Help! I broke my tooth!

Whether you are seeing a dentist regularly or not, changes in your dental health or even dental emergencies can pop up. If you are experiencing any of the following symptoms, we recommend that you call your dentist as soon as possible, so that you can be treated and given the care that you need. 

Help! I … 

… broke my tooth!

A broken tooth can mean a wide variety of treatment, depending on the severity of the break. Sometimes a chip or a small break can be treated with a simple filling. A bigger break in the tooth might require something more like a crown. There are also certain times in which a tooth cannot be saved and would need to be removed. However, at Grand Avenue Dental Care, we are in the business of saving your teeth, so we will do everything we can to help you with a broken tooth!

… have sore gums!

Sore or bleeding gums are abnormal and should never be considered part of your brushing or flossing routine. If you are experiencing either of these symptoms, schedule an appointment with your dentist. It could be something as simple as having something stuck in your gums or it could be a sign of periodontal disease, such as gingivitis or periodontitis. Periodontal disease is treatable, but the earlier you can treat it, the better.

… have soreness in my jaw!

A sore jaw can be attributed to a couple of things. It could be that you simply strained the muscles of your joint and it will feel better in a couple days. However, if you are having soreness or pain in your jaw joint that doesn’t go away, or comes and goes frequently, you should schedule an exam with your dentist. Sometimes this is a sign of grinding your teeth while you sleep or clenching during stress. Either way, this can affect your tempera-mandibular joint (TMJ) and it is something your dentist can help you with before it becomes more problematic. 

At Grand Avenue Dental Care, regardless of what your dental concern is, we are here to help you through the process. With our caring staff and the latest in dental technologies, such as 3D x-ray, we make the process as less-invasive, caring and efficient as possible. Call us today if you are experiencing any of the above symptoms!

Summertime Tips for Caring For Your Smile!

At Grand Avenue Dental Care, we love summertime. It usually means fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables, spending more time outside and enjoying refreshing beverages with friends and family. While summer is an enjoyable season and much of what it offers is delicious, some of it can raise a concern for your teeth.

Because much of what we eat and drink can be a bit more on the acidic side of things, it’s important that we take care to balance what we eat and drink to best protect our smile. An acidic environment in our mouth can make our teeth more prone to cavities, so if we can try to keep our mouth’s environment less acidic, it will help in the prevention of decay.

With that in mind, here are our three summer tips on how to care for your teeth:

1. Drink water! Both between meals and between drinks, be sure to drink water to help neutralize acids in your mouth and rinse away debris. Don't forget - this is also good for your skin and will keep you hydrated! 
2. Eat some cheese! Cheese naturally has a more basic pH level. So when eating or drinking something more acidic, adding a little cheese can help your mouth neutralize more quickly.
3. Take care when brushing. If you are using a manual toothbrush, be sure it is a soft bristle brush and don’t push too hard. Also, if you are eating or drinking something acidic, wait about 30 minutes before brushing so that your mouth as time to return to a neutral environment. Otherwise you risk eroding the enamel of your teeth. If you are ready for a change, make the switch to an electric toothbrush. It will not only time you to make sure you are brushing for the full two minutes, but it will alert you if you are pushing too hard!

It’s not that we can’t have all the delicious food and drinks that summertime offers, we just need to make sure we are taking the necessary steps to protect our best summertime accessory - our smile!

Join Us for a FREE Educational Seminar on Tooth Replacement!

Part of our mission of Sharing Smiles means that we do everything we can to educate our patients and our community about their dental health. Tomorrow we are hosting a FREE Implant Seminar to discuss what tooth replacement options there are, how they compare to each other and hopefully help guide you to determining which option would be best for you!

If you or someone you know is interested in this, please reserve a seat by calling our office at 262-673-7826! You do not need to be a patient to attend and there is NO COST for this event!

We look forward to seeing you there!

Sharing Smiles from Day One - Your Child's FIRST Dental Visit.

Dr. Hollaway with her little patient, Avery, after her first dental visit!

Has your child already hit one of these milestones?

• Did they get their first tooth in?
• Have they had their first birthday yet?

If they have, they should also be hitting another milestone:

Their FIRST dental visit!

That's right, at Grand Avenue Dental Care, we recommend that you take your child to the dentist when they get their first tooth or when they turn one year old - whichever happens first. 

This is what we call our ‘knee-to-knee’ exam and it’s a great chance for a dentist to take a look at how your child’s teeth are developing. It also allows the child to start getting comfortable at the dentist, and the parent the opportunity to ask questions about at-home care and eating habits. 

Here is Dr. Hollaway performing a knee-to-knee exam for Avery, while Avery rests on her Dad's lap. 

The goal of this early exam is prevent decay and development problems and to develop a relationship with the patient from a young age. We hope to start the relationship early and encourage even our youngest patients to come every 6 months for their preventative visits. 

For more information about other issues or concerns you might want to discuss with your dentist early, check out an earlier blog post here.

If your child has hit one of their FIRST milestones and still needs their first dental appointment,

call us today at 262-673-7826 to schedule!

Have You Scheduled Your Child's Summer Dental Visit?

Summer is here! And it’s almost official (June 21!). So, it’s time for staying up late, bonfires on weeknights and crazy camp schedules, right? Well, yes. Many of us at Grand Avenue Dental Care have young children and understand the busy-ness of summer all too well. That is why we recommend that you schedule your family's dental visits right away. 

For some of us, we have young ones who are just starting 4k or kindergarten this coming year. For these kiddos, there is usually a dental examination that is required by the school district before registration. For others, we know that our kids are overdue for their cleaning or they might need some dental treatment to address some areas of decay. In both of these situations, you should call your dentist now and get these appointments scheduled. 

We all know how the summer can fly. Before we know it, it will be August 15th and we will have mere weeks before the chaos of the school year starts back up. This is the kind of situation that we want our patients to avoid. By calling to schedule your appointments now, you will reserve your ideal time, check another to-do item off of your list and be able to enjoy the rest of your summer as lackadaisically as you can. No rush involved. Sounds nice, right?

As a way to celebrate all that is summer, we are offering a Summer Sealant Special!  A sealant is a bit of material that is painted on to the biting surface of the tooth to protect the grooves of the tooth from decay. They are a wonderful thing for both kids and adults, but can be particularly helpful in preventing cavities in younger children who are still perfecting their brushing habits! 

From now until September 1st, 2018, all sealants will be 1/2 off! That’s a savings of over $25.00!

Call us today and take advantage of our Summer Sealant Special and get one more step closer to knocking that to-do list out of the park!