Preventative dentistry involves establishing habits that will keep your teeth healthy, so you can avoid cavities, gum disease, enamel wear, and more. During your regular dental visit, your dental hygienist will point out any issues that you may be having with your oral hygiene. A cleaning will be performed, along with a dental exam, an oral cancer exam, and any necessary X-rays. We will also evaluate the appearance of your teeth and recommend any aesthetic procedures that will enhance your smile.
Your Mississauga Choice for Preventative Dentistry!
What You Can Do to Prevent Tooth Decay
Establishing at-home oral hygiene habits is essential to keeping your teeth healthy. Brushing twice a day for at least two minutes and flossing after eating will help remove plaque and decay. Plaque is difficult to remove, and the best at-home habits may not be enough to keep it at bay. This is why it is so important to schedule regular dental visits and allow our trained team of oral hygienists to catch any problems before they become serious.
We recommend visiting us twice a year for regular cleanings and preventive treatments, so that we can detect any problems early when they are much easier and less costly to fix. We are pleased to provide the following preventative dentistry options:
Custom Mouthguards
Protect your smile with a mouthguard designed just for you! We know many people avoid wearing mouthguards because they are uncomfortable and get in the way of speech. They sometimes even hamper breathing. Custom mouthguards are different. If you or someone you love is involved in sports, consider this:
- Up to 40% of dental injuries are sustained during sports activities
- The cost of a custom mouthguard is a small fraction of the cost of dealing with dental trauma
- Not wearing a mouthguard makes you 60 times more likely to sustain an injury to the face and mouth.
A custom mouthguard designed especially for you is much more comfortable and less bulky, making talking, breathing, and swallowing easier. With a custom-fit mouthguard, you will enjoy added protection against concussions, cut lips, and a cut tongue. We use only materials of the highest quality so your mouthguard will last.
Occlusal Night Guards
If you have ever woken up with a sore jaw, tooth pain, or a headache, you know the struggle of sleep bruxism (teeth grinding). Because it happens in your sleep, stopping it can be very difficult. One way to protect your teeth from the damaging effects of grinding is to wear a custom night guard. Wearing a night guard provides a cushioning effect so that your upper and lower teeth cannot wear away at each other. It protects your teeth from external damage caused by grinding, such as chipping and erosion. Keep in mind however that it is not a cure for a grinding habit, and as long as the grinding continues, some symptoms such as jaw pain may not change.
Oral Cancer with Vizilite
Oral Cancer screening with Vizilite is a quick, painless, and highly effective oral cancer screening tool used to help identify and evaluate abnormalities in the mouth, including precancerous cells and cancer, as well as suspicious oral lesions, which may be difficult to see with the naked eye during a regular exam. The test takes only a few minutes and involves the administering of a special rinse to the mouth that causes the nuclei of abnormal precancerous or cancerous cells to appear to glow when subjected to the ViziLite technology (a fluorescent light). ViziLite is highly effective at detecting oral cancer in its very earliest stages before it has had the opportunity to spread to other tissues.
Oral Cancer Screening
While oral cancer is quickly becoming one of the most prevalent forms of cancer today, it does not receive much attention compared to breast and lung cancer, which is a major part of the problem. Because few people realize that oral cancer is a risk, they often fail to get diagnosed until it is past the early stages, making it much more dangerous. Lifestyle Dentistry wants to stop oral cancer in its tracks by diagnosing it early, which is why we are pleased to offer oral cancer screenings at every cleaning and checkup. One of the best things about oral cancer screening is that it is so quick and easy that we can do it during your regular cleaning appointments. The screening mainly consists of checking the tissues of your mouth for any irregularities, such as unusual textures or white or red spots. Everyone should be screened for oral cancer regularly, but it is particularly important for those with risk factors such as smoking, tobacco use, previous history of oral cancer, alcohol use, and age.
Electric toothbrush
An electric toothbrush is great for removing food particles and plaque from your teeth and gums. You might think you do a pretty good job of brushing your teeth with a manual toothbrush, but an electric toothbrush is far more effective at cleaning hard-to-reach areas, with the result that it clears away 100% more plaque than manual brushes! It also has a handy built-in timer, so you know you are getting the full two minutes in. The most important thing to look for in a toothbrush is how effectively it cleans your teeth, which is why Lifestyle Dentistry recommends an electric toothbrush.
Oral Irrigator
At Lifestyle Dentistry, we remind all of our patients that great hygiene starts with brushing and flossing daily. Unfortunately, many of our patients forget to floss. Brushing is very helpful, but it is not the only part of dental hygiene; you should also floss daily! For some patients, flossing is awkward, messy, and difficult to do correctly. For those patients who have a difficult time flossing, we recommend using an Oral Irrigator. An Oral Irrigator is a water flossing system that makes flossing fast, easy, and effective. It does all of the work, allowing you to have healthier gums and brighter teeth in only about a minute a day. It is the number one recommended water flossing system within the dental industry. It is known for its performance and quality. Many of our patients have come to love and appreciate its effectiveness.
