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Whether it’s a dull and throbbing ache or a sharp pain, toothaches can come in many different forms. Chances are you’ve had the discomforting experience once or twice in your life. It’s the type of experience that nobody wants to have, because a toothache can be as annoying as fingernails scratching a chalkboard.

What’s a good way to describe a toothache? Let’s see … your mouth feels as if it’s being besieged by one of those Loony Tunes-style jackhammers. As fate would have it, toothaches always seem to occur over the weekend or after-office hours, leaving you to suffer and forcing you to cancel your reservation at that high-end restaurant you’ve been anticipating all week.

Not so fast!

While you’re probably going to want to skip the rib-eye steak, there are numerous tried-and-true home remedies you can use to ease the pain until you can make an appointment with our office. Here’s a look at four ways to soothe a toothache.

1. Don’t underestimate the power of salt water. Rinsing your mouth with warm salt water will both soothe your toothache and disinfect your mouth. However, make sure the water is warm; cold water can further exacerbate a sensitive tooth. Follow up the saltwater rinse by swishing your mouth with hydrogen peroxide.
2. Clove oil, eucalyptus oil, peppermint oil, and vanilla extract are proven to be comforting elixirs. Dip a cotton swab in one of these mixtures and apply it to your tooth and gums. These substances, which you may even have in your kitchen cupboards, are known to have pain-relieving qualities. For the best results, repeat the application throughout the day.
3. Eating yogurt is good for toothaches and mouth pain. Yogurt is filled with healthy bacteria that combat pain. Afterward, place a cold compress on your jaw.
4. Try flossing. Your toothache might be throbbing and severe, but there’s always a chance the pain is caused by a piece of food awkwardly lodged in your teeth.

We hope that helps! Give Hinnant Family Dentistry a call to learn more!

Some languages have many different words for love. Some have many different words for snow. One language even has different words for a tasty layered sandwich. Is that a hoagie or a hero you’re having? A sub? Grinder? Po’boy?

“Sugar,” though, is a single word which has taken on many meanings, from casual endearment to monosaccharide molecule. Today, we’re examining scientific definitions, with a short and sweet look at the science of sugar.

Chemistry

First, let’s get basic—all the way down to the molecular level.

Carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are the three essential macronutrients which keep our bodies running. Sugars are molecules made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms, and all carbohydrates are made of these sugar molecules, from single unit structures to very complicated chains.

Sugars called monosaccharides are the most basic of the carbohydrates. “Monosaccharide” comes from the Greek words for “single” and “sugar,” and monosaccharides are the sugars we mean when we talk about “simple sugars.” Why are they simple? Because a monosaccharide is a single molecule which can’t be broken down into smaller carbohydrates.

While there are several types of monosaccharides, the three major simple sugars are:

• Fructose—the sugar we get from fruit.
• Galactose—the sugar found in milk.
• Glucose—the sugar our bodies use the most. It’s found in plants, and also produced when our bodies break down other carbs. Fun fact—this is the only sugar essential for brain cell function.

When two monosaccharide molecules join together, they form a disaccharide (not surprisingly, from the Greek for “two sugars”). Again, there are quite a few disaccharides, but we tend to concentrate on three in our diets:

• Lactose (glucose + galactose)—found only in milk and dairy products.
• Maltose (glucose + glucose)—the sugar chiefly produced by grains.
• Sucrose (glucose + fructose)—produced in plants. These plants include sugar cane and sugar beets, from which we get our refined table sugars.

The reason sugar molecules are so important is because of how our bodies use them.

Biology

Our bodies use the glucose in carbs for energy. As foods break down, first through digestion and then in the cells, the chemical bonds which hold glucose molecules together break as well. This action releases energy, and this energy fuels all our bodily functions.

But even though we need carbohydrates to keep our bodies going, and even though sugars are the easiest carbs to use for energy, there’s a reason no one recommends a diet filled with extra sugar.

Our bodies get all the sugar they need from the natural sugar in the foods we eat. Natural sugars are found in fruits, dairy products, even some vegetables and grains. Along with that sugar come vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber, and/or protein.

Extra sugars added during baking or mixing or processing for flavor and sweetness provide none of these nutrients. These sugars are known as “added sugars,” and have more serious consequences than just empty calories.

Once we have the sugars we require, there’s no need for more. Extra sugars are stored in liver, muscle, and fat cells for later use. When we eat too much sugar, this carefully balanced system is upset, with negative effects for, among other things, weight, blood sugar, insulin levels—and our dental health.

Nutrition and Dental Health

You know that a sugar-filled diet often means a cavity-filled checkup. Why? Because it’s not just our bodies that break down sugar for fuel.

The oral bacteria in plaque also need sugars for food, which they use to make acids. An acidic environment in the mouth weakens and dissolves the minerals which keep tooth enamel strong. And these weak spots are vulnerable to decay. A steady diet of sugar-filled foods means that your enamel is constantly under acid attack.

Cutting down on added sugars is one of the easiest and best ways to cut down on added cavities. Reading recipes, checking out labels, learning to recognize added sugars—this is nutritional research which has sweet results.

How to recognize added sugars? Here’s where language gives us plenty of words to fill our linguistic sugar bowl. Whether the ingredients are called agave nectar, honey, molasses, syrups, treacle, or table sugar, they’re really just sugar. More specifically, they’re all sugars made up of glucose and fructose, with at best a trace amount of vitamins and minerals—and usually not even a trace!

To make our lives easier, labels on food packaging now let us know exactly how much of the sugar in any product is “added sugar.” You expect to find a high percentage of sugar on dessert labels, but you might be surprised to read how much sugar is added to foods like energy drinks, sports drinks, flavored yogurts, cereals, spaghetti sauce, and many more of the items in your grocery cart. Spend an extra minute examining the label, and save yourself many empty calories.

Monosaccharides, disaccharides, glucose, fructose, maltose, agave syrup, treacle, and on and on—so many words for so many kinds of sugar. When it comes to dental health, let Drs. Keith Hinnant, Peter Klein, Philip Brantly have the last word on sugar science. During your next visit to our Goldsboro office, talk to us about reducing unnecessary sugars in your diet for a future filled with the sweetest of healthy smiles.

Drs. Keith Hinnant, Peter Klein, Philip Brantly and our team know it can be easy to underestimate the significance of baby teeth. At Hinnant Family Dentistry, we sometimes meet parents who assume that since their child's baby teeth, also known as primary teeth, eventually fall out and are replaced, they are less important. But did you know baby teeth serve purposes other than biting, chewing, and digesting food properly?

Baby teeth are essential not only for your child’s language development, but they also serve other important functions, like contributing to the normal development of your child’s jaw bones and facial muscles. Baby teeth also reserve space for your child’s future permanent teeth.

So, when do baby teeth fall out?

A baby tooth is intended to remain in your child’s mouth until the permanent tooth underneath it is ready to take its place. Sometimes, either due to a tooth being knocked out accidentally or being removed because of tooth decay, kids lose baby teeth before the permanent teeth are ready to erupt. If a tooth is lost, the teeth on either side of the open space may possibly push into the open space. The result? There may not be enough room for the permanent tooth when it is finally ready to erupt.

If you have any questions about your toddler’s teeth, or if your child is experiencing issues that concern you, please give us a call to set up an appointment at our convenient Goldsboro office.

August 22 is National Tooth Fairy Day! If the Tooth Fairy is a treasured part of your child’s life, you’re just in time to celebrate! But what to do when the Tooth Fairy doesn’t arrive on schedule—when baby teeth stay longer than expected or are lost too soon? 

A baby’s 20 baby teeth tend to come in within a fairly predictable time frame. The bottom central incisors in the very front of your baby’s mouth typically make their appearance first, when your baby is around six to ten months old. Over the next few years, the remaining incisors, canines, and first molars arrive. Last on the scene are the second molars, which usually show up between the ages of 23-33 months. 

Just as baby teeth follow a pattern coming in, they tend to follow the same pattern falling out. The front teeth begin to wiggle and loosen around age six or seven, while the last of the baby teeth, the canines and second molars, are often lost between the ages of ten and 12. 

Baby teeth fall out as the adult teeth below them push up as they erupt. The top of the new tooth puts pressure on the root of the baby tooth, gradually dissolving it. As the root grows smaller and can’t anchor the tooth, the tooth begins to wiggle and eventually becomes loose enough to fall out. This leaves the adult tooth perfectly placed to grow into its proper position.

Sometimes, though, teeth linger far past their fall-out date. Sometimes, because of decay or trauma, they are lost much too early. In either case, Drs. Keith Hinnant, Peter Klein, Philip Brantly can provide treatment to protect little smiles now and to ensure that there’s space for the permanent teeth to erupt and align correctly.

Teeth Which Overstay Their Welcome

If that baby tooth never gets wiggly, the team at Hinnant Family Dentistry can help! When baby teeth stubbornly hang on, adult teeth can erupt behind them, creating a double row of teeth commonly known as “shark teeth.” These permanent teeth can become crowded or misaligned as they try to fit in any space available. Or a baby tooth can block an adult tooth from erupting at all. When that baby tooth just isn’t budging, an extraction will create space for the permanent tooth to erupt.

Extracting a baby tooth is generally a straightforward procedure because primary teeth have very small roots. Your child’s dental team at Hinnant Family Dentistry are experts in helping you prepare your child for the procedure in a gentle, reassuring, and age-appropriate way. 

Often, a local anesthetic is all that’s necessary for a simple extraction, but if you feel sedation would better fit your child’s needs, discuss sedation options with your dentist. After the extraction, you’ll be given clear information on how to deal with pain and swelling, which foods and drinks are best while the extraction site heals, and how to protect the area.

Teeth Which Exit Too Early

In the case of decay or trauma, Drs. Keith Hinnant, Peter Klein, Philip Brantly will do everything possible to save the tooth. When decay is so extensive that there’s not enough structure left to hold a filling or crown, or when there’s an infection in or around the tooth, or when an accident or injury has caused serious damage, extraction might be the healthiest option. Depending on your child’s age, further treatment might be needed afterward to protect future smiles. 

Besides their roles in eating and speaking, baby teeth save space for permanent teeth. Whenever a child loses a primary tooth too soon, the family dentist will be on the lookout for potential future orthodontic problems. If remaining baby teeth shift, taking up part of the empty space left behind by the lost tooth, the adult teeth below won’t have the space they need to erupt properly. Permanent teeth might come in at an awkward angle or in the wrong place. 

In this case, Drs. Keith Hinnant, Peter Klein, Philip Brantly might recommend a space maintainer. Space maintainers are small, custom-designed appliances which prevent the remaining baby teeth from shifting position while holding space open for the permanent tooth to arrive right on schedule and right where it belongs. 

It’s comforting to have charts which let us know when little teeth will typically come in and when they will typically fall out. But unexpected events might mean teeth overstay their welcome or depart too soon. When the Tooth Fairy can’t keep to her schedule, schedule an appointment at Hinnant Family Dentistry in Goldsboro as soon as possible to make sure your child is on track for a future of healthy smiles.