Now that the big kids are back in school, its time to get the children age 3 and under in. Around this time of year we are receiving a lot of last minute cancellations due to that pesky flu going around. This is the perfect time to get your toddlers in.

At Sala Family Dentistry, we provide children age 3 and under a free initial visit! It’s very important to get your toddlers in at an early age to set them up for success in regards to their oral health.

At your child’s initial visit, our top priority is to make sure they feel comfortable. We understand that having a stranger probe around in your mouth can be a very uneasy feeling, so our goal is to ensure that your children feels safe and okay at their initial visit.

At your child’s initial visit we will make sure to provide them an exam, a teeth cleaning, and fluoride treatment.

Exams: We’ll make sure to examine your child’s mouth to ensure there aren’t any signs or oral health problems in the future. Our goal is to set your child up with a healthy future.

Teeth Cleaning: Even though your children are going to lose their baby teeth, it’s still important that they are taken care of! If baby teeth aren’t taken care of, it could cause damage to gums and damage to the permanent teeth coming in.

Fluoride Treatment: Fluoride is extremely important in the development of having a healthy oral health future. This ensures that your child’s teeth are staying strong and setting up a positive future for their permanent teeth.

Happy New Year from Sala Family Dentistry! We hope you had a wonderful holiday and New Year’s celebration! With 2018 over, and 2019 on the horizon, we encourage you to make your oral and dental health a top priority in the new year. Here are some tips for 2019 to stay on top of your New Year’s Resolution of having excellent oral health!

• Change Your Toothbrush Every 3-4 Months: Bristles that become frayed or worn are less effective at cleaning your teeth properly. Start the new year off right by heading to the store and getting yourself and your family members new toothbrushes!
• Brush for 2 Minutes 2 Times a Day: We know that life is busy and can get away from you. We do believe that even a quick brush is better than no brush at all. Make sure that you are brushing your teeth morning and night – when you do make sure to time yourself and brush for 2 minutes. This allows you an appropriate amount of time to get in all those nooks and crannies.
• Floss Daily! We know, we know. Everyone’s favorite past time. Flossing is imperative for health oral hygiene. Little extra tips, leave some floss in your car, you can floss on the go. Just do it.
• Set Up Your Bi-Yearly Dentist Appointments: Here at Sala Family Dentistry we make sure to send out reminders so you don’t miss your dentist appointments. If you set them up at the beginning of the year, that’s one thing out of the way! We’ll help you stay on track throughout the year.
• Dental Memberships: We want to make sure that even if you don’t have dental insurance that you’re able to follow your New Year’s Resolution. We offer dental memberships that reduced dental fees for services, have no yearly maximums, have no pre-existing condition limitations, have no waiting periods (Immediate eligibility), no pre-authorization requirements, valid with health savings accounts, flex spending accounts, and health reimbursement accounts.

Ingredients:

• cabbage – 5 leaves; chopped
• calamansi
• carrots – 2 medium-sized; cut into strips
• chicken bouillon cubes – 2 pieces
• chicken meat – 1 cup; cooked and shredded
• chicken stock or water – 1 cup
• cooking oil – 4 tablespoons
• garlic – 1 cloves; minced
• onion – 1 medium-sized; chopped
• oyster sauce – 2 tablespoons
• pork – ½ cup; cooked and sliced into small cubes
• red bell pepper – 1 small-sized; chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• snow peas – ½ cup
• sotanghon – 1 big pack
• soy sauce – 2 tablespoons
• spring onions – 1 bunch; cut into one-inch parts

Steps:

1. In a large pot, pour in chicken broth.Simmer.
2. Place the noodles in the simmering chicken broth for 10 minutes.
3. Drain the noodles and save the chicken broth.
4. Set aside the noodles and the broth.
5. In a pan, pour in cooking oil. Heat.
6. Sauté garlic and onions.
7. Place pork and chicken. Cook.
8. Add snow peas. Stir fry.
9. Add bell pepper, cabbage, and red bell pepper. Cook.
10. Set aside everything that is in the pan.
11. In a pot, pour in chicken broth.Boil.
12. Put in chicken bouillon cubes.Stir.
13. Add cooked noodles. Stir.
14. Add salt and pepper to taste.
15. Pour in soy sauce.
16. Add in oyster sauce.
17. Simmer everything for a few minutes.
18. Mix everything thoroughly.
19. Place the cooked noodles on a large platter.
20. Garnish with green onions and serve with calamansi.

Now your delicious pancit sotanghon is ready! Be careful, it’s slippy!

Getting your child to the dentist could be the biggest task of the day, week, or even your entire month. But did you know that YOUR attitude regarding the dentist and talk about the dentist can really affect the curiosity and willingness of your little one? We have a few ways to get your kids excited about the dentist. 

Set their expectations.

Good things come from being proactive versus reactive. The American Academy of General Dentistry suggests taking your child to the dentist when they cut their first tooth and no later than their 1st birthday.

A lot of your child’s time at the first visit to the dentists are spent getting familiar with the surroundings and sounds. Making sure they’re comfortable and that you’re making it a fun experience! It can seem a little scary at first, so show them there’s nothing to worry about. 

Leave your own bad feelings and experiences in the past.

Dentistry has changed tremendously in the last decade – and for the better! Do not talk about your own bad experiences with your little ones. There have been so many advances in dentistry. Talking about how bad it used to hurt to get a filling before this new technology came along will help nobody.

Treat them afterward!

There are always rewards for children when they do something correctly. No matter the task, whether it’s potty training, chores, eating all of their veggies, or simply cleaning up their toys, rewards go along way to promote good behavior. It’s okay to use this method for visiting the dentist – as long as it is gone over in a positive way. Words of affirmation or even small materialistic prizes are great to motivate anyone, and it will make them excited for the next trip in!

Prevent future problems.

Make sure that you’re promoting good dental habits. Preventing cavities (and therefore fillings) will make the trip to the dentist smoother, quicker, and a little less painful. Plus, having a routine at home for oral hygiene is a good foundation for children to get excited about the dentist. The reward method helps in this area.

With just a few simple steps good experiences are built for your child to have a good outlook on visiting the dentist. Plus, we have a Board Certified Pediatric Dentist here at SFD that can help make your child’s visit to the dentist educational – and FUN! You’ll get your kids excited about the dentist in no time. 

Our bodies are amazing things, and our teeth are no exception! We often forget how much they really do for us in our everyday lives. They help us chew our food and make our smiles bright. But there is so much more to your teeth and dental health that you might not know. We have ten cool, fun facts about teeth and dental health.

1. Did you know that no two people have the same set of teeth? They are all unique – just like your fingerprints, and just like YOU!
2. The average person spends 38.5 days brushing their teeth in their lifetime. Now that’s a month well spent!
3. Teeth start to form before you are even born. In fact, babies begin forming teeth when they are in the womb, and some babies are even born with teeth.
4. If you floss one time a day for your entire life (which you should be doing…hint, hint), you will use about 5 miles of floss in your lifetime. Wow!
5. If you had a toothache in Germany in the middle ages, you would have been prescribed to “kiss a donkey.” Thank goodness for modern medicine, right?
6. Enamel, the outer white portion of the tooth, is the hardest substance of the body.
7. The average person makes about 1 quart of saliva a day. That is 10,000 gallons of spit in a lifetime!
8. The first dentists were actually barbers by trade. However, we are unable to give you a fresh cut for your next appointment. Sorry! 😉
9. Flossing just once a day an extend your lifespan by a whole 6 years. If that’s not enough reason to floss, we don’t know what is!
10. Most adults have 32 teeth while children will only have 20.

Dental health is an amazing topic, and there are so many fun facts about teeth out there! Do you know a fact that wasn’t listed here? Share with us – we’d love to know! In the meantime, schedule an appointment with us to make sure that your teeth are as healthy as can be – no donkey smooching necessary.

April is often synonymous with springtime and sunshine. The winter weather is slowly disappearing behind us, and we can’t help but celebrate! But did you know that April is also Oral Cancer Awareness Month? This disease is more common than you might think, so let’s discuss the dangers and the importance of keeping up your oral hygiene.  

In observation of Oral Cancer Awareness Month, we are offering a $68 new patient exam complete with an x-ray and routine cleaning. Contact us to set up an appointment and join the family! 

Each year, nearly 49,750 people are diagnosed with oral cancer, and just about every hour, someone dies from this horrible disease. After the initial diagnosis of oral cancer, only about half of patients survive past their diagnosis. More often than not, oral cancer isn’t discovered until its later stages, making the diagnosis and recovery processes that much more difficult. 

Risky Business

It’s important to know what increases your risk of developing oral cancer. To no surprise, tobacco use increases your risk by THREE times while drinking alcohol doubles your risk. Just by cutting down on your use of these products can save you a lot of trouble and worry in the future. Age is also a factor to take into consideration when measuring your risk. Two-thirds of patients with oral cancer are 55 or older.

Proceed With Caution

The good news is that even though we age (or enjoy the occasional drink), we can still take care of our oral health by visiting our dentist! If oral cancer is detected early, survival rates increase by at least 80%, so it is vital to keep up your dental appointments. Please note that if you ever have any lumps, red or white patches, or sores that do not heal within two weeks in your mouth or throat, it is important to make an appointment to get them checked out. Remember, early detection saves lives so don’t forget to keep up your appointments with your dental team!

To observe Oral Cancer Awareness Month, contact us to set up your appointment for your regular checkup to make sure you’re smiling and healthy for years to come!

If there’s anything we promote here, it’s that great dental habits start early. Making sure your children have developed proper brushing habits and floss each day is vital for a happy smile for the rest of their lives! However, sometimes it’s hard to get kids to really care or understand the importance of great dental health. When we visit schools, we often have kids do a cavity experiment so that they can actually see how cavities are formed and what they can do to their teeth.

Cavity Experiment

*Usually best for ages 6 and up

What you need:

• Plastic plate
• White styrofoam cup
• Syrup, candy, or anything sweet to resemble sugar
• Nail polish remover (with acetone) 

1. Draw a tooth on the Styrofoam cup, and place it on the plate with the bottom of the cup facing upward. This resembles the teeth in the mouth.
2. Have your child put the sugary substance over the top of the cup to show typical sugary foods that people like to eat. Be sure to tell your child that the bacteria in the mouth eat the same things that we do. These bacteria then create acid that erodes the teeth and causes cavities.
3. Pour a cap full of acetone (nail polish remover) over the top of the cup. The acetone should eat small holes in the cup.

This experiment is a great visual that will help your children understand the process of how cavities are produced. Plus, it makes learning about dental health all that much more fun! Our Board-Certified Pediatric Dentist can help your child develop even more healthy habits to make sure those smiles stay perfect for years to come and answer any questions you might have. Schedule an appointment to get started.

Have any other fun ways to teach your children about dental health? Share them with us!

Even though it may seem like winter is just arriving for us in Northern Nevada, spring is actually just a few days away. For many of us, it is a time to thoroughly clean your home, get rid of excess clutter, throw out broken toys, and get a breath of fresh air (both literally and figuratively). Your smile should be no different! Even if you are the most dedicated brusher and floss on a daily basis, routine cleanings at the dentist should be a part of your important spring routine. We have some spring dental cleaning tips while you wait for your next dental appointment!

Spring Straight into Savings! Save on braces with only $499 down and financing options up to 24 months and no interest! Contact us for more information. 

Get to Cleaning!

Regular cleanings help remove plaque and tartar which builds up over time and is nearly impossible to remove with brushing and flossing. We use a special tool to help remove the unwanted plaque. Without a regularly scheduled cleaning, plaque and tartar can attack the gums, which can lead to gingivitis or a number of other complications.

Spring Cleaning Tools for Your Oral Health

You should get a new toothbrush every three to four months (or more often if you’ve been sick recently). No matter what kind of toothbrush you have, bristles can get frayed which causes your toothbrush to lose its effectiveness. Bacteria can also house itself in between your bristles after some time, and you don’t want to put that into your mouth! If you keep your regular dental appointments every six months, these visits can serve as a helpful reminder that your toothbrush may need to be replaced.

Need new toothpaste? Now is the time to make sure to get a toothpaste that works best for you. Everyone is different, so your toothpaste should fit exactly what you need! Your dentist can help you determine the best option for your dental needs.

You can’t forget about floss! Usually, it doesn’t matter what kind you get as long as you’re sure to use it every day! Floss will help loosen and remove plaque beneath the gum line that could potentially lead to inflammation or gum disease.

Once you have the right cleaning tools and have visited us for your own spring dental cleaning, you are on your way to great oral health.

Dr. Foster, our Board Certified Pediatric Dentist, gets a lot of questions about children’s dental health – and we get it! Great dental health starts young, and it can all be a lot of information to process and remember. This week, Dr. Foster has answered one of the most commonly asked questions about children’s dental health.

Your child’s spring break is right around the corner! Enter to win a $500 Atlantis Spa getaway to treat yourself while they’re off. 

It seems like all the kids in my child’s class are losing their teeth. When will my child lose theirs?

I am asked this question on the regular, and the quick answer is around the age of 6! The average child loses their lower central incisors around their sixth birthday, which make for those cute, toothless photos.  Also, this is around the same time that the 6-year molars start to erupt.

However, it’s also extremely important to remember that every child is unique, and this age is just an average mark. If they come in before or after this timeframe, don’t worry! Some children are early bloomers and their permanent teeth start to come in early. Others can be a little behind where their permanent teeth pop in a little later.

If you are concerned with the eruption of your child’s teeth, make an appointment with me, and we can chat about their specific needs!

– Dr. Katie Foster