Yes, you are absolutely correct. I recommend everyone go with an SLS-free toothpaste. More on that here: http://askthedentist.com/toothpaste-can…

Yes, it is incorrect. It could even make things worse. Antibacterial mouthwash also wipes out the GOOD bacteria, which alters a very delicate ecosystem of living bugs in the mouth. Use an oral probiotic supplement instead to encourage the correct ratio of bacteria growth in the mouth. To prevent gingivitis, focus on…

We usually refer to them as SDIs, but a quick Google search shows that people call them MDIs as well...not a big fan. But in some cases, patients don’t have a choice, and this is the only alternative. The greater the surface area of the implant, the better.

Do you mean SDIs?

He must have an excellent diet. Theoretically, if we ate the diet that we evolved to eat, we would never have to brush. If his diet isn’t good...some people just get away with murder...it will catch up with him eventually.

I hate to push products, but you can be the best brusher and flosser in the world, but if the oral environment i.e. the bacteria population in your mouth is not correct, you will still get cavities. This is why I take an oral probiotic supplement. Our mouths are under attack constantly with antibiotics, foods that…

I agree! What he’s referring to is the level of fluoride that is allowed for over the counter distribution, which is useless. I don’t have any personal experience with GlyOxide, but toothpaste is only 10% of the equation in oral hygiene and can sometimes do more damage than good. Some further reading on this: http://as…

Mimic the motion of an electric toothbrush—little vibrating movements without any sweeping back and forth, which leads to abrasion, here’s a video where I demonstrate this: http://askthedentist.com/how-to-brush-y…

It makes no difference.

I would recommend tongue scraping and an oral probiotic supplement. A lot of bad breath comes from the tongue and tongue scraping can do wonders with bad breath. An oral probiotic supplement can help make sure you have the right environment in the mouth, which often gets disrupted by the foods we eat, antibiotics, and…

@tairode, yes, you can brush immediately after the meal if it’s not acidic, however, keep in mind that most foods we are are in fact acidic. Make sure you know which foods are acidic—for example, marinara sauce is acidic, which many people don’t know...it’s not just lemon juice. You want to wait 20-30 minutes as a…

Another big one is using antibacterial mouthwash, which disrupts the normal flora (or bacteria count) in the mouth. What a lot of people don’t realize is that we rely on a healthy balance of good bacteria in the mouth to keep us healthy, and wiping all the bacteria out—good and bad—disrupts that delicate ecosystem in…

As far as making them last for a shorter period of time, the best thing you can really do is prevent getting them in the first place.

Once you get a canker sore, however, you can rinse with warm salt water to relive the pain and help them heal faster. Also stay away from caustic foods such as lemon juice, spicy foods, peppers, tomato sauce which can irritate canker sores and make them last longer.

Also, teeth become sharp from grinding too, so make sure you treat the cause of your grinding/bruxism.

Canker sores can come from mechanical trauma which is biting yourself or having a retainer or tooth that’s sharp or rough at the edges and rubs the area. Make sure that you have a Class I bite, which would help this because it ensures your teeth are in the proper position so this mechanical trauma can’t happen.

We also don’t brush at the right times. We brush too quickly after an acidic meal, which causes us to brush away healthy enamel.

Your dentist is absolutely right. The 2 big mistakes are: people don’t brush enough and they brush too hard.