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Canton: (734) 844-1300
South Lyon: (248) 437-1010
W. Bloomfield: (248) 855-8000

Tips For New Invisalign Patients

Posts Tagged ‘Detroit’

 

Tips For New Invisalign Patients

Posted on: April 2nd, 2023 by admin

 

Invisalign is an FDA-approved treatment that can effectively straighten teeth with a series of clear aligners. It is an alternative to braces that uses clear aligner trays to move your teeth gradually. The aligners are removable and virtually invisible, which means most people won’t even know you’re wearing them. Instead of wires and brackets, Invisalign uses a series of clear aligners to shift your teeth into place. When you visit us, our dentist in Arizona will create a customized treatment plan based on your needs.

Here are a few tips if you are new to Invisalign:

invisalignUse and Care for Your Aligners

Your Invisalign aligners are removable. While you need to wear them for at least 20 to 22 hours every day, removing them to eat and brush your teeth is a normal part of caring for them.

Since Invisalign is made of clear plastic, you can safely clean them with a toothbrush and mild soap. Clean your aligners every time that you brush your teeth, and soak them for a few minutes in a mix of water and isopropyl alcohol once a week to remove more bacteria.

While your aligners are removable, you should wear them as much as possible. Removing them may mean that your teeth fall out of alignment, which is counterproductive to straightening.

Remove While Eating

You can take out your aligners when eating. Simply remove them, eat, and put them back in. While you can take them out, you should only do so when eating and brushing. Leaving them out for long periods of time can jeopardize your treatment.

Brush and Floss Your Teeth Daily

Practice proper dental hygiene with Invisalign aligners. Although you can remove the aligners to brush and floss, you still need to brush and floss your teeth daily. This is the best way to maintain the health of your teeth and gums.

You should floss your teeth at least once per day. It can be difficult with Invisalign aligners on your teeth. However, you can still floss your teeth effectively. Use an interdental brush or floss threader to floss underneath your aligners.

Avoid Sugary Foods and Drinks

Foods that contain sticky sugars, like hard candy or caramel, can pull off the aligners or cover them with film. This makes it more difficult for saliva to break down food particles. Therefore, it is best to avoid sugary foods and drinks when you have Invisalign aligners in.

See Your Dentist for Regular Check-ups and Adjustments

Wearing Invisalign aligners doesn’t exempt you from seeing your dentist for regular visits. In fact, these appointments are even more important. Your dentist will monitor your progress and make sure you’re on the right path toward better oral health. They will also make sure your aligners fit correctly and suggest a new set of aligners.

Important Facts About Flossing from Lifetime Dental

Posted on: March 3rd, 2023 by admin

We all want strong, beautiful and healthy teeth! This doesn't just happen though. Like many things in life, it takes hard work to have beautiful teeth and to maintain a healthy oral hygiene regimen.

Did you know how important flossing is to your teeth? While missing a day of flossing won’t cause your teeth to fall out immediately, over time not flossing your teeth regularly can have very negative oral effects. You should be flossing once daily to remove excess bacteria and plaque from between your teeth, lessening the chances of decay and cavities.

flossing teethHere are a few flossing facts for you to think about.

1. Floss comes in a variety of flavors!
Traditional dental floss is either unflavored or mint, but other varieties include bubblegum and cinnamon. Online novelty shops also sell floss in flavors like bacon or wasabi!

2. Brushing alone only cleans 70% of your teeth.
The remaining 30% is why flossing is so important! Flossing helps reach the tight spots between your teeth that brushing cannot hit. If you think about it, skipping out on flossing would be like only washing six of your fingers after using the bathroom.

3. Braces aren’t an excuse to skip flossing.
There are special devices made to help people with traditional metal braces clean between their teeth, and a special threading maneuver can also help get floss behind brackets and between teeth.

4. Floss can be waxed or unwaxed.
Depending on how tightly your teeth fit together, the type of floss you need will vary. Teeth that are very close together will be more easily flossed with waxed floss, as the wax helps the string slide gently between tight spaces. For more spaced teeth, unwaxed floss will do a great job clearing out debris.

5. Flossing helps fight cavities and bad breath.
Because flossing removes plaque and food debris, it is helping you to both keep your teeth and gums healthy as well as your breath fresh! The acid in plaque bores into teeth, causing them to decay, but flossing helps eradicate this issue. Additionally, food particles that linger in your mouth impact how your breath smells, both from the scent of the food itself and the smell it makes while it breaks down. Flossing helps to clear out these unpleasant odors.

6. When it comes to floss, more is often more.
It’s best to use 18 to 20 inches of string each time you floss! This will give you enough floss the wrap securely around your fingers as well as ample floss to move between your teeth.

It’s never too late to start flossing regularly! If you have questions about how to floss properly or help ensure you make the habit stick, talk to your dentist for more insight and advice.

To schedule your next appointment at Lifetime Dental in Canton, Michigan, South Lyon, Michigan or West Bloomfield, Michigan, just give us a call!

Canton: (734) 844-1300

South Lyon: (248) 437-1010

West Bloomfield: (248) 855-8000

Lifetime Dental Group celebrates the opening of 6,000-square-foot West Bloomfield facility

Posted on: February 1st, 2023 by admin

Lifetime Dental Group celebrates the opening of 6,000-square-foot West Bloomfield facility.

The 6,000-square-foot state-of-the-art dental facility marks the third location for the growing practice, which has two more locations in South Lyon and Canton. The latter is the original practice opened in 1999, which was originally called David N Kam DDS PC.

“We owe it to the community,” the dentist explains. “The community supports us and we should support them.”

Yet his values go beyond simply a love for supporting Metro Detroit and beyond. In fact, Kam says it’s the driving factor behind his business values.

“We lived in a very Conservative household, knowing right from wrong,” he explains. “The values that I learned growing up, I implemented those same values in my business.”

Kam prides his practice on one distinguishing trait: honesty. “I started my business with nothing,” he recalls, “not even one patient. To grow so big, it’s because we treat people how people deserve to be treated. We do good, honest work at a fair price.”

Between its three offices, Lifetime Dental Group sees close to 25,000 patients and has 60 professionals on staff. Oftentimes, the practice will see people in need who can’t afford standard dental fees.

“That’s what we’ve done for the last 25 years or so,” he says.

Honest Business Values

The new West Bloomfield facility is the latest contribution to the Metro Detroit community and beyond, which Kam says makes dental visits easier for patients in the West Bloomfield or Bloomfield Hills area who previously drove to Canton or South Lyon.

Opened in October, Lifetime Dental Group’s West Bloomfield location is the practice’s most advanced office yet. “It’s high-tech and has every state-of-the-art technology in dentistry,” Kam explains.

This includes special X-ray machines that are able to take X-rays outside of patients’ mouths, digital scanners to create impressions and even massage chairs in every room at the West Bloomfield office.

The goal? To help patients feel more comfortable. “We have digital X-rays, which use 90% less radiation than regular X-rays,” Kam says. “We have the latest in sterilization techniques to make sure that everything is 100% sterile and clean.”

Offering trustworthy services, Kam explains, is the key to being successful in dentistry.

“We are honest,” he says of what keeps his patients coming back year after year. “When people come to us for a second opinion after seeing another dentist, we often find they don’t need [expensive services] that other dentists have recommended.”

This saves patients time, energy and above all, hard-earned money. “Dentistry is a very ethical field,” Kam explains, “that people should take an oath for. So, we’re ethical.”

An honest mindset is shared by Kam and everyone who works at the practice, he says. Lifetime Dental Group also offers a Lifetime Dental Discount Plan that serves as an alternative to traditional dental insurance for those who don’t have it, since dental work can be pricey without some type of insurance or discount plan in place.

The discount plan, Kam explains, was a cornerstone of wanting to form his own practice after earning his doctorate from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry in 1996.

“I had a philosophy where I knew what I wanted,” he says, “and that was opening an office where if you don’t have dental insurance, we could have a good, in-office discount plan, and an office that takes most insurance networks.”

Now nearly 25 years after launching his dream practice, Kam says he and his team have achieved that goal. “We provide excellent service without cutting any corners.”

Changing One Smile at A Time

Currently, Lifetime Dental Group offers a number of services that include teeth cleanings and fillings, dental X-rays, root canals, dental crowns and bridges, and dental implants. They also treat gum disease, dental emergencies and perform dental extractions.

Kam explains there are orthodontists, endodontists and periodontists available to see in their practices, which isn’t common for general dental offices to have on staff.

Yet amongst many services and specialties, Kam says the most rewarding part of the job is the ability to change or improve a person’s smile.

“We do a lot of smile makeovers where we transform people’s smiles,” he explains. This can include people who have broken teeth, stained teeth and other concerns that might prevent them from wanting to smile. “We give them a beautiful movie-star smile.”

Kam says some patients have even been in tears to see the results. “Whether they’re a grown man or a young woman, they just can’t believe how happy they are,” he describes.

For many, smiles are an extremely personal trait. “It’s changed their lives. They could smile now, and they feel confident. Their teeth look good, and they feel good in return.”

Maintaining A Philosophy

These important and often life-changing relationships that Kam and his staff build is what makes patients stay with Lifetime Dental Group over the decades.

Brian Kaufman of Bloomfield Hills, who has been a patient at Lifetime Dental Group for five years, says the practice’s attention to every detail is what makes them stand out.

“They’re always available and happy to help when needed,” he says. “There are no expenses spared to provide every patient with the most advanced technology.”

It’s a feeling, Kaufman says, that patients can experience from the lobby when they walk in through the front door to each treatment room. “Everything is done with the patients’ comfort in mind,” he adds.

Robyn Presser, 53 of West Bloomfield, agrees. “Lifetime Dental Group has been more than just a dental office to myself, my husband and my two boys,” she says. “It’s a part of our family.” A “lifetime,” she explains, is exactly how long she’d like to be a patient.

“They make you feel comfortable and at home,” she continues. “The decor, machines, technology and staff are all state-of-the-art.”

Kam says that if all goes well with the new West Bloomfield location, he plans to continue expanding Lifetime Dental Group shortly.

“We have the same philosophy,” Kam says of every expansion. “To provide the best service at the best price.”

Vaping and Your Oral Health

Posted on: July 23rd, 2020 by admin

As you’re no doubt aware, smoking is a dangerous habit that has serious health consequences. Although the dental effects of smoking pale in comparison to the life-threatening general health effects, they are nonetheless impactful and noteworthy. (Check out our slideshow on 7 dental health concerns for smokers.) Smoking stains the teeth and increases the risk of gum disease and oral cancer, potentially limits candidacy for certain popular treatments like dental implants, and more.

According to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services one in five people smoke in the United States. Many of these smokers have transitioned away from traditional combustible cigarettes in recent years to the supposedly “safer” e-cigarette and vaping alternatives.

Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) are relatively new products that convert a liquid concentrate into an aerosol via a heating element. Many of those trying to quit smoking end up using ENDS because there is no tobacco involved. (It is called “vaping” because ENDS vaporizes the nicotine for ingestion, without using any tobacco.) The idea that switching to ENDS is a stepping-stone to quitting entirely. However there are a number of people transitioning to ENDS because of the trend, and there are even new smokers using them as an entry point to starting smoking.

So it begs the question: Is vaping really less harmful to health (specifically oral health) than traditional smoking?

Unfortunately, this is a bit of a loaded question. Vaping is too new for there to be any long-term studies evaluating its health effects as compared with smoking. So it’s rather disingenuous to get into any sort of true comparison at this point. But we can look at the potential oral health effects of vaping as a standalone.

Nicotine and Oral Health

E-cigarettes may not contain tobacco, but they do contain nicotine, the highly addictive chemical additive in traditional cigarettes. A vasoconstrictor, nicotine inhibits blood flow which can have damaging effects throughout the body. The level of reduced blood flow in the mouth is particularly high, compared to other parts of the body, causing the vaporized nicotine to directly enter oral tissues as the vapor is inhaled. This reduced blood flow can lead to tissue death and gum recession. As if this isn’t bad enough (recession can increase your risk of a number of dental problems), the reduced blood flow can hide the symptoms of serious gum disease.

Gum inflammation and bleeding are two tell-tale signs of gum disease. By inhibiting blood flow and creating a reduced level of bleeding and inflammation, nicotine can make it more difficult for a dentist to identify gum disease. Considering that gum disease has been linked with stroke, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer risk, masking of its symptoms is a serious dental and general health concern.

Nicotine can also cause teeth grinding, which seriously damages the surfaces of the teeth and can impact bite alignment, leading to jaw-related problems like TMD.

Nicotine aside, there are other oral health concerns associated with vaping that still need to be studied. For example, the liquids used in vaping contain an array of chemicals (like diethylene glycol) that can potentially be harmful, depending on the concentrations and frequency of use. Many contain a menthol additive that has been shown to break down epithelial cells, potentially harming gum tissue. In addition, many dental patients who vape have reported issues related to dry mouth (xerostomia) which increases the risk of tooth decay.

The bottom line is simple. Although vaping might not share all the negative health effects of smoking combustible cigarettes, it has its own health concerns (specifically oral health concerns) that have not yet been fully studied or evaluated. If you use ENDS, speak with your dentist to learn more about the potential oral health effects.