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Healthier mouths achieve happier lives — that’s the motto of the World Oral Health Day campaign. The year-long campaign is launched every year on March 20th as part of a movement to create more awareness about the importance of having good oral health. The goal is to bring together all members of communities — government, health associations, and the public, to work toward preventing oral disease and maintaining mouth health.

The History of The World Oral Health Day Campaign

Although March 20, 2013 was the first date the campaign was widely recognized, it had its roots further back to 2007. The campaign was started by FDI World Dental Federation, a worldwide organization of dental professionals representing over 135 countries. The first celebration had originally taken place in September, but was later moved to March 20 for two reasons – September conflicted with an important Dental Congress meeting of the organization, and the significance of the numbers “32” and “20” could be represented in the date March 20, or 3/20. (Adults should have 32 healthy natural teeth, and babies or seniors should have 20).

Each year, the campaign focuses on a specific theme to target awareness and improvement efforts in that area. Past themes have included:

2013: Healthy Teeth for a Healthy Life

2014: Celebrating Healthy Smiles

2015: Smile for Life!

2016: Healthy mouth, Healthy Body

Each theme is specific enough to spark focused action but broad enough to be able to include individuals from all walks of life within its significance. The first year’s theme in 2013, for example, focused on the recognition that oral health problems can be just as lethal as other risk factors for chronic disease. Last year’s theme, “Healthy Mouth, Healthy Body” focused on a holistic view of oral health being one in the same as overall health.

Participating organizations get access to the campaign website, where they can get promotional materials such as posters, logos, and more to raise awareness of the celebration. Each year, the number of countries taking part in the campaign continues to increase, which shows that a growing number of world leaders are recognizing oral health to be important.

World Oral Health Day 2017 Campaign: Live Mouth Smart

This year’s theme is “Live Mouth Smart” — understanding that your oral health can affect your quality of life now and later on. This campaign focuses on four main points: safeguarding your oral health, avoiding risk factors, understanding that oral health is more than just a nice smile, and getting involved with the campaign’s activities. Major partners sponsor events all over the world to help spread the word. This year in Nigeria, for example, Pepsodent sponsored a “Health Walk,” which, as part of the “Brush Day and Night Campaign” will seek to educate millions of Nigerian families on best oral health practices.

The World Oral Health Day Campaign is also being celebrated widely on social media, with the hashtags #WOHD17 and #LiveMouthSmart. Premade headers are available on their website so people can show their support online. Posters and other pamphlets or resources are available for use on the website as well.

Although March 20, 2017, is the official launch date of this campaign, the message of fostering and sustaining good oral health goes on all year. The FDI World Dental Federation has already created a sense of urgency around the issue of oral health, and the campaign and movement will hopefully continue to grow and change habits and lives of many individuals around the world.

If you have any questions about how to take care of your teeth, or if you’d like to book an appointment with Chicago’s number one dentistry, Water Tower Dental Care, contact us today.

Let’s face it – No one wants to wear braces, even if they are virtually undetectable. But what if we told you that we can potentially cut the amount of time you have to wear them in half by using a combination of Invisalign with AcceleDent Aura?

Invisalign is used to straighten teeth, adjust overbites, and close gaps using plastic trays that are nowhere near as noticeable as traditional braces. Invisalign trays are designed to be changed every two weeks until you achieve the results you desire. People choose Invisalign because of their effectiveness, and because they are difficult to detect. When used in combination with AcceleDent Aura, Invisalign can be one of the most effective treatments used to realign teeth.

What Is AcceleDent Aura?

AcceleDent Aura is a simple-to-use, hands-free device that was designed to accelerate orthodontic treatment. There are two notable advantages to using AcceleDent Aura – it cuts your treatment time in half and it reduces discomfort.

AcceleDent Aura comes with an Activator, a mouthpiece, and a USB extension cable, which can be plugged directly into a computer to view patient usage history.

Using AcceleDent Aura is easy. By inserting the mouthpiece, which is fitted around your existing Invisalign aligners, and turning on the Activator for 20 minutes every day, AcceleDent Aura will speed up your teeth movement. This technology, known as SoftPulse Technology®, emits vibrations – micropulses – that are even more gentle than an electric toothbrush. These pulses help your teeth move into the correct position up to 50% faster, while keeping your teeth and bone structure strong.

Using both Invisalign and AcceleDent Aura together is the perfect method for busy people to realign their teeth to provide natural looking and long lasting results. This allows you to achieve the perfect smile you’re looking for without having to wait as long as you would with traditional procedures.

Why Dentists Love It

Since its production in 2009, many dentists have been prescribing AcceleDent Aura as a way to effectively help move teeth. Dentists tend to like prescribing it for their patients because it’s faster, FDA-cleared, and virtually painless – many patients say they experienced little to no pain when using AcceleDent Aura.

AcceleDent Aura is one of the most effective tools available for your realignment treatment in order to safely speed up the process of your treatment.

If you have any questions about using AcceleDent Aura with Invisalign, or about your dental health, please contact us today to make an appointment.

Noticing a white coating on your baby’s tongue can definitely be a cause for concern for many parents. Sometimes there’s a completely harmless reason, such as milk staining the tongue, or it can also be a symptom of newborn thrush.

In this post, we’ll examine what newborn thrush is and how you can tell if your child has it.

What is Newborn thrush?

Newborn thrush is caused by an over-abundance of yeast called Candida Albicans. This fungus normally lives in everyone’s mouth, but an overgrowth can result in an infection. The immune system usually controls this and stops illness from occurring. However, in babies, the immune system is still developing, which is why thrush in newborns is very common. In fact, the same type of infection can cause diaper rash, another common ailment on babies. Thankfully, yeast infections are usually harmless and are easily treatable.

Newborn Thrush vs Milk Coating

So how can you tell the difference between newborn thrush and milk coating?

We know that a baby’s main source of food is usually milk, which can leave a white coating in the mouth. This white coating may mirror the look of thrush on the tongue, and so it may be hard for new parents and caregivers to tell the difference.

When milk stains the tongue, it tends to be temporary, so it is always worth a look to see what your baby’s mouth looks like after a feed. Milk will wipe off easily, leaving a healthy pink tongue underneath.

Thrush, however, can result in white patches found on the tongue. It can look like cottage cheese or curdled milk, which is why it is sometimes hard to detect. These patches can be wiped away as well, but will often leave red, sore spots, and can sometimes result in bleeding. This does not always cause a baby to fuss but they may find it difficult to feed afterwards.

Preventing Newborn Thrush

Thrush in newborns is rarely serious and is easily treated. Sometimes the ailment can go away on its own, but it is always worth seeing your doctor for treatment.

Dentists suggest cleaning your baby’s mouth after each feed. You can do this with a sterile gauze or clean washcloth dipped in warm water, and then wipe away any milk residue.

Newborn thrush may look like a scary thing to new mothers, but it doesn’t have to be, as long as you know what to look for and how to differentiate between thrush and milk on the tongue. Seek appropriate treatment for both you and your baby if problems develop, but remember that thrush is a common issue that is usually harmless and easily treated.

If you have additional questions about thrush and how to prevent it, don’t be afraid to bring it up at your next dental appointment. Request an appointment with our dentists today!

Water Tower Dental Care proudly offers Cone Beam CT, or CBCT imaging, which allows us to take high-res 3-D scans of your mouth and teeth. These 3-D images help us better diagnose problem areas and give us a better view than a normal X-ray would.

But not many people know about all the benefits these compact machines can have.

What is CBCT imaging?

CBCT is a type of X-ray equipment we use when regular x-rays are not sufficient. It can create 3-D images of your teeth, soft tissues, nerve pathways and bone, using a single scan.

During the imaging process, a cone-shaped X-ray beam rotates around the patient’s head, producing up to 200 2-D images. Using specialized computer software, these images are then converted into a 3-D image, which can help us fully diagnose, and then treat, the problem.

CBCT imaging can be extremely useful in complex cases such as:

• Surgical planning for impacted teeth
• Diagnosing TMJ or other oral disorders
• Dental implant placement
• Reconstructive surgery planning
• Evaluation of the jaw, sinus cavities, nerves, and nasal cavity

Benefits of CBCT imaging

There are several benefits to using CBCT imaging, making it the preferred imaging method for not only Water Tower Dental Care, but for many dentists and orthodontists:

It gives us a better idea of what’s going on inside your mouth. By using CBCT imaging, we get accurate measurements and a variety of views and angles, which makes for a more complete evaluation.

It can image bone and soft tissue at the same time. Unlike a typical dental x-ray, CBCT images provide information on your teeth, bones, and soft tissue in a single scan.

It’s quick! The scan typically takes between 20 - 40 seconds for a full mouth X-ray, and less than 10 seconds for a scan of a specific area.

It’s generally less expensive than a CT scan. You read that right - CT scans typically cost more money than these more in-depth imaging scans.

A lower dose of radiation is used. There is less radiation used with a CBCT scan than with a regular CT scan.

The machine itself is small. Unlike those scary x-ray machines you may see in your typical doctor’s office, CBCT scanners are actually very compact.

Preparing For CBCT imaging

There is typically little to no preparation needed prior to your examination. You should wear loose, comfortable clothing, and be sure to take off anything that may interfere with the imaging, such as jewelry, eyeglasses, hearing aids, etc.

Let your dentist know if you are pregnant prior to having any sort of X-rays.

If you have any questions about CBCT imaging, or about your dental health, please contact us today to make an appointment.