Stop Smoking, Improve Oral Health

The stop smoking campaigns are ubiquitous, but these campaigns advertise primarily the risk of lung cancer and heart disease. What is not often talked about, but should be are the effects smoking has to your oral health. A few of the risks include oral cancer, diminished ability to taste and smell, gum disease and complicated recovery from oral health issues. 

Dealing with Disease

Aside from cancer, gum (periodontal) disease is one of the top concerns of smoking. Tobacco interferes with cell function and nicotine restricts blood vessels, interfering with the body’s ability to heal. It can leave you more susceptible to contracting gum disease, or could make it more difficult to overcome a bacterial infection in your mouth, causing you to experience unnecessary complications.

Recovering from Dental Procedures

Many people have difficulty recovering from dental procedures, especially if their immune system is compromised. This is exactly what occurs when a person smokes. The body becomes less able to repair itself after trauma, including surgery on the mouth. This leaves your gums at risk for infection or at the very least, leaves you unable to eat, talk or smile normally for an extended period of time.

The best way to save yourself from the risk of serious illness or complications is to quit smoking. Before you start a smoking cessation program, you should have proper support in place to help you through the difficult time. Your dental professional can counsel you and/or prescribe medication to help with smoking cessation. As you begin to eliminate tobacco from your life, remind yourself of the positive impact you will be making on your physical and oral health as a result. 

To learn more about the effects of smoking and receive information on cessation, please call us at (425) 209-0321.

Prevention is the Key to Dental Health

Contrary to what many patients may assume, your dentist Dr. Neda Sayyah, is there for more than knocked out teeth and toothaches. Helping with proper preventive care will help keep your mouth healthy and help prevent more serious issues from occurring.

Every 6 Months

At the very least, you should be visiting Dr. Neda Sayyah every 6 months. This allows her to fully inspect your teeth and gums and ensure that there are no issues that you are not aware of yet. When you let conditions with your teeth get out of hand, resolving decay or disease can be quite costly to your health and your pocketbook. By keeping your twice yearly appointments, you can keep your mouth healthy and your pain to a minimum.

Why Is My New Patient Visit So Long?

When you visit our office for the first time, we schedule you for a comprehensive exam, which often can take an hour or longer. We schedule plenty of time with Dr. Sayyah so that she can thoroughly review your dental history, answer questions and concerns, and examine you to assess all of your current needs. She will also let you know if any potential problem areas that may arise in the future based on x-rays, visual examination, and knowledge of your past dental and medical history.

On subsequent visits, Dr. Neda Sayyah will be able to determine if anything has drastically changed since your initial exam, and understand what is considered normal for your particular mouth.

Immediate Assistance

Of course, if you have any issues that require immediate dental assistance, you should not delay in calling our office. Anytime you experience pain, bleeding, a lost permanent tooth, a lost filling, or anything out of the ordinary, you should call us right away.

Sore Jaw? Here's Why...

If you wake up with a sore jaw, have chronic headaches or even have fractured teeth, you might be grinding your teeth without even realizing it. Most people are not aware of the fact that they grind (or brux) their teeth until they see their dentist who can pinpoint the symptoms. If you have been told that you are grinding your teeth, you might find yourself wondering why. Of course every case is different, but there are a few reasons that commonly occur.

Grinding your teeth will wear down the surfaces and
can ruin your smile.

1. Stress – If you are under a lot of stress it can come out at night.  When your muscles clench, it is a natural reaction to grind your teeth. 
2. Mouth Irritations – Whether it is teeth that do not line up perfectly, or another dental issue occurring in your mouth, you could end up grinding your teeth together at night to deal with the irritation.
3. Allergies or Colds – If you are uncomfortable from allergies or a cold, you might grind your teeth at night to deal with the discomfort.
4. New Dental Work - If you've recently had a filling or crown placed, your teeth may not line up anymore, and your mouth will constantly be adjusting to find the right "bite" again resulting in grinding.

There are several ways to deal with bruxism, including visiting your dentist, Dr. Neda Sayyah, to get fitted for a mouthguard. If you prefer to do something less drastic, you can try including relaxation methods into your daily routine and find ways to manage your allergies to avoid chronic grinding. Unfortunately, if you are subjected to grinding your teeth, you might not be able to prevent it from occurring 100 percent, but decreasing the amount of time that it occurs can help your overall dental health.

We invite you to learn more about Dr. Neda Sayyah, and the exceptional dentistry you will receive at her Bellevue, WA practice. You can take our Smile Analysis and schedule your consultation with Dr. Sayyah by calling us at (425) 209-0321.

Welcome to Exceptional Dentistry!

Since 1990, Neda Sayyah, DMD, has offered mercury-free family and cosmetic dentistry procedures in Bellevue and the surrounding areas of Kirkland, Redmond, Renton and Seattle. Dr Sayyah offers such procedures as routine teeth cleanings, KoR teeth whitening, conscious sedation dentistry, dental implants, veneers, Invisalign®, and much more. We offer a one-on-one approach to dentistry with our patients so that we can focus our sole attention on one patient at a time.

We specialize in treating patients with dental anxiety and dental phobias, and work hard to create a caring and comfortable environment. Nitrous oxide is also available to patients who are particularly fearful or anxious. We aim to create a personalized experience for all of our patients, no matter their age. For instance, we have TV screens on the ceilings of all of our operatories and utilize intraoral cameras, allowing patients to see what we are doing during procedure. Additionally, we offer cold beverages and lemon-scented towels for freshening up after treatment.

We invite you to visit our recently revamped website at www.exceptional-dentistry.com. Be sure to visit our blog often for the latest information on dental health, technologies, and events in our Bellevue, WA office!