How Dieting Can Cause Bad Breath

Over the past ten years, there has been a lot of debate about low-carb diets such as the Keto and Atkins diets. Most of this discussion is about how they work, and whether they help people keep weight off for a long period. An overlooked aspect of these diets is their tendency to cause bad breath, also known as halitosis. Some people have taken to calling this phenomenon “keto breath.” How does this happen?

One of your body’s main sources of energy is glucose. Glucose is formed when your digestive system breaks down carbohydrates from complex sugars into simple glucose molecules. When you eat fewer carbohydrates, your body has to find other fuel sources (primarily fat) for energy. This metabolic state is known as ketosis.

When your body breaks down fatty acids, it creates a byproduct known as ketone bodies, or ketones. They come in three common forms: acetoacetate, beta-hydroxybutyrate, and acetone. These are regularly removed from your body when you exhale or urinate.

If you consume a low-carb diet, your body relies more on fatty acids for energy because you aren’t consuming as many carbohydrates. As you use up more fatty acids, more ketones are released as a byproduct of the metabolic process at work.

This surplus of ketones in your body can contribute to bad breath. But the ketones you exhale have very particular odors, which are mostly not like what you experience with normal diet bad breath.

There’s another bad breath factor with low-carb diets. The sudden transition from carbs to proteins changes how the body metabolizes food. The breakdown of protein creates ammonia. A sudden increase in dietary protein will only exacerbate this effect, increasing the amount of ammonia in your urine as well as your stomach gasses. Since it takes a lot of water to remove ammonia from your system, insufficient hydration can degrade your breath as this excess ammonia builds up in your body.

If low-carb diets have helped you, don’t despair. Some people on low-carb diets don’t develop bad breath. With others, it’s a temporary effect of the rapid diet change. And there are ways to mitigate the effect:

• Drink lots of water
• Use mints and/or gum to mask odors
• Brush your teeth at least twice a day
• Floss daily
• Transition slowly into your new diet and see how these changes affect you

If you’re experiencing halitosis, or if you just need the perfect place to get your teeth cleaned or fixed, choose the practice that was voted best dentist in NYC! At Park 56 Dental Group, we offer pediatric, prosthodontics, endodontics, oral surgery, Invisalign®, emergency, and sedation dentistry, all at the highest level of treatment. We serve the Midtown, Central Park, Upper East Side, Park Avenue, and all surrounding Manhattan and New York areas, with a patient-centered practice that has hours to fit your schedule. Schedule your complimentary consultation today by contacting us online or calling us at (646) 679-3989.

How to Prevent Plaque

Everyone knows that if we don’t take care of our teeth we can get cavities. One cause of cavities is the buildup of plaque, which can also cause gum disease. Here’s an overview of what plaque is and how we can prevent it.

Everyone has dental plaque to some extent. Plaque causes a slight fuzziness on your teeth that you can feel with your tongue. It’s a sticky film of bacteria that is constantly developing on the surface of your teeth. The bacteria in plaque produce acids after you eat or drink. These acids can destroy your tooth enamel, leading to cavities and also gingivitis aka gum disease.

Plaque can also form under your gums and on your tooth roots. They can break down the jaw bones that support your teeth. If left untreated, plaque can harden into tartar, which is harder to remove. Proper dental hygiene habits, most importantly daily brushing and flossing, gets rid of a lot of this plaque. If you don’t like using normal dental floss there are options for you, including dental picks, pre-threaded flossers, brushes that fit between your teeth, water flossers or wooden plaque removers. Mouthwash is useful for loosening plaque so you can brush it off better, or spit or rinse it out of your mouth. But be careful to not get a kind that will dry your mouth out, because that actually makes your mouth more vulnerable to plaque formation.

Although we all get plaque, you may be more susceptible to plaque formation if you:

• Smoke
• Have dry mouth due to medical conditions or medications
• Have a history of head or neck radiation

Your diet is also an important factor for plaque formation. Plaque can form quickly when the bacteria in your mouth mixes with sugary or starchy foods such as soft drinks, milk, juice, fruit, pasta or bread. These bacteria release acids that break down carbohydrates in food and drinks, so they do serve a useful function in that regard. Plaque is clearly a downside. Many dentists will tell you that you can eat or drink pretty much whatever you like, as long as it’s in moderation. Whenever possible, drink water or brush your teeth right after consuming these problematic foods or drinks, to get that dangerous stuff off your teeth before they can help form plaque.

Regular dental cleanings are important too, because there are spaces that are hard for you to clean on your own. Dentists and dental hygienists have special tools to find and remove plaque.

If you’re looking for the perfect place to get your teeth cleaned or fixed, choose the practice that was voted best dentist in NYC! At Park 56 Dental Group, we offer pediatric, prosthodontics, endodontics, oral surgery, Invisalign®, emergency, and sedation dentistry, all at the highest level of treatment. We serve the Midtown, Central Park, Upper East Side, Park Avenue, and all surrounding Manhattan and New York areas, with a patient-centered practice that has hours to fit your schedule. Schedule your complimentary consultation today by contacting us online or calling us at (646) 679-3989.

How Root Canals Can Improve Your Smile and Dental Health

Have you ever heard a character in a movie or TV show say “I’d rather have a root canal?” That’s a reference to a dental procedure that used to be quite painful and complicated but, due to medical advancements, no longer has to be. The weird thing is, most people don’t even understand what the procedure is, or how much it can improve your smile and your dental health. If you’ve ever wondered about this topic, we’re here with the details.

Before the root canal procedure was invented, a tooth with a diseased nerve had to be taken out. Today it can often be saved with a fairly simple procedure involving one to three office visits, and with minimal downtime. And in contrast to old methods, it can be done virtually painlessly.

After a tooth has emerged through the gums, the only real function of the root is to detect heat or cold. When a tooth develops a crack or a deep cavity, germs can enter the pulp tissue and cause an infection inside the tooth. If this is left untreated, an abscess may form, and if the infected tissue is not removed, pain and swelling can result. This can also injure your jawbones and cause other health issues.

Teeth with infected roots aren’t always painful, but signs you may need a root canal include severe toothaches, pain when chewing or applying pressure, prolonged sensitivity or pain in response to hot or cold temperatures, a dark discoloration of the tooth, and swelling or tenderness of the adjacent gums. If you experience any of these symptoms, contact your dentist.

During a root canal procedure, your dentist or endodontist (a dentist who specializes in dental nerves) removes the affected tissue. Then the interior of the tooth is cleaned and sealed. Finally, the tooth is filled in with a dental composite. If your tooth has extensive decay, your dentist may want to place an artificial crown on your tooth to protect it from breakage. If you take good care of your teeth with regular brushing, flossing, and dental checkups, your restored tooth can last a lifetime.

If you think your teeth may have damage that requires a root canal procedure, choose the practice that was voted best dentist in NYC! At Park 56 Dental Group, we offer pediatric, prosthodontics, endodontics, oral surgery, Invisalign®, emergency, and sedation dentistry, all at the highest level of treatment. We serve the Midtown, Central Park, Upper East Side, Park Avenue, and all surrounding Manhattan and New York areas, with a patient-centered practice that has hours to fit your schedule. Schedule your complimentary consultation today by contacting us online or calling us at (646) 679-3989.

What Are Our Teeth Made Of?

Most people know the basics of dental care, but how many of us really know the anatomy of our teeth? Here’s a short overview of what our teeth are made of.

Crown

Quite simply, the crown is the part of the tooth that you can see.

Enamel

The hardest tissue in your whole body is the enamel of your teeth, which forms the outermost layer of the crown. This substance is why your teeth can withstand the pressure from chewing hard foods. It also protects your teeth from harmful bacteria and acids, as well as hot and cold foods. Enamel mostly consists of calcium phosphate, a rock-hard mineral.

Dentin

Right below the enamel is a yellowish material called dentin. It is a hard tissue made of microscopic tubes. When the enamel is damaged or worn away, heat or cold can enter the tooth through these tubes and cause pain. Every tooth is mostly dentin, which is why teeth have a slight yellowish tint. Like enamel, dentin mostly consists of apatite crystals of calcium and phosphate. This makes it hard as bone, but it’s not quite as hard as enamel.

Pulp

Below dentin is pulp, the softest, most alive and innermost portion of the tooth. Pulp consists of connective tissue , nerves, and blood vessels, which nourish your teeth. Pulp has two parts — the pulp chamber, which is in the crown, and the root canal, which lies in the root of the tooth. Nerves and blood vessels enter the root through a small hole in its tip and extend through the root canal into the pulp chamber.

Cementum

Cementum is a layer of connective tissue that secures the roots of your teeth firmly to your gums and jawbone.

A layer of cementum coats the exterior of the root, under the gum line, and binds the tooth into place within the jawbone. Cementum is as hard as bone, but it’s slightly softer than dentin. It consists of about 45–50% inorganic minerals and 50–55% organic matter (mostly collagen and glycoproteins) plus water.

Periodontal Ligament

The periodontal ligament, also called the desmodontium, is a fibrous joint that holds the root of each tooth in its bone socket. The periodontal ligament fibers are anchored in the cementum layer of the tooth and in the alveolar jaw bone. They hold the teeth in a state of sprung suspension, which means that each tooth can move slightly within its alveolar bone socket.

If you’re looking for the perfect place to get your teeth cleaned or fixed, choose the practice that was voted best dentist in NYC! At Park 56 Dental Group, we offer pediatric, prosthodontics, endodontics, oral surgery, Invisalign®, emergency, and sedation dentistry, all at the highest level of treatment. We serve the Midtown, Central Park, Upper East Side, Park Avenue, and all surrounding Manhattan and New York areas, with a patient-centered practice that has hours to fit your schedule. Schedule your complimentary consultation today by contacting us online or calling us at (646) 679-3989.