Dr. Russell Roderick and our award-winning team focus on whole body health, not just dental health. And so with the spring sports season about to start, we want you to consider all of the angles when it comes to protecting the health of all the young athletes in your family. Accordingly, we’d love to help you attain some peace of mind through one of our custom-designed oral appliances that can spare a set of teeth and gums from the worst-possible outcomes. The video clip discusses such athletic mouthguards further. Take a look and then call us at 480-420-9562 to request your smile-saving visit to our Cave Creek, AZ dentist’s office! In addition to Cave Creek, we welcome patients from Scottsdale and from neighborhoods like Tatum Ridge and Desert View Village.

Have you ever seen a cartoon with a character who has bad breath? The stench is often animated with a green cloud that slowly escapes the person’s mouth and surrounds the poor, unfortunate person who is closest to them. While we’ve yet to see an actual green cloud of halitosis escape the mouths of one of our patients, we are familiar with the discomfort and embarrassment that comes with bad breath.

If you have been struggling with chronic bad breath, don’t let another day go by without calling Aesthetic Family Dentistry. We can help get to the bottom of what’s causing the odor and share oral health tips on how to keep it from coming back. In the meantime, try some of the tricks below that may help you beat bad breath, and then give us a call at 480-420-9562 to schedule an appointment in Cave Creek, AZ.

Re-Examine your Dental Hygiene Routine

Even if you already brush your teeth twice a day and floss regularly, it wouldn’t hurt to re-examine your dental hygiene routine to see if there is something you could be doing differently. Are you brushing for two minutes each time? Are you flossing daily, making sure to get in between each of your teeth, at your gum line, and behind your very back teeth? Are you using an ADA-certified toothpaste that contains fluoride?

There are a lot of aspects that go into a complete dental hygiene routine. Consider whether there is anything you are leaving out, like your preventive dentistry appointments!

Rinse with Mouthwash

Speaking of a thorough dental hygiene routine, do you finish by rinsing with mouthwash? If not, talk to your dentist about whether a daily mouthwash could help freshen your breath.

Look for a mouthwash that kills germs, protects against bacteria, and freshens breath. For recommendations, feel free to contact one of our team members for recommendations.

Say Goodbye to Tobacco

Bad breath is just one of the many problems associated with using tobacco. If you smoke or chew tobacco and want fresher breath, you’ll have to give up the habit. Bad breath is arguably the least harmful side effect of using tobacco, but it is more than enough of a reason to finally quit once and for all.

Focus on your Diet

Have you given much thought to the foods you eat and the effect they have on your breath? If you regularly enjoy certain foods like onions and garlic, try replacing them with foods that won’t linger on your breath and give off an unpleasant stench.

Foods that naturally clean your teeth and help freshen your breath include apples, cucumbers, lettuce, and carrots.

Stay Hydrated

Staying hydrated is essential for fresh breath. Not only will dry mouth contribute to bad breath, but drinking water helps rinse away leftover food debris and bacteria to naturally freshen your breath. Try to sip more water throughout the day and see how your breath improves.

To learn more about how to beat bad breath and avoid the common yet uncomfortable odor, call Aesthetic Family Dentistry today at 480-420-9562. We are always more than happy to help!  You can also use our online form to schedule an appointment in Cave Creek, AZ.

Preventive dentistry appointments for services like professional teeth cleanings and oral exams will keep you smiling all through 2020 and beyond. Our team can also share tips for you and your family like the video clip from the ADA below. After you’ve watched it, be sure to call us at 480-420-9562 to request your next dental appointment in Cave Creek, AZ. Ask about our $39 first exam special, which includes digital X-rays, a periodontal evaluation, an occlusion evaluation, and an oral cancer screening. It’s a $250 value!

It’s always exciting for us to talk with our patients about their upcoming holiday plans. That’s no different for Halloween! We’ve even seen a few kiddos show up to our dentist office in costume. Even though some people are surprised that we like Halloween with all the sweets, we don’t think your family has to ban candy to enjoy the spooky night. Still, there are a few ways to keep your family’s smiles a bit healthier – and they can apply beyond Halloween.

Take a few minutes to look at some healthy Halloween treats for your family or even your trick-or-treaters below. For more tooth tips or to set up post-Halloween cleanings for your children in Cave Creek, call Dr. Russell Roderick’s office at 480-420-9562 today. We see kids as young as 3.

Avoid These Tooth Terrors

It’s nearly impossible to ban all sweets from your kids, especially as they get older. However, there are a few that can make your kiddos’ teeth more cavity prone. In the short term, they can do a lot of damage too – even cause dental emergencies. That’s not a great way to spend Halloween! Trust us when we say we’ve seen quite a few urgent situations from the following unhealthy treats, from cracked teeth to loose fillings.

It’s probably obvious why hard candy can create a problem, even for baby teeth that set the stage for adult teeth. Sticky, chewy candy can cause restorations to come loose, but the more common problem with those is that the sugar sits on teeth and in between teeth for a long time. It’s hard to get off even if you drink water afterward.

We know kids aren’t the best at brushing and flossing their teeth, especially in the grooves in back teeth where those sugars stick. Bacteria feed off the sugars and create acids that eat through tooth enamel. So enough of that buildup can lead to cavities. Add acid to the mix, and you create an even more ideal scenario for tooth decay.

Minimize These Tricky Temptations

Sugar is a culprit for tooth decay, but so are carbohydrates. They’re also notorious for getting stuck between teeth. Still, carb-heavy foods can be less of a problem than sugar simply because they contain less sugar.

When you’re looking at your kids’ candy bags or picking up treats for trick-or-treaters, consider these better options:

It may help to think about what you pack in your kids’ lunchboxes or what you buy them for snacks each day. Chances are these could be good Halloween treats to pass out or let your kids enjoy in moderation.

Enjoy These Halloween Snacks & Treats

It’s tricky to think of healthy Halloween treats that don’t affect your kids’ oral health. Still, there are a few great choices, like:

Treats don’t have to come in the form of sugar or even food, though. If you’re shopping for candy soon, consider these alternatives to Halloween candy, many of which can be purchased at dollar stores or discount stores:

Discuss Oral Health Habits Early

Like any parent, you want your kids to be healthy and happy. When it comes to their smile, you know this includes brushing, flossing, and regular checkups. It also includes instilling healthy habits so that your children can learn to make good decisions on their own.

Consider this before you help your kids sort through their Halloween candy:

Your Cave Creek, AZ family dental office hopes you enjoy this Halloween – and that your smiles do too! If you need any more tooth tips, nutrition tips, or just appointments for cleanings, call Aesthetic Family Dentistry at 480-420-9562 or contact us online.

Don’t let crooked, crowded, or gapped teeth, continue to ruin your health, self-confidence, and quality of life. Instead, plan to talk to us about an attractive alternative to conventional braces that we offer here at our Phoenix area dentist’s office. It’s a clear aligners program called Invisalign, and many of our orthodontic patients have achieved high levels of success this way without having to endure any of the customary hassles in the process. Keep reading to hear more about it, and then be sure to call us at 480-420-9562, to request your Invisalign clear aligners consultation appointment sooner rather than later. You won’t regret it!

The Treatment Is Discreet

Like we said, this orthodontic technique uses clear (almost invisible) plastic aligners to move your teeth into proper position. Accordingly, no one will ever have to know that you are in the middle of an orthodontic overhaul. This means no comments, questions, or nicknames will be aimed at you either.

Clear Aligners Are Removable

Don’t forget: once you have classic metal braces placed in your mouth, there is no getting free from them, until your treatment is completed after 2-3 long years. You just have to deal with it.

Invisalign aligners won’t trap you like that. You can take them out for dinner, photos, and really any time you feel the urge. This makes for a much more pleasant treatment experience at every turn.

No Lifestyle Changes

Your smile will change, but your lifestyle won’t have to! With Invisalign, you don’t have to schedule time away from work to get monthly orthodontic tweaks. Rather than that, you will get to help manage the process by switching out your aligners for the next ones in the series (every two weeks). When your custom-made aligners arrive, Dr. Roderick will check the fit of the first ones. He’ll also answer your questions and make sure you understand how your treatment will work along the way.

Additionally, you won’t need to invest in special tools, or waste time shopping for food that won’t get trapped in your metal wires and brackets. None of those problems will be of concern to you and your family.

A Pain-Free Process

Old-school braces definitely do the job they are built to do, but no one ever really gets used to the harsh feel of metal in the mouth. Your Invisalign aligners are not weird-feeling at all, and they won’t cause pain the way that traditional braces can. They are more like a mouthguard in the way that they rest comfortably over your teeth. You won’t need to rely on waxes to form a protective barrier over your soft tissues as there won’t be any bleeding, sores, or discomfort at all.

Fast Results

You won’t be waiting 2-3 years to see any improvements in your smile. It is possible to look and feel much better in only about 12 months time with Invisalign. So, what are you waiting for?

Call To Request Your Consultation

We hope you have been encouraged by today’s post to take the next step. To find out if Invisalign in Phoenix, AZ is the best solution for you, call us at 480-420-9562 or contact us online to schedule a cosmetic consultation with Dr. Russell Roderick.

We hope you’re enjoying our brand-new website redesign. We think the new design makes it easier to find the information you need about our practice and hope you agree! Part of our redesign is this blog. It gives us another way to look after your dental health, and your overall health, by regularly sharing oral hygiene tips with you. We’ll also keep you up-to-date with relevant information about our services and with other dental news.

If you have any suggestions for our blog or for our website, call us at 480-420-9562, contact us online, or visit our office at 26232 North Tatum Blvd. in the 85050 ZIP code.

We know saving money is important to our patients, so we’re kicking off our new blog by highlighting some of the features that make our dental care especially affordable.

Dental Health Membership Program

Many of us have a budget that allows us to track our regular household expenses so we know how much we can spend on vacations and other “extras.” It’s now possible to do that with routine dental care, thanks to our Dental Health Membership Program.

Dr. Russell Roderick will create a personalized treatment plan for you that includes annual dental exams and cleanings. Once he has determined how often you should visit us for these services, based on your unique needs, you can prepay for them – via installment payments, if you’d like. As an added incentive, we’ll offer discounts of up to 15 percent for these services AND an additional 8 percent discount if you choose to use monthly autopayments. Plus you’ll receive discounts for other treatments too, including Invisalign and Zoom teeth whitening.

This program is especially helpful if you don’t have dental insurance.

Free Cosmetic Consultations

We never want you to hesitate to schedule an appointment where you can learn about all of our cosmetic dentistry options for improving your smile. So we don’t charge anything for these visits, including Invisalign consultations! Dr. Roderick, a member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, will meet with you so he can examine you, answer all of your questions, and help you determine which cosmetic services will work best for your smile.

To book a free consultation or another appointment, call Aesthetic Family Dentistry at 480-420-9562.

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480-420-9562
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26232 N. Tatum Boulevard,
Suite 400, Phoenix, AZ 85050