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Summer’s here, and it’s time to enjoy a well-deserved break! But even though school’s out, please take a few minutes to learn some tips from Dr. Robert Farber, Dr. Corey Farber, Dr. Harry Morris, Dr. Henry Bryan, and Dr. Mark Isler to keep your teeth and mouth healthy for a summer of great smiles.

Hydration

When you are active in warm weather, you need to keep hydrated. So choose your drinks wisely. Sodas and sports drinks can contain a lot of sugar, which encourages cavity-causing bacteria to grow. Water is always a healthy, sugar-free choice. If your tap water contains fluoride, you can even fight cavities while staying hydrated. One other benefit of hydration? It helps with saliva production, and saliva is a natural way to wash away food particles and bacteria while providing substances that help keep teeth strong.

Mouthguards

Biking, skateboarding, baseball, soccer—all great outdoor sports, but one fall or accidental contact can cause serious damage to teeth. If you have a mouthguard for school sports, don’t forget to wear it for summer activities as well. And, if you don’t have a mouthguard, now is a good time to think about getting one. You can use a ready-made guard, or we can custom-fit one especially for you. Talk to us about your favorite sports, and we’ll suggest ways to protect your teeth while you enjoy all the physical activities warm weather brings.

Vacation Plans

If you and your family are going to be traveling this summer, let us know! If you need any procedures at our Dearborn office, we can plan them around your time away. It’s best to get any necessary work done before you travel, and we will be happy to work with your family’s schedule. When you are away, be sure to carry our number with you in case a dental problem comes up, and it’s always a good idea to travel with a dental emergency kit.

Sticking To Your Dental Routine

Unfortunately, the bacteria that lead to increased plaque and cavities never take a vacation. Keep up with your regular schedule of two minutes of careful brushing at least twice a day, and make sure to floss. Come see us if it’s time for an exam or a cleaning, or if you have any dental problems or concerns.

However you spend your summer, we hope it is filled with happy—and healthy—smiles!

Memorial Day is not only a federal holiday in the United States, but it is a day of observance and remembrance of those who died in service. Originally known as Decoration Day, this solemn day has been marked on calendars since the end of the American Civil War as a day to commemorate both the Confederate and Union soldiers who fought and died in the war.

Marking the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers, wreaths, or other tokens has been practiced throughout history, but it wasn't until the mark of the end of the Civil War that a special day was decided upon as the one to spend in remembrance. By 1890, every state in the country was observing Decoration Day. It wasn't until 1967 when the name formally changed from Decoration Day to Memorial Day, in order to encompass all fallen American soldiers in all wars and conflicts. In June of 1968, Congress moved the official date of Memorial Day to the last Monday in May in order to create a three day weekend.

Today, while there is certainly an air of remembrance on Memorial Day, it has become more a day of spending time with family, friends, and other loved ones. This day is also heralded as the start of summer, with many schools finishing for the year around this time. Our team at Dearborn West Dental remembers it as a day to take solace and remembered those lost.

Traditional observances of Memorial Day are still held, and they often involve raising the American Flag then lowering it to a half-staff position until noon, and then raising it once again to its full height afterwards. The flag is lowered to remember those who've lost their lives while in service to their country, and then it is raised to signify our willingness to not let their sacrifice be in vain.

From community parades in the Dearborn area, backyard cook-outs, and fireworks to formal ceremonies, Memorial Day is commemorated in many different ways. No matter how you choose to spend this day, take a moment to remember those who've lost their lives in an effort to preserve our freedom.

Our jawbones seem like fairly uncomplicated mechanisms—an open-and-shut situation, as it were. But in reality, the interactions of bone, muscle, ligaments, teeth—all the many parts making up this vital area—are very complex. Bones need to fit together properly; the joint that connects the jawbones needs to function smoothly; teeth and jaw need to be in alignment.

And because the jaw is a complex mechanism, there are a number of different problems that can arise if everything isn’t meshing perfectly. Things we should take for granted—eating normally, sleeping well, breathing freely, feeling healthy and self-confident—can become challenging.

If you suffer from jaw problems, whether major or minor, it’s worth looking into corrective jaw surgery. Which jaw-related conditions can benefit? Among them:

• Problems with biting and swallowing
• Orthodontic problems that can’t be treated with orthodontics alone, such as open bite or underbite
• Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) disorders
• Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)
• Accidents or injuries
• Birth defects
• Receding or protruding jaw
• Breathing difficulties

If you have trouble eating, problems with sleeping, speech difficulties, or any other problems caused by jaw structure or jaw misalignment, or if you have orthodontic issues that can’t be resolved with braces alone, or if jaw pain affects your daily life, it’s well worth an examination by an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. Oral surgeons like Dr. Robert Farber, Dr. Corey Farber, Dr. Harry Morris, Dr. Henry Bryan, and Dr. Mark Isler are specialists in both diagnosing jaw problems and correcting them.

Because the conditions that can benefit from corrective jaw surgery are so wide-ranging, surgical and non-surgical treatments are varied and specialized as well. This is why working with an oral surgeon is so important.

Oral and maxillofacial surgeons are experts in all forms of jaw surgery. They have four to six years of additional medical training in a hospital-based residency program. They have trained with medical residents in general surgery, anesthesiology, plastic surgery, internal medicine, and other specialties concentrating on treating the jaw, mouth, and face. They are experts in advanced oral and facial surgeries.

Oral surgeons restore the jaw’s function. And this functionality, in turn, can restore your health, your appearance, and your quality of life. If you, together with your doctor, your dentist, or your orthodontist, believe you might be helped with corrective jaw surgery, make an appointment at our Dearborn office—it’s an open-and-shut decision!

Flossing is one of the most important parts of your oral care routine. Many patients know they need to do it but find it difficult to fit into their busy lives. Well, here's the good news: flossing once a day is enough if you're doing a good job!

Some patients like to brush before they floss and others like to floss before they brush. Some like to floss in the morning when they have more energy, others like to floss at night so they can go to bed with a clean mouth. Don't get hung up on any of this, the important thing is that you floss and floss effectively no matter when you do it.

Effective flossing contributes to oral health in these ways:

• It reduces the chance of cavities between teeth, since cavities can only form on teeth covered with dental plaque and you're scraping that plaque away when you floss.
• Along with brushing, it reduces the amount of time the plaque is left on your teeth, allowing them to be in a state of healing and remineralization for longer.
• It removes plaque that accumulates at or below the gum line, aiding in the prevention of gum disease.

As you can see, flossing offers many benefits for such a simple and inexpensive technique. So if you're still wondering how much to floss, don't worry about it. Don't mistake the frequency of your flossing with the effectiveness of it. Choose a dental floss that you like and one time during the day when you can floss thoroughly and just do it! If you need more tips on how to floss correctly, ask Dr. Robert Farber, Dr. Corey Farber, Dr. Harry Morris, Dr. Henry Bryan, and Dr. Mark Isler or any member of our Dearborn team—we'd be glad to help you pick up this healthy habit!