WHAT DOES A CAREER in dentistry look like? Being a dentist is an incredibly rewarding career, and beyond helping our patients maintain lifelong healthy smiles, we hope our team inspires at least a few budding dentists out there! We want to make sure you know all the different directions you can go within the field of dentistry because there are more options than you might think.

Becoming a Dentist

To become a dentist, you should find out the prerequisites for which courses to take in your undergraduate program to qualify for the dental school you want to attend. Most require several science courses and labs, and a four-year degree is recommended. A year before dental school, you must pass the Dental Admissions Test and apply. Dental school takes four years to complete.

Here’s one example of what dental school is like:

What’s The Difference Between DDS and DMD?

Some dentists come out of dental school with a DDS attached to their name while others have a DMD. DDS means Doctor of Dental Surgery and DMD means Doctor of Dental Medicine, and which one you get depends on which school you go to, but the qualifications are the same. Dentists who want to specialize in a particular area of dentistry will go on to get additional training and certification in their specialty area.

Private Practice Dentists Aren’t the Whole Story

The dental career everyone is most familiar with is the private practice dentist, meaning an individual dentist or a partnership working with local patients in their own practice. That’s the kind of dentist we all go to for our normal dental health needs, but not everyone who graduates from a four-year dental program goes in this direction.

Other Types of Dentists

Academic dentists add a teaching role and help usher in the next generation of dentists. Research dentists get to be on the cutting edge of new advancements in treatments and technology. Some dentists go international and work with organizations like the WHO, UNESCO, and FAO. Finally, there are dentists who work alongside physicians in hospitals.

Dental Specialties

About 20% of dentists undergo additional years of training in one of the nine dental specialties: Dental Public Health, Endodontics, Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, Pediatric Dentistry, Periodontics, and Prosthodontics.

The Team Is More Than the Dentist

Aside from the dentists themselves, other essential roles in the field of dentistry are dental hygienists, dental assistants, and dental lab technicians. Hygienists and assistants interact closely with patients to ensure a high level of care, while dental lab technicians work behind the scenes designing the dentures, crowns, and braces used by dentists. Most of these support roles require at least an associate’s degree or training program.

And, of course, we wouldn’t get far without our office staff!

Top image used under CC0 Public Domain license. Image cropped and modified from original.

The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.

IF YOU’RE SHORT on fun topics of conversation for your next party, might we interest you in some weird mouth trivia? We’re sure you’ll be able to impress your friends.

1. The Bumps on Newly Erupted Adult Teeth Have a Name

You might remember what it was like when your adult front teeth came in and they had bumps on the ends of the chewing surfaces. If not, maybe you’ve seen those bumps on your child’s teeth. Well, those bumps are completely normal and they are called mamelons. The theory about why we have them is that they help the teeth erupt from the gums, and in most cases, they will wear away over time from chewing.

2. Our Sense of Taste Relies on Spit

None of the ten thousand taste buds we have on our tongues would be any use if it wasn’t for our saliva. That’s because we don’t taste the food molecules on their own; they have to be dissolved in our spit before the receptors on our taste buds can detect them.

3. More on Those Taste Buds

Most people assume that the visible bumps on our tongues are taste buds. Those bumps are called lingual papillae and they contain many taste buds each. Individual taste buds are too small to see with the naked eye. Lingual papillae come in four different types: filiform, fungiform, foliate, and vallate. They serve slightly different purposes, but all types except for the fungiform ones contain taste buds.

Tying this back to oral health, the difficulty with the bumps on our tongues is that they make a rough texture where bacteria love to hide. When we let it build up, it can give us a lingering bad taste in our mouth and make our breath very sour. What’s more, it can actually dull our sense of taste! This is why it’s so important to clean our tongues every day, and the best tool for the job is a tongue-scraper, not just a quick scrub with your toothbrush.

4. Guess Which Group of Muscles Doesn’t Need Bones to Move

The tongue! It’s the only muscle group we have that doesn’t rely on the skeleton to move, and it has an amazing range of motion. The tongue can curl, uncurl, lengthen, shorten, and some people can even roll theirs. If it couldn’t do all of this, we’d have trouble eating and speaking! The tongue is composed of eight muscles, four of which are intrinsic (the ones that form the tongue itself) and four of which are extrinsic (the ones that attach the tongue to the throat and mouth).

5. The Incredible Stamina of the Tongue

There’s a myth that the tongue is the strongest muscle in the body, and while that one isn’t true, the tongue does have incredible stamina. It has many built-in redundancy systems thanks to being made up of eight different muscles working together, so it doesn’t really get tired after a workout.

6. Our Adult Teeth Start Developing Before We’re Born

As early as six weeks into the development of a fetus, the baby teeth begin developing, and it only takes another six weeks before the adult teeth follow suit. It takes many more months for the baby teeth to finish forming under the gums and years for the adult teeth to become fully formed, but isn’t it wild how early that process starts?

Share Your Weird Mouth Trivia With Us!

As dental health professionals, we love mouth facts, even if that’s not always the most popular trivia category at parties. We’d love to hear any weird mouth facts that you know the next time you come in for a dental exam!

The most important fact: we have the best patients!

Top image used under CC0 Public Domain license. Image cropped and modified from original.

The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.

ONE OF THE most prominent figures of the magic of childhood is the Tooth Fairy, but depending on where and when you are, the traditions around lost baby teeth are very different from what we have in our culture!

Baby Teeth in Medieval Europe

Centuries before the Tooth Fairy came along to swap teeth under pillows for quarters, she might’ve needed to dig them up or find them in fireplaces, because Medieval Europeans believed that witches could control people through their teeth, so they would burn or bury theirs.

Kids also burned their baby teeth to help guarantee a peaceful afterlife, because there was a belief that they might be doomed to search for their teeth for eternity as ghosts if they didn’t destroy them.

A Warrior’s Prized Accessory

A little farther north, the Vikings had a very different view: baby teeth were such powerful symbols of good luck in battle that warriors would buy them to put on necklaces! We can’t decide if that would look very intimidating or very strange. Probably both.

The Tooth Mouse

Even today, not everyone pictures a Tinkerbell-type figure. Many Latin and European countries actually have a Tooth Mouse! In France, she’s called Le Petit Souris (the little mouse), while many Spanish-speaking countries have Raton Perez, and the tooth mouse replaces baby teeth hidden under pillows for small gifts or coins.

Top image used under CC0 Public Domain license. Image cropped and modified from original.

The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.

MOST OF US can still remember what it was like to lose a baby tooth, especially that major Big Kid milestone of losing the first one. How did it happen for you? Did it take longer for you to lose a tooth than most of your classmates, or were you the one who knocked a tooth out on the playground before you knew it was loose? Regardless, losing a tooth is a big deal for kids, and now that we’re parents, we want to help that be a positive experience for them.

Establish the Right Mindset First

While losing baby teeth is a perfectly normal part of growing up, it can still be a scary new experience for little kids, particularly the first time it happens when they don’t yet know what to expect. Parents can make it easier by encouraging the right mindset. Emphasize that losing a tooth is part of being a big kid! Help them focus on what an achievement it is to lose a baby tooth instead of dwelling on how it might hurt. This can be exciting!

Helping With a Loose Tooth

The technique is as important as a good mindset. We would discourage parents from chasing their kids down with a pair of pliers or tricking them with that old “I just want to feel it!” ruse to get close enough to pull the tooth. Encourage them instead to gently wiggle the tooth on their own with their tongue, a tissue, or a clean finger. Let them set the pace and only intervene if they ask for your help pulling the tooth.

You can also make it fun by coming up with a creative way to pull it, like this:

Come Up With a Creative Reward

The standard way of giving a child a good incentive to brave the pain of losing a tooth is the Tooth Fairy, but why not make things a little more unique? Your child might be more motivated by a promise of a trip to the ice cream shop or a new toy. What would be the most exciting prize for your child when they complete this rite of passage?

Come to Us With Your Concerns

If you’ve followed all these tips for how to make it fun and exciting but your child is still afraid of losing a tooth, we can help! As a pediatric dental practice, working with children is our specialty. If their teeth don’t seem to be becoming loose when they should, you can also bring them to us so we can investigate why that is.

We’re excited to hear about your child’s adventures with their loose tooth!

Top image by Flickr user Leigh Blackall used under Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 4.0 license. Image cropped and modified from original.

The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.

MARCH IS WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH, so we’re celebrating two trailblazers for women dentists in North America. They paved the way for women in all dental specialties, including pediatric dentistry, orthodontics, and endodontics.

Lucy Hobbs Taylor

Lucy Hobbs Taylor, born in 1833, was the first woman to earn an actual dental degree in North America. After multiple rejections at dental schools, she found a professor to teach her privately and opened her own practice at age 28.

She was soon recognized by her male peers for her skill and gentle chairside manner and was accepted into the Ohio College of Dental Surgery. She received her degree in 1866, married a Civil War veteran, and trained him to be a dentist too! They established a successful practice together in Lawrence, Kansas.

Emeline Roberts Jones

Like many dentists in the mid-1800s, Emeline Roberts Jones, born in 1836, didn’t receive a formal degree. Because she was a woman, she likely would have been rejected by the newly established all-male dental colleges anyway. At age 18, she married a dentist. He was dismissive of the idea that a woman could be a dentist, but she took that as a challenge and trained herself behind his back using extracted teeth.

Eventually, she became his partner and even continued practicing dentistry after he died to support their children. She traveled around Connecticut with her portable dentist’s chair until finding a permanent home for her practice in New Haven, where she worked until retiring in 1915.

Top image used under CC0 Public Domain license. Image cropped and modified from original.

The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.

CANKER SORES MIGHT be small, but they tend to mean days of distracting discomfort. They are shallow ulcers that can develop on the insides of our cheeks or lips, and eating or even talking around them can be difficult. There are a few things that are common triggers of canker sores.

The Major Canker Sore Triggers

The usual suspects for causing canker sores tend to be one of the following:

1. A tissue injury from a bitten lip or cheek. When the area swells up after the first time you bite it, it only makes it easier to bite again!
2. Long periods of high stress can put a lot of strain on the immune system, leaving the mouth more vulnerable to canker sores developing.
3. Sickness strains the immune system too, which means we’re more likely to develop canker sores on top of an infection we’re already fighting off.
4. Highly acidic foods can be hard on the tissues of the mouth, such as lemons, strawberries, tomatoes, and pineapple. Spicy foods too!
5. Poking braces wires or ill-fitting dentures can rub the cheeks the wrong way and lead to canker sores.

Easy Remedies for Canker Sores

It’s very helpful to identify the main trigger if you are prone to canker sores because that will make it easier to prevent them and fight back. Things like cutting back on acidic foods, using dental wax to protect against poking brackets and wires, and working to reduce our stress levels and give our immune systems a break will all help. If these solutions don’t apply to what’s causing your canker sores (or if you’ve tried them and they don’t seem to be helping), try these tips:

• Rinse your mouth with warm salt water to help the healing process go faster and reduce inflammation.
• Use topical medication or painkillers to reduce discomfort.
• Find a toothpaste that doesn’t contain sodium laurel sulfate (but still contains fluoride!).
• Minimize irritation by brushing with a soft-bristled toothbrush.

Preventing Canker Sores

As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and in the case of canker sores, it’s better to stop them from forming than having to deal with them once they appear. This includes things like getting lots of B12, iron, and folate, which we can do by incorporating carrots, salmon, parsley, spinach, kale, and yogurt into our diets.

Good oral hygiene is also critical. In the same way that being sick makes us more vulnerable to canker sores, not keeping plaque under control in our mouths can make it harder for our bodies’ natural defenses to effectively prevent oral health issues, canker sores included.

Come to Us With Your Questions About Canker Sores

We hope we’ve addressed your big questions about canker sores, but we’re happy to answer any you may still have. We want to supply our patients with all the information they need to maintain the best oral health possible.

We have the best patients!

Top image used under CC0 Public Domain license. Image cropped and modified from original.

The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.

NEXT TO BRUSHING, the best tool we have for preventing tooth decay and gum disease is daily flossing, which is why it’s important to help our kids develop a flossing habit early on. Here are some great tips for parents with kids who are learning how to floss:

1. Explain what flossing does for their teeth. They will be more motivated to floss if they understand why it’s important.

2. Help them see flossing as one of the coveted Big Kid skills, like tying their shoes or riding a bike without training wheels. They’ll be excited to prove how grown up they are by flossing.

3. If using traditional floss, demonstrate pulling out the right amount (about eighteen inches) and loosely wrapping it around their middle fingers, with just an inch or two left in the middle to slide between teeth.

4. Help them get the hang of good flossing technique. Use a back-and-forth motion and form a C-shape around a tooth to slide the floss down to the gums without snapping. Flossing should be gentle, not painful!

5. Show them how to move the floss along so they’re using clean floss for each tooth. The point is to get rid of plaque, not just move it around!

6. If traditional floss is too challenging, use floss picks or flossers instead.

Top image used under CC0 Public Domain license. Image cropped and modified from original.

The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.

THERE ARE A NUMBER of reasons why someone might need a new dentist in Midlothian, VA. Maybe their insurance changed, they’re new to the area, or they simply haven’t looked for a dentist yet.

Whatever the reason, if you don’t already have a great local dentist, it’s a good idea to choose one now so that you and your family can get regular dental exams and so that you’ll be ready in the event of a dental emergency. Here are a few ways to make sure you find the best dentist in the Midlothian area to take care of your family’s dental health needs.

Five Factors to Consider in Your Search for a Dentist in Midlothian, VA

Many variables play a role in big decisions like which dentist in Midlothian is right for you and your family, and while the ranking is up to you, here are five that should be on every patient’s list.

1. 1. The location of the practice is definitely something to consider. How close is it to your home, or to your child’s school? Is the distance convenient enough that twice-yearly checkups will be easy? Set up a range based on your answers to these questions and look for dentists inside it.
2. 2. What is the reputation of the dentist in Midlothian? Within the radius you’re willing to travel, which dentists have the best reputations among their other patients? Find out by checking Yelp and Google, and ask around if you know any of the patients in person. You can also get recommendations from neighbors and friends.
3. 3. Do you need a dentist in Midlothian with a certain specialization? Do you need a family practice, someone particularly good with kids, someone who specializes in diagnosing and treating gum disease or root canals, or someone who offers dental implants? Be sure to research different types of dentists to find the one that suits your needs best.
4. 4. As important as it is to get high-quality dental care, cost is an important factor too. What’s your household’s budget for dental care? Do you have dental insurance or can you get it? Keep in mind that preventing oral health problems or treating them early will be much cheaper than waiting until they get serious, so slightly greater upfront costs are often well worth the investment.
5. 5. How comfortable are you around the dentist? It doesn’t matter how affordable and skilled a dentist is if you can’t relax in their practice. Go in for a visit ahead of time to get a sense of the place, the team, and the dentist. Good dentists always prioritize patient comfort!

We Can’t Wait to Meet You and Your Family

Hopefully, this list gives you a good place to start in your search for a great dentist in Midlothian, but if you’re still uncertain and live or work in the area, come see us! We can answer your questions about our practice and find out if we’re a good fit for you and your family’s dental needs.

We love meeting new patients!

Top image used under CC0 Public Domain license. Image cropped and modified from original.

The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.

THESE DAYS, THERE are so many toothbrushes to choose from that it’s hard to find the right one for ourselves, let alone our kids. It’s not as simple as just picking one, because not all children’s toothbrushes are created equal. Let’s go over a few of the factors to consider when searching for the perfect toothbrush for your child.

The Experts on Toothbrushes

Our top goal as dentists who work with young patients is to provide better dental care for families, which includes knowing which toothbrushes will be most helpful for children who are learning how to take care of their own teeth. Here’s a handy guide that can help you navigate the toothbrush aisle the next time you need to replace a toothbrush (which should be every few months — certainly by the time the bristles look bent).

Electric Versus Manual

The first big question you might be asking is whether to get a manual toothbrush or an electric one for your child. While both types of toothbrushes have the same capacity to clean teeth, with recent studies showing that electric toothbrushes remove as much plaque as manual toothbrushes, electric toothbrushes might be the better choice for some kids.

A child with a tendency to brush too hard, who has limited dexterity, who needs help getting to their molars, or who has special needs and difficulties may be more effective brushing with an electric toothbrush. If your child is great at brushing and wouldn’t benefit in this way, a manual toothbrush will be just great for them!

Search for the ADA Seal of Acceptance

A good way to narrow down the pool of toothbrushes to choose from is to only look for toothbrushes with the American Dental Association’s Seal of Acceptance. The Seal is awarded to toothbrushes every year by the ADA’s Council on Scientific Affairs, supported by a team of more than 750 leading scientists in fields like microbiology, pharmacology, toxicology, and chemistry. You know you can trust an ADA-approved toothbrush!

Bristle Hardness

This one might seem a little counterintuitive. We tend to think that firm bristles mean more effective scrubbing. However, we’re not trying to scrub out tile grout when we clean our teeth; teeth and gum tissue can be damaged by overbrushing, particularly with hard bristles. This is why we recommend soft-bristled brushes to our patients, especially for young children. Soft bristles are better for gums but still effective against plaque and food debris.

Toothbrush Size

It’s important to find a toothbrush that fits your child’s hand and mouth. They won’t be able to brush effectively with something too big, so make sure it’s a child-sized brush. A non-slip grip might also be a good idea if they have a tendency to drop their toothbrush.

Help your child brush for two minutes with this catchy toothbrush song:

Input From Your Dentist and Your Child

If you’d like our recommendations for great toothbrushes, we are happy to give them, but don’t forget to ask your child which toothbrush they like too! Once you’ve narrowed the options down to a few that meet all the requirements you’re looking for, let them choose their favorite color or cartoon character. They’re more likely to brush with a toothbrush they like!

We love seeing those healthy little smiles!

Top image by Flickr user Niklas Gustavsson used under Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 4.0 license. Image cropped and modified from original.

The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.

IDA GRAY WAS BORN in Clarksville, Tennessee in 1867. She became an orphan when her mother died in her early teens, after which she went to live with her aunt in Cincinnati. While Gray attended segregated public schools alongside her aunt’s three children and worked as a seamstress, she found time to work in the dental offices of Jonathan Taft, an early advocate of training women as dentists.

Ida Gray’s Education and Practice

After three years working in Taft’s office, Gray had learned enough to pass the entrance examinations into the University of Michigan’s School of Dentistry, where Jonathan Taft had previously served as the dean, and begin her studies in 1887. She graduated three years later, making her the first Black woman to become a dentist in the United States. She opened her own office in Cincinnati, where she serviced patients of all races and was celebrated as a role model for women.

Continuing Career and Retirement

After marrying James Sanford Nelson, Gray moved her practice to Chicago, where she earned a reputation for her gentleness with pediatric patients and inspired another patient, Olive M. Henderson, to become the second Black woman dentist in Chicago. She was heavily involved in her community and continued practicing until her retirement in 1928. After the death of her first husband, she remarried William A. Rollins. She died in 1953 at 86 years old.

Top image used under CC0 Public Domain license. Image cropped and modified from original.

The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.