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School’s out for the summer, and it’s great to have the kids home. After all, they deserve a break after all their hard work. And you want to keep their vacation happy, relaxing, and fun—without letting them spend those summer months cooling off with sugary treats. What are some of your options for healthy hot weather snacks?

• Naturally Sweet Treats

Keep a supply of fresh fruit handy for summer snacking. Crispy fruits like apples and Bosc pears actually provide a little scrubbing action for the teeth with their vitamins, and softer fruits such as bananas, berries, and, of course, watermelon, provide natural sweetness along with vitamins and minerals. Yogurt has valuable calcium for strong teeth and the vitamin D our bodies need to use that calcium. Add some fresh fruit to Greek yogurt for added flavor and sweetness—and even more vitamins.

• Savory Snacks

Cheese is a calcium-rich snack, and crunchy carrots and celery help scrub teeth while providing vitamins and minerals. Do a little mixing and matching by adding some cream cheese to that celery for extra flavor. Serve up hummus and pita chips or cheese with whole grain crackers. They’re great nutritious alternatives to chips and dip.

• Blender Blast

Summer’s the perfect time to use your culinary creativity and expand your child’s palate with vitamin-rich smoothies. Toss your favorite fruits in the blender with a little juice, non-fat yogurt, milk, or honey, whirl away, and you have a delicious, healthy snack. You can add a few leafy greens for even more nutritional value. There are many easy recipes online for creating homemade smoothies that will please any picky palate.

• Freezer Favorites

Ice cream is a favorite summer treat, but it can also provide quite a sugar punch. There are many homemade frozen yogurt recipes available online which combine frozen fruit, yogurt, and honey for your own summer celebration, without adding large amounts of sugar. Or choose to stock your freezer shelves with low-sugar fruit pops, store bought or homemade.

• On Tap

A soda or a sports drink are often the go-to hydration choices in the summer. You might already be careful about handing these drinks out because they can have such a high sugar content. But they can also create a very acidic environment in the mouth, which is harmful to tooth enamel. Water is the safest, healthiest option for hydrating in hot weather, and can even provide some of the fluoride which helps keep enamel strong.

Whatever is on your child’s summer menu, keep up with all those great dental habits you’ve already established. A limited number of snacks—even healthy ones—is best, and be sure to brush after snacking, or rinse with water if brushing’s not an option. And don’t forget to maintain your child’s normal schedule of brushing and flossing, and regular visits with Drs. Richee Berry, Bryce Miller, Jarrett Caldwell, Nicholas Gordon at our Bowie office.

Have a great summer, and send your kids back to school rested, relaxed, and with a healthy, happy smile. Then take a moment, relax, and sip that smoothie—after all, you deserve a break after all your hard work!

Having your teeth cleaned is part of most dental checkups. It’s a great feeling to know your teeth look clean and bright, but there’s more to feel great about! Cleanings help your teeth stay healthy. Let’s talk about why a cleaning at our Bowie pediatric dental office is a bright idea.

• Brushing and Flossing at Home Isn’t Always Enough

Even when you brush and floss every day, sometimes you don’t get rid of all the plaque sticking to your teeth. Plaque, after all, starts forming within hours after you brush, and this can be a problem.

• The Problem with Plaque

Plaque is a sticky film that’s mostly made up of bacteria. These tiny germs use food we eat to make acids, and these acids can make our tooth enamel weaker. Over time, a weak spot in tooth enamel gets bigger and deeper until it becomes—a cavity.

And that’s not all. Plaque near our gums irritates them, and our gum tissue reacts to this irritation. Our gums might turn darker pink, or bleed, or get puffy. We could have bad breath that brushing won’t get rid of. These are signs of gum disease. Clearly, we don’t want plaque sticking around!

• The Trouble with Tartar

Especially because, after only a day or two of letting plaque build up, it starts to turn into tartar. Tartar is hardened plaque, and it can’t be brushed away at home. Tartar can only be removed by an expert at Berry's Children Dental LLC.

It can build up anywhere we might not be brushing as often and as well as we should—especially behind our teeth and between them. Tartar can build up above and below the gum line, where it causes even more gum irritation.

You want your teeth to have the best protection against cavities and gum disease, and that means making sure that plaque and tartar aren’t making themselves at home on your teeth. And that means a visit to your pediatric dentist’s office for an expert cleaning.

What goes on during a cleaning?

• First, a Look at Your Teeth and Gums

Once you’re settled in the comfortable dental chair, Drs. Richee Berry, Bryce Miller, Jarrett Caldwell, Nicholas Gordon will examine your teeth and gums to see if they need any attention before starting the cleaning.

• Scaling

Your hygienist usually begins by carefully scraping away any plaque and tartar with tools called scalers. Scalers can be hand tools or use ultrasonic vibration. Your hygienist will also clean the area around your gums, gently getting rid of any plaque and tartar on your tooth enamel above and below the gum line.

If you’ve been missing any spots in your daily brushing, your hygienist will point out these out so you can brush better.

• Polishing

Sometimes your teeth might be polished to take away stains on the tooth surfaces. This can be done with a special toothpaste applied with a spinning brush or rounded cup. Or your hygienist might use an air polisher, which uses powder, water, and air to clean teeth. Often, scaling on its own will remove any small stains.

• Flossing

Sometimes even adults have a hard time flossing the right way! But it’s a skill you should learn because it’s really important for healthy teeth and gums. Brushes can’t get in the tight spaces between our teeth—but plaque can. Flossing fits in between those tiny spaces to gently scrape away plaque as you move the floss up and down.

Your hygienist will floss between your teeth to remove any plaque, and can show you the right way to floss your teeth and the best kind of floss to use.

• Rinsing

After cleaning your teeth, your hygienist will make sure you rinse well for a shining smile. And that’s it!

Your teeth will look and feel cleaner once any harmful plaque and tartar are gone. You’ll find out if you’ve been missing any areas when you brush. You’ll learn the right way to brush and floss for healthy teeth and gums. And you’ll be helping to prevent cavities and gum disease! No wonder a cleaning at your dentist’s office is always a bright idea.

One of the greatest features our team at Berry's Children Dental LLC offers is the ability to see first-hand how we can help our patients. While X-rays help us detect any problems in your mouth and give us valuable information on what is bothering you, they often don’t give Drs. Richee Berry, Bryce Miller, Jarrett Caldwell, Nicholas Gordon a complete view of everything that is going on inside your mouth. With the use of an intraoral camera, we can see every aspect of your teeth and mouth with incredible detail, uncovering cracked or fractured teeth, excessive wear, carious lesions, cavities, or other issues that may be hidden. When we can discover oral problems early on, your treatment is much less invasive and often saves you money down the road.

An intraoral camera allows Drs. Richee Berry, Bryce Miller, Jarrett Caldwell, Nicholas Gordon to view clear, precise images of your mouth, teeth, and gums and allows us to make an accurate diagnosis.  With clear, defined, enlarged images, Drs. Richee Berry, Bryce Miller, Jarrett Caldwell, Nicholas Gordon and our team see details that standard mirror examinations may miss. It’s much easier to understand what is happening in your mouth if you can see the problem on a computer monitor, and it means faster diagnosis and less chair-time for our patients!

Intraoral cameras are small, about the size of a dental mirror, and emit a light onto the tooth. The tooth will emit a color that lets Drs. Richee Berry, Bryce Miller, Jarrett Caldwell, Nicholas Gordon determine if the tooth is healthy or diseased. Intraoral cameras also allow us to save your images on our office computer to provide a permanent record of treatments. These treatments can be printed for you, other specialists, and your lab or insurance companies.

For any questions about the intraoral camera, we encourage you to ask Drs. Richee Berry, Bryce Miller, Jarrett Caldwell, Nicholas Gordon or our team during your or your child’s next visit or by giving us a call at our convenient Bowie office.

You have a lot going on. School. Sports. Activities. Family. Friends. Teens lead busy lives and have busy schedules, so you need to budget your time and energy. One thing you don’t want to spend any of your time and energy on? Dealing with gum disease.

Gum disease most often begins as a reaction to plaque and tartar. The bacteria in plaque produce acids which irritate gum tissue, causing inflammation, swelling, and bleeding. This is gingivitis, the early stage of gum disease.

Left untreated, early gum disease can become periodontitis. Periodontitis is a serious gum infection which can cause receding gums, loose teeth, and even tooth and bone loss.

We usually think about gum disease as something that only older adults worry about. But the unfortunate fact is that children and teens are also at risk for gum disease—and the teen years bring special risks. Why?

• Braces

The teen years are the most common years for orthodontic treatment. Wearing traditional or lingual braces can make removing plaque from around brackets and wires, between the teeth, and near the gum line more challenging, and gum disease can be the result. When you’ve been working so hard to create a healthy attractive smile, you don’t want to delay your orthodontic progress to treat gum disease.

• Less-than-Nutritious Snacking

When you have after school commitments like sports practices, play rehearsals, or work, you probably carry a snack to give you the energy you need until dinner. Popular snacks like energy drinks, chips, or candy bars are common go-to choices, but they contain acids, simple carbs, and sugars which are bad for both gums and tooth enamel.

• Hormones

Increased hormone levels during puberty can make the gums more sensitive and more easily irritated.

• Your Busy Life

Maybe you’re not getting enough sleep. Or eating as well as you could. Or you’re feeling anxious. Lack of sleep, poor nutrition, and stress can affect your body’s immune system and your ability to fight off infection. And if you’re also not brushing and flossing regularly, your gum health can really suffer.

How do you know if you have gum disease? Good question! Sometimes the early stages of gum disease aren’t obvious. Perhaps you’ve noticed changes in your gums, such as:

• Redness
• Swelling
• Soreness
• Bleeding
• Bad breath even after brushing

Any of these changes can be symptoms of gum disease and are a good reason to give our Bowie office a call, since time is important when treating gum disease.

Caught early, gingivitis is usually very treatable—in fact, you can often reverse early gingivitis by paying more attention to your daily dental hygiene. If gingivitis is more advanced, or if periodontitis develops, you need professional dental care to prevent serious damage to your gums, teeth, and bone.

Preventing gum disease from ever developing is always best, though, so let’s look at what you can do to keep gum disease from becoming a problem.

• Keep Up with Healthy Dental Habits

Even though you’re leading a busy life, take time for your dental care. Brushing twice a day for at least two minutes per session and flossing once a day take just a bit of your time and are the best way to keep your gums healthy. If you wear braces or have a tendency toward cavities and gum disease, Drs. Richee Berry, Bryce Miller, Jarrett Caldwell, Nicholas Gordon might recommend brushing or flossing more often.

• Use the Right Tools

Using the right tools makes a big difference. You should always choose a toothbrush with soft bristles to protect your delicate gum tissue—especially if it’s extra sensitive. Too-harsh brushing can damage even your super-hard tooth enamel, so you can imagine what it can do to your gums! Change out your brush every three to four months when it starts to get frayed and worn.

If you wear braces, ask Drs. Richee Berry, Bryce Miller, Jarrett Caldwell, Nicholas Gordon to recommend the best kind of floss to clean between your teeth and around your brackets and wires. The right tools will make flossing a lot easier, and will help you keep your gums healthy and your orthodontic treatment on track.

• No Matter How Busy You Are, Treat Yourself Well

Watch your diet. Drinking water to hydrate is a healthy (and inexpensive) alternative to sugary and acidic drinks. When you know you have after-school commitments, pack yourself a healthy snack. After snacking, it’s a good idea to rinse with water when you can’t brush to remove any food particles sticking around your teeth and gums.

And even though your schedule is demanding, caring for your mind and body should be a priority. If you have difficulties with sleep or stress, or questions about a nutritious diet, talk to your doctor for some valuable tips to make your daily life healthier and more enjoyable.

With so much going on in your active life, gum problems are problems you really don’t need. Make room in your schedule now for careful daily brushing and flossing, a healthy lifestyle, and regular visits to Berry's Children Dental LLC, and you’ll be living that active life with a beautiful, healthy smile!