketball but have found limited time for both hobbies in recent years.

After more than 13 years in practice I can honestly say I love my job.  Sure, it has it’s stressful moments but it also has some pretty amazing ones too.  The fact that I am able to help others improve their smile,  make them comfortable and become healthier is really cool.  I am blessed.

So that’s a bit about me – thanks for reading!

Do you wake yourself by snoring or have been told by others that you snore? Have you told your dentist?   Many people are surprised to learn that a dentist can be trained  for treating snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), a condition that occurs when the upper airway (back of your throat) is blocked or obstructed causing significant airflow disruption or even no airflow at all for 10 seconds or more.

Self Test For Sleep Apnea

While your responses to the following questions are not a diagnosis for OSA, they can be warning signs that you may have OSA or another condition that is impacting your sleep.

1. Has anyone ever witnessed you holding your breath, gasping for air or even choking while asleep?

2. Are you a loud habitual snorer?

3. Do you find yourself easily falling asleep throughout your day at work or at home? 

4. Do you often feel unrefreshed even after waking from eight or more hours of sleep

5. Are you 15 pounds or more over the normal weight range for your height and/or does you neck measure more than 17 inches around if you are male and 16 inches if you are female?

6. Do you suffer from poor concentration or judgment, memory loss, irritability and/or depression from lack of sleep?

If you answered, “yes” to any of the above questions, you should share your responses to all of these questions with us as well as you doctor so that you can receive a thorough examination to address your sleep concerns. And if you are diagnosed with OSA, we can help with specific oral treatment options that may work best for you.

In Canada approximately 190,000 people die each year, and of these deaths some 40,000 of these are attributed to tobacco use. It is estimated that smoking is directly related to 30% of heart disease cases, 85% of lung cancers and 85% of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

It is estimate 25-30% of Canadians continue to use tobacco and evidence to suggest that the incidence of new, predominantly female, is on the rise.

As a dental professional we see daily the oral effects of tobacco use and strive to educate our patients on the ill-effects of smoking and are in the position to help encourage cessation.

Here are some of the current means of smoking cessation:
1. COLD TURKEY
2. INHALERS
3. MEDITATION
4. CHAMPIX
5. ZYBAN
6. NICORETTE GUM or LOZENGES
7. ACCUPUNCTURE
8. COUNSELLING
9. NICOTINE PATCHES
10. NATURAL MEDICATIONS & HOMEOPATHY
11. HYPNOSIS

There isn’t one method we advocate more than another. Each individual has his or her own reasons for quitting and the method they choose to help them do so is definitley personal. We are here to support, inform and encourage them in their journey to quit.
Good Luck!

Monday, January 16th, 2012

Happy New Year!

Did you make any resolutions this year? Have you kept them so far? Here are a few resolutions that will not only improve your smile but improve your dental and overall health.

1) FLOSS! (every day)

“You don’t have to floss all your teeth, only the ones you want to keep”

Floss removes the plaque and bio-film that cannot be removed by brushing alone.  As we age the leading cause of tooth loss is not cavities or trauma but gum (periodontal) disease.  There are many new tools on the market today designed to make flossing easier including:

• Butler GUM Eez-Thru Floss and Soft Picks
• Oral B Glide Floss and Picks

2) EAT HEALTHY

A healthy well balanced diet will not only help keep your teeth and gums healthy but will also improve your overall health by providing you with the essential vitamins and nutrients your body needs.  A diet rich in fruits and vegetables is much healthier for your teeth then processed foods which tend to be high in sugar.

3) SEE YOUR DENTIST

A visit to your dentist and dental hygienist on a regular basis (at least twice a year) allows for potential problems to be prevented and/or new problems to be caught early, often reducing the extent of treatment needed. Most dental problems are not painful until far advanced. Regular check-ups are the key to prevention. In light of recent findings linking gum disease to serious health conditions including heart disease and stroke, diabetes, low birth weight babies, respiratory disease, and certain types of cancers now more than ever a visit to your dental health care team is a resolution worth keeping.

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011

One of our team members came to me this week with a very sad story – her childhood friend died in her sleep last week; she was just 29 years old. The cause of death? Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Essentially she suffocated in her sleep. My heart breaks for this young girl and her family. This story makes me even more passionate about our decision to treat OSA in our practice.

We know that obstructive sleep apnea is very common; over 40 million people suffer from the effects of snoring and OSA. Risk factors include being male (1 in 4!) overweight, and over the age of forty, but sleep apnea can strike ANYONE at ANY age, even children. Many sufferers remain undiagnosed and therefore untreated.

What happens?

During the increasing muscular relaxation of deepening sleep, the airway becomes increasingly flaccid; the soft palate, the soft lining tissues of the throat and the tongue relax, fall back and collapse during sleep. As the relaxing tongue falls back, it seals against the back of the throat during attempts to take a breath. Snoring is the vibration of the soft palate and throat walls against the tongue during the breathing, with reduced airflow due to increased resistance. As collapsibility increases, complete closure can occur.

In apnea events oxygen levels of the blood can drop, triggering a response of the brain to prevent asphyxia. These severe drops in blood oxygen levels immediately causes alarm signals to be sent to your brain. Your body reacts by increasing heart rate, cardiac output, and blood pressure – desperately trying to get more deoxygenated blood to your lungs and more oxygenated blood out to your brain and body. Serious cardiovascular and respiratory responses occur during sleep apnea, often with you unaware. The sleep apnea patient may have these events occur up to 600 times per night resulting in fragmented, non-refreshing sleep as well as chronic activation of the sympathetic nervous system. Some of the most serious chronic diseases which have been associated with snoring and sleep apnea, include: stroke, high blood pressure, heart attack, arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), cardiac arrhythmias (irregular pulse), diabetes, gastro-esophageal reflux disorder (GERD). In extreme cases the result is loss of life.

Fortunately treatment is relatively simple – in cases of snoring and mild to moderate sleep apnea a sleep appliance is made that can fit in the palm of your hand; much like a nightguard. This dental appliance is more comfortable and considerably less bulky than traditional OSA devices. Our patients have commented on how treatment has changed their lives. They are sleeping better and wake up feeling more rested. In some cases husbands and wives who have gone from sleeping in separate bedrooms due to loud snoring are now sleeping in the same room again.

I urge you – if you suspect you or someone you know (many of our patients are referred by family members who are fed up with that loud snoring) many have sleep apnea contact us today for a diagnostic screening.