Back to School Mouth Guards: The American Dental Association claims that there are 200,000 injuries a year that can be prevented if a mouth guard was worn. Wearing mouth guards prevents trauma to teeth and can reduce impact playing certain sports. This sports include: Acrobatics Basketball Boxing Field hockey Football Gymnastics Handball Ice hockey Lacrosse Martial arts Racquetball Roller hockey Rugby Shot putting Skateboarding Skiing Skydiving Soccer Squash Surfing Volleyball Water polo Weightlifting Wrestling  And, according to the American Association of Orthodontists, 84% of children playing  in organized sports don't wear protection. Most parents don't enforce the mouth guard because children find them bulky, uncomfortable, and difficult to talk with them in. While, I do understand the hesitation of wearing sports guards, the trauma that can occur during these sports to teeth can be extensive. In my office, we make custom fit sports guards fo...

Colgate Update: What's In Your Mouth? To understand what happens when your teeth decay, it's helpful to know what's in your mouth naturally. Here are a few of the elements: Saliva: Your mouth and teeth are constantly bathed in saliva. Although we never give much thought to our spit, this simple fluid is remarkable for what it does to help protect our oral health. Saliva keeps teeth and other oral tissues moist and lubricated, washes away some of the food particles left behind after we eat, keeps acid levels in the mouth low, and protects against some viruses and bacteria. Plaque: Plaque appears as a soft, gooey substance that sticks to the teeth a bit like jam sticks to a spoon. It is, in fact, colonies of bacteria, protozoa, mycoplasmas, yeasts and viruses clumping together in a gel-like organic material. Also in the mix are bacteria byproducts, white blood cells, food debris and body tissue. Plaque grows when bacteria attach to the to...