Derek Song, DMD Blog

As a parent, nobody gives you step-by-step instructions on how to care for your child’s mouth when you first have them. Whether your child has already visited their family dentist or not, it’s important to protect their mouth starting at an early age, so their adult smile will be happy and healthy. To preserve their teeth and gums and reduce their risk of developing oral issues down the road, read on for four tips to help keep their mouth healthy this Children’s Dental Health Month. ß

Have you ever been overwhelmed when shopping for a new toothbrush? Rows of colorful toothbrushes that all look similar can make choosing the right one feel like a guessing game. However, not all toothbrushes are the same! In fact, the wrong one could do your teeth more harm than good! So before you randomly grab one off the shelf and hope for the best, find out what questions you should be asking. Read on as your family dentist helps you weigh every decision in your search for the perfect toothbrush.

Are you thinking about making a New Year’s resolution? Now that it’s January, many people are starting new healthy habits to become the best version of themselves. If you’re looking for an easy way to improve your health this year, commit to a regular dental checkup! Visiting your dentist twice a year for cleanings and examinations can keep your teeth looking good now while saving you money and discomfort later. Here’s what to expect every six months when you visit your dentist, and why these important checkups should be your New Year’s resolution for 2020!

As the year ends, many people are getting ready to take planes, trains, and cars all over the country to spend the holiday season with their loved ones. According to a report conducted by AAA, roughly 107.3 million Americans will journey at least 50 miles from home between December 23^rd and January 1^st. If you’re one of those people, while you’ve been packing and planning, have you considered how to keep your teeth healthy? Both traveling and the holidays can be difficult on your teeth, so keeping good oral health this time of year is essential to avoiding dental issues in the New Year. Here are the best holiday travel tips for maintaining a happy, healthy smile all season long!

You walk into your dentist office and sit down in the examination chair with a big smile. You’re feeling confident about how well you’ve taken care of your teeth since the last time you came here. You’ve been brushing twice a day for two minutes, and even flossed a little! Surely your dentist will see how flawless your teeth are. The dentist comes in and pokes around your mouth before sitting back to break the bad news: you have two cavities! It can be frustrating to practice great oral hygiene and suffer from tooth decay, especially if you feel like you get more cavities than your friends or family. If this sounds familiar, you may be cavity prone! Find out what factors in your life could be putting you at a higher risk for tooth decay.

It’s that time of year again. A time when people are calling in sick to work because they’ve come down with the dreaded flu. The aches, pains, running nose, and other more cringe-worthy symptoms are never welcome, but if you don’t take the proper steps to stay well, you could find yourself laid up in bed, too. Instead of carrying around a bottle of Lysol and spraying the area around you to prevent germs, why not try these 5 flu season tips to keep yourself healthy this year.

In a single calendar year, millions of people lose, on average, close to $1,000 in unused dental insurance benefits. The reason is that most people don’t realize that what they’ve accumulated throughout the year does not roll over. If this is a new revelation to you, and you want to avoid it happening to you, take a few minutes to read through the steps you can take to maximize your plan before the clock strikes midnight on December 31.  

Your child is probably counting the days until Halloween. Trick-or-treating is a family tradition that transforms your house into a child survivalist’s dream bunker. With bags of candy hiding in every corner of the house, eating it over the couple of months following October is hard to resist. However, constantly exposing your teeth and gums to sugar can create the perfect environment for harmful oral bacteria to live and plaque to form. To avoid an unexpected appointment with your dentist, follow these six tips for candy consumption at Halloween. 

Nearly everybody will agree that there’s no better way to get in the mood for the holidays than trying all the new seasonal hot drinks that are coming out. Because of the brisk breeze and cold weather, hot cups of tea and coffee are vital to help keep you warm. It may surprise you to know that some of these delicious beverages are even great for your oral health. Read on to learn how certain hot drinks like coffee can benefit your gums and teeth.

Finding a dentist you can build a relationship with and entrust your oral care to is of the utmost importance. One reason is that it ensures your access to preventive care, which is one of the cornerstones of maintaining excellent dental health and avoiding serious problems. Before you can reap this and the many other benefits of working with a dentist, you first need to choose the right professional. To make the decision process easier, here are 5 key traits to look for in your next dentist!