Late night snacking happens for many reasons. You may feel hungry after long day at work. It may also happen if you just eat whenever you feel hungry, rather than having five fixed meals. Late night snacking is dangerous because throughout the day your mouth produces saliva and cleans your teeth whenever you eat. After your body falls asleep, your mouth stops producing saliva and your healthy teeth start to decay from the leftover food.

Many popular foods encourage late night snacking and affect your healthy teeth. They include sugar products, hydrogenated oils and grain products. If you regularly eat these foods too late in the night, you will lose your healthy teeth. If you don’t realize soon you will face serious problems like increasing body fat, Heart attacks, discolored or broken teeth. This will eventually lead to lose of your healthy body and your healthy teeth. You may find burgers or pizzas tempting and filling but that will be at the cost of your healthy teeth.

So open your eyes now and get rid of this habit. Rinse your teeth after every meal, have your wine only before you dine, don’t eat sugary foods which encourage this habit. Instead eat kiwis, sesame foods, mushrooms, onions and drink green tea. Eat a satisfying dinner and drink a lot of water. Never compromise with your healthy teeth and your beautiful smile.

Sun damage doesn’t just cause flaky, chapped lips. Its harmful UV rays can also cause skin cancer. Lip cancer only makes up about 10% of all skin cancers and its numbers are declining, according to the Oral Cancer Foundation. However, the lips are highly vascular, so lip cancer is three times more aggressive than other skin cancers.

If you think that regular lip balms can protect your lips from damage, remember  this: shiny lip glosses only magnify the sun’s rays and enhance damage. And, the majority of  lip balms and lipsticks do not contain sunscreen. These Bakersfield Dentists recommend wearing a lip balm or gloss with an SPF of 30 or higher, or layer your lip gloss or lipstick over a lip balm containing sunscreen. Men and women are equally susceptible to sun damage, although men over 40 who work outside are more likely to develop lip cancer.

It is important to be aware of the symptoms of lip cancer in case your lips are damaged by the sun. Lip cancer can be easily confused with a cold sore. The National Cancer Institute offers some key signs of lip cancer:

• A sore on the lip or in the mouth that doesn’t heal.
• A lump on or thickening of the lips.
• Pain, bleeding, or numbness on the lips or in the mouth.

While those symptoms don’t necessarily indicate lip cancer, but you should report any unusual changes in your lips or mouth to your dentist or physician. Dr.Krauss can check your mouth for signs of oral cancer during a routine dental exam.

Remember: Covering a few extra inches of skin with sun protection could end up saving your smile and your life!

Dr. Krauss is dedicated to the health and beauty of his patients. He offers general, preventive and cosmetic dental procedures in his Bakersfield, CA dental practice.

Most people are absolutely surprised to hear that energy or sports drinks can be even worse for your teeth than the typical soft drink or cola! How can this be? Well, according to a study in the journal Dentistry, teeth soaked in energy drinks for 14 days in an experiment fared worse than teeth soaked in fitness water, soft drinks, and other beverages, due to the high acidity levels found in energy drinks. Those high levels of acid can destroy tooth enamel, even more so than soft drinks can. The breakdown of enamel makes it easier for cavities to form, leading to potentially even bigger problems down the road, such as the need for root canals or extractions.

In this study, drinks that caused the most enamel to dissolve included KMX sports drink, Snapple lemonade, Red Bull, Gatorade lemon-lime, and Powerade Arctic Shatter. Coke was on the list as well, but the difference between KMX and Coke was illuminating, in that KMX caused tooth-enamel dissolution that measured as 30 mg/cm-squared, compared to 3 mg/cm-squared for Coke.

Another problem with sports and energy drinks comes from the way people drink them. Instead of drinking them all at once with a meal, they tend to sip them continuously, either on a hot day or during some form of exercise. This continual drinking over a span of hours is much more apt to cause tooth damage.

One way to prevent damage caused by sports or energy drinks is to chew sugar-free gum to stimulate saliva flow.  This will help regulate the pH level in your mouth.  Another way is to make sure you rinse your mouth out with water in between sips of a soft drink, and to make sure you brush your teeth soon after drinking any kind of sugary beverage. Ask your local Bakersfield, CA dentist for other suggestions to prevent tooth decay from energy drinks.

The first thing your Bakersfield, CA dentist will want to do is take an x-ray.  It is important to see what damage has been done to the tooth inside and out.  If it is a chip that is hardly noticeable and the damage is very minimal, the dentist may just be able to smooth it out and send you on your way.  If it is a small chip, it still could require a composite (tooth colored filling), a porcelain veneer or a crown.  If it is a large chip or the root is damaged, it will require more work.  Depending on the location of the chip whether it is located on an anterior (front) tooth or a molar will also make a difference in the treatment also.

If the chip is on a front tooth the dentists in Bakersfield will most likely recommend a porcelain veneer.  He will need to prepare the tooth and take an impression which is sent to a lab that makes the veneer.  The dentist will make you a temporary that you will wear until you can get back in to have the permanent one put on.  If it is a back tooth they can put in a composite filling which can be done in the same appointment.

If you  have pain when chewing or drinking and the chip is more of a crack, and if a root canal is not needed, they will prepare the tooth for a crown.  A crown is a cap that covers the tooth and both protects and improves its appearance.  All of these restorations are made to match your existing teeth.  Worst case scenario, in the event the root is damaged, the tooth may need to be extracted and replaced.  If you have an existing filling, crown or veneer that becomes chipped, you need to have it fixed and or replaced as soon as possible as to not compromise the tooth.

Bring any pieces of the tooth that has broken with you to your dentist appointment.   If you do not procrastinate and see a dentist quickly the repair is usually much more simple.  Waiting can only increase the possibility of further deterioration caused by unseen damage. For the best cosmetic dentist in Bakersfield go to http://www.BakersfieldDental.com.

We have all seen shelves at your local grocery stores filled with over-the-counter teeth-whitening products. Many customers ask us if they should use those over the counter strips or toothpastes or if they should do Zoom teeth whitening.

1. How long will it take? The Zoom! Whitening system can lighten your teeth up to ten shades in just one appointment vs. 2-3 shades over 3 months with over the counter strips. Whitening toothpastes and rinses are about half as as effective as the strips.

2. Will the Whitening be even? With the strips you are only able to whiten a few front teeth. The Zoom! Whitening system affects all of your teeth and creates an evenly whitened beautiful smile.

3. Is it safe? The active ingredient in the Zoom! Whitening system is a pH-balanced hydrogen peroxide, so it’s safe and effective. Many of the over the counter bleaching agents cause some degree of tooth sensitivity. This is sensitivity to cold/hot fluids and even air can cause discomfort. This is normal and an expected side effect. Some of the brands of bleaching gel contain desensitizing agents which claim to alleviate post bleaching sensitivity.

4. Does it work? For teeth whitening to be effective, the product needs to be as close to the tooth as possible. Unfortunately, with most of the over the counter trays and strips most of the solution gets swallowed because of the loose fitting trays or the strips sliding out of place.

5. What about my gums? In the office setting, your dentist will apply either a gel to the gum tissue or use a rubber shield (which slides over the teeth) prior to treatment to protect your gums and oral cavity from the effects of the bleaching. Over-the-counter products don’t provide these extra protective measures.

For best results, visit your Bakersfield dental professional at Bakersfield Smile Design, and have a “whitening evaluation” to find out what is best for you. In most cases, it is worth the extra cost to visit the dentist to get a long-lasting result and the whitest smile!