Oral Health
Benefits of Good Oral Health
Do you want your smile to sparkle forever? By practicing proper oral health, you can keep your pearly whites healthy and feel great about your appearance.
Keeping your mouth clean and free of disease is vital to maintaining your oral health. Good dental hygiene can also prevent bad breath and help you maintain your overall health.
Tips for Maintaining Good Oral Health
To protect your oral health, practice good oral hygiene every day. Here are some tips to help you keep your teeth and gums healthy:
- Brush your teeth at least twice a day with fluoride toothpaste
- Floss daily
- Eat a healthy diet and limit between-meal snacks
- Replace your toothbrush every three to four months or sooner if bristles are frayed
- Schedule regular dental checkups and cleanings
- Avoid tobacco use
If you have any questions or concerns about your oral health, call our office at (904) 388-3559. At First Coast Smiles we believe that taking care of your oral health is an investment in your overall health.
Comprehensive Exams
The mouth is often considered a window to the rest of the body because many other illnesses first present themselves as changes within the mouth. As a result, a comprehensive oral exam is recommended each time you visit a new practice to serve as a benchmark of your overall health.
Mouth Guards
Custom-fit mouth guards are prescribed and created by a dental professional from thermoplastic material and are based on a detailed mold taken of your mouth and teeth. They can be made for either sports or for nighttime teeth grinding and are created differently depending on the intended use. They're highly personalized, as your dentist can adjust the thickness of the mouth guard, and they're designed to fit perfectly in your mouth with no adjustments needed.
Night Guards
If you’re experiencing chronic headaches and migraines because of involuntary night-time teeth clenching, let First Coast Smiles help you with a night guard. A night guard is a thin, transparent device that is worn over the biting surface of your teeth while you sleep to prevent contact between the upper and lower teeth. Night guards have also proven to be an effective remedy for patients who are suffering from the effects of grinding and clenching their teeth while sleeping.
Oral Cancer Screening
The dental community is the first line of defense in early detection of oral cancer. The goal of oral cancer screenings is to detect mouth cancer or precancerous lesions that may lead to mouth cancer at an early stage when cancer or lesions are easiest to remove and most likely to be cured. When found at the early stages of development, oral cancers have an 80-90% survival rate. Early detection is imperative!
Sleep Apnea
Struggling with snoring and sleeplessness? You are not alone. The American Sleep Apnea Association estimates that nearly 22 million other Americans suffer from it as well, with more than 80% of those cases going undiagnosed. Sleep apnea is more than just a mere annoyance, however. An estimated 1,000 people die from it every year, and it could be your oral health that is to blame. This serious medical condition causes repeated breathing interruptions throughout the night; the pauses can last from a few seconds to minutes and may occur 30 or more times per hour. They happen because the airway is obstructed; however, not all snoring is a result of a sleep apnea diagnosis.
The first sign of sleep apnea is often teeth grinding (bruxism). Dentists on the lookout for signs of sleep apnea will search for worn tooth surfaces, which is a sign that a patient grinds his or her teeth. Grinding is just one oral health sign of sleep apnea. Other signs are a small jaw, a tongue with scalloped edges, or redness in the throat (caused by excessive snoring, which is another symptom of sleep apnea).