Vass Dental Group Blog

When Was Your Last Dental Cleaning?

googlelogin0683@sesamesearch.com — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:00:44 +0000

You water the garden three times a week, you change your car’s oil every three months, and you replace the batteries in your smoke detectors once a year. Your teeth need to see your dentist on a regular schedule, too.

While daily oral hygiene habits are essential to good oral health, professional dental cleanings at our office ensure your teeth are treated to a deeper level of cleaning. We recommend for most of our patients to have a checkup at least every six months. In addition to a thorough cleaning and polishing of your teeth, these regular visits help us detect and prevent the onset of tooth decay and periodontal (gum) disease.
During your visit, we’ll check the health of your mouth, teeth, gums, cheeks, and tongue. We’ll also check old fillings and restorations, as these can wear away over time from constant chewing, grinding, or clenching.

If you are predisposed to oral diseases, you may need to visit our office more often than every six months. Factors at play in these diseases include age, pregnancy, tobacco use, medical conditions (such as diabetes, dry mouth, or HIV infection), along with how well you take care of your teeth on a daily basis.
Make sure your teeth get the professional attention they deserve – If you’re overdue for your next cleaning, check with our office to schedule an appointment!

Patient question: What should I expect during my first visit

googlelogin0683@sesamesearch.com — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:29:13 +0000

Thanks for the question. Your first visit typically includes an x-ray that allows us to view the structure of the jaw, the position of any teeth that have not yet erupted, malformed roots, and tooth decay.

The initial visit also involves getting your medical history. When you share your medical history with us, be sure to provide complete, up-to-date information on your health. Please let us know if you have experienced recent hospitalization or surgery, or if you have recently been ill. Also tell us the names, doses, and frequency of any medications you are taking — whether prescription or over-the-counter products — and the name of your physician. Please also let us know about any changes in your health or medications. This information will us select the most safe and effective method of treatment path for you.

Have any more questions about your first visit? Please give us a call!

May is National Teen Self-Esteem Month!

googlelogin0683@sesamesearch.com — Thu, 03 May 2012 18:27:33 +0000

At Vass Dental Group, we know image is everything. May happens to be National Teen Self-Esteem Month, and during this time, parents are encouraged to act as positive role models, help stop negative self-images, and improve confidence and security among teenagers.

We know one of the great ways to improve your confidence is to improve your smile. And that begins with a visit to our office. Has your child visited our practice in the past six months for his or her regular check-up? We invite you to give us a call to book your appointment!

See you soon!

Latest reviews for Vass Dental Group

googlelogin0683@sesamesearch.com — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:59:24 +0000

Dr. Larry Vass and his team believe that your dental care can affect your life far beyond your teeth and jaw line. We look forward to helping our patients and their families achieve the brilliant smile they deserve using the latest in dental technologies and patient care.

Here are the latest reviews from our friends:

“I’m always nervous about dental appointments, but when I walk in the door and see Dr. Vass, it makes my nerves go away.” — Ashley S.

“I came in with a broken piece off my top small molar. Thank goodness Dr. Vass is such a good dentist. I came out with a tooth that looks better than the rest! I couldn’t tell which tooth he had fixed! What a wonderful, caring dentist!” – - Laraine T.

“My experience with this office was great! I was nervous going in for my filling, but it didn’t hurt at all.” – - Ashley G.

Have you had a chance to write a review for Dr. Vass yet? Just follow the link below and leave us some feedback on our Google Places page. We look forward to hearing from you!

If I use fluoride toothpaste and the water in my area is fluoridated, do I still need additional fluoride?

googlelogin0683@sesamesearch.com — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 22:37:56 +0000

Cities have been adjusting the fluoride levels in water since 1964. Since that time, fluoridation has dramatically improved the oral health of tens of millions of Americans. Community water fluoridation is the single most effective public health measure to prevent tooth decay, but you may not be drinking as much fluoridated water as you may think. If bottled or home-purified water is your main source for drinking water, you may be missing out on this extremely safe and effective mineral that prevents tooth decay.

Of course, using toothpaste with the ADA Seal of Approval is a good source of fluoride, but optimal levels of absorption can only be achieved if you use it as directed: brushing twice a day for two to three minutes each time.

At our office, you can receive professionally applied topical fluoride during your next dental checkup. This is extremely important for people who are at high risk for tooth decay, including children, people with less than perfect oral hygiene, people undergoing orthodontic treatment, and people with weakened enamel due to lifestyle choices or genetic factors. If you have any questions regarding fluoride, please feel free to ask us at the office. We want you to have the healthiest smile possible.

How can a dentist help alleviate my headaches?

googlelogin0683@sesamesearch.com — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:00:53 +0000

Dentists aren’t generally the first professionals people think about when they experience facial pain, but Dr. Larry Vass and our team utilize TruDenta systems, which have been designed to relieve headaches, migraines, jaw pain or facial pain. Through proven, state of the art technologies in the fields of advanced dentistry and medicine, you can finally get headache and migraine relief you’ve been searching for.

If you experience recurring headaches and muscle ache due to tension from clenching, grinding and popping of the jaw, you may want to discuss TruDenta treatment options with Dr. Larry Vass. Within your head and mouth are a complex network of muscles, tendons, joints and bones which create forces that, when improperly balanced, can lead to chronic headaches and jaw clenching.

As a TruDenta dentist, Dr. Vass is specially trained to examine and diagnose these forces which affect your teeth and your overall health. TruDenta uses modern technology to examine the opening and closing of your mouth to better evaluate the forces within your head, neck and jaw. A specialized device will calculate the motion of your head and neck. These comprehensive exams determine a series of painless treatments adapted from sports medicine therapies customized to your particular needs.

The result is healthier teeth and gums, as well as lasting relief of headaches without the dependence on pain-killers. If you’ve been suffering with headaches, tooth grinding or jaw tension, watch our video below and please give Vass Dental Group a call and schedule a consultation today.

Spring is here! Do we have your current contact info?

googlelogin0683@sesamesearch.com — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 23:37:50 +0000

Spring is in the air! As you probably know, you can always connect with us on our Facebook page, but we invite you to please contact our office with any updates to phone numbers and addresses, so that we may be able to reach you.

We also encourage you to call us and let us know if you have any new phone numbers or if your contact information has changed!

Thank you! Have a great week!

Spring has sprung at Vass Dental Group!

googlelogin0683@sesamesearch.com — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 22:06:35 +0000

As you can see from this picture taken outside of the Vass Dental Group office, SPRING HAS SPRUNG and it’s so lovely everywhere we look!

This time of year is about renewal and rebirth, flowers, shrubs and trees bursting forth with color. It’s a time for hope and the promise of great things to come. This is also the holiest week of the year, Easter Week. To celebrate this special time with our families, our office will be closed from Thursday, April 5th through Monday, April 9th, but we’ll reopen and ready to take care of all your dental needs on Tuesday, April 10th.

We wish you a blessed week, safe travels, lots of good food & fellowship, and God’s greatest blessings on you and your families.

Bad Breath is No Good

googlelogin0683@sesamesearch.com — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 11:46:51 +0000

Bad breath, also called halitosis, can result from poor dental health habits and may be a sign of other health problems. Bad breath can also be made worse by the types of foods you eat and other unhealthy lifestyle habits. You may not even be aware of your own bad breath, so if you’re concerned you may be suffering from it, talk to our team. We can help identify the cause and, if it’s due to an oral condition, develop a treatment plan to treat it.

There are many reasons for bad breath:
• What you eat can also affect the way your breath smells. Certain foods, such as garlic and onions, can have a very strong and lasting odor.
• If you don’t brush and floss daily, particles of food remain in the mouth, collecting bacteria, which can cause bad breath, not to mention tooth decay and gingivitis.
• Bad breath can be caused by dry mouth (xerostomia), which occurs when the flow of saliva decreases. Saliva is necessary to cleanse the mouth and remove particles that may cause odor.
• Tobacco products cause bad breath. If you use tobacco, ask us for tips on kicking the habit.
• Bad breath may be the sign of a medical disorder, such as a local infection in the respiratory tract, chronic sinusitis, postnasal drip, chronic bronchitis, diabetes, gastrointestinal disturbance, liver or kidney ailment. If this is the case, you may be referred to your family doctor or a specialist to determine the cause.

The good news is there are many ways to help eliminate bad breath from your life. Maintaining good oral health is essential to reducing bad breath, so schedule regular dental visits with our office for a professional cleaning and checkup. Brush twice a day with fluoride toothpaste to remove food debris and plaque, and don’t forget to brush your tongue, too!

The Scoop on Dental X-rays

googlelogin0683@sesamesearch.com — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 20:44:33 +0000

Dental X-rays are an essential and invaluable tool to help assist us in evaluating your oral health. With X-rays, we can see what’s happening beneath the surface of your teeth and gums and identify oral health issues otherwise hidden during a visual exam, including:

• small areas of decay between the teeth or below existing restorations (fillings)
• infections in the bone
• periodontal (gum) disease
• abscesses or cysts
• developmental abnormalities
• types of tumors

If left untreated, these problems can lead to expensive, time-consuming, and painful conditions, so it’s important to find and treat them early.
Dental X-rays are extremely safe, and our team is certified in the proper use of our digital X-ray equipment. The amount of radiation that you are exposed to from dental X-rays is very small compared to your daily exposure from things like atmospheric radiation and naturally-occurring radioactive elements, as well as medical X-rays you may have gotten at your doctor’s office or hospital. In fact our digital system dramatically decreases the already minimal amount of exposure even further. We try to be as conservative as possible when prescribing x-rays but do need them to see what is going on where our eyes can’t see.