If your last trip to the dentist revealed a crop of new cavities, look no farther than your coffee cup.

The culprit may be lurking in your latte, according to Seattle dentist Heidi Hackett, who says her conversations with patients have led her to believe that the popular coffee drinks are causing an uptick in adult tooth decay.

“We found that the majority of the patients are spending many hours a day working at the computer and ‘nursing’ either lattes or coffee with milk,” says Hackett. “The constant exposure to the lactose or milk sugar is giving the bacteria in the mouth a flood of raw fuel or ‘food’ to metabolize.”

According to Hackett, the type of bacteria most responsible for tooth decay is Streptococcus mutans, which metabolizes carbohydrates and sugars into acid. The acid then eats away at the tooth enamel until — voila! — a cavity is born.

Over the past five to seven years, Hackett says she’s seen a definite rise in tooth decay in people who haven’t had a high rate of cavities in the past. Now, though, the common denominator seems to be that they’re all sipping on lattes or other milk-laden beverages or snacking at their desks throughout the day.

“There are a tremendous number of workers in our area who spend endless hours in front of a computer screen and drink coffee and snack for a fair number of those hours,” she says.

Drinking your latte in 15 minutes is fine, says Hackett. But nursing it all day long like an adult baby bottle is where you get into trouble.

David Volk, a 47-year-old Seattle author and stay-at-home dad, says he’s definitely a slow sipper when it comes to his morning mocha.

“I’ll drink it as I remember,” he says. “It’ll be sitting on the desk and it’ll get cold, so I’ll put it in the microwave and then forget about it and then find it later and then start drinking it again. There are just days when you really need that mocha. It’s like liquid therapy. I don’t want to stuff my face, but I just need something. It’s kind of a moment.”

Unfortunately, stretching that moment out to several hours gives the bacteria a chance to go to town on your teeth.

Lattes should be considered snacks because of their high milk sugar content, Hackett says. And sippers should take appropriate steps to protect their teeth.

“If you’re going to drink a latte or coffee with milk, you can drink water after to help neutralize the acid, or chew sugar-free gum to stimulate salivary flow to help rinse the acids and neutralize,” she advises.

Fluoride rinse, she says, is another great way to keep your teeth healthy, especially if you drink a lot of beverages with milk, sugar, honey or if you constantly snack throughout the day.

Cleveland dentist Matthew Messina, a consumer spokesperson for the American Dental Association, agrees that sugar exposure is definitely a culprit — even for adults.

“Whether someone’s sipping a latte all day or sipping a carbonated soda all day or a baby is going to bed with apple juice in a bottle, the cause of the decay is still the same,” he says.

As for a national trend in “adult baby bottle mouth,” he says he’s not aware of it.

“Maybe it’s a Seattle thing,” he says.

This article was written by Diane Mapes and published on MSNBC.com. Right click to download this article: Latte Decay: Slow Sipping May Boost Cavities in Adults

A child’s primary teeth, sometimes called “baby teeth,” are as important as the permanent adult teeth. Primary teeth, which often begin to appear when children are about 6 months old, help them chew and speak. They also hold space in the jaws for permanent teeth that are developing under the gums.

This article was published by the Journal of the American Dental Association Journal. Right click to download this article: Baby’s First Teeth

SIDE EFFECTS include transient tooth sensitivity and gum tenderness. Over-filling of your bleach trays may lead to a sore throat or nausea. Most side effects are dose dependent: If you are unable to tolerate the side effect simply decrease either the amount of bleach you are using, the frequency of bleaching, or the amount of time you are bleaching. If your bleaching tray is physically irritating your gum due to over-extension or a rough edge use a sharp cuticle scissors to carefully remove the small offending piece of the tray. An emery board can also smooth a rough edge.

BLEACHING WILL reduce the amount of color (hue) in your teeth and increase the brightness (value) of your teeth resulting in a “whiter, brighter” smile. Bleaching is most effective on yellow/brown stains, the “stains of age.” Bleaching can be effective on the more difficult and intense blue/gray stains, but these stains do not bleach as well or as quickly as yellow/brown stains.

BLEACHING WILL NOT CHANGE the color of porcelain crowns or white fillings which may become more noticeable and may have to be replaced to match your new whiter shade. Bleaching is not entirely predictable. Some color inclusions in your teeth may become more intense and require additional treatments to improve esthetically. The thinner biting edges of your front teeth may become more translucent (clear) and appear grayer or bluer.

BLEACHING CAN BE REPEATED. Save your trays! They can be used with a fresh “Touch-up Kit” to remove new stains every year or two. Touch-up Kits are inexpensive and can be obtained at our office.

MONITORING is vital. Dental bleaching whitens the hardest substance (dental enamel) your body creates. A post-bleaching visit will allow Dr. Kaes to monitor your results and side effects, answer questions, and recommend follow-up care. Do not hesitate to call our office if you have any questions. Our entire staff has bleached.

INSTRUCTIONS: Brush and floss prior to bleaching. The bleaching gel will not penetrate dental plaque. Place a small amount of bleach in each tray, a matchstick head sized dab per tooth. If you get a strong taste in your mouth you have used too much. You can use a cotton swab or tissue to remove excess bleach emerging from the edges of the tray. After removing the trays you can rinse or brush to remove the bleaching gel.

Our standard prescription for bleaching: Bleach for 30 minutes, remove/clean/rinse/reload, use for another 30 minutes once a day for 3-10 days until you are satisfied with the result. Again, don’t hesitate to call the office if you have any questions or issues bleaching.

Right click to download this article: Home Teeth Bleaching

Before You Get Pregnant
Try to make a dental appointment before getting pregnant. That way, your teeth can be professionally cleaned, your gum tissue can be carefully examined, and any oral health problems can be treated in advance of your pregnancy.

Dental Care While You Are Pregnant

Dental Care While Pregnant

• Tell your dentist (and doctor) if you are pregnant. As a precautionary measure, dental treatments during the first trimester and second half of the third trimester should be avoided as much as possible. These are critical times in the baby’s growth and development and it’s simply wise to avoid exposing the mother to procedures that could in any way influence the baby’s growth and development. However, routine dental care can be received during the second trimester. All elective dental procedures should be postponed until after the delivery.
• Tell your dentist the names and dosages of all medications you are taking – including medications and prenatal vitamins prescribed by your doctor – as well as any specific medical advice your doctor has given you. Your dentist may need to alter your dental treatment plan based on this information. Certain drugs — for example, such as tetracycline — can affect the development of your child’s teeth and should not be given during the pregnancy.
• Avoid dental X-rays during pregnancy. If X-rays are essential (such as in a dental emergency), your dentist will use extreme caution to safeguard you and your baby. Advances in technology have made X-rays much safer today than in past decades.
• Don’t skip your dental checkup appointment simply because you are pregnant. Now more than any other time, regular periodontal (gum) examinations are very important because pregnancy causes hormonal changes that put you at increased risk for periodontal disease and for tender gums that bleed easily – a condition called pregnancy gingivitis. Pay particular attention to any changes in your gums during pregnancy. If tenderness, bleeding or gum swelling occurs at any time during your pregnancy, talk with your dentist or periodontist as soon as possible.
• Follow good oral hygiene practices to prevent and/or reduce oral health problems.

Coping With Morning Sickness

• If morning sickness is keeping you from brushing your teeth, change to a bland-tasting toothpaste during your pregnancy. Ask your dentist or hygienist to recommend brands.
• Rinse your mouth out with water or a mouth rinse if you suffer from morning sickness and have bouts of frequent vomiting.

Eating Right for Your Teeth and Baby

• Avoid sugary snacks. Sweet cravings are common during pregnancy. However, keep in mind that the more frequently you snack, the greater the chance of developing tooth decay. Additionally, some studies have shown that the bacteria responsible for tooth decay are passed from the mother to the child. So be careful of what you eat.
• Eat a healthy, balanced diet. Your baby’s first teeth begin to develop about three months into your pregnancy. Healthy diets containing dairy products, cheese and yogurt are a good source of these essential minerals and are good for your baby’s developing teeth, gums, and bones.

After You’ve Had Your Baby
If you experienced any gum problems (including pregnancy gingivitis or a pregnancy tumor) during your pregnancy, see your dentist soon after delivery to have your entire mouth examined and your periodontal health evaluated.

This article was published in WebMD.
Right click to download this article: Pregnancy and Dental Care

• Sharp pain upon biting (or upon releasing the bite) often associated with intense cold sensitivity that does not hurt when chewing is not occurring.
• Visible cracks observed by dental staff upon examination. Structural cracks often stop fiber optic light from passing through a tooth. Craze lines—superficial non-structural cracks—can appear concerning but usually do not stop fiber optic light from passing through a tooth.
• Visible cracks discovered during tooth preparation. Structural cracks are often discovered during treatment. When this occurs we usually show the crack to the patient with a video camera and discuss whether or not a crown treatment may be appropriate.

If you have been diagnosed with one or more cracked teeth. A cracked tooth may be sensitive to cold or sweets, or cause a sharp pain upon biting. Often, you must bite just right (or just wrong) to cause the pain. Your tooth may or may not have a visible crack line. Sometimes this crack line can be seen using fiber optic trans-illumination, actually creating a shadow in the structure of the tooth. Radiographs (x-rays) often show a normal appearing tooth. Some crack lines become visible to the dentist when a filling preparation is done, but are not yet symptomatic. Patients with a cracked tooth will often have additional cracked teeth over time.

Diagnosing the severity of a cracked tooth is impossible clinically. Therefore, you must know all of the potential problems and treatments associated with cracked teeth. Clinical experience has shown that most cracks in teeth are superficial. More complex cracks will involve the dental pulp (nerve) or propagate into the root below the gum line or bone supporting the tooth.

Treatment of approximately 80% of the cracks is uncomplicated and uneventful. Treatment of complex cracks is unpredictable. The tooth may require extraction even after difficult, complex, and expensive treatments.

Most cracked teeth are treated successfully with a build up filling and a crown restoration. After initial crown preparation treatment the tooth will need to be monitored by you. After a few days you should be able to chew without pain on the temporary crown. This test allows us to complete your crown with a strong, but not absolute, prediction of success.

If the tooth remains symptomatic in the temporary the next step is to perform a root canal and then strengthen the interior of the tooth with a bonded build-up filling in the root canal access. This often alleviates the symptoms in teeth that were symptomatic in the temporary. Should this treatment be unsuccessful, it is most likely the tooth will be extracted and replaced with an implant or fixed bridgework. These failures are impossible to predict in advance.

Alternatives to this treatment sequence are to extract the offending cracked tooth and replace it with an implant and implant crown or bridgework. These alternatives are generally more expensive than the above treatment sequence, but definitively treat the cracked tooth by extraction. Usually a decision must be made to continue or discontinue the treatment sequence when the tooth is symptomatic in the temporary crown.

Right click to download this article: Cracked Tooth Syndrome