Steveston Smiles, Author at Steveston Smiles

Chewing Sugar-Free Gum Boosts Your Oral Health
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Chewing Sugar-Free Gum Boosts Your Oral Health

Oral Health

Chewing Sugar-Free Gum Boosts Your Oral Health

GUM ISN’T ALL ABOUT freshening your breath. While it definitely helps after that garlic pasta you had for lunch, did you know chewing sugarless gum can also prevent cavities and improve your oral health? Chewing Gum Increases Saliva Flow and Prevents Cavities According to the American Dental Association, studies show that chewing sugar-free gum for 20 minutes after a meal can prevent tooth decay. The act of chewing increases saliva flow in your mouth. The saliva then washes away food and neutralizes acids, cleaning and protecting your teeth from cavity-causing bacteria. You’ll want to make sure your gum is sugar-free, however. While gum that contains sugar also increases saliva flow, the sugar actually feeds the bacteria in your mouth, putting you at greater risk of decay. We definitely don’t want that! Quick tip: Sugarless gum sweetened [...]

By Steveston Smiles|2017-08-13T15:34:25-07:00May 11th, 2016|Oral Health|

For Our Mothers

WE ARE ECSTATIC TO HAVE this month to celebrate all the wonderful mothers out there! They fed us, clothed us, read books to us and raised us. But most importantly, they LOVE us! We’d like to return the favor and show all our mothers some love this Mother’s Day. What We Love About Our Moms From Mandy: "Happy Mother's Day to my amazing Mom! Thank you being there and showing me unconditional love. I strive to be like you every day. I hope that one day I will be as strong as you and always have a positive outlook on life no matter what. You are the wind beneath my wings. Love you always Mom." From Michelle: " My Mom means the world to my brother and me. She is [...]

By Steveston Smiles|2016-05-08T07:19:39-07:00May 8th, 2016|Office news|

How Stress Can Affect Your Oral Health

DID YOU KNOW THAT STRESS can have an effect on your oral health? As if you needed any thing else to stress about! Knowing how stress and oral health are connected can help you combat many problems that might arise. Stress May Contribute to Teeth Grinding Bruxism is the technical term for teeth grinding and jaw clenching. For some people, clenching and grinding are natural responses to stress and frustration. Teeth grinding, however, usually occurs during sleep, meaning that people are often unaware of the problem. Flatter tips of the teeth, a sore jaw and waking up with a headache or sore neck muscles are common signs of bruxism. Stress Can Worsen Symptoms of TMD TMD, or temporomandibular joint disorder, affects the jaw joint and associated muscles used in moving the jaw and [...]

By Steveston Smiles|2016-05-04T10:26:24-07:00May 4th, 2016|Oral Health, TMJ|

Are Sports and Energy Drinks Damaging Your Teeth?

DRINKING ENERGY AND SPORTS DRINKS on a regular basis is becoming increasingly popular, especially among young people. But did you know that these drinks can be extremely damaging to your teeth? Sports and Energy Drinks Are Highly Acidic It’s important to remember the purposes of these drinks so you don't consume them more often than you should. Energy drinks may provide a quick pick-me-up during a long day at work, but did you know drinking one or more energy drinks everyday can damage your teeth in the long run. Sports drinks were made to keep your body hydrated and energized during bouts of intense or prolonged exercise. While they may be beneficial during a good workout, these drinks should never take the place of water Both energy and sports drinks are highly acidic and [...]

By Steveston Smiles|2016-04-27T11:59:17-07:00April 27th, 2016|General|

What to Do About Congenitally Missing Teeth

WHILE MOST PEOPLE HAVE thirty-two permanent teeth that develop (including the wisdom teeth) some people’s permanent teeth never grow in at all. These are called congenitally missing teeth—teeth missing from birth—and it’s actually more common than you think! So, what do you do if you find out you or your child have one or more congenitally missing teeth? Why Would a Tooth Be Congenitally Missing? A lot of factors are at play when it comes to the complex process of tooth formation. Congenitally missing teeth can run in families, meaning that often it is simply an inherited trait. Certain systemic conditions can also result in missing teeth. Whatever the reason for congenitally missing teeth, the good news is that there are effective ways to treat it. What Kinds of Treatments Are [...]

By Steveston Smiles|2016-04-20T14:13:10-07:00April 20th, 2016|Oral Health|

What is Gum Disease?

What is gum disease and how can I prevent it? Two of the most common questions I hear in the office. Gum disease is a very common disease in the adult population of my practice. While most of us will experience it to some degree at some time during our lifetimes, credible estimates of the number of stricken adults run from 75-90%. That’s a lot of potential suffering. Having said that, gum disease is preventable, treatable, and if caught early enough, reversible. It’s what happens when it isn’t caught in a timely fashion that’s the problem. To appreciate why time is so crucial, it’s important to understand that gum disease is progressive and is caused when unhealthy oral bacteria overwhelm the healthy ones, inhibiting your body’s ability to fight them off naturally. [...]

By Steveston Smiles|2016-01-30T12:24:43-08:00January 30th, 2016|Oral Health|

Happy Halloween

Its that time of year again, our annual Sweet Swap; bring us your leftover candy for a chance to win an iPad Mini! We want everyone to have a happy, safe Halloween and enjoy your candy but we don’t want to be feeding those “sugar bugs” for weeks to come. Sugar bugs is the term we use for the bacteria (streptococus mutans) that lives in your mouth and uses carbohydrates to produce the acid which causes cavities. Sugar bugs prefer simple carbohydrates like sugar as they break down easier but they can use any kind of carbohydrate as fuel. Your teeth are most affected not by total amount of sugar you eat but by the frequency and timing that you consume sugar. As an exaggerated example, it would be [...]

By Steveston Smiles|2015-10-30T09:25:35-07:00October 30th, 2015|Children, Office news|

Is Sugar Bad For You?

Sweet Seduction Have you ever heard of the Law Of Unintended Consequences? It’s most commonly used in economics, but it has other applications where the best intentions go unexpectedly awry. Think email/spam, dieting/yoyo weight gain, lower fat/higher sugar for taste. It’s this last one that is of concern to me. Our sugar intake has increased at an alarming rate, and it’s not all because of larger portions and succumbing to ad campaigns. Some of it has arisen due to misguided attempts to improve and streamline our food production and reduce our dietary fat intake. Sugar is often added to food to replace the taste loss when fat is reduced. Is Sugar Toxic?, a comprehensive and rather alarming article written by Gary Taubs and published in the New York Times, explores the confounding and contradictory evidence [...]

By Steveston Smiles|2015-10-23T11:31:03-07:00October 23rd, 2015|Oral Health|

Steveston Smiles is Growing

We are delighted to announce some exciting news! With your best interest, and oral health in mind, we have decided to merge with Dr. Bob Jamieson’s office effective October 2015. You may have noticed that we are located directly across the waiting room from each other. Dr. Bob and Dr. Doug met at UBC Dental School and started practicing together in 1973, before becoming two separate practices. It is serendipitous that we have come together again. Dr. Jamieson will be available to take care of his patient's oral health needs from Monday to Wednesday. On Thursdays he plans on spending more time skiing (in the winter) or on his boat (during the summer). Over time both our offices will merge together physically to become one office. Dr. Jamieson and his staff will deliver the same high quality dental treatment that you [...]

By Steveston Smiles|2015-10-20T16:00:37-07:00October 20th, 2015|Office news|

Welcome Dr. Selena Chow

We would like to introduce you to Dr. Selena Chow. Dr. Chow will be joining our dental team starting October 1st, 2015. Dr. Selena Chow grew up in Vancouver and graduated from UBC Dentistry in 2004. She has worked as a general dentist in several different dental clinics in the Lower Mainland and has gained valuable experience by being in different environments and providing treatment to a range of patients. Selena feels it is important to further her dental education and keep on top of new materials and techniques. She is currently a member of the Everyday Dentistry Study Club where the the discussions are led by a variety of dental specialists. The goal of the study club is to enable general practitioners to be comfortable treatment planning [...]

By Steveston Smiles|2015-09-10T09:49:16-07:00September 10th, 2015|Office news|

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