The festive holiday season is in full swing, but that means your teeth and gums have to be protected against, injury, damage, tooth decay, and gum disease.

Our team at Beck Dental Care wants to help you get through the holidays with a clean, healthy mouth. That’s why we’re talking about how to

keep your smile safe

all through the season and into the new year!

Guidelines For Healthy Holiday Teeth

You want to have a good time with family and friends during the holidays. To do that, you want to avoid things that will land you in the dentist chair at the worst possible time. Here are some guidelines to keep in mind while you’re celebrating this year for a healthy holiday smile.

Use Your Teeth For Chewing

We’ve all been there. You’re unwrapping gifts, and instead of using the proper tools to cut hard plastic, you use your teeth instead. It’s more convenient, and it won’t hurt anything, right?

Wrong. As tempting as it is, it’s important to use your teeth what they were designed for: tearing and chewing up food, not hard objects. This year, when it’s time to tear open all the Christmas presents and unbind gifts from their packages, reach for a pair of scissors to cut tags and ties. This will protect your teeth, and your good time, from a dental emergency.

Don’t Be A Candy Cane Cautionary Tale

Candy canes are all over the place during this time of year. They’re on your Christmas tree, they’re piled high in the candy jar, and they don your gingerbread house. But if you don’t want to be a Christmas cautionary tale, they probably should go in your mouth.

First, candy canes are packed with sugar. Aside from that, they also break up into sharp, small pieces that, while being chewed, could injure your gums and your teeth. You don’t want to cut your holiday fun short because of a dental emergency.

Be Mindful Of Sticky Substances

Although the holidays are a great time of year to indulge your sweet tooth, there are certain treats you should avoid for better oral health.

Among these would be desserts and candies that contain sticky, sweet substances like marshmallow, toffee, and caramel. They tend to stick to small spaces in between your teeth, which is a sugary playground for bacteria.

Rinse With Water Between Meals

As surprising as it sounds, you shouldn’t brush your teeth right away after you eat or drink something, especially if it’s highly acidic.

That’s because the acid creates a layer on your teeth for up to 45 minutes after you’ve consumed it. Brushing your teeth immediately will only allow the acids to seep into your enamel and threaten your teeth and gums further.

Instead, rinse your mouth out with water throughout the holidays if you’re in between normal brushing and flossing. This will help your mouth stay clean, especially after eating those highly acidic, sugary foods and drinks.

Stay Committed To Good Dental Habits

Holiday traveling can make it hard to keep to your regular health regimen. From working out to brushing and flossing, this time of year requires extra vigilance if you don’t want your oral or overall health to get off track.

You give yourself reminders by keeping your toothbrush and dental floss visible near or on the bathroom sink. It’s hard to forget daily brushing and flossing when you them several times a day.

Make Your First Appointment Of The Year!

Believe it or not, you can come away from the holiday season with your smile healthy and intact. All it takes is a little awareness and a commitment to regular personal and professional oral health care.

Beck Dental Care is excited to help you in that endeavor. You can follow our helpful guidelines as you navigate through the festive season, and then call our Columbia, TN dental office to schedule your first cleaning and exam of 2018.

Keeping your smile healthy is our top priority, but we don’t just stop at making sure your teeth and gums are strong. We also want to make sure your smile is as beautiful as you want it to be.

With cosmetic dentistry at Beck Dental Care, you can have a gorgeous, confident smile to help you enjoy years of holiday celebrations!

Call us today at (931) 388-8452 or fill out our

online form

to schedule your first appointment of the year.

Everyone knows that a beautiful smile must first be a healthy one.

That’s why, at Beck Dental Care, we aim to restore your oral health and beautify your smile with restorative and

cosmetic dentistry

.

Today’s before and after photo shows you the difference healthy teeth and gums make for the overall look of your smile.

Are you ready to beautify your smile this season? Call our Columbia, TN dental office  today at (931) 388-8452 or fill out our

online form

to schedule a consultation.

At

Beck Dental Care

, we’re committed to our patients and want to create a positive experience every time you visit our Columbia, TN dental office.

That’s what Randy appreciates about us. Hear Randy talk more about our warm atmosphere and why he keeps coming back to us for quality dental care.

Call our Columbia, TN dental office  today at (931) 388-8452 or fill out our

online form

to schedule an appointment.

With

cosmetic dentistry

at Beck Dental Care, you can have a beautiful, confident smile in time for the upcoming holiday season.

Look at the kind of quality craftsmanship you can expect from our team here in Columbia, TN. Today’s before and after image shows the difference cosmetic dentistry can make for your smile.

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

online form

to schedule a consultation.

Hello, and Happy Thanksgiving! Our staff at Beck Dental Care are excited for the upcoming holiday season, but we know how hectic it can be for our patients!

That’s why we wanted to take this opportunity to talk to you about a smile makeover. For a memorable season of celebration, a beautiful smile is the perfect accessory.

Today, we’re devoting the blog to the reasons why you should consider a

smile makeover

and the kind of cosmetic treatments we can offer you in our Columbia, TN dental office.

Let’s first take a look at why you want a gorgeous smile this season!

Look Good For The Cameras

There will be no shortage of photo opportunities any time you have the chance to gather with family and friends. The holidays are a perfect time to get a beautiful smile that’s ready for the cameras.

You also want to look back on those photos and feel good about your smile!

Feel Good At The Parties

If your smile looks great, you’re going to feel great. It’s that simple!

This year, as you’re rubbing elbows with business associates at a company event or being introduced to new friends at a holiday party, you should feel confident enough to smile and look people in the eye. This will help you make great first impressions!

The Smile Makeover Difference

A smile makeover is a series of cosmetic treatments, combined to give you the smile of your dreams. It’s customized to suit your needs, which means it could be two or more procedures depending on what you want your smile to look like.

Here are some ways a makeover can make all the difference for your smile this holiday season!

Brighten Your Smile With Teeth Whitening

No cosmetic treatment is as simple and cost effective as professional teeth whitening! It can also be combined with other procedures as part of your larger smile makeover plan.

With our professional strength whitening system, you can control the pacing and the level of whiteness of your treatment in the comfort of your home. It’s far more effective than anything you can get in stores, and it will do wonders for your smile, including giving it more youthful appearance.

Hide Unsightly Flaws With Bonding Or Veneers

Sometimes your teeth can take on the stress of everyday use to the point where they become dented or worn over time. Dental bonding is a great way to correct those cosmetic issues. Dr. Beck and our cosmetic team can match a resin to blend in with the rest of your teeth and use it to cover tiny damage and polish them to perfection.

But if your teeth show a little more “character” from damage like cracks or chips, or even if your teeth stains are resistant to whitening treatment, dental veneers could be the solution!

Veneers are thin shells that cover your flawed teeth, close gaps, and straighten crooked or awkwardly shaped teeth. They also give you a layer of protection from future damage and a whiter, brighter smile.

Balance Your Smile With Gum Reshaping

A beautiful smile is one where your teeth and gums are aesthetically proportioned. If you feel like all you see are gums when you smile, you might have excess gum tissue that needs to be removed. It could also mean that you have teeth that are disproportionately smile, so they don’t get the attention they deserve.

Gum reshaping can restore balance to your smile so your teeth become the center of attention. Combining tooth bonding or teeth whitening with gum reshaping can do wonders for your appearance and your confidence!

Schedule A Cosmetic Consultation Today!

When you think about another holiday season full of fun, festive social events, picture yourself with the smile of your dreams and how it might feel to walk around knowing how great you look.

A smile makeover can turn your dream into a reality with cosmetic treatments that will mask unsightly flaws and catapult your confidence into the new year, and the many that follow!

Let the cosmetic team at Beck Dental Care transform your holiday experience with a smile makeover! Call our Columbia, TN dental office today at (931) 388-8452 or fill out our

online form

to schedule your first consultation.

You probably have quite a bit going on right now as you prepare for Thanksgiving and the upcoming holiday season. With advances in technology and the internet, fortunately we can ease some of the burden thanks to online grocery shopping and Black Friday coupons.

Still, getting your home and your dinner table ready for Thanksgiving weekend can be really hectic. You’ve managed through years worth of traveling relatives and holiday dinners with ease. But this year, you have an unwanted guest.

Pain!

Yes, a painful, nagging headache that won’t seem to go away. You’ve tried over-the-counter pain relievers, but the headaches return day after day.

More than that, you’ve recently had a hard time opening and closing your mouth all the way. It’s as if someone clamped an imaginary vice around your head! You wonder if it’s related to the pain in your right ear, but then you dismiss it as too coincidental.

No. You have a house to clean, a Thanksgiving menu to plan, and a guest room to prepare. The pain can wait until after the holiday. You think…

Beck Dental Care may be able to lend a helpful suggestion.

You could be a victim of one of the most uncomfortable and disruptive disorders we see in our Columbia, TN dental office. We’re talking about

TMJ

, and in today’s blog, you’ll learn more about how it can ruin your Thanksgiving, and how with help from Beck Dental Care, you don’t have to let it!

TMJ Pain Can Ruin Your Thanksgiving

TMJ is the temporomandibular joint just below your ears. It’s that hinge that’s constantly in motion when you yawn, speak, laugh, and chew. TMJ, which is commonly accepted to mean TMJ disorder, can occur when your jaw joint is somehow misaligned.

It can be spurred by an accident or injury that involves jaw trauma or even if you’re under a lot of stress that has you, perhaps unwittingly, keeping your jaw locked and clenched tightly all throughout the day.

It doesn’t necessarily matter if the misalignment happens suddenly, it was a more gradual shift, or whether it’s something you’ve always had. The symptoms are just as miserable and disruptive to your life either way!

Here are some shared symptoms TMJ sufferers deal with:

-Painful headaches

-Clicking or popping sounds when you chew

-Tension in the facial region

-Pain similar to an earache

-Sore, tense muscles in the neck, shoulders, and back

-Painful chewing

-Lockjaw

-Teeth grinding & clenching

That’s a pretty hefty list of symptoms, and by the looks of it, it’s no wonder why this disorder makes it’s so tough to go about your day to day life!

But Beck Dental Care can help you!

Enjoy A Pain-Free Thanksgiving With TMJ Treatment

Although experts have never pointed to just one specific cause of TMJ, there does seem to be agreement on some common factors that pose an increased risk for TMJ among patients:

-Poorly positioned teeth

-Trauma to the jaw

-Pain sensitivity

-Poor posture

-Females ages 18-44

-Chronic Stress

-Inflammatory arthritis

All these risk factors aside, anyone can suffer from TMJ disorder. But fortunately, you don’t have to suffer for long thanks to Beck Dental Care!

With custom-crafted mouthguards from our Columbia, TN dental office, your upper and lower teeth can remain separated, and you’ll be able to avoid grinding and clenching your teeth.

This is great news because it’s that added pressure on your joint that tends to aggravate your TMJ headaches and other symptoms.

Schedule TMJ Treatment Today!

Do you need to bring your A game back to prepare for Thanksgiving? Do you want to focus on the tasks ahead of you instead of pain and muscle tension? Do you want to enjoy a nice visit with your family without the distraction and discomfort of TMJ symptoms?

You still can with help from Dr. Beck and our team at Beck Dental Care! We know the holidays can be stressful enough without piling on the painful effects of your jaw alignment issues.

You deserve relief, and our TMJ treatment can help you get it in time for a nice, relaxing holiday season! Call our Columbia, TN dental office  today at (931) 388-8452 or fill out our

online form

to schedule an appointment.

This Thanksgiving, you’ll have the chance to indulge in an endless buffet of turkey, stuffing, and pie.

But do you know how to make sure your teeth don’t suffer the consequences?

Our team at Beck Dental Care wants to help you stay armed with the right information about

keeping your mouth healthy

this season. Take today’s quiz to see if you know what it takes to protect your teeth!

Then remember to count on our team to keep your oral health on track. Call our Columbia, TN dental office  today at (931) 388-8452 or fill out our

online form

to schedule an appointment.

The year is flying by, and before you know it, you’ll be sitting down with your family to a glorious Thanksgiving Day feast.

Do you want to be able to load your plate with all your favorite foods of the holiday? Do you want to chew your food without worrying about pain, discomfort, or loose dentures? Do you want to get up from the dinner table and pose for some long overdue family photos with a healthy, beautiful smile?

Beck Dental Care has good news for you! You can do all of those things this holiday season by replacing your missing teeth with

dental implants

!

While you do have several tooth replacement options in our Columbia, TN dental office, you will want a solution that’s as less disruptive to your quality of life as possible. Dental implants offer that kind of solution.

Dr. Beck and our highly-trained team want you to feel confident about the look and function of your teeth this Thanksgiving, and long after! Today, we’re talking about dental implants and how they can help you enjoy a better holiday this year, and many years to come!

Dental Implants For A Better Holiday

There are several reasons why dental implants are the most effective tooth replacement option in modern dentistry. One of them is security.

An implant is placed inside your jawbone where a tooth used to be and acts as a synthetic root. It will fuse itself to your jawbone, keeping it strong and healthy. The dental implant is covered with a tooth-colored, natural-looking dental crown for a complete, lovely smile.

Here are some ways dental implants can help you enjoy a better holiday season!

Enjoy Better Food!

Rather than rest on top of your gums like traditional dentures, dental implants fuse to your jawbone. This gives you nearly the same amount of bite strength as natural teeth, which is one of the things that makes them so successful as a tooth replacement option.

So instead of passing on all your favorites in exchange for soft, boring foods, you can bite and chew the foods you love with the confidence that your teeth will stay firmly in place!

Enjoy Better Health!

Dental implants don’t require any sort of extra maintenance. You can keep your teeth clean with regular brushing and flossing, unlike removable dentures that require you to take them out and scrub them everyday.

Another advantage of dental implants is that they help encourage healthy bone growth, keep your surrounding teeth strong, prevent further tooth loss and gum disease, and maintain the structural integrity of your face.

Enjoy A Better-Looking Smile!

Thanksgiving and the holidays that follow invite quite a lot of photo ops. That’s because it’s a time to visit with family, friends, distant relatives, and to meet new acquaintances.

You will be asked to huddle closely for group selfies or family photos and smile happily. If you’re missing teeth, you won’t be able to do that. You’ll instead have to smile with your mouth closed or you’ll feel compelled to hide in the bathroom or guest bedroom to avoid the camera altogether!

Dental implants and restorations can give you a natural-looking smile you’ll feel great about showing off for pictures. Years later, when you look back on those photos, you will remember the memories of the holiday with fondness, not regret because you didn’t do anything about your teeth.

Enjoy A Better Holiday Season With Dental Implants!

You deserve to spend the holidays with the ability to enjoy the foods you love and to feel good about your smile. As you’re visiting with close family, friends, and distant relatives, you should be able to focus on being fully present, free from worry or anxiety.

That’s why now is the time to do something about your missing teeth. With dental implants, you won’t have to pass on all your favorite holiday treats or come up with ways to avoid the cameras. You can eat and smile feeling confident and carefree!

Enjoy a better holiday season with dental implants from Beck Dental Care! Call our Columbia, TN dental office today at (931) 388-8452 or fill out our

online form

to schedule an appointment.

Keep your

children’s smile safe

this Halloween with help from our team at Beck Dental Care! They don’t have to suffer the consequences of all those sugary treats as long as they continue the good dental habits they learn with us here in Columbia, TN!

Here’s one mom who loves trusting Beck Dental Care for all the dental needs in her family. Check it out, then schedule your family’s next checkup!

Call our Columbia, TN dental office  today at (931) 388-8452 or fill out our

online form

to schedule an appointment.

If you’re one of those people who love the thrill of a good scare, then we’re guessing October is one of your favorite months of the year. The entire month is a celebration of frightful festivities like horror film marathons and haunted houses.

For you, it’s nothing at all to spend your hard-earned money to have ghosts, chainsaw murderers, and zombies jump out at you from the shadows. Thrill-seeking lovers of all things scary look forward to dark corridors, haunting music, and screams of terror!

And why wouldn’t you? After all, those things aren’t really scary. Maybe they are in the moment, but you know that when it’s all over, you come back to reality. You go home and snuggle up in bed with the peace of mind that here, you have nothing to fear.

Except maybe another night of restlessness because of your loud snoring! You’ve tried those drugstore snoring solutions, but none of them have worked. You’re still keeping everyone up with snoring so loud it could peel paint chips off the walls.

You feel terrible about it. Sure, you smile through the jokes thrown at you over breakfast, but inside, you have a mountain of guilt weighing heavily on your chest. That’s why you don’t share what your own nighttime experience is like.

You don’t ever mention that you’re the one dealing with a true, living nightmare. How you wake up night after night, all night long, gasping for air. How you drag your feet all throughout the day feeling like you’re walking through mud and sludge because of the fatigue. How you pull into the driveway each day after work and can barely remember the drive home because you were so distracted and sleepy.

It’s time to end the nightmare! Our team at Beck Dental Care wants you to schedule an appointment so we can determine if your problem goes beyond snoring. You could be suffering from a condition known as

sleep apnea

.

Today, we’re looking at this potentially deadly condition and how you can know if you’ve been tricked into thinking your snoring is annoying, but harmless.

Don’t Be Tricked By Persistent Snoring!

As we said, your loud snoring is probably fodder among the rest of the family. But it could be the sign of sleep apnea, which left untreated, can have a devastating impact on your life and your health.

Look For These Signs Of Sleep Apnea!

Sleep apnea is a ruthless cycle that occurs all throughout the night for the typical sufferer. What happens is that your airway becomes blocked while you sleep, either because your brain can’t send messages to your breathing mechanisms or your throat muscles are becoming lodged under too much pressure.

In either case, you stop breathing for a few seconds. But it’s long enough to make you jerk awake in terror as you desperately gasp for air. After several seconds, you can breathe again. You drift off back to sleep, but you never get a chance to fall into a deep sleep because the pattern will repeat over and over.

What does this do to you? Here are some signs that you’re suffering from sleep apnea:

-You wake up feeling tired and groggy.

-You wake up with a sore throat but aren’t sick.

-You drag your feet all day from fatigue.

-You’re easily distracted and can’t concentrate.

-You get headaches all the time.

-You’re struggling with memory problems.

-You feel irritable.

-You’ve gained weight for no apparent reason.

As if all those symptoms weren’t disrupting your life enough, you could also be developing health problems and not realizing it. That’s because sleep apnea sufferers are at a higher risk for heart disease, stroke, hypertension, and depression.

Get The Rest You Desperately Need!

At Beck Dental Care, you can find rest and relief with our sleep apnea treatment. In our Columbia, TN dental office, you can be fitted for a custom oral appliance that will keep your air passages open so you can breathe easily while you sleep.

This will not only stop the chronic snoring that’s keeping everyone else awake all night, but it will allow you fall asleep and stay asleep so you can wake up feeling refreshed and rested!

Don’t be tricked into thinking your snoring is just an annoying problem! Get tested for sleep apnea so you can get a good night’s rest and protect your overall health. Call our Columbia, TN dental office  today at (931) 388-8452 or fill out our

online form

to schedule an appointment.