Dalseth Family & Cosmetic Dentistry
Apple Valley, MN Dentist
Spring is in the air! As you probably know, you can always connect with us on our Facebook page, but we invite you to please contact our office with any updates to phone numbers and addresses, so that we may be able to reach you.
We also encourage you to call us and let us know if you have any new phone numbers or if your contact information has changed!
Thank you! Have a great week!
Visiting our office regularly will not only help keep your teeth and mouth healthy, but will also help keep the rest of your body healthy. The fact is, every hour of every day in the U.S., someone dies of oral cancer, which is the sixth-most common diagnosed form of the disease. The five-year survival rate is only 50 percent, and oral cancer is one of the few cancers whose survival rate has not improved. Since April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month, we would like to take this opportunity to remind all of our patients about the importance of maintaining good oral hygiene.
We are trained to diagnose, treat, and prevent oral health problems. Please let us now if you have any questions about your oral health during your next appointment. Take care of your teeth!
Bad breath, also called halitosis, can result from poor dental health habits and may be a sign of other health problems. Bad breath can also be made worse by the types of foods you eat and other unhealthy lifestyle habits. You may not even be aware of your own bad breath, so if you’re concerned you may be suffering from it, talk to our team. We can help identify the cause and, if it’s due to an oral condition, develop a treatment plan to treat it.
There are many reasons for bad breath:
• What you eat can also affect the way your breath smells. Certain foods, such as garlic and onions, can have a very strong and lasting odor.
• If you don’t brush and floss daily, particles of food remain in the mouth, collecting bacteria, which can cause bad breath, not to mention tooth decay and gingivitis.
• Bad breath can be caused by dry mouth (xerostomia), which occurs when the flow of saliva decreases. Saliva is necessary to cleanse the mouth and remove particles that may cause odor.
• Tobacco products cause bad breath. If you use tobacco, ask us for tips on kicking the habit.
• Bad breath may be the sign of a medical disorder, such as a local infection in the respiratory tract, chronic sinusitis, postnasal drip, chronic bronchitis, diabetes, gastrointestinal disturbance, liver or kidney ailment. If this is the case, you may be referred to your family doctor or a specialist to determine the cause.
The good news is there are many ways to help eliminate bad breath from your life. Maintaining good oral health is essential to reducing bad breath, so schedule regular dental visits with our office for a professional cleaning and checkup. Brush twice a day with fluoride toothpaste to remove food debris and plaque, and don’t forget to brush your tongue, too!
When I look at our immediate community, I think about our dental office and relationships have have developed between the entire staff. We are fortunate in having a staff that is focused on the patients’ needs, and by listening we are able to help them achieve their goals. We are extremely proud of our staff and the fact that they have been with us for a long time. This month we are celebrating the ten years Jennifer R. has been with us. I am sure over the years many current patients have had the opportunity to have Jennifer clean their teeth. She is a bright person who is continually seeking learn more, not only about dental hygiene, but Invisalign, dental implants, and cosmetic dentistry. Next time you are in the office and you see Jennifer, congratulate her on her dedication to preventative dental care and the outstanding treatment she continues to provide.
As the year progresses Dalseth Family and Cosmetic Dentistry is going to highlight other staff memebers that have reached milestones with us.
Dr. Pascal
There are several reasons why some people’s teeth grow in crooked, overlapping, or twisted. Some people’s mouths are too small for their teeth, which crowds the teeth and causes them to shift. In other cases, a person’s upper and lower jaws aren’t the same size or are malformed. Most often, crooked teeth are inherited traits just as the color of your eyes or hair. Other causes of crooked teeth are early loss of baby or adult teeth, undue pressure on the teeth and gums, misalignment of jaw after facial injury, or common oral health problems in children such as thumb sucking, tongue thrusting, or prolonged use of a bottle or pacifier.
Having crooked teeth isn’t just a cosmetic issue; it can lead to serious health problems as well. Crooked teeth can:
• interfere with proper chewing
• make keeping teeth clean more of a challenge, increasing the risk of tooth decay, cavities, and gingivitis
• strain the teeth, jaws, and muscles, increasing the risk of breaking a tooth
There are several orthodontic procedures that can help correct crooked teeth, and at Dalseth Family & Cosmetic Dentistry we have many services that we can customize to meet your needs, including traditional braces and Invisalign®. Dr. Todd Weber has had extensive training in both traditional braces and Invisalign (clear braces). In fact, Dr. Weber is a Preferred Provider for the Invisalign treatment.
If you or someone you know has always wanted a straighter smile give us a call. Dr. Weber would love to talk to you about your options. We want you to be proud to show off your smile!
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!
Winter sports are wrapping up and spring sports are ramping up, so I think now is a good time to review facial protection. According to the National Youth Sports Safety Foundation, 5 million teeth are knock out annually on children, high school athletes, and adults. It is essential that an athlete’s mouth guard fits properly, is comfortable and is worn. Whether the athletic mouth guard is fabricated in our office, or it is a take home kit from the sporting goods store, it must protect and cover the vital structures.
The guard should cover all of the maxillary (upper) teeth and extend onto the gum several millimeters in order to be an adequate shock absorber. It should not be too thin and should be replaced at least annually, especially if your child is still loosing teeth. However, an improper fit will not provide adequate protection. If you have a question about your child’s athletic mouth guard, feel free to give us a call.
Lastly, I want to wish all of the athletes competing in sections, state, or other season ending tournaments the best of luck. I will be watching the sports page for the results!
Cavities occur as a result of the destruction of tooth structure, called tooth decay. Tooth decay can affect both the enamel (the outer coating of the tooth) and the dentin (the inner layer of the tooth). While it is very important to brush and floss every day to remove food particles and plaque, regular cleanings and checkups at Dalseth Family & Cosmetic Dentistry is the best way to help avoid cavities.
Drs. Stephen Dalseth, Pascal Dalseth, Todd Weber, and Sara Michel can discover cavities during your regular dental checkup. The tooth surface feels soft when probed with a dental instrument. X-rays can also show cavities before they become visible to the eye. In advanced stages of tooth decay, you might experience a toothache, especially after consuming sweet, hot, or cold foods or drinks. Other signs of tooth decay are visible pits or holes in the teeth.
Don’t wait for a toothache!
Remember, the longer you wait to treat a cavity, the more extensive your treatment will be. A small cavity can be treated with a filling, while a large cavity that weakens the structure of your tooth may require a crown. If the decay is so bad that it causes the nerve or pulp of the tooth to die, a root canal or tooth removal may be your only options. If you think you may have a cavity, contact our office and schedule an appointment. We’ll make sure you leave with a healthy, pain-free smile!
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!