Dealing With Tooth-Grinding

Is tooth-grinding starting to cause you pain?

Your Issaquah dentist can help you out! Try following these simple tips to reduce your grinding and spare yourself the grief of broken teeth and jaw pain:

  • People often grind when they are feeling stressed. Figure out the cause of your stress, and find a way to cope with or alleviate this stress.
  • Pain in the teeth or jaw area can cause you to grind. Have your dentist look at any potential aggravators in your oral cavity.
  • Cut back on caffeine.
  • Avoid drinking alcohol.
  • If you habitually chew items that are not food, like pens, bottle caps, or even gum, you’re training your jaw muscles to clench. This can lead to grinding.
  • If you grind during the day, you can train your jaw muscles to relax by placing the tip of your tongue between your teeth.
  • If you grind while you sleep, try relaxing your jaw muscles. Hold a warm washcloth against your cheek for a few minutes before going to bed.

Visit Meadow Creek Dental in Issaquah

Visit our dental office in Issaquah if you need a consultation for your teeth-grinding or if you may think you grind or even clench your teeth while sleeping.

Tooth-Friendly Nutrition

It’s old news that, if you want a healthier mouth, cutting down on refined sugars is a good start. However, this is not the only way to tailor your diet for superior oral health. There are important nutrients you should be looking out for in order to get the best out of your teeth and gums.

Make sure you’re getting enough of the following:

  • Calcium: Your body uses calcium to rebuild damage in your teeth and bones. A lack of calcium leads to weakness in your teeth.
  • Vitamin D: This vitamin is necessary for your body to absorb the calcium it needs to repair your teeth.
  • Vitamin C: You need vitamin C to fight infections. Further, a lack of vitamin C is associated with loose teeth and weak gums.

Also, eating foods that are low in sugar and high in fiber, like vegetables, grains, and meats, serves to scrub your teeth as you chew.

You can learn more about how to maintain healthy teeth by talking to Meadow Creek Dental’s Issaquah dentist.

Do You Have Sleep Apnea?

Our Issaquah dentist is proud to be able to offer sleep apnea treatment. This unfortunate condition affects the lives of many Americans, many of whom don’t even know that anything is wrong. It can sap your energy, increasing stress levels and contributing to heart disease, so be on the lookout if you think you may be at risk.

What is Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea is a condition in which you frequently stop breathing while you sleep. This forces your brain to wake up, often only partially, so as to start the air flowing again. You could potentially have your sleep cycle interrupted throughout the night without even being aware of it.

Possible Symptoms of Sleep Apnea

If you think you might have sleep apnea, look for the following symptoms:

  • You’re prone to loud snoring.
  • Your partner reports that your breathing occasionally stops while you sleep.
  • You sometimes wake up suddenly, choking or gasping for air.
  • You frequently wake up with a sore or dry throat in the morning.
  • You sleep restlessly, or suffer from insomnia.
  • You are unusually sleepy during the day, even if you think you got a full night’s sleep.
  • You suffer from frequent morning headaches.
  • You experience forgetfulness and changes in mood.

Sleep Apnea Treatment at Meadow Creek Dental

Sleep apnea is very difficult to diagnose, and can only be properly identified by a medical professional. To find out more about sleep apnea and to explore your options for getting treatment, contact Meadow Creek Dental.

Dental Emergency? We’re here for You

To many of us regular people, our little to no understanding of dental emergencies can cause us to panic and for a while be disoriented. Sometimes a little show of blood, a sharp pain in the mouth, or a beloved tooth about to fall off , will do just that.

Actually, if you’re a regular at this Issaquah dental clinic, the Meadow Creek Dental, you’ll have none of the panic. Dr. Dipti Srivastava, the Emergency Dentist in Issaquah, stresses more on prevention. She would have given you pointers to handle unexpected situations without fear. But when emergencies do arise, Dr. Dipti, is an expert, someone to rely on.

Most Common Dental Emergencies

Dr. Srivastava has seen them all. She advises calls to the clinic to let her know , or you can drop by in any of the 23 to 24 days she is open for same day treatments. Otherwise, a call even after clinic hours would assuage your situation.

Severe toothaches that won’t go away are most common. This may be due to pulp involvement, presence of abscess in or around the tooth, or swollen gums. Pericoronitis is a painful gum swelling that needs immediate attention. Other emergencies are tooth fracture and tooth luxation, a condition of loosening tooth that has to be addressed right away.

What you Eat Affects Your Teeth

Are there good foods and bad foods for teeth?

It will be beneficial for us to mind certain foods that are helpful to our dentition. Foods rich in calcium and phosphorus supply the mineral content of teeth that are lost over time to acid.

Calcium sources as dairy products – low-fat milk, hard cheese and yogurt – are good for teeth and bones. Leafy green vegetables, fruits and seafood also supply the lost calcium in teeth. A calcium-poor diet has been associated with risk of developing periodontal disease.

On the other hand, calcium needs phosphorus to potentiate its bone-strengthening capabilities. Cereals, sardines, salmon, and skim yogurt are phosphorus-rich. Also, get those foods with high water content like fruits and vegetables that keep the mouth hydrated and counteract the effects of sugar and acid, and increase saliva flow.

On the bad side, foods and drinks with high sugar content are poor choices for dentition. They attach to tooth surfaces and get into crevices which later attract bacteria. Acidic foods and fruits, and carbonated drinks, including diet sodas, are harmful to tooth enamel, causing a slow erosion of its protective layer.

Advice from Dentist

Dr. Dipti Srivastava is not saying not to enjoy your favorite food and drink, but if you must, then be mindful to keep your mouth cleaned up and washed off of those potential dangers.

Keep your basic oral hygiene practices – brushing, flossing, mouth washes – every time you have to indulge. Our Issaquah dentist says that eating healthy affects oral health and general well-being. Stay with mouth-healthy foods instead and keep the smile.

An Easy Way to a Cleaner Mouth

When our Issaquah dentist gives you your routine check-up, do you find that you’re developing plaque in a lot of the same places? Sometimes this is because you’re just neglecting a certain area, but this can also happen to people who are pretty sure they’re doing a thorough job.

If you know enough to cover every surface on your teeth, but you’re still seeing the same problem areas at your dental cleanings, the answer may be simple: you need to rotate your starting point.

Changing Your Brushing Habit

The fact is that people are creatures of habit. It’s likely that you always start brushing in the exact same area, and the rest of your brushing routine probably looks nearly identical from day to day.

This means that the same area is routinely getting the best of your attention, and you’re only reaching other parts of your teeth after you’ve grown impatient with brushing, diluted your toothpaste, and aren’t as focused on doing a good job.

To counter this, pay attention to where you start every day and try to change it up. Divide your mouth into quadrants, and focus on starting in a different one every time you brush. You may be surprised by the improvement you see on your next trip to the dentist!

Your Child’s First Dental Check-Up

Importance of Primary Teeth

Our Issaquah dental clinic is a family dentistry, so we see a lot of children coming in for their very first check-ups. Some parents think that oral hygiene is less important at a young age, as the children do not yet have their permanent teeth, but this is a dangerous misconception. The truth is that your primary teeth have a very important role to play that can affect your child’s mouth well into adulthood.

Developing Healthy Habits

What you need to understand is that primary teeth are your mouth’s “training wheels”, and you can’t get too far on broken training wheels. These are the teeth that your child is using to develop proper chewing habits, speech patterns, and brushing technique.

If their teeth bother them, your child could develop long-lasting problems. These teeth also serve to guide your permanent teeth into place. If primary teeth are not cared for properly, the permanent teeth may come in crooked. The consequences on your child’s health and self-esteem can be disastrous.

Visit Meadow Creek Dental

The recommended age for a first dental visit is within six months of the appearance of his or her first tooth, or about when he or she turns one year old. Do the right thing for your children, and get them to Meadow Creek Dental as soon as they’re ready.

The Do’s and Don’t’s of Brushing

Our Issaquah dental clinic sees many problems that could have been avoided with proper brushing technique. Even a small flaw in your routine can gradually turn into a big problem for you and your teeth. If you think that your own habits could do with a little “brushing up”, take a look at our easy-to-follow tips here:

  • Flossing should come first. This allows the toothpaste to put its fluoride to better work between your teeth.
  • Brush twice a day, once after you wake up and once before you go to sleep, after your last meal of the day. You shouldn’t eat or drink anything aside from water after you last brush, as your mouth is more vulnerable to lingering food particles as you sleep.
  • Brush for two minutes at a time. Too little may leave you insufficiently cleaned, and too much might be too hard on your gums.
  • Do not brush too soon after eating. Acids in your food can compromise your tooth enamel for a short while, making them vulnerable to being stripped away by your brush.
  • Hold your brush at a forty-five degree angle to your teeth and brush in a circular motion so that you gently massage your gums.
  • Remember that plaque can gather on your tongue. Use a tongue scraper if you have one, or simply brush your tongue.
  • If you’re so inclined, follow up your brushing with mouthwash. There are many good options available to give your teeth the extra edge they need.

Reopening Information

Safety Information

At Meadow Creek Dental, our goal has always been and will continue to be the health, safety, and well-being of our patients.

Our team is very excited to announce that we will be restoring all aspects of care for our patients. As of May 19th, we will be open from 8am to 5pm and we will be fully staffed and available to care for most of our patients.

It is our greatest priority is maintaining the safety of our patients during this time. As such, during the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, we have taken the following steps to ensure the safety of our patients and staff.

  • Virtual Lobby – We will practice limited use of our reception area. We ask that patients call us at 425-369-9116 upon arrival in the parking lot. We will then let you know when to enter the office. We ask that any family members remain outside the office.
  • Social Distancing – We have expanded appointment times to limit the number of people in the office at any given time and reduce exposure.
  • Screening – We will ask staff and patients general health questions, and some specific to COVID-19 symptoms (cough, sore throat, aches) as well as inquiries about recent travel and exposure risk/history. We will also take the temperatures of staff daily and of patients upon arrival at the office to screen for fever. Those with elevated temperatures will have to plan to visit the office another time or be tested for COVID-19.
  • Mouth Rinse – We are taking the extra step of providing a peroxide-based mouth rinse for patients to use before treatment.
  • Standards – We use industry recommended PPE standards (gloves, masks, gowns, shields) and strictly adhere to hand hygiene, surface cleaning and sterilization protocols for your safety.
  • Office Surface – All frequently touched surfaces (doorknobs, chairs, phones, etc.) are sanitized every hour.
  • Virtual Paperwork – we are encouraging all patient to fill out applicable paperwork via virtual interfaces, when available.

You can rest assured that our safety measures will remain in place and continue to evolve as more necessary, in the interest of protecting our patients. Please let us know if you have any questions and we would be happy to provide additional information.

We look forward to continuing to safely serve your dental needs.

Thank you!
Meadow Creek Dental Team

Teledentistry

Meadow Creek Dental Teledentistry Service

If you are in pain or have swelling or if anything breaks, give us a call at 425-369-9116 and leave us a message or feel free to send us an email at meadowcreekdental@gmail.com.

Don’t stop by the office. We are frequently checking messages and e-mails.

We will get in touch with you and will provide teledentistry services.

You may be asked to send cell phone pictures or video showing the same. We will evaluate and if there is a need for physical visit we can arrange the visit with our staffs and make an appointment.

Under the new provision your insurance will be covering this as remote limited exam, they may limit its number during an year.

Stay healthy!!
Dr Dipti