Beck Dental Care Blog

3 Ways Summer Can Threaten Your Smile [BLOG]

June 11, 2017

Summer is finally here, which means it’s time to get out the swimsuits, inflate the kids’ swimmies, and fire up the grill! The season of sun invites so many fun activities that you and the rest of the family can enjoy together. Beach vacations, trips to the pool, and baseball games… it’s enough to get everyone excited.

Whether you’re spending quality time with family and friends or you’re gearing up to play your favorite summer sport, Beck Dental Care wants to remind you that there are special ways of protecting your family’s smiles to be aware of over the next few months.

Protect Your Smile This Summer

Yes, you definitely want to stay vigilant all year long when it comes to your oral and overall health. But summer, like every season, brings along its own unique threats to your beautiful, healthy smile.

To keep your teeth and gums in tip top shape for all the pictures you’re sure to capture while making memories this season, we’re sharing some information about how summer can threaten your smile and ways to protect you and your family.

Summer Smile Threat #1: Oral Cancer

You’re well aware of the connection between excessive sun exposure and skin cancer. That’s why it’s easy to remember to add sunblock to your shopping list once summer rolls around. You know about harmful ultraviolet rays, so naturally, you wouldn’t let your kids step foot outside for an afternoon in the sun without proper SPF protection.

But, surprisingly, little is ever said about the risk of oral cancer during the summertime. The delicate skin of your lips need protection, too! You’re at an increased risk of oral cancer if you spend too much time out in the sun without sunscreen. That’s why we recommend using a lip balm containing SPF of 30 or higher and that you keep reapplying it to your lips throughout the day.

Summer Smile Threat #2: Dehydration

Your body needs plenty of water in order to function properly. This is never more important than during the hot summer months. You’re probably spending way more time outdoors, and you’re losing crucial fluids through sweat, even if you’re not running around or playing a sport. The prime heat of the day will drain your body of fluids regardless.

So staying hydrated is so important to your health. It’s equally important to protecting your teeth and gums. The reason is because dehydration causes dry mouth, a condition where you can’t produce enough saliva. Saliva helps rinse your mouth of food particles and starving potentially harmful bacteria that live in your mouth. Without saliva’s protection or its nutritional properties for strong tooth enamel, you’re at a greater risk for bad breath, gum disease, cavities, and tooth decay.

Summer Smile Threat #3: Dental Emergencies

As we mentioned earlier, summer calls us to the great outdoors and inspires all kinds of increased physical activity. While that’s awesome for your health, it does make you more susceptible to dental emergencies.

If you or someone in your family plays a sport during the summer months, you should come to Beck Dental Care before the season begins and get a custom-fit athletic mouthguard. Using a mouthguard will give your teeth and gums the kind of protection it needs to prevent oral injuries such as damage to the soft tissue of your mouth or a knocked out tooth.

Come Visit Our Columbia Dental Office This Summer!

Since summer is the halfway mark of the year, it’s the perfect time to schedule your family’s routine

dental cleanings and exams

. Our team at Beck Dental Care are committed to your oral health and will do all we can to make sure your smiles get healthy and stay healthy all year long.

Make sure to add a dental checkup to your list of summer plans! Call us today at (931) 388-8452 or fill out our

online form

to schedule an appointment. Remember to ask about our athletic mouthguards for the athletes in your family, as well.

Let’s make this summer a great one for your smile!

Summer Smile Tip: Be Careful With Chlorine! [INFOGRAPHIC]

June 6, 2017

Before you head out to the local pool, our team at Beck Dental Care wants you to be aware of some of the potentially harmful effects chlorine can have on your teeth.

Check out today’s infographic. It lists some of the ways too much exposure to excessive chlorine levels can damage your teeth. With the right information, you can better

protect your family’s smiles

this summer!

The good news is that Beck Dental Care can help you! Call us today at (931) 388-8452 or fill out our

online form

to schedule an appointment.

A Dental Office That’s Kid-Approved! [VIDEO]

June 1, 2017

One of the greatest recommendations a dental office can receive is from a child. That’s why we’re sharing Jack’s critique of our Columbia, TN staff with you today.

Here, Jack tells you why Beck Dental Care gets his seal of approval. Hear what he has to say about our gentle, caring team and why he recommends

our practice

to all of his friends. We love this little guy, and so will you!

Choose a dentist you and your kids will love. Come to Beck Dental Care. Call us today at (931) 388-8452 or fill out our

online form

to schedule an appointment.

Oral Surgery: Your Plan For A Smoother Experience [BLOG]

May 26, 2017

Ignoring a problem and hoping it will just go away on its own may sound like a good plan, but you know that’s not how it works. Not only does that strategy not solve anything, it can actually make the problem worse or even inspire an entirely new set of problems.

This is especially true when it comes to your health. If you have a dental problem that requires oral surgery, choosing to ignore it will only put you at risk for more serious health issues in the long run. That’s why we want to encourage you to trust your oral health to our team at Beck Dental Care in Columbia, TN. Our warm, friendly staff and our highly trained dental professionals will go out of our way to make you feel comfortable while you receive treatment for your dental problem so you can get back to enjoying your life pain-free.

Today, we’re sharing some tips about how you can plan ahead for your

oral surgery

to ensure a smoother recovery and a more positive experience overall.

How Does Oral Surgery Help Your Smile?

Restorative dentistry has come a long way in recent years, so many dental complications can be resolved with simple treatments. But sometimes, there are problems that still require some kind of oral surgery, such as:

-Placing dental implants or implant-supported dentures

-Tooth extractions (wisdom teeth, resolve overcrowding before orthodontic treatment)

-Strengthening your jawbone

-Adding healthy gum tissue

-Saving an infected or damaged tooth

Our dentists are highly skilled professionals who have the training and experience to help solve your dental problems. If you need oral surgery, give our Columbia dental office a call today to set up an appointment.

Planning Ahead For A Smooth Oral Surgery

While Dr. Beck and our experienced team prepares for your procedure, there are several things you can do to prepare as well. This will help make the entire process go more smoothly and could also help speed up your recovery time.

Carefully read all of your pre-op instructions ahead of time.

Make sure to do this a few days in advance. Any instructions provided to you by our team are done so with your best interests in mind, so it’s important to read and understand them. If you wait until the last minute to read over them, you might run into something you don’t understand or something you no longer have time to do.

Be aware of any dietary restrictions in the 24 hours preceding your surgery.

As with any surgery, your doctor may tell you to avoid eating or drinking anything before your surgery. This will vary according to your particular procedure, but usually it’s within those last several hours beforehand. If your surgery is scheduled for early in the morning, you might have to start fasting the night before, for example.

Head to your local grocery store to stock up on soft, bland foods.

Again, depending on your procedure, you may not be ready in the days after your procedure to handle foods that are particularly difficult to chew, so soft foods like applesauce, pudding, or yogurt would be a good idea. Also, spicy foods and certain post-op medications may not sit well on your stomach, so bland foods are a better choice as you heal.

Plan for ways to entertain yourself as you recover.

You might have to take it easy for a couple of days after your procedure, and any pain medications prescribed by your dentist might make it difficult to be up and about. Make sure you stock plenty of easily accessible forms of entertainment while you rest up such as books, movies, or games.

Have some cold packs on hand.

As we mentioned before, you might be prescribed certain medications to relieve any pain or swelling that may occur as a result of your procedure. But one of the things you can do to help you stay comfortable during recovery is to have some cold packs on hand in your freezer to reduce swelling and the pain that can sometimes come with it. While you’re at the store stocking up on soft, bland foods, be sure to grab a cold pack or a bag of frozen vegetables and put it in the freezer the night before your surgery.

Trust our caring, experienced team at Beck Dental Care when you need oral surgery. Give us a call today at (931) 388-8452 or fill out our

online form

to schedule your appointment.

Full-Mouth Reconstruction: Bring Your Smile Back [BLOG]

May 21, 2017

You know those reality TV shows where an expert in organization visits a person’s home and helps them get rid of all the clutter that’s weighing them down? It’s really impressive to watch these experts attack each room, one by one, until all the clutter is cleared away.

One of the reasons it’s so awe-inspiring to many of us is that having to clean a room that’s literally filled from floor to ceiling with junk is such an overwhelming task. Where in the world do you start?! On these shows, the expert will usually start by completely emptying the room. Then they go through the painstaking task of sorting each item that was brought from the room and talking with the homeowner about the item, its purpose, and whether or not it’s something they should keep or toss.

Easier said than done, right? Perhaps. But it’s quite common to feel overwhelmed when faced with a problem. As we learn from shows like this, any problem can be resolved as long as you have a plan.

That’s how a

full-mouth reconstruction

starts at Beck Dental Care in Columbia, TN.

Designing The Right Treatment Plan

There are all sorts of restorative dentistry options available to you that will help repair damaged teeth. If you’ve lost a tooth because of an accident or injury, or an oral health issue such as decay or gum disease, a dental restoration can fix the problem.

A full-mouth reconstruction requires a more comprehensive plan for repair. It usually involves series of restorative and cosmetic treatments. At Beck Dental Care, we will discuss with you all your options, and together, we will design the right plan to solve your dental problems that are based on your individual needs and goals.

This will not only ensure you are aware of each step of the process, but it will also help you feel completely comfortable with all that’s involved in helping you achieve the smile you’ve always wanted.

What Treatments Does A Full-Mouth Reconstruction Include?

A full-mouth reconstruction is going to vary from patient to patient. However, there are some procedures commonly associated with this kind of process:

DENTAL CROWNS & BRIDGES

Some of the most frequently relied upon dental restorations are dental crowns and bridges. A crown is a tooth-colored cap that covers a damaged tooth that protects it from further wear in a natural-looking way. A bridge is sometimes required to secure a dental crown on both sides of the damaged tooth.

If you have a cavity that’s too large for a regular filling, or if you have a tooth that’s cracked or chipped, dental crowns and bridges are a great way to restore the look and function of that tooth. Someone in need of a full-mouth reconstruction could possibly need to include crowns and bridges into their treatment plan.

DENTAL VENEERS

A damaged tooth will only get worse over time if it’s not repaired. This could lead to oral health complications down the road. Along with that, a cracked, chipped, or broken tooth just looks bad. That’s where dental veneers can help significantly. Veneers are becoming more and more popular in the field of dentistry because they can serve both a cosmetic and a restorative function. They protect your damaged teeth from further problems, and they also look natural and beautiful. So they repair and beautify your smile.

DENTAL IMPLANTS

A revolutionary tooth replacement option gaining popularity in dentistry is the dental implant. Dental implants are placed into your jawbone where your missing tooth used to be. They are like an artificial root that attaches to your bone to help maintain the structural integrity of your face and the rest of your remaining, healthy teeth. They are tremendously successful and effective in restoring not only the appearance of your smile, but the function.

Dental implants

are incredibly strong and long-lasting, which is what makes them a great option in tooth replacement.

DENTURES

Dentures

are usually a practical choice for someone who is missing several teeth. Whereas dental crowns and bridges make sense as a way to replace one or two teeth, dentures are considered when you need several replacements at once. But dentures aren’t for everyone simply because they require more maintenance and aren’t as strong as implants.

Fortunately, you can find durable denture solutions at Beck Dental Care. We offer implant-supported and implant-retained dentures that will help you smile and eat with confidence because they won’t shift around, thanks to their secure attachment to dental implants.

These are just a few of the procedures typically involved in full-mouth reconstructions. To find out more about how our highly trained team at Beck Dental Care can help bring back your smile, schedule an examination with us so we can discuss your options.

Give us a call today at (931) 388-8452 or fill out our

online form

to request an appointment.

4 Reasons To Consider Dental Implants [BLOG]

May 16, 2017

When you lose something important to you, what do you do? If it’s something that holds sentimental value, an heirloom perhaps, that just can’t be replaced, you probably mourn for awhile that it’s gone. As tough as it is when that happens, you eventually learn to live without it.

But what about those times when you lose something you use all the time and highly depend on? You replace it, right? Maybe you have an older car that’s been paid off for some time. You’ve taken good care of it, and it runs well. But eventually, no matter how much you do to maintain it, it will stop working. Or perhaps you get into a minor fender bender, but because of its age, the insurance company will declare the car a total loss.

Whatever the cause, you’d do what you had to do to replace it because you still need a way to get from point A to point B. Some things can

and should

be replaced.

A tooth is one of those things! It doesn’t matter if you’re missing one tooth or several teeth, there are several reasons why you should seriously think about your tooth replacement options. In particular, consider

dental implants

at Beck Dental Care in Columbia, TN. When you schedule an appointment with us, our highly skilled team will be here to help determine if implants are the right replacement option for your situation.

While you wait for that appointment, we’re sharing four important reasons to consider dental implants.

1. Do It For Your Teeth!

Let’s start with the impact missing teeth can have on your health. An empty space where a tooth should be is a breeding ground for bacteria, which feeds off of the sugars left behind from food and drinks. That feeding frenzy not only creates acid that can wear away your tooth enamel, but the bacteria will grow and fester into the hard to reach places (such as that empty space), leading to plaque and tartar build-up under your gumline.

It can cause gum disease, which is an infection that can take years to reveal itself to the untrained eye. That’s why it’s so important to not only visit Beck Dental Care for routine

cleanings and exams

, but to replace your missing tooth so you don’t give the bacteria a place to hide and wreak havoc in your mouth.

2. Do It For Your Jawbone!

Another reason you should replace a missing tooth is to help maintain a healthy jawbone. One of the things that can happen when you lose a tooth is that your jawbone can start to deteriorate. It has no tooth root to latch onto, thus, it can wither away. This compromises the structural integrity of your entire jawline and your face. Your remaining healthy teeth need the support of each other, and when one is missing, it starts a ripple effect of bone deterioration.

A dental implant is placed in your jawbone and acts as an artificial tooth root that will soon attach itself to your jawbone and encourage healthy bone growth.

3. Do It For Your Smile!

Your health is important, and so is your smile. When you’re missing teeth, you don’t feel good about how you look. You’ll go out of your way to avoid being around people for fear of embarrassment if they see you smile, laugh, or eat. The emotional and psychological impact can have a profound effect on your quality of life.

4. Do It For YOU!

At Beck Dental Care, we want to give you options in tooth replacement you can count on. We know that life doesn’t have to continue to pass you by because of a problem that can easily be remedied!

Let us help you get back your smile, your confidence, and your function with dental implants. To find out if they’re a viable option for you, give us a call today at (931) 388-8452 or fill out our

online form

to request an appointment.

For A Prettier Smile By Summer, Consider Cosmetic Dentistry [PHOTO]

May 11, 2017

If you’ve ever been embarrassed about the flaws and imperfections in your smile, cosmetic dentistry can be life-changing. That’s why our skilled dental staff want to help give you the smile you’ve always wanted.

We offer a variety of

cosmetic dental procedures

to suit your individual needs and goals. And you might be surprised at just how quick and easy some of these procedures can be!

Today’s stunning before and after image of one of our patients is the kind of artistry you can expect from our highly trained specialists.

For your prettier smile by summer, trust Beck Dental Care in Columbia, TN. Call us today at (931) 388-8452 or fill out our

online form

to schedule a consultation.

3 Ways To Protect Your Child’s Teeth [INFOGRAPHIC]

May 6, 2017

Being a parent is a tough responsibility. Making sure your kids understand the value of good oral hygiene is part of that. But you don’t have to do it alone!

Our team at Beck Dental Care in Columbia, TN want to help with your

family’s dental needs

. That’s why we’re sharing this infographic with you today. Check out three simple ways you can protect your child’s teeth.

Then schedule your family’s routine

dental cleanings and exams

at Beck Dental Care. Call us today at (931) 388-8452 or fill out our

online form

to request an appointment.

Why This Patient Was Surprised By Her New Dental Bridge [VIDEO]

May 1, 2017

When Gina’s dental crown came off one morning, she went to Dr. Beck at Beck Dental Care in Columbia, TN. She was very emotional when she discovered the best solution was to get a

dental bridge

In today’s video blog, Gina tells about her experience in our office and why she was pleasantly surprised with the end results of her dental bridge from our professional, friendly staff.

For your restorative dental needs, trust our team at Beck Dental Care. Call us today at (931) 388-8452 or fill out our

online form

to schedule an appointment.

A Straight Smile In Six Months From Beck Dental Care [BLOG]

April 26, 2017

Most of the time, when you think about orthodontics, it takes you back to those teen years when all your friends at school wore traditional braces. And maybe you did, too. But the truth is, your teeth never really stop moving. So you might be an adult who has noticed slight shifting in your teeth over the last several years but thought your options in orthodontics were too limited. After all, what adult wants to walk around wearing traditional metal braces for all the world to see?

Call our Columbia, TN dental office today at (931) 388-8452 and ask about our treatment options in orthodontics. You can come in for an appointment to learn more about Six Month Smiles, a great option for adults looking for a faster, more discreet way to a straighter smile.

Why Six Month Smiles Is A Great Option For Adults

Traditional metal braces are still a highly effective solution for straightening crooked teeth and correcting bite alignment. That’s why it’s still the most popular choice with the teen demographic. When so many people in that age bracket are going through orthodontic treatment around the same time, it feels almost like a rite of passage. You know you’re not alone, and therefore, it’s fairly easy to deal with on a social level.

But when you’re an adult seeking orthodontic treatment, the idea of wearing traditional braces is far more awkward. Imagine walking into a boardroom surrounded by your professional colleagues with a mouth full of metal. Do you really want to be in that position for two to three years? Using valuable vacation or sick days for monthly dental visits all the while? The adjustments you’d have to make to your lifestyle as an adult make traditional braces a far less attractive option.

When you call our office to set up an appointment to start Six Month Smiles, you’ll be one step closer to straighter teeth, and you can reach the end of treatment before most people will probably even notice you were wearing braces in the first place.

If you need more reasons to consider this orthodontic method, keep reading!

Six Month Smiles Are More Discreet

As we said before, you’re an adult who shouldn’t have to worry about looking immature, especially in the workplace, just because you’re wearing braces. Traditional braces are more commonly associated with teens, so why walk around with all that metal in your mouth as a grown up?

Six Month Smiles is a great option for adults because they’re clear and more discreet. The clear brackets are held together with more natural-looking wires that match closely the color of your teeth. It’s a less noticeable orthodontic treatment than metal brackets and wires, so you won’t feel as self-conscious while wearing them.

Six Month Smiles Helps You Smile With Confidence

If your teeth are crooked or misaligned, you probably already feel self-conscious about your smile. So another great reason to choose Six Month Smiles from Beck Dental Care is knowing that when your treatment is over, you’ll have a straighter, more attractive smile. Every deserves to feel good about how they look, and with Six Month Smiles, you can restore the confidence you’ve been lacking for so long.

Call our office today to schedule an appointment. Our highly skilled team can help determine if Six Month Smiles is a viable orthodontic solution for you and your lifestyle.

Six Month Smiles Are Faster Than Traditional Braces

Since traditional braces straighten all your teeth, they can take a couple of years to properly position every last one of them. But as an adult, you don’t want to invest all the money, energy, and time going the traditional route straightening teeth people won’t even see. Six Month Smiles focuses on the gentle repositioning of the teeth you really only see when you smile, which is why it’s considered a short-term orthodontic solution.

Everyone’s needs are different, of course, but generally, Six Month Smiles can be completed in only six months. As an adult, you have way too many other things that demand your attention on a daily basis. You deserve to have straight teeth without needing to make all sorts of accommodations to fit treatment into your lifestyle.

Six Month Smiles Are Less Expensive Than Traditional Braces

With traditional braces, you’re looking at monthly visits for up to two or three years to keep up with tightening and positioning that treatment method requires. But with Six Month Smiles, you don’t have to worry about years worth of appointments that disrupt your work and home schedules. All those visits can add up and hurt your pocketbook, too. You have too many financial and familial responsibilities to mess with all that!

Come to Beck Dental Care in Columbia, TN and find out if Six Month Smiles is right for you! Call us today at (931) 388-8452 or fill out our

online form

to schedule an appointment.