You water the garden three times a week, you change your car's oil every three months, and you replace the batteries in your smoke detectors once a year. Your teeth need to see your dentist on a regular schedule, too.

While daily oral hygiene habits are essential to good oral health, professional dental cleanings at our office ensure your teeth are treated to a deeper level of cleaning. We recommend for most of our patients to have a checkup at least every six months. In addition to a thorough cleaning and polishing of your teeth, these regular visits help us detect and prevent the onset of tooth decay and periodontal (gum) disease. During your visit, we’ll check the health of your mouth, teeth, gums, cheeks, and tongue. We’ll also check old fillings and restorations, as these can wear away over time from constant chewing, grinding, or clenching.

If you are predisposed to oral diseases, you may need to visit our office more often than every six months. Factors at play in these diseases include age, pregnancy, tobacco use, medical conditions (such as diabetes, dry mouth, or HIV infection), along with how well you take care of your teeth on a daily basis.

Make sure your teeth get the professional attention they deserve – If you’re overdue for your next cleaning, check with our office to schedule an appointment!

Have you ever noticed how many types of toothpaste are out there? Every brand seems to make a particular claim why theirs is the best...but do you know which is right for you? What are all of those different ingredients? Do they really work or is it a gimmick? Here are a couple of facts and tips to help you find the toothpaste that is best for you:

Toothpastes contain 2 types of ingredients:
1. Active: such as those that control cavities, plaque, gingivitis, hypersensitivity, and tartar
2. Inactive: these are things that cause the toothpaste to foam, thickening agents, preservatives, sweeteners/flavorings, and coloring agents.

The active ingredients are listed first on the tube in alphabetical order. The inactive ingredients are next, listed from greatest to least concentration.

When you go to the drug store, think about what your needs are:
1. Cavity control: When looking at the active ingredients, the toothpaste must contain fluoride.
2. Hypersensitivity: There are two active ingredients that are proven to help. The first is Potassium Nitrate at 5% concentration. It works by blocking repolarization of the nerve, thus stopping transmission of the signal. Stannous fluoride also works by occluding the dentinal tubules, which prevents the movement of fluid within the tooth.
3. Anti-plaque and anti-gingivitis: triclosan, zinc citrate and stannous fluoride are the leading ingredients to reduce plaque and gingivitis. They are effective because they are either bactericidal or bacteriostatic, meaning they either kill bacteria or prevent its growth.
4. Anti-calculus (anti-tartar): These types of toothpastes inhibit the mineralization of dental plaque or the crystalline formation of calculus. Some of the ingredients include: pyrophosphates, zinc salts, triclosan/copolymers, and sodium hexametaphosphate.
5. Whitening: Most whitening toothpastes make their claims because they remove extrinsic stain. This is accomplished through an abrasive incorporated into the toothpaste such as sodium bicarbonate, silicas, and aluminum oxide.

Hopefully the next time you are out buying toothpaste, you can make the best choice for your oral health. If you have questions about which toothpaste is right for you, feel free to give us a call at Dalseth Family & Cosmetic Dentistry or ask us on Facebook!

Monday, Feb. 20 marks Presidents’ Day, a day known for celebrating of both George Washington’s and Abraham Lincoln’s combined Birthdays. Presidents’ Day was created in 1971, when President Richard Nixon combined the birthdays of two of our most well-known presidents into one single federal holiday. Presidents' Day also marks a hard-earned day off from work and school for a lot of our patients at Dalseth Family & Cosmetic Dentistry.

Here are a few fun facts about our nation’s presidents:

*Abraham Lincoln, our 16th president, carried letters, bills and notes in his tall stovepipe hat.

*George Washington is the first president to be featured on a postage stamp.

*Ronald Reagan, our 40th president, broke the so-called "20-year curse," in which every president elected in a year ending in zero died in office.

*Abraham Lincoln was the tallest of the U.S. presidents, measuring 6’ 4” tall.

*Virginia is the birthplace of more United States presidents than any other state, followed by Ohio and Massachusetts.

*Harry S. Truman was the first president to have his Inauguration and speeches televised.

Becoming a dentist has resulted in a rewarding profession, much of it due to the interaction and relationships I have been able to form with patients, staff and other dental colleagues. I have been fortunate to have a great mentor, my father, Dr. Dalseth. He has instilled in me the importance of treating people fairly, honestly, and the way that you would want to be treated. I think it is important to see things through patients eyes. If they are anxious, we determine how can we help them cope. If it is a new procedure, how can I best explain it to them? What I have found over the years is the best thing we can do is listen. Not only listen to what a patient is saying, but also how they are saying it.

Dentistry is a wonderful career and, for me, I cannot image doing anything else. We are always trying to improve and bring new ideas to the forefront and hopefully we can make a splash!

- Dr. Pascal Dalseth