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If you want to fix staining, large gaps, fillings, chipped teeth, or the overall shape of your teeth, this may be the perfect option for you. Many of our patients opted for veneers and have never been more confident in their smile!

Dental veneers are made from long-lasting porcelain materials which cover the front and biting ends of each tooth. At your appointment, you can choose the shade of veneers to brighten up your smile. They are usually placed on the anterior, or front teeth, where the chewing forces are not as hard as in the back. Placing the veneers is easy, and the best part is: It requires only two appointments!

During the first appointment, we’ll take an impressions of your teeth. Then we send them to the lab to make your veneers. Veneers are fairly conservative in preparation because they require a small amount of space to be created on the front, bottom, and sides of each tooth for a natural appearance. You will leave the office with temporary veneers in place for a week or two while the permanent veneers are being made.

Your veneers will be placed during the second appointment, and you won’t believe the difference in your smile! If you’re interested in learning more, give Drs Julie Bailey, Jacob Woods, Marci, Glenn, and Brian Beck a call at our Tallahassee, FL office today!

Just like that, it’s Spring, and the world looks brighter! The skies are sunnier. Daylight in Tallahassee, FL lasts longer. And your smile can be brighter, too—with a little bit of spring cleaning.

After all, sometimes dental habits become so automatic that we don’t pay them as much attention as we should. Without careful daily brushing and flossing, you could start to see surface staining on your enamel. Or red and swollen gums. Or tartar deposits along the gumline or behind your teeth. 

The start of the season is a good time to spring ahead with a plan for better oral health, and we have some simple ideas to help you clean and protect your smile all through the year.

Assemble the right tools.

• Use a soft-bristled toothbrush, because anything firmer can be hard on your tooth enamel and gums. If you’re having trouble removing food particles and plaque, an electric toothbrush might be a game changer.
• Find the right floss. If you’ve been neglecting flossing because it’s difficult, or if you have mobility issues, there are lots of options available to improve efficiency and comfort. Whether it’s floss picks, interproximal brushes, or water flossers, Drs Julie Bailey, Jacob Woods, Marci, Glenn, and Brian Beck can recommend the best products for your individual needs.
• Choose fluoride toothpaste. Fluoride not only helps prevent cavities by creating an unfavorable environment for cavity-causing bacteria, it also actually strengthens tooth enamel as well. Win/win!

Use those tools!

• Brush all the surfaces of your teeth carefully and thoroughly (no need to scrub) and brush along the gumline at a 45˚ angle. This will help prevent plaque from accumulating above and below the gumline, where it can harden into tartar.
• Brush often enough and long enough. The team at Smiles By Beck generally recommends brushing twice a day, for two minutes each time. 
• If you wear aligners, a retainer, a mouthguard, a nightguard, or other appliances, brush your teeth before wearing them. You don’t want to trap food particles or bacteria in your appliance!
• Floss at least once a day, or more often as recommended. Proper flossing can be difficult sometimes, so ask Drs Julie Bailey, Jacob Woods, Marci, Glenn, and Brian Beck for the best techniques.

Make sure your dental products are in top shape.

• Replace your toothbrush as often as necessary. After three months or so, bristles start to fray. They don’t clean as effectively, and they could be abrasive to gum tissue. Change out your brush every three to four months, including the head on your electric brush. A good way to remember is to change your brush with the change of seasons. 
• Check the date(s)! Many toothpastes, mouthwashes, and other oral supplies come with a “best used by” date, ensuring that your products remain safe and effective.
• Choose the right toothbrush holder. Your brush should air-dry upright, because germs thrive in closed, damp environments. And your holder shouldn’t allow your brush to touch other people’s brushes to avoid transfer of bacteria and viruses. Clean your brush holder regularly to remove toothpaste residue and germs.
• Clean your aligners, retainer, mouthguard, night guard, and/or cases for your appliances as recommended. Bits of food, bacteria, viruses, and other germs collect there as well.

Work with the experts for your brightest smile.

• See Drs Julie Bailey, Jacob Woods, Marci, Glenn, and Brian Beck regularly. You’ll discover any problems which might be dimming your smile, and you’ll discover them early.
• Schedule cleanings with your exams. The team at Smiles By Beck uses tools such as ultrasonic or hand scalers and polishers to remove stubborn plaque, tartar deposits, and surface stains that brushing can’t.
• If you want brighter, whiter teeth, consider professional whitening. While whitening kits are available in almost any drug store or supermarket, office treatments or kits provided by Drs Julie Bailey, Jacob Woods, Marci, Glenn, and Brian Beck use stronger ingredients and are more effective.

Easy steps, yes? Step up your cleaning routine, and you’ll have a springtime filled with not just brighter smiles, but healthier smiles, too!

Health gurus rave about replacing unhealthy food choices with healthy ones in your diet. If you want to maintain your beautiful smile as well as your waistline, choose foods that are good for your teeth and good for losing weight. This article will discuss some of the worst healthy foods for your teeth and gums, and what you can do to continue to enjoy them.

When watching your weight, snacks heavy in sugar and starch are the first target for elimination. You want to trade those empty calories for something with more nutritional value. A healthier snack is fruit and vegetables. When you are substituting empty calories with whole foods such as fruits and vegetables, consider a few implications for your dental health.

The most acidic fruits are grapes, grapefruit, and strawberries. Want to know the number-one worst healthy food for your tooth enamel? Apples! An apple a day may keep the doctor away but you may soon be calling your dentist.

Another healthy food often incorporated into dieting is salads. But consider what you put in those salads. Salad dressings are filled with vinegar and sweeteners. These make a salad very acidic and can change the pH of your mouth from alkaline, which is good for your teeth and gums, to acidic, which puts your smile at risk for erosion and decay.

Last but not least is diet soda. You might be cutting down on the calories but you are still putting your teeth at risk for decay. Though calories are reduced, the acid is not.

You do not need to eliminate any of these foods from your diet. Simply alter what you do after eating these foods to decrease the amount of acid your teeth are exposed to.

During your next visit to Smiles By Beck in our Tallahassee, FL office, we can discuss your diet. We may recommend using certain products to fortify your teeth or change the way you routinely care for your teeth.

Please enjoy the wonderful whole foods that are great for a healthy waistline. A healthy waistline and a healthy smile have a positive influence on your general health. A healthier you is a happier you. The happier you are, the more you smile. Keep your smile brilliant and beautiful with the care your teeth deserve at the practice of Drs Julie Bailey, Jacob Woods, Marci, Glenn, and Brian Beck.

We get it. You’re working out and could use a boost. It’s 2 a.m. and that essay won’t write itself (darn it). You’re in the middle of a meeting that goes on and on and . . . 

It’s easy to reach for an energy drink when you’re feeling a bit low on, well, energy. These drinks are loaded with caffeine, and, like coffee or tea, can help you feel more alert. But before you pop that top, let’s look at how energy drinks affect your dental health.

• Energy drinks are very acidic.

Acid levels are measured using the pH scale, which ranges from 0 (most acidic) to 14 (most alkaline). Saliva has a normal pH somewhere between 6.2 and 7.6, which helps neutralize any acidic conditions in the mouth and promotes a healthy oral environment. But saliva’s neutralizing effect can be overwhelmed by highly acidic foods and drinks.

Why are higher levels of acids bad for our teeth? Acids strip away minerals like calcium from tooth enamel, the minerals which make enamel the strongest substance in the body. This demineralization weakens the enamel’s protective outer structure and can lead to enamel loss, sensitivity, tooth discoloration, and decay.

Many energy drinks are among the most acidic beverages on the market. Mineral loss in your enamel starts to occur when the pH balance in the mouth falls to 5.5 or less. Lemon juice has a pH between 2 and 3. White vinegar has a pH of 2.5. Energy drinks can range from 1.5 to 3.5 on the pH scale! Studies show that regular consumption of energy drinks greatly increases the risk and severity of dental erosion.

• Most energy drinks are full of sugar.

Sugar is easily metabolized, or broken down, by the body. When our bodies break down food, energy is released. That’s why companies add sugar as well as caffeine to their energy drinks. 

The plaque bacteria which create cavities also use sugars in these drinks as an energy source, converting sugars into acids. Just like acidic foods and drinks, bacterial acids break down the mineral structure in tooth enamel. You might notice small white spots when the enamel starts to erode—and a cavity starts to develop. 

• Energy drinks aren’t just bad for your dental health. 

The temporary burst of energy you get from all the sugar in energy drinks is followed by a sugar crash when blood sugar levels go down again, and you can feel tired, weak, or shaky. 

Even worse, one energy drink might contain three to four times the amount of caffeine found in a cup of coffee. Excess caffeine interferes with healthy sleep. It can cause changes in heart rate, blood pressure, and anxiety levels. 

Children and teens are especially vulnerable to the effects of large amounts of caffeine while their brains and bodies are still developing. That’s why the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend no energy drinks at all for children and teenagers. The FDA suggests that adults should not take in more than 400 milligrams per day of caffeine, while energy drinks can range from around 80 to 400 mg per can. 

If you do have the occasional energy drink, what’s the best way to protect your teeth and gums?

• Don’t linger over your drink. Sipping slowly over time just bathes your teeth and gums in sugar and acids over a longer period. 
• Drink water when you’re done. Water helps wash away sugars and acids, hydrates, and promotes healthy saliva production.
• If the team at Smiles By Beck gives gum a thumbs up, chew a piece of sugarless gum after downing an energy drink to increase saliva flow and help neutralize acids in the mouth. 
• Wait at least 30-60 minutes to brush after finishing an energy drink. Acids in the drink weaken enamel, and brushing immediately can be abrasive to the tooth surface.
• Eat a healthy diet rich in proteins, complex carbs, vitamins, and minerals to feel more energetic.
• Keep up with good dental hygiene. Brush twice each day for two minutes and floss daily, or more often as recommended by Drs Julie Bailey, Jacob Woods, Marci, Glenn, and Brian Beck.

If you notice signs of enamel erosion—sensitivity, front teeth which are becoming transparent or rough around the edges, yellowish discoloration, or white or brown spots on your enamel—it’s time for a talk with Drs Julie Bailey, Jacob Woods, Marci, Glenn, and Brian Beck. When caught early enough, treatment is available which can stop further erosion from harming your teeth.

The team at Smiles By Beck in Tallahassee, FL, or your doctor, can help you discover healthy ways to stay focused and energetic. Your workout, your essay, your meeting, and, above all, your healthy body and healthy smile will thank you!