Researchers fed two groups of rats a solution containing high-fructose corn syrup instead of drinking water for six weeks. One group of the rats was also given omega-3 fatty acids which are known brain boosters.

Before the sugary drinks started, the rats were trained to run a complicated maze. After six weeks on the high-fructose corn syrup water they were again placed in the maze to see how they would do.

The rats that didn’t get the omega-3 fatty acids were slower. Dr. Fernando Gomez-Pinilla said “Their brain cells had trouble signaling each other, disrupting the rats’ ability to think clearly and recall the route they’d learned six weeks earlier.” It turns out the the rat brains had developed signs of insulin resistance. Insulin controls blood sugar and also regulates brain function. “Insulin is important in the body for controlling blood sugar, but it may play a different role in the brain, where insulin appears to disturb memory and learning” said Dr. Gomez-Pinella. “Our study shows that a high-fructose diet harms the brain as well as the body.”

High fructose corn syrup is usually found in soda, processed foods, snack foods, applesauce and even baby food. Any type of added sugars should be avoided if possible to keep your weight down, your smile free of cavities and now, to keep your brain healthy. Reading labels is important when purchasing processed foods but the easiest way to avoid added sugars is to cook using fresh ingredients from scratch.

Please contact Wilbanks Smile Center in Toccoa, GA today at 706-886-9439 to schedule your next visit. Dental damage caused by too much sugar needs to be diagnosed and treated early. Please call our full-service office today.

Does Sugar Rot Your Brain And Your Teeth? is a post from: Wilbanks Smile Center

First let’s talk about what a dental implant is and how it replaces a missing tooth. The implant itself is a small device that is inserted into your jaw and acts like a tooth root. The implant is made of a special metal that is designed to work with your body and allow the natural bone in your jaw to accept and maintain the implant. A replacement tooth in the form of a special type of dental crown is placed over the implant and your new tooth is complete. Dental implants can be used to replace one tooth, several teeth or even to anchor a complete set of dentures.

Using a dental implant also helps maintain the health of the jawbone. Our jawbone operates on the “use it or lose it” principle and when teeth are lost due to accident or oral diseases the bone no longer has to keep those tooth roots in place. With no tooth roots to maintain the bone begins to shrink, which may give an older appearance to the face. When dental implants are placed in the jawbone this shrinkage is avoided allowing you to maintain a more youthful jawline over time.

To receive dental implants you should be in good overall health and your jawbone must be healthy enough to hold the implants in place. Your periodontal health is also important so we will make sure your gums are healthy enough for dental implants.

To find out if dental implants can work for you please contact Wilbanks Smile Center in Toccoa, GA today at 706-886-9439 to schedule your consultation. We are a full-service dental practice and all phases of your dental implant treatment will be handled in our Toccoa, GA office.

Can Dental Implants Work For You? is a post from: Wilbanks Smile Center

The reasons people skip making appointments usually include anxiety or finances. Neither of these should be a reason for avoiding cleanings and checkups.

Over the long run patients who maintain regularly scheduled care typically have lower dental care costs because problems are discovered when they are small and easily, and more cheaply, resolved.

Dental anxiety or fear can be avoided through the use of sedation dentistry. Who knows – you may discover that a dental visit isn’t that bad after all!

Your regular dental hygiene visit can do more for your health than keep your gums in shape. Non-dental related health issues can also be spotted during your checkup. Here are 4 of the most common:

1. Heart disease – Women who get dental care may reduce their risk of heart disease by 1/3 according to researchers at Berkely. While gum disease doesn’t seem to cause heart disease their is a link that science is still figuring out.
2. Oral cancer – Each visit to the dental hygienist includes a visual and manual screening for oral cancer and any discolored, swollen or ulcerated area will be brought to your attention.
3. Nutritional deficiencies – Your gums and tongue can tell a lot about your nutritional status. For example a pale tongue can indicate an iron deficiency.
4. Diabetes – The health of your gums and teeth may suggest diabetes. The link between oral health and diabetes goes both ways – diabetes increases the risk you will have gum disease and having gum disease makes it harder to control your diabetes. Diabetic patients usually need dental cleanings more often than every six months.

Please contact Wilbanks Smile Center in Toccoa, GA today at 706-886-9439 to schedule your dental hygiene visit. The health of your smile, and your overall health are important!

4 Good Reasons For Women To Visit Their Dentist is a post from: Wilbanks Smile Center

Researchers at the University of Nevada discovered that by removing very small particles of dental calculus from the teeth of ancient remains and running the samples through a mass spectrometer they could figure out whether ancient diets were primarily plant or animal.

Researcher Dr. G. Richard Scott explained that bone is normally used for this but museum curators frown on the experiments because the bone is destroyed in the process. Hair and nails said Scott “are great when you find them. The problem is they just don’t hold up very well. They decompose too quickly. Dental calculus, for better or worse, stays around a very long time.”

Dental calculus definitely falls into the “worse” category when it comes to your oral health. Dental plaque is a biofilm that forms on your teeth that is made up of oral bacteria, food debris, etc. The substance is soft and can be removed easily at first but after a day or so hardens to become calculus. Calculus can’t be removed by brushing and flossing alone, you need the help of your friendly dental hygienist to get the stuff off your teeth.

Ancient man was not aware of the importance of good oral hygiene and I can only imagine the bad breath! Contact Wilbanks Smile Center  in Toccoa, GA today at 706-886-2581 to schedule your dental hygiene visit. Ancient calculus is only a good thing if you are an archeologist and even then, only if it is in an ancient mouth.

Ancient Dental Calculus Excites Anthropologists is a post from: Wilbanks Smile Center

Whatever the reason for the fear we first need to acknowledge that the anxiety is real and that we can talk about it. Sometimes talking about it is all that is needed! But for many patients the anxiety and fear prevents them from even making an appointment. Delaying dental care just makes the problems worsen over time because tooth decay doesn’t ever heal itself.

No matter your level of anxiety Wilbanks Smile Center can treat you without discomfort with the use of sedation dentistry. Sedation dentistry allows you to get the care you need, even preventative care like dental cleanings, without feeling nervous. Options for treatment range from nitrous oxide (laughing gas), oral sedation and even IV sedation. Using sedation dentistry we can correct years of neglect in just one or two appointments.

Please contact Wilbanks Smile Center in Toccoa, GA today at 706-886-9439  to find out your options for sedation dental care. Remember that sedation dentistry can be beneficial for patients who do not fear the dentist but have a strong gag reflex or have difficulty getting numb.

Dental Anxiety Is Common But We Can Help is a post from: Wilbanks Smile Center

“Young adults consume these drinks assuming that they will improve their sports performance and energy levels and that they are ‘better’ for them than soda,” said study author Dr. Poonam Jain. “Most of these patients are shocked to learn that these drinks are essentially bathing their teeth with acid.”

To test the damage that the drinks can do to teeth the researchers soaked samples of human tooth enamel in the drinks for 15 minutes and then in saliva for 2 hours. This was repeated four times a day for five days to mimic the exposure that teens are typically getting. When not in testing the samples were stored in artificial saliva.

After only five days of exposure to either sports or energy drinks there was irreversible damage to dental enamel. Energy drinks actually caused twice as much damage to teeth as sports drinks did.

How do you know if your teen is damaging their tooth enamel? The damage causes the teeth to become sensitive and more likely to develop cavities. If your child is complaining about tooth sensitivity they need to realize that their energy or sports drink may be the problem.

Minimize the use of these drinks and when they are used your child should chew sugar free gum or rinse their mouth with water to help return the acidity levels in the mouth to normal. Don’t have your child brush their teeth immediately after consuming these drinks – the softened enamel may be further damaged by the brushing action.

Remember, adults drink these beverages too! The same rules apply because adults experience the same type of damage.

Please contact Wilbanks Smile Center in Toccoa, GA today at 706-886-9439 if you or a family member are experiencing tooth sensitivity or pain. Working together we can protect your child’s smile.

Sports Drinks Tearing Up Teens Teeth is a post from: Wilbanks Smile Center

A dental cavity happens when the mineral content of the tooth has been dissolved by acids secreted by oral bacteria that live in the plaque on tooth surfaces. Even when the dentist removes the decay from the tooth there are still some bacteria left behind. The new nanocomposite filling material is designed to destroy remaining bacteria and also help rebuild tooth minerals.

Dental fillings have come a long way since the old mercury based amalgam fillings of yesteryear. While this new dental filling material at the University of Maryland is still in the research stage the tooth colored composite fillings used today are far superior to those old silver fillings. Not only do new composite fillings avoid mercury exposure for both dentist and patient, they are long lasting and don’t expand and contract when exposed to hot or cold substances like old style fillings did. This expansion and contraction often led to cracked fillings or even broken teeth. Because composite fillings are the same color as your teeth no one will ever know you had a cavity! Your smile remains beautiful even when laughing out loud!

Visit Wilbanks Smile Center in Toccoa, GA for your next dental check up. Please contact us immediately at 706-886-9439 today if you are experiencing tooth pain or think you might have a cavity. We are a full-service dental practice and you will not be referred out of the office for specialized care.

Dental Fillings Of The Future is a post from: Wilbanks Smile Center

A  study from Japan completed recently suggests that there could be a connection. The study of more than 4000 elderly adults in Japan showed that those who didn’t visit the dentist regularly or had lost several teeth and did not use dentures had a  higher risk for dementia than those who had better dental health.

With an aging population like many countries, Japan is concerned about the increasing number of patients with dementia. Lead researcher Dr. Yukio Hirata said “The number of dementia patients is increasing, but there are no effective treatment and prevention methods. Therefore, finding risk factors contributes to solving the problem from the viewpoint of prevention.”

Dr. Hirata also reported that some earlier studies had also suggested that gum disease and its complications, including tooth loss,  might be a risk factor for dementia. Tooth loss has a serious effect on diet and nutrition as well as overall quality of life for the elderly.

You can avoid potential tooth loss by brushing and flossing every day and visiting your dentist every six months (or more often if you have gum disease or risk factors for gum disease).

Sometimes tooth loss may be unavoidable. It is very important to replace the tooth and options include dental bridges and dental implants. Dental bridges are a fine restoration but must be replaced over time. Dental implants are a wonderful choice for most people. They act like a natural tooth and, unlike dental bridges, do not require special care for cleaning and flossing. A restored dental implant will look and feel just like your own tooth.

To find out if a dental implant is right for you please contact Wilbanks Smile Center in Toccoa, GA at 706-886-9439 today.

Dementia and Your Dental Health is a post from: Wilbanks Smile Center

Relax, we’ve got loads of bacteria living in our mouths every day. The reason we brush and floss is to keep the numbers under control. Some  bacteria are good guys and some are bad and cause tooth decay and gum disease – we’re still trying to figure out how to kill the bad ones but keep the good ones around.  Right now all of the toothpastes and mouth rinses attack all the bacteria.

Let’s got back to that dirty toothbrush. Remember that plaque is made up of bacteria so every time you brush to remove plaque you are loading your toothbrush with bacteria. Short of using a disposable toothbrush what can you do to keep your toothbrush clean?

A Few Tips For A Cleaner Toothbrush

Bathrooms are small and yes, toilet water sprays when you flush. Keep the toothbrush away from the toilet area of the bathroom.

Rinse your toothbrush in running water after you have brushed.

Let your toothbrush air dry – don’t use a toothbrush cover that allows moisture to stay on the brush.

Store the brush upright in an open container – laying down allows the bristles to pick up more bacteria.

No sharing your toothbrush. Not with anyone. Period.

Toothbrush sanitizers are an option but most people don’t really need them. The majority of the bacteria on our toothbrushes won’t make us sick. If you have a compromised immune system you may want to consider these.

Change toothbrushes every three months. Change more often if you have been sick or if the bristles on the brush look frayed.

Our bodies are filled with bacteria, in fact we couldn’t live without them, so don’t panic about your toothbrush. Keep oral bacteria in check by brushing, flossing and visiting your dental hygienist regularly.

Contact Wilbanks Smile Center in Toccoa, GA today at  706-886-9439 to schedule your next dental hygiene visit.

Brushing Up On Bacteria is a post from: Wilbanks Smile Center

Then there was the study of 22,000 Taiwanese adults older than age 50 which found that those who had a professional tooth “scaling” in the past year were less likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke over the next seven years. The researchers also weighed other risk factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney disease. It turned out that a deep cleaning of the teeth was linked to a 31% reduction in the risk of future heart attack and 15% reduction in risk of stroke.

The takeaway from these conflicting studies seems to be that we still really don’t know how the connection works. We do know that oral bacteria has been found in diseased heart valves. We do know that the inflammation caused by gum disease can have a negative effect on other parts of the body but we don’t know for sure what the cause and effect really is.

We do know that people who take care of their oral health also tend to take better care of themselves overall. This reduces their risk of chronic conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure which can contribute to heart disease.

To protect your heart health you need to do many of the same things that will protect your oral health. Stick to a healthy eating plan, exercise regularly and get your teeth cleaned on a regular basis.

To schedule your next dental hygiene visit please contact Wilbanks Smile Center in Toccoa, GA at 706-886-2581 today.

Confusion About Heart Health and Oral Health Links is a post from: Wilbanks Smile Center