The Truth About Mouthwash – Reviews by South Charlotte Dentist

It is an age-old lesson. When we were kids, our mothers always told us to brush our teeth twice a day and rinse with mouthwash. And since we trust our mothers, this is what we have done for years, maybe even decades. What if our mothers were wrong? What if rinsing with mouthwash actually has hidden dangers to it? Sounds crazy, right? Well, it is actually true.

Our entire body, especially inside the mouth, functions on a balance of good and bad bacteria. Having a healthy balance of bacteria in your mouth helps lessen your chance of getting sick, it regulates your blood pressure, and it keeps you from contracting certain diseases; using mouthwash can upset that balance. How does this even happen? If all of this is true then why did our mothers tell us to use mouthwash so often?

Mouthwash contains a chemical mixture called chlorhexidine, also known as chlorhexidine gluconate. This mixture is a disinfectant and antiseptic that is used for disinfecting the skin before surgery and then to sterilize surgical instruments. Sounds pretty powerful, right?

When used in mouthwash, this chemical compound can destroy the good bacteria in your mouth, not just the bad stuff. For example, good bacteria is used to produce nitric oxide, which is naturally made by your body and is important for many aspects of your health. One of its most important functions is that it helps relax the muscles of your blood vessels to help them widen to increase blood circulation as necessary. However, since mouthwash eliminates that bacteria, your body is not able to produce as much nitric oxide as it normally should, which can eventually put you at risk for hypertension and even Alzheimer’s disease.

So, you want fresher breath, but now you are afraid to use store-bought mouthwash? There are some natural options out there that are much safer for your mouth. Instead of deleting mouthwash from your daily routine, try a different option:

• Oral Essentials is a mouth rinse made with Dead Sea salt, which is rich in minerals. This rinse was actually made by dentists to help aid in remineralization and reduce stress levels.

• Auromere is a mouthwash that was created using ancient medical practices. It is made with neem, which is known as the “Indian toothbrush tree.”

• Make your own! Homemade mouth rinses are a great alternative and you get to control what goes into them. Ask your dentist for their professional opinion before trying anything.

Mouthwash is not the only thing that our mothers falsely promoted; there are other habits that we have been conditioned to believe are healthy that can actually have negative effects on our overall health. 

• Brushing after you eat. Growing up, our parents always told us to brush our teeth after breakfast or dinner. Now that we have matured more, our morning routine might naturally consist of grabbing our toothbrush immediately after breakfast. While developing a regular brushing routine is great, running to brush too quickly can actually cause more trouble. Some foods, like oranges, can weaken the enamel on your teeth, so when you brush right away, your teeth are taking a harder hit. Brushing too forcefully at times like this can even remove that protective enamel! In the future, it is good to wait at least 30 minutes before brushing your teeth.

• Chewing on ice. When you were young, your parents probably let you have a snow cone, or if you have ever had surgery, they probably gave you ice chips to munch on, but those crunchy, cold cubes are not good snacks! Even though ice is free of calories and sugar and can help cool you down, the stiffness of the ice can cause damage to your teeth when it is chewed. This happens by causing cracks and fractures in the enamel on your teeth. Also, if you have fillings, crowns or any other restorations, it can crack those, too.

• Exercising without dental protection. When you go to the gym, what is the first thing you grab to take with you? It likely is not a mouth guard or retainer, but it should be, especially if you are participating in a high-impact sport, such as hockey, martial arts or football. When there is a risk of physical contact, you should always wear mouth protection, no matter how dorky it might look. Not wearing is mouth guard often results in teeth chipping or being knocked completely out! Not only is that unappealing, but that kind of serious damage can take a lot of work and money to repair correctly.

Author: Morgan Evans

South Charlotte Dentistry Products

South Charlotte Dentistry Products

Sonicare Toothbrush
Inspired by the technology in dental offices, Sonicare toothbrushes are designed to provide a dynamic cleaning experience. The Sonicare toothbrush creates a high-velocity movement which reduces plaque along the gumline while also being gentle on teeth and gums. We also carry replacement brush heads for Sonicare electric toothbrushes. The American Dental Association (ADA) recommends you change your toothbrush head every 3 months or after you are sick.

Waterpik
A Waterpik water flosser is an alternative to traditional flossing. This system creates a stream of water to flow from the special water flosser tip. This stream of water targets plaque, leftover food, and bacteria effectively. If you struggle with traditional flossing techniques, a Waterpik is easy to use. It even makes flossing with braces easy. Add a Waterpik water flosser to your daily dental hygiene routine!

Crest Whitening Strips
Have you ever wished for a whiter smile? South Charlotte Dentistry offers patients quality teeth whitening treatments. Not sure if you want to sit through a Whitening treatment? You can also get Crest Whitening Strips for take-home use. These strips are great to help you decide on a more permanent teeth-whitening treatment.


Opalescence Whitening Products
In addition to teeth whitening treatments, South Charlotte Dentistry also provides a take-home teeth whitening option. Opalescence is only available through a licensed dental professional. These take-home whitening trays and gel are custom made for your teeth and can provide a less expensive alternative to a teeth whitening treatment.

Prevident Toothpaste
Prevident toothpaste is prescription-strength fluoride toothpaste. This toothpaste cleans your teeth and gums while also providing a dose of fluoride. This is especially important in younger patients, who need a stronger fluoride defense than adults. South Charlotte Dentistry can provide Prevident toothpaste to better protect your smile.

Obagi Skincare Products
Our priority at South Charlotte Dentistry is helping you achieve the smile you want. In addition to that, we also provide a variety of Obagi skincare products. Obagi products are designed to heal your skin and prevent lasting damage from the sun and/or acne. For more information on the Obagi products we offer, ask your dentist next time you visit us!

The Future of Teeth Whitening: Dental Whitening Lamps

When it comes to brightening that smile, using LED lighting for whitening teeth seems to be the wave of the future.

With its popularity quickly growing, due to spectacular results, dentists and patients are beginning to take a closer look at this advanced method of removing coffee, nicotine, and wine stains from the teeth. But is using LED lighting—or, blue lighting, as it is often called—for whitening teeth a safe practice? Though the results of this particular whitening method are positive, patients are still citing some enamel loss and increased sensitivity. Luckily, doctors have just recently discovered an even newer method, still using LED lighting, to whiten teeth but without the negative effects.

For a lot of people looking to whiten their teeth, they find the strips and gels and paints too damaging and painful. You don’t need to have sensitive teeth to feel the sharp pain of some of the modern whitening plans. The increased sensitivity we have seen rise right along with the sales and popularity of take-home whitening products is due to a lethal procedure: hydrogen peroxide robs your teeth of electrons and enamel begins to break down. The result is that hateful sting that comes at first contact of cool air or liquid.

LED Lighting

Here’s how it works: A gel is applied to the teeth then LED lights are used to trigger photocatalysts in the teeth, which then brighten and whiten. The gel is used to speed up the process and make the LED light more effective.

Though the chemicals in the gel used in conjunction with the LED lighting may not be quite as powerful as what’s used in other strips or gels, this process can still be harsh on the teeth—especially sensitive teeth. This has caused a bit of backlash, but this method is still seen as a step in the right direction, as it is not as intense as other take-home whitening products. But, new developments have been made, and the results are quite impressive.

A New Way of Whitening

According to the American Chemical Society, “researchers have now developed a new, less destructive method” of whitening. A gel is still applied to the teeth, and LED lights are used, but the effect is much more impressive.

Dr. Xiaolei Wang and colleagues have found an alternative compound to use in conjunction with LED lights to effectively brighten teeth, but without the negative side effects. Dr. Wang and his team wanted to eliminate the use of the hydrogen-peroxide base due to its damaging agents, so they took titanium dioxide nanoparticles and modified them so they could be triggered by blue lighting. The result? The team found that there was no significant enamel erosion and the teeth tested were significantly whiter.

Before You Whiten

Though it is tempting to buy the most popular take-home whitening products on the market—I mean, they must work if people are buying them, right?—be careful. Just because your friend has found a product that works without causing sensitivity and enamel loss, it doesn’t mean the results will be the same for you.

Your first step is to come in and meet with Dr. Wells and his team. They can successfully assess your teeth and gums to forecast which method(s) might be best for you. But, if you absolutely must start the whitening process immediately, follow these tips until you can come see us at South Charlotte Dentistry:

1.      Keep away from trays and gels. The problem with this method is that it can take weeks for results to show. And, most people who use the tray and gels report having teeth sensitivity afterwards. 

2.      Use caution with whitening strips as well. Though results can show in about a week, over time, this can cause irritation. Also, if you use the strips too often, your teeth can become sensitive.

3.      When you have the time to wait, use paint-ons. The paint-on method solves the problem of the whitening agent interacting with interior soft tissues, such as the gums and inner cheek. You simply brush the whitening gel on each tooth and let it sit for a short period of time. The only down side to this method is it can take months before results can be seen, and you have to be diligent in getting the gel on each tooth daily.

4.      Whitening devices are your best option. Go ahead and do a little research and find an LED lighting kit to order—you can get them off Amazon.


Andrae Bergeron
CCP Web Design
South Charlotte Denistry
 

South Charlotte Dentistry Encourages You to Brush Your Teeeth

Keep Your Teeth Healthy, Brush them Twice a Day

Improve Your Dental Health with Fluoridated Water

Fluoridated Water Improves Oral Health

Be in the Clear with a Membership Plan

South Charlotte Family & Cosmetic Dentistry has a very exciting and cost-effective options for all our patients who might have great medical and even vision health coverage, but lack good (or any) dental benefits. We know that employers, when putting together a benefits package for their employees, can sometimes make medical the priority (which is great!) but forget that dental benefits are a huge importance in our lives.

So, we have some good news for anyone that needs good dental benefits and coverage at an affordable price: we offer a Membership Plan through Kleer to ensure that all our patients will have access to professional oral care. In this blog, we want to highlight the tiers of the plan and make it as simple to understand as possible.

Firstly, here’s the good news: we offer the plan directly to you. You don’t have an agency that you have to work through, and there isn’t an insurance company you need to call to get approval for braces or to consult with to see if your plan will cover a root canal. In other words, you set up a Membership Plan with us and it’s your dentist or oral surgeon with whom you consult—not a corporate work on the phone, elsewhere. No middleman, just your dentist and you making the decisions. That’s the way oral care should work. Hassle-free and cost-effective savings are the things we offer to you, our patients, to make your oral healthcare our top priority.

Let’s review some of the basic benefits, then look at the various tiers of coverage, as well as options for choosing the best fit for your life.

Benefits

All of our plans include the following services or features:

• Cleanings, exams, and routine x-rays are included in the plan. You pay nothing extra for these parts of our basic coverage.
• You receive discounts for other procedures, such as fillings, crowns, root canals, and more.
• Benefits begin the moment you join. Join today and your benefits begin immediately.
• We offer full-price transparency. There are no hidden costs or fees. We will discuss the treatments recommended, and the costs of each treatment, in an upfront and honest way at the time of the consultation.
• A membership cycle covers 12 months from the date you join.
• You do not have to deal with any of the following (which are typical to most insurance plans): deductibles, waiting periods, pre-approvals, annual maximums, or denials of claims. Because this is our plan that we offer to you, and we are both the provider of coverage and the provider of care, you don’t have to deal with a middleman and the hassle it brings.
• This is not insurance but a Membership Plan, so that means you get access to regular, standard treatments as part of the plan, as well as, access to discounts for other procedures. (Because this is not an insurance plan, it will not satisfy the Affordable Care Act’s requirements.)

Plans

We offer up to 5 plans, to ensure that both you and your family members have access to consistent, reliable, and affordable dental health care. Let’s review some of the plans and the main features included in each.

All the plans, listed below, include a 20% discount on other dental procedures, which our practice offers.

1. Adult Start (14-years-old and older): One professional cleaning and checkup. This includes a professional cleaning and a regular exam, an oral screening, routine x-rays, and one emergency exam.
   1. This plan costs $21/month, totaling $252 annually.
   2. This saves you $99 off of regular dental visits at our practice, over a year’s time.

2. Adult Complete (14-years-old and older): Two professional cleanings and checkups. This includes two professional cleanings and two regular exams, along with two oral screenings, routine x-rays, and one emergency exam.
   1. This plan costs $32/month, totaling $384 annually.
   2. That adds up to $137 off the cost of what these procedures would be at regular pricing.

3. Perio (14-years-old and older): Three perio maintenance procedures and checkups. This includes three perio maintenance and two regular exams, along with two oral screenings, routine x-rays, and one emergency exam.
   1. This plan costs $46/month, totaling $552 annually.
   2. This plan can save you $312/year, compared to the regular cost of these treatments without our Membership Plan.

4. Child Start (13-years-old and younger): One professional cleaning and checkup. This includes a professional cleaning and a regular exam, a fluoride treatment, routine x-rays, and one emergency exam.
   1. This plan costs $19/month, totaling $228 annually.
   2. This plan can save you $134/year and help set your child on the path of good dental hygiene.

5. Child Complete (13-years-old and younger): Two professional cleanings and checkups. This includes two professional cleanings and two regular exams, a fluoride treatment, routine x-rays, and one emergency exam.
   1. This plan costs $25/month, totaling $300 annually.
   2. This plan keeps $199/year in your pocket, compared with regular prices.

But Why Sign Up?

So those plans set out the practicalities of what you need to know, including what’s covered and at what cost. In other words, just by signing up for a year’s membership, you are paying less than if you just set up an appointment for the same treatments and paid out of pocket, on the spot. You save more by jumping onboard our Membership Plan, and that’s worth the monthly investment.

The plan also lays out the 20% discount on such procedures as the following: diagnostics, orthodontics, preventative, endodontics, restorative, periodontics, implant services, and more. As long as you do the work with us, at our practice, you will get the discount from us for our services.

Just be sure to keep your Membership Plan payments current (you can pay monthly or upfront, for the whole year) so that you can access all of the benefits and discounts available to you at South Charlotte Family & Cosmetic Dentistry.

And we are so confident you will like our Membership Plan that we offer a 30-day money back guarantee. Within the first 30 days, so long as you’ve not used the benefits, you can get a full refund. But we are certain you won’t need to cancel, because our commitment to your oral and dental health is so complete that we are sure you will love working with us to achieve your dental hygiene goals. The money-back guarantee is to ensure your own peace of mind.

Get Preventative!

Part of the value of signing up is spreading out the cost of a treatment into 12 equal, regular payments over time—and saving money off all of the yearly procedures you will need for regular oral hygienic care. Let’s walk through an example or two.

We recommend an adult has two cleanings in a year, to maintain good oral health. With the Adult Complete plan, what would have been $218 ($109/singular cleaning) costs you $0 at the time of treatment—and you are only paying $21 month. The value of spreading out the cost is that you won’t have to shell out $109 on the spot to get a cleaning, and you don’t have to put it off for 3 more months until there is room in your budget for a cleaning. At $21/month, every month, what could feel unaffordable without insurance becomes easily affordable on a month-by-month basis.

And, also with the Adult Complete plan, two regular exams along with two oral screenings (valued at $61 each) and routine x-rays ($80 for a round of them) are part of the plan. And if you need an emergency exam (normally $101/exam), the plan has you covered! So you and your spouse both joining in on the plan means that, together, you would save $274 ($137 each). Can anyone say 2-3 date nights, with those savings?

What are the costs for children? Let’s consider the costs for treatments without the plan so you can see how the savings add up when you sign up your child for the Child Complete plan. A professional cleaning costs $76, so with this plan that adds up to $152—but the plan covers that as part of its basic benefits. A regular exam can run $61/exam (the Complete plan gives you two exams/year) and your child’s annual fluoride treatment is $67—also covered by the annual plan. Routine x-rays would be $57 without the plan and an emergency exam would cost $101. But, on the plan, this all comes as part of the basic benefits afforded to you as a participant in the Membership plan. Overall, the Child Completeplan would save your family $199/year, per child. Have two or three children who need oral care? Well, that could add up to $398 (two children) or $597 (three children) in savings per year, with our Child Complete Membership Plan! Those savings could add up to the cost of a season’s soccer lessons for one of your children.

Let’s consider the cost-savings afforded to you for one last plan: Perio. This plan, designed for those who need a bit more maintenance and care, especially care for any periodontal diseases, offers you some great savings off of regular care. One  maintenance visit costs $187, and since the Perio plan covers three of those maintenance visits (totaling $561), that means you basically cannot lose by signing up. The Perio plan costs only $552/year, and so the annual cost already saves you some money just off perio maintenance—but the plan also includes two regular exams (totaling $122 for both), x-rays valued at $80, and an emergency exam included in the plan (which would normally cost $101). So, all in all, you save $312/year with the Perio plan, ensuring the regular visits you need to beat back early onsets of periodontal diseases. Can you measure such savings, year after year, when you’ve saved your gums and teeth from decay and disease?

So, we think that the Membership Plan is actually better than insurance: no hassle with a middleman, no denials or insurance maximums, and no pre-approvals needed to get the care you require. As a participant in the Membership Plan, you speak directly with Dr. Wells or a dental hygienist about the treatments you need, so you can make a decision on the spot to go ahead with the treatment. And remember, we offer a 20% discount to all participants on any treatments or procedures they do on site at our practice. So that’s savings upon savings.

Dr. James Wells, and the whole team here at South Charlotte Family & Cosmetic Dentistry, hope you will give some real thought to the five tiers of our Membership Plan, through Kleer, and sign up with us so that we can get you the savings that you and your family need and deserve. If you have questions about the particulars of any plan, we are more than glad to talk you through, in detail, with what a plan covers, how the coverage works, or how we process your Membership payments.

Don’t fret about the cost of making your smile bright. We are here to help!

Visit South Charlotte Dentistry for a Check Up Today

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