How Stress Affects Your Dental Health

When it comes to stress, mental or emotional strain may be the first thought to come to mind, but stress also greatly impacts a person’s dental health. At Kids Connextion located in Phoenix, AZ, your dentists pride themselves in treating all things teeth, including any stress-induced condition you may face. Here are a few ways stress affects your dental health. 

Teeth Grinding

Bruxism or clenching and grinding of the teeth can be caused by stress and anxiety. Oftentimes, you’re unaware you’re even grinding since occurs during sleep, leading to enamel damage and even jaw soreness and headaches. To protect your teeth from the damaging effects of grinding, your Phoenix, AZ dentists recommend a dental night guard to wear. 

Gum Disease

Another condition potentially caused by stress is gum disease. If you’re under extreme stress, you are more inclined to snacking on sugary food or even forgetting to take care of your teeth. Failure to brush or floss regularly increases your risk of tooth decay and gum disease.

Canker Sores

Wondering why those pesky and painful spots appear in your mouth? Canker sores or mouth ulcers are also thought to be triggered by stress or a decreased immune system. These shallow wounds occur around the insides of your lips and make it difficult to eat or talk. These sores naturally disappear after 7-10 days, but if your sores are recurring, your dentists at Kids Connextion in Phoenix, AZ, will provide other forms of treatment.

Kidz Connextion has three convenient locations in Phoenix, Arizona. To schedule an appointment at 2533 N 75th St, text 623-232-0749. For our office at 2046 N 24th St, text 480-666-5984. For our office at 524 E Baseline Rd, text 480-405-4714. Or, visit Kidz Connextion on our website.

4 Reasons to Clean Your Tongue

Brushing and flossing shouldn’t be the only steps included in your dental hygiene routine. Recent studies suggest tongue cleaning reduces harmful bacteria in your mouth. At Kidz Connextion located in Phoenix, your dentist is passionate about dental hygiene, including the importance of tongue cleaning. Here are four reasons to clean your tongue.

Combat Bad Breath

Do you suffer stinky breath and have tried everything from special toothpaste to mouthwash with no results? A 2014 study by the Journal of Periodontology revealed that cleaning your tongue is one solution to reduce bad breath. The study discovered tongue cleaning removes up to 75 percent of the compounds that cause bad breath versus a toothbrush only removes 45 percent of the tongue’s compounds.

Eliminate White Tongue

A white tongue is a condition that results from poor hygiene, trapping bacteria and debris into the tongue’s tiny bumps, or papillae. Your Phoenix, AZ dentists advise a gentle scraping of the tongue to solve this usually harmless condition.

Reduce Plaque

Plaque is a thin sticky film of bacteria typically found on your teeth and tongue. Regular flossing and brushing removes this bacteria on your teeth, but what about your tongue? That’s why tongue cleaning is important for removing these harmful bacteria and preventing plaque from spreading across your body through your saliva. 

Improve Taste

It’s no wonder your tongue’s build-up of bacteria and plaque has a profound effect on taste. According to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology, taste sensations improved significantly after two weeks of tongue cleaning using a tongue scraper. 

Kidz Connextion has three convenient locations in Phoenix, Arizona. To schedule an appointment at 2533 N 75th St, text 623-232-0749. For our office at 2046 N 24th St, text 480-666-5984. For our office at 524 E Baseline Rd, text 480-405-4714. Or, visit Kidz Connextion on our website.

Do You Have a Chipped Tooth?

If you have a chipped or cracked tooth, don’t wait too long to seek treatment. At Kids Connextion located in Phoenix, AZ, your dentist specializes in crowns, sealants, and much more to preserve your beautiful smile, but also prevent further damage. 

Teeth can break or chip in many different ways, but some of the most common ways are sports injuries, eating hard foods including ice cubes, and falling. Whether the damage is big or small, your dentist offers a variety of treatment options to fix your chipped tooth.

Bonding

For minor fractures, tooth bonding is a great procedure to fix chipped teeth. This safe and affordable solution molds a resin over an adhesive gel. Using ultraviolet light, this resin is then hardened on top of the affected tooth. 

Crowns

If your teeth have deeper cracks and are susceptible to damage, your Phoenix, AZ dentist recommends crowns as a treatment option. A dental crown restores your tooth by covering it with a cap or crown. For a painless procedure, you will receive anesthesia while we file down your tooth to fit the crown. Once the tooth is reduced in size, an impression of the tooth and surrounding teeth will be taken for the mold. Typically, this restoration process takes 2-3 weeks.

 

Sealants

Sealants are great options for people interested in fixing tooth holes in their mouth. Your dentist will first place an adhesive on the teeth. The next step is to place the liquid sealant that hardens and protects the tooth from food particles, debris, bacteria, and any cavities. Sealants are a wonderful treatment method for many issues since they last for 10 years. 

Kidz Connextion has three convenient locations in Phoenix, Arizona. To schedule an appointment at 2533 N 75th St, text 623-232-0749. For our office at 2046 N 24th St, text 480-666-5984. For our office at 524 E Baseline Rd, text 480-405-4714. Or, visit Kidz Connextion on our website.