We all know how to brush our teeth, right? Sure, we have been doing this since early childhood...usually rushing through the brush with little or no thought. But did you know that the way you brush your teeth can actually cause damage if done incorrectly? A lot of people follow the "golden rule" of brushing after every meal; thinking they are being very compliant. Then they are shocked when they visit the dentist and are told that their brushing is causing gum recession and excess wear and tear. Often periodontal treatment is needed to repair the damage of gingival recession. 
Something people should know about brushing is more does not always mean better. Brushing is good and encouraged, but the rule is "gentle but thorough".
In order to get the best clean out of your brushing, we recommend using a soft toothbrush with just a pear size drop of toothpaste. Too much toothpaste can be abrasive, particularly if you brush too long or too frequently. It is also important to grip the toothbrush lightly. A heavy hand will usually transfer into too aggressive a brushing technique.
Finally, place the toothbrush at a 45 degree angle to the gums. Make small circular strokes and then roll the toothbrush over the crown of the tooth. Work your way both inside and out. Once you've been through your entire mouth, go back and brush the chewing surfaces of your teeth as well as the surface of your tongue.
Now spit out, smile, and show off those pearly whites!!
If you have been brushing your teeth too much or too hard, and have noticed gum recession, Joseph R. Nemeth DDS & Associates, the periodontal dentists of Detroit specialize in treating gingival recession. Please contact us if you would like more information about over brushing and/or recession. We are available by phone at 248-357-3100 or the web at www.drnemeth.com.
Happy brushing!!
Aging is usually described by wrinkles and sagging skin. Youth-conscious men and women flock to the dermatology office to plump and freeze their faces with filler and toxin…often neglecting the root cause of their aging looks.
According to a study released in the medical journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, deteriorating facial bone may cause facial skin to sag and wrinkle. A plastic surgeon from the University of Rochester Medical Center compared CT scans of 20 young people, 20 middle-aged people, and 20 older people. The participant’s facial bones were analyzed and compared.
What the surgeon found was that facial bones shrink with age which means that because skin drapes over the bones, if it begins to deteriorate, the skin will have less support, causing it to become loose and sagging. By treating just the aftermath of bone deterioration, it is difficult to achieve the youthful look the person once had.
The researchers noted the most considerable change in bone structure occurred between middle and old age. With age, eye sockets become wider and longer and the bones in the middle of the face shrink. The size of the lower jaw shrinks as well. All of this causes the skin to droop down and lose volume and projection.
The keep yourself looking young, it is important to maintain good bone health. Taking vitamins and calcium are a big part in keeping your bones healthy. Also, maintaining your oral health is a vital part of preserving your jaw bone. Poor oral hygiene, untreated periodontal disease, dentures, partials, bridges, extractions, and oral trauma may all cause the jaw bone to deteriorate. This largely contributes to premature aging in the lower part of the face. The best way to preserve this bone is by keeping good oral health, and also by choosing dental implants to replace missing teeth.
Dental implants preserve the jaw bone by substituting the tooth’s root and providing the same function as the natural root. The dental implant stimulates and preserves the bone. This is beneficial for good health as well as esthetics so the lower half of a person’s face does not droop or look older than it should. Complete information about dental implants is available on www.drnemeth.com. You may also call the dental implant specialists of Michigan at 248-357-3100 with any questions you may have. Joseph R. Nemeth DDS & Associates are excited to help you learn about implants and provide you with a beautifully healthy and functional smile!
In this video, Southfield, MI periodontist Dr. Joe Nemeth raves about the benefits of the 30 Second Smile toothbrush. Beside him are a long-time patient and her hygienist, Cheryl. Cheryl has found that the 30 Second Smile has improved the patient's gingival tissue and her dental health. The patient loves her healthy smile and the ease and convenience of the toothbrush.
Dental plaque is a colonization of bacteria trying to attach themselves to a smooth surface. These microorganisms adhere to the surface of the teeth for long periods of time…sometimes for a thousand years. Plaque, while not good for oral health, is considered beneficial for collecting data and may be easier to test than bone.
Recently a group of archeological 
researchers exhumed skeletons from over 1,000 years ago and compared the dental plaque of medieval Spanish skeletons and that of Alaskan Inuit skeletons. The plaque was tested for carbon and nitrogen isotopes. These isotopes are very useful in revealing what type of diet these people ate.
After examining the significant buildup of plaque, the archaeologists found that the isotope profiles of the Spaniards were quite different than that of the Alaskan Inuit. This makes sense, given the Intuit ate a predominantly marine diet compared to the Spaniards who ate mainly animals living on land.
While we, living with the advancements of modern day hygiene, may think a lifetime of plaque buildup is gross, it is actually useful in terms of research. Still…we at the periodontal office of Joseph R. Nemeth DDS & Associates encourage you to brush and floss daily!
A survey found that 99% of adults agree that having an attractive smile is an important personal asset. While everybody has a smile, not everybody has a smile they love. A great smile can help boost one’s confidence and may be beneficial for both personal and professional reasons. Achieving a smile you love is possible with the help of a dental professional.
At Dr. Nemeth’s periodontal office, we specialize in treating the gums, for both health and cosmetic reasons. For those of you who complain that your gums are an issue keeping you from the perfect smile, you may be interested in learning more about the cosmetic procedures we offer to treat the following conditions:
Gummy Smile: Cosmetic crown lengthening and lip repositioning are both procedures that may be done to correct a gummy smile. Cosmetic crown lengthening may also recontour uneven gingival margins. Sometimes teeth appear short, when they are actually the proper size but are covered with excessive gum tissue. This can be corrected by removing excess tissue to reshape the gums and expose more of the tooth structure. The outcome is a more esthetically pleasing, natural-looking smile.
Lip repositioning procedure may also be done to improve the appearance of a gummy smile. When a person’s teeth are normal size, but the lip pulls up too high and displays an excessive amount of gum tissue. The lip repositioning procedure, often referred to as a lip lowering procedure, makes it so that the lip does not pull up as high when smiling, therefore minimizing the amount of gingival tissue being exposed.
Recession: A connective tissue graft procedure is designed to treat areas where significant recession of gum tissue has occurred, exposing the root surfaces of the involved teeth. Recession can cause many problems, including an esthetically compromised smile and increased sensitivity and discomfort. It can also lead to problems such as root decay. Connective tissue grafting covers the area of recession with your own gum tissue. It is highly successful and provides excellent esthetic results.
Missing Teeth: Dental implants allow people who have lost teeth to enjoy the funct
ion, appearance, and permanence of their natural teeth. Dental implants can be used to replace a single tooth, a partial, a bridge or full dentures. Having missing teeth may not only cause difficulties while speaking, drinking, and eating, but may also be embarrassing for the person who has lost their tooth. Because dental implants become securely attached to the jaw bone, they will not become loose or slippery, unlike partials or dentures.
Scheduling a consultation with a periodontal or dental implant specialist is the first step to achieving your more perfect smile. Appointments may be made over the phone at 248-357-3100.
Are you reluctant to smile because of a missing tooth or teeth? Before dental implants, the only alternatives were removable dentures or a fixed bridge, both of which can affect adjacent healthy teeth and often need to be replaced after several years. Dental implants are becoming more and more popular because they are the best solution to the problem of missing teeth. Unlike removable dentures or fixed bridges, dental implants can last for a lifetime.
An implant is a man-made replacement for a natural tooth root. Once an implant and crown are placed, the resulting tooth has the same function, permanence, and appearance as a natural tooth. Implants can replace one tooth, several teeth, or a full upper and/or lower set of teeth. Implants preserve bone, helping teeth to stay aligned just like natural teeth. And dentures can be screwed securely onto implants, preventing dentures from slipping, becoming dislodged, or otherwise embarrassing their owners. As few as four implants can retain a full set of upper or lower teeth.
Implant placement is minimally traumatic. There is little bleeding and only slight discomfort since there are no pain receptors in bone. In many cases a temporary replacement tooth can be set in place the same day as the implant.
With implants many patients undergo a life-changing experience. Their smile and self confidence are restored, they are more comfortable in social situations, and they are often able to chew things they couldn’t chew before.
The first step in the implant process is arranging a consultation with an implant doctor. In the Detroit, Michigan area, Joseph R. Nemeth DDS & Associates has been placing implants for over 20 years with great results. For more information call 248-357-3100.
Want good dental health? Stay away from sports and energy drinks! A study recently published in General Dentistry found that sports drinks cause irreversible damage to the teeth.
People, especially teenagers, are drinking these sugar-pumped energy drinks at an alarming rate. Because these drinks tend to be very acidic, they erode the tooth enamel to a degree which is irreversible. Sugar can also be damaging to the teeth and may contribute to caries and decay.
Researchers at the Southern Illinois University examined 13 sports drinks and nine energy drinks for their acidity levels. They found that the amount of acid in each drink varied between brand and flavor.
Samples of human tooth enamel were immersed in each of the 22 drinks for 15 minutes to test the acidity level of each drink. For the rest of the day, excluding those 15 minutes, the teeth were stored in artificial saliva. This cycle was repeated four times per day for five days.
After just five days, damage to the tooth enamel was evident. Energy drinks were found to be two times as likely to cause damage to the teeth as sports drinks.
Almost 50% of adolescent U.S. teens consume energy drinks and as many as 62% of them consume at least one sports drink per day.
To help promote good oral health, it may be beneficial for these teens to replace one of these drinks per day with water. Adults are no exception and should try and limit their sports and energy drink intake as well. Adults should also not only be concerned with their dental health, but their periodontal health as well for total oral wellness.
To take a proactive step toward oral wellness, it may be beneficial to make an appointment with a periodontal specialist who will examine your periodontal health, including the stability of the teeth and the quality of gum and tooth attachments. Joseph R. Nemeth DDS & Associates are the periodontal experts of Southeastern Michigan and are always accepting new patients. For an appointment, please contact the scheduling team at 248-357-3100.
Dr. Joseph Nemeth, a periodontist in Southfield, MI was recently featured on the local Channel 4 news talking about lasers in dentistry. His office was the first periodontal practice in Michigan to use lasers and he feels it "revolutionizes" treatment.
The LANAP (laser assisted new attachment procedure) uses a super fine laser tip to slide between the teeth and gums. Laser energy is then used to target infected and unhealthy gum tissue. The healthy, normal gum tissue is left untouched.
Next any hard plaque on the tooth surface is removed. Then the laser is slipped in again, this time to sterilize the "pocket", the space between the tooth and gum which accumulate bacteria.The laser seals the nerve endings and tissue in a way that the surface of the gums don't bleed, therefore often no sutures or stitches are required with treatment.
Watch the video below to see the entire news segment in which Dr. Nemeth explains in detail the benefit of dental lasers.
For questions about laser gum treatment, please contact Dr. Joseph Nemeth at 248-357-3100 or visit his website at www.drnemeth.com.
Keeping your teeth and gums healthy is important for your overall health. To view oral health as separate from general health is doing yourself a disservice. A recent statement released from the American Heart Association stated that there is not enough evidence at this time to prove a causative link between gum disease and heart disease. There is, though, an association or a link, not necessarily causative, between the two conditions. So although we can’t say for sure that people who have periodontal disease will develop heart disease and vice versa, we can say that people who have one of the diseases, may be likely to also have the other.
Problems with previous studies surrounding the topic have been that some researchers neglect to mention that people who have those conditions, may also have similar lifestyle or physiological factors that contribute to both gum disease and heart disease such as smoking, older age, and diabetes. For example, if a person neglects their oral health, they may also be more likely to neglect their heart health. Also, gum disease and cardiovascular disease both produce markers of inflammation which may be why so many studies show a relationship between the two diseases.
Because a controlled longitudinal study on the subject is yet to be done, we just can’t say for sure there is causation between the two. That, though, should not make invalid the evidence we do have on an association between the two.
Whether or not gum disease contributes to heart disease, it is still important to maintain your oral health. Periodontal disease may lead to several problems in the mouth and body and can cause tooth loss. If having a healthy, beautiful smile is important to you, it is vital you have your mouth examined by a dentist or a periodontal specialist.
For those of you looking for a periodontist in the Detroit area, Dr. Joe Nemeth and Dr. Amar Katranji specialize in treating gum disease and placing dental implants. Joseph R. Nemeth DDS & Associates has been treating periodontal disease for over thirty years and are leaders in the field. To make an appointment, please contact our office at 248-357-3100. You may also visit us online at www.drnemeth.com.
A study by a group of researchers at Case Western University School of Dental Medicine has found that people are better able to fight gum disease if the inflammation frequently found in fat tissue cells is reduced.
The study, published in the Journal of Periodontology, included 31 patients struggling with both obesity and gum disease. All were receiving treatment for their gum disease. About half had gone through gastric bypass surgery in order to lose weight; the rest did not have the gastric bypass procedure.
The study showed that patients who underwent gastric bypass surgery experienced greater improvement in gum health with shallower pocket depths, less plaque, and less bleeding than patients in the non-surgery group. The study’s authors suggest that the gastric bypass surgery patients had reduced inflammation in fat cells, which resulted in improvement in their gum health.
Unchecked inflammation in gum disease can lead to loss of bone that supports the teeth and, ultimately, to tooth loss. Moreover, the harmful bacteria that cause inflammation can enter the bloodstream and can contribute to serious systemic diseases like diabetes, stroke, heart attack, respiratory diseases, and certain cancers.
The best way to determine if you have gum disease is to have a periodontal examination. In the Detroit, Michigan area, Joseph R. Nemeth DDS & Associates set the standard of care for diagnosing and treating periodontal disease and other gum problems. For an appointment, call 248-357-3100.