Mead Family Dental

This is how you should drink pop...

If you're going to drink pop, here's how you should do it.   

I'm only kidding a little bit here.  Let me explain.

Pop has all kinds of acid in it.  Different pops have higher or lower pH, but all of them have a lot of acid.  Your teeth already have to deal with acid on a regular basis because sugars that you eat can be turned into acid by the tooth bugs that are already there.  Adding a bunch of sugary and acidic soda just makes it that much worse.  

So stick with me here.  Each time you take a sip or a gulp of soda, the acid in it is attacking your teeth. Your saliva takes a certain amount of time to buffer that "acid attack" whether you just sipped or drank a whole can.  

So do the math.  If it takes you an entire afternoon to sip yourself through a can of soda, you are having an almost constant acid attack for hours at a time.  If you drink like the guys above, then you have one acid attack and then your saliva can bring your mouth's pH back to a normal healthy level.  

Yes,you're reading this correctly...this Saginaw dentist is giving you permission to guzzle.  Or better yet, have water instead. 

Questions or comments about this post?  Email me at alan@meadfamilydental.com.  I always answer my own emails!

(Note to reader...do yourself a favor and do not search Youtube for "chugging.")

The dentist and the apple

One of my top 10 favorite foods is an apple.  I'm partial to Jazz or Honeycrisp.  In fact, you don't want to be standing between me and a Jazz apple.

Why should you care?  This is the blog of a Saginaw dentist, not a fruit market, right?  Well let me tell you a little story.

I got up this morning early.  I mean really early.  Like 4:30am.  It snowed like crazy last night.  Schools were cancelled and the roads were terrible.  My routine is to get up in the morning and feed the horses.  At the moment we have 12 horses and a miniature donkey that I feed a couple times each day.  Also two dogs.  So it takes a while. And with snow, it takes even longer. 

So I knew I was going to be trudging through the snow as well as shovelling, so I needed a breakfast on the go.  And since I'm such a huge fan of apples, it made perfect sense.  I grabbed my apple and hopped in the truck. This is when the trouble started.

When I bit into this beautiful, shiny apple I didn't have any idea the problem I was about to experience. On the very first bite I felt a heavy pressure and sharp pain by my lower left canine. WOW! It lit up my morning like fireworks!  This is the part where you revel in the irony of a dentist explaining his toothache, so enjoy it!

What had happened to me has probably happened to anyone who's ever eaten a really crispy apple.  I had jammed a little bit of the skin of that apple right between two of my teeth.  And it really stuck!  It was a ton of pressure on that one little spot and wow did it hurt!  

So what was I to do?  It just so happens that I keep a small spool of floss, just like the ones that we give to our patients at their cleaning appointments, in my truck.  I reached into the center console, grabbed my floss and I was as good as new in 2 seconds flat.  

So I had a happy ending to my story.  I tell you this tale because I can offer you a happy ending if you were to ever have such a tragedy.  Come get your teeth cleaned here at the office.  Not only will we treat you really nicely but we'll look over your teeth and make sure everything is O.K.  If there are problems, we'll offer you solutions.  We'll tell you how much it will cost to fix them.  If you've got insurance, we'll help you sort out how much they'll kick in for your treatment.  If you don't have insurance, we can help you find ways to save some money on dental care costs.  

And most importantly...we'll give you some floss that you can carry with you.  You know, to help out with those tragic apple accidents.

Give us a call at (989) 799-9133 or email me at alan@meadfamilydental.com.  We'll give you a dental office experience that you'll want to tell your friends about!

And now, a word from your tongue...

 "Hi...this is your tongue.  I know we don't really talk very much.  I'm usually too busy chewing, talking or tasting things, but I've just got to get this off my chest, so to speak.  

You know that tooth on the lower right that had a little piece break off?  Of course you know that you need to have it looked at, but you just haven't had time.  Anyhow...you're not thinking about it, but that happened more than a year ago.  Just a little FYI...that kind of thing won't get better on its own. Actually, they have a way of getting worse.  Usually they don't hurt until a holiday or vacation.  I sure would appreciate it if you have a dentist look at that thing.  It's really tearing me up.

Oh...and while you're there you could have the upper left checked out, too.  The molars are complaining constantly about getting food packed in between them.  Neither one of them wants a root canal although the uvula and I think that would be hilarious!  Molars are such whiners!  

One other thing.  I've always wanted you to know that you've got great taste.  HA!  Get it, I'm your tongue and you've got great taste!  I slay myself!

O.K.  So get that stuff checked out, alright?  Thanks!"

Has your tongue been talking to you?  We can help with that!  Call (989) 799-9133 today and we'll get you in to take a look right away.  Your tongue will thank you!

 

that's cold

life is like a bowl of cherries

Ahhhh....sweet corn