Blog Articles

Are you bothered by a gummy smile? Your gum tissue may overshadow your teeth, but you don’t have to live with it. Discover how you can get rid of a gummy grin and feel more confident about the appearance of your smile.

Teeth grinding and snoring are keeping millions of Americans up at night, robbing them of restorative sleep and putting them at higher risk for dangerous medical conditions. As dentists specially trained in sleep dentistry, we can help.

Ready for a white Christmas? And we’re not talking snow, we’re talking about a pearly white smile. Get camera-ready and up to eight shades whiter with just one professional teeth whitening treatment.

In order to emphasize the importance of replacing missing teeth, this blog highlights some of the consequences of not replacing them.

Changing orthodontic treatment from a mouth full of metal to an invisible, removable tray, Invisalign represents a dramatic new way to treat crooked smiles. Though easy to use, Invisalign trays require some special care for best results.

Beautiful porcelain veneers can make your smile look like a million bucks. But good looks are just one of their benefits. Their durability and versatility can make them a good option for preventing more serious oral health problems, too.

Having straight teeth is about a lot more than cosmetics. There are some really important health benefits, as well. Here's why straighter teeth are a wise investment — for your oral health and your overall health, too.

Having a beautiful, healthy-looking smile is about more than aesthetics; it can help you look and feel more confident in every area of your life. Read on to learn more about getting a smile makeover!

You've had your teeth whitened, and you love the results! Here are seven ways to make your professional whitening results last as long as possible.

Wisdom teeth extractions can make a lot of sense for most people. But there are a few exceptions where keeping your wisdom teeth might be OK. Here's how to tell if your wisdom teeth should be removed.

Dental veneers can transform the way your smile looks. All it takes is two office visits to start enjoying a more beautiful smile — and greater self-confidence. Learn how veneers can help you get the smile you want.

Dental implants are designed like your natural tooth, with the metal implant acting as a “stand-in” root. That design doesn’t just make implants more secure and comfortable – it can actually help prevent future oral health problems. Here’s how.

If you're considering Invisalign treatment, you probably already know it's really popular. What you want to know is why. Here are five major benefits of Invisalign treatment, as well as a couple of special benefits just for teens.

There’s no way to prevent a gummy smile — that comes down to genetics. But dental veneers offer a way to change the proportion of teeth and gums. Pushing back gum tissue and filling that space is just one of the dental issues that veneers address.

Keeping your smile its whitest isn’t difficult, but it takes some self-discipline to maintain an effective oral care routine. Your best smile comes from a combination of dentist visits and personal care at home.

While nothing beats Mother Nature when it comes to your teeth, dental implants come awfully close, both in form and in function. Here’s why they’re the best choice for missing teeth.

In one appointment, we can lighten your natural teeth 8 to 9 shades and take you back before the ravages of coffee and red wine. Check out our blog post and contact us for more information!

Visit The Dental Touch today to fit your child for a mouthguard. When your child plays sports, it is easy to think of the equipment you need to get in order to protect them from danger on the playing field.

Special Concerns for Older Adults. Along with those gray hairs and inevitable smile lines, your mouth undergoes natural changes over the years, as well. Among them:

Few things are as versatile as dental crowns.  We use them in our Oakland dental office to solve a wide variety of challenges.  They can be used to strengthen your teeth, protect them, and to improve their appearance.

Information on Gum Disease. Surprising but true: the major cause of tooth loss in adults is not decay, but periodontal disease. More than half of all people over age 18 have at least the early stage of periodontal disease.

Healthy Gums Help Your Heart!

If you have not had a professional dental cleaning in Oakland lately, it is time for you to visit our dental office. Clean teeth and gums keep your smile bright and your mouth healthy. Continue reading for more reasons you should visit for a cleaning.

We have come a long way in the treatment of serious, life-threatening systemic diseases. Part and parcel of healing more aggressive diseases are—more aggressive therapies.

Preventing Cavities in Your Baby’s Teeth

There’s only one good thing about a visibly damaged tooth: here, clearly, is where the pain’s coming from and where our response will be focused.

It’s such a common habit, yet most of the time we never know we’re doing it. Not cracking your knuckles or biting fingernails, but intense clenching and grinding of your teeth—known in dental terminology as bruxism.

We sure can try, but your help is needed, and the most important word is TIME. When a permanent tooth is knocked out, the less time it is out of the mouth the better. In fact, the best results are obtained when the tooth is replaced within 30 minutes!

As a cosmetic dentist, we have several solutions for correcting your damaged teeth or even replacing them, including dental implants and dental bonding.

You’ve got the glow of a mother-to-be. Keep it with these tips for better oral health for you and your baby.

Today’s Dentistry is Virtually Pain-Free. There’s a bright new trend in dental offices these days: More people are making appointments because they want to, not because they have to.

While nobody enjoys getting lectured about a bad habit, it’s important to have all the relevant information available to you, especially when it involves health implication.

Dental Sterilization in Our Practice

Dentists and researchers aren’t completely agreed about the cause of nightly tooth-grinding or bruxism. But they are aligned on two points:

Treating Dental Anxiety

Periodontal disease is a progressive one—meaning if it doesn’t stabilize or show signs of healing, it’s bound to get worse. Even when it doesn’t hurt, untreated gum disease will eventually take its toll: tooth loss.

Looking into your open mouth, we see so much more than teeth. In many ways, it’s a window into the health of your entire body.

Harrison Ford took a nasty fall and lost two of his teeth. Thanks to modern dentistry, he went on to become a major Hollywood star. For as long as we humans have been losing teeth, we’ve been filling the gaps.

In years past, asthma attacks could be unpredictable and difficult to control. Today, medications have been developed to control attacks—in some cases preventing them from occurring at all.

Close your eyes .. Then next 10 seconds take yourself back to the middle of July in the height of the BEST SUMMER Of your life.

Do you snore, and has your partner compared it to the sound of a giant band saw slowly slicing through the house? Ever wake up groggy and grumpy after a “full night’s sleep?”

X-rays are critical to the practice of dentistry. And the benefits are profound. But dentists are sometimes guilty of dismissing patient concerns, as in, “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”

Social embarrassments come in many sizes. But chronic bad breath is near the top of the list. It affects those nearest and dearest to us and may limit the close social contacts we treasure most.

Sifting Fact From Belief. Dental researchers call it The Fluoride Story—the most dramatic turn-around of a populationís dental health in history. So far.

No, we’re not talking about being attacked by a junkyard dog. That’s perilous enough. The bite in question here is your own bite—the way your lower teeth and your upper teeth come together.

Women of all ages are prone to changing levels of progesterone in the body. And progesterone—especially when you are pregnant or taking oral contraceptives—causes some bacteria to grow in awesome numbers.

Are stained, chipped, or crooked teeth cramping your smile? Years Ago, the only solution for unattractive teeth was disguising them with crowns. Today, we’ve got better options in porcelain veneers, cosmetic bonding, and teeth whitening.

Keep Us Informed of Any Changes! If it’s been a little while since your last appointment, then don’t forget to update your health history. Your dental care is part of your total health-care package. Have you:

Avoid Sugar Rich Diets

Why Calcium is a Crucial Mineral How important is calcium to us? It’ s very important. Here’s why.

Keep your Toothbrush to Yourself. One of the tenets of good dental health is obvious—Brush your teeth after every meal. This can help keep your mouth healthy throughout a long life.

Can Toothpaste Help Fight Canker Sores? About the only good thing about canker sores is, they’re hidden inside the mouth. Beyond that—they’re painful, annoying, and bound to erupt at the worst possible time.

Ever think of asking your dentist which musical instrument you should play? Few people do. But especially for young people, an early dental analysis–before selecting a musical instrument–can be important.

When it comes to most common, not even winter colds strike as many of us as gum infection (periodontal disease). As many as 75% of adults will be a victim sometime in their lifetime.

If you’re one of the millions of caregivers of an elderly patient who perhaps suffers from dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, then you probably maintain a checklist of the many daily tasks necessary to care for them.

Kids’ teeth—paying special attention to them lays a firm foundation for a lifetime of healthy teeth. They’re milestones in your child’s development, those first teeth.

Customizing Dentures for Your Mouth.

Why You Should Avoid Vending Machines. Vending machines put out all kinds of stuff. But vending machines at work or school can dispense cavities right along with the candy and soda pop that we love so much in afternoon pick-me-ups.

Help for Dry Mouth Sufferers. Does your mouth seem uncomfortably dry? Or have you actually been diagnosed with dry mouth (as a side effect of certain types of medication or radiation therapy for cancer)?

Just as in any good crime show, the sooner the heroes discover the problem and get to work solving it, the better the outcome. Looking inside your mouth provides us a unique opportunity to detect other potential health problems.

Dental care has progressed to where we can now offer you a veritable smorgasbord of choices, a buffet of beautiful smiles.

Tooth Cracks Need Attention. Every tooth fracture needs prompt treatment. No chip or crack is insignificant.

Do You Have a Dental Phobia? The bad thing about dental phobia is that it prevents people from seeking the care they need—when they need it.

Tooth-related habits, too, can be conscious (brushing and flossing) or unconscious—chewing on pencils, for example.

Do you wish that you had whiter teeth? Have you already tried and have been disappointed by the over-the-counter whitening toothpastes and those mail order kits? Well, here is a safe, easy, and successful way that you can REALLY whiten your teeth.

Don’t filter out fluoride! In the years since fluoride first was added to city water supplies, dentists have seen tooth decay in kids cut in half. Fluoride really works!

What is a Dental Dam? Throughout your treatment at our office, we want to keep you comfortable and safe while providing the best possible care. During many of our procedures we use a rubber dam (aka dental dam) to help.

What is MI Paste? MI Paste, a calcium-phosphate remineralizing paste, is a safe and effective way to treat a variety of oral health conditions. It may also be the most effective way to reduce cavities in mature adults.

You’d think swallowing is easy as falling off a log. But some of us need help retraining muscles that we’ve been using wrong all along.

As the population ages—more gracefully than ever, of course— we’re keeping more teeth. Along with wisdom and experience, however, come different health problems. Among them, cavities on the surface of the tooth root, what we call root caries.

By Preventing Dental Expenses

A healthy flow of saliva is critical for chewing and digestion, bathing gums, and bacterial control. And we owe it all to salivary glands, three pairs of organs in the cheek and floor of the mouth.

There’s so much conflicting information regarding drinking alcohol blasting at us these days. A glass of red wine is good? Is even drinking at all a good idea?

Where Bad Breath Comes From. Most, but not all, bad breath comes from bacterial plaque and food accumulated mainly towards the back of the tongue.

Dental Implants to Replace Missing Teeth. Once teeth are missing from the jawbone—whether one or many; whether from accident or disease—something very important is missing as well. That’s tooth stability.

Kids’ Mouths and Stress. What does a student facing exam pressure have in common with a World War I soldier—or an 18th-Century British sailor? More than you might think.

Diabetes Clues in Your Mouth. In many cases it’s the dentist–and not the physician–who has the first opportunity in the early detection of diabetes, because diabetics are especially prone to dental problems.

Want to Improve Your Smile? One of the best things about today’s cosmetic dentistry is how dramatically your smile can be enhanced with very simple, conservative procedures. All of us differ in terms of our appetite for cosmetic improvement.

Sure, everybody knows dental floss when they see it (we hope), and if you’re in a periodontal program, you may be using miles of it.

It started out as an unconventional theory. But now, more and more scientists, physicians and dentists are seeing the connection between gum disease and potentially fatal heart attacks.

Lose a tooth? We can help you choose the right replacement option.

In every big city—and down on a lot of farms—”body art” is all the rage. While we begged our parents for discreet earrings, our children are piercing various body parts in surprising places.

Do you absent-mindedly commit Tooth Abuse? These are habits definitely off limits for the health of your teeth:

Whether you need a new denture, braces, or a single inlay restoration, you’ll encounter the “goo” dentists use to make an impression – the first step to a perfect likeness of your mouth.

What can dentistry do for your self-esteem that all the pots of cream and eyeliner on Madison Avenue can’t?

Periodontal disease, (aka gum disease) is painless in its early stages. So how can you tell if it’s in your future? Take a good look at your gums. Then call us.

We’ve all heard young children speak “baby talk.” Sometimes it can sound endearing—or it may be a speech defect.

Is putting baby to bed with a pacifier the way to Sleep Heaven? Or the start of a dangerous habit? Moms, doctors, even dentists have passionate opinions on both sides.

Important Vitamins and Their Sources. Here’s our Cast List: Vitamin A; the “B’s” (B1, B2, B3, B6, B12); Vitamins C, D, E, K, and P.

Traditionally, doctors and dentists have depended on the tongue to help them diagnose various diseases. And tongues do have a lot to say. For example, scarlet fever is accompanied by a spotted “strawberry” tongue.

Ouch! Why am I Wincing? A sudden, sharp pain when you bite—that’s seemingly out of nowhere? Most likely, it’s a cracked tooth.

If you’re like the rest of us, now that belt-tightening is the “new normal,” you may already be eating more meals at home, dropping subscriptions, vacationing closer to home. You may also be tempted to cut back on your dental care.

“Meal Replacement” alternatives…How much of the hype is science—and how much is fiction? Like personal aircraft, elixirs offering all the necessary nutrients in a single dose have been a staple of science fiction.

Improve Your teeth at Any Age These days, ordinary people are cosmetically enhancing their appeal, stripping years from bodies, faces, and smiles. And dentistry can go a long way in helping you look as young as you feel!

Do you have sore, bleeding gums? Are you worried about your heart’s health, and how much time may still be available to enjoy your life and family? A visit to our office just might help solve all these worries simultaneously!

Dental Problems that Come with Age. With people living longer, we, as dentists, recognize that the dental profession must shoulder a new responsibility for enduring dental care.

Risk-taking is a normal part of teenage development—and often a growth opportunity for parents, too! Heads up to handling some common dental risks of adolescence so you both stay smiling.

Choosing the right toothpaste for yourself—or your family—goes beyond the coupon you may have in hand, or bright displays in the marketplace. For your health, you have to think like a dentist. At different times in our lives, dental strategies change, too.

Being mammals, we sport two sets of teeth, the primaries and the permanent. Assuming Mom has already lent strength to her baby’s teeth during pregnancy—beginning from week seven of prenatal life—teeth grow through two stages.

You might not think that what your MD prescribes—and what your dentist does for your mouth’s well-being—are closely related. But both are significant.