Author Archives: Jonathan Ford

About Jonathan Ford

Dr. Jonathan Ford graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine in 2007. He scored in the top 5% of the country on his National Dental Boards, as well as earned honors for his studies in the fields of Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Dr. Jonathan Ford is passionate about educating the community and other doctors about dental health. He continues to give educational presentations at Long Beach Memorial Hospital. He is also an active member of the Huntington Beach Kiwanis and donates his time to several community service projects. He lives here in Huntington Beach with his wife Nadiah.

Update on Dental Infection Control Protocol

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In April 2013, Tufts University and the Forsyth Institute released the results of a new study that shocked even me. It was on the cleanliness or sterility of bib clips. Yep…those chains or rubber clips that go around your neck and hold your bib on while you are at the dentist.bibclip

The research looked at bib clips that were disinfected properly after being used on a patient and the results showed that 70% of bib clips still harbored potentially infectious bacteria. This link will take you to the results of the study. http://dentalbibclipbacteria.com/

Blog Pictures 008So what does this mean for your next dental visit? As soon as we found out about this study, we changed our infection control procedures at Ford Dental Group. We now use disposable plastic bib clips, as seen in this pictures. The clips are made from 100% recyclable material and are for one time use only.

As always, feel free to contact us with any questions that you may have through our website, www.FordDentalGroup.com or call us at 714-842-7431. Dentist Huntington Beach 16511 Goldenwest St. Huntington Beach, CA 92647

What’s the deal with Oral Cancer?

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Since April is Oral Cancer Awareness Month, I wanted to dedicate this blog post to oral cancer. Let’s start with some dreadful statistics. Last year, 42,000 people in the United States were diagnosed with oral cancer; and just over half (57%) have a 5 year survival rate. To put that in prospective, thyroid, cervical, testicular, skin and lymphoma cancers all have higher long term survival rate than oral cancer.

Peter Franta 004So, how do you know that you have oral cancer? Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing that you have oral cancer by appearance. The only definitive way to find out is through biopsying an area deemed suspicious by a medical professional. Dentist and medical doctors looks for a variety of lesion on your tongue and in your mouth. We are looking for lesions or wounds that do not heal within two weeks. We look for lumps and bumps in your mouth. We look for white, blue or red patches. We even ask patients if they have difficulty swallowing; that is a sign of a growth on the base of your tongue and throat.

What causes oral cancer? Oral cancer is caused by repeated irritation to the soft tissue or the oral mucosa. The number one irritant is tobacco. In fact, 75% of people who have been diagnosed with oral cancer have used tobacco in some form. Another irritant that causes oral cancer is heavy alcohol use.

Historically, the stigma attached to oral cancer patients has always been that they were older heavy drinkers and smokers. Recent studies have turned the stereotype 180 degrees. Research is now showing the fastest growing segment of oral cancer patient are young, non-tobacco users. The cause of this trend is the human papillomavirus (HPV). This is the same virus that causes cervical cancer. HPV oral cancers usually appear on the tonsils or base of the tongue. Fortunately, the survival rates are much higher than oral cancers caused by heavy tobacco and alcohol use.

The key to successful treatment is catching the oral cancer early. Every dental exam should consist of a quick and painless oral cancer exam, and if anything suspicious turns up, a quick biopsy to rule out oral cancer. As Benjamin Franklin said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

As always, feel free to contact us with any questions that you may have through our website, www.FordDentalGroup.com or call us at 714-842-7431. Dentist Huntington Beach 16511 Goldenwest St. Huntington Beach, CA 92647

A Child’s First Dental Visit Part II: How should you talk to your child about the dentist?

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jonathanbaseball.jpegNow that a child’s first visit has been described in the previous post, let’s review the do’s and don’t of preparing the child for his or her first dental visit. The most important thing to remember is that a child has never been to a dentist before, so they have no idea what to expect. Parents are usually surprised that children have fun at their first visit. The dental chair goes up and down, just like a roller coaster. The instruments spray water, just like water guns. The toothbrush makes fun noises and tickles their teeth. Parents- it is essential that you keep your own feelings about a dentist in check (especially, if they are negative). Avoid words like shots and drills because they won’t even come up during the first visit; and hopefully, for several subsequent visits. Also, please do not threaten your children with visits to the dentist, it only makes the visits harder on the child and dentist. The most important thing is to remember that children have never been to a dentist before. So, if the first visit creates a positive, upbeat, painless atmosphere, it makes a trip to the dentist much easier for everyone in the future.

Here are some other suggestions that make the first trip more enjoyable. There are lots of children’s books available that discuss brushing your teeth, taking care of your mouth and going to the dentist. Reading any of these books introduces the dental world to children and makes it real to them. Dora the explorer has a book on going to the dentist (link to it here) or I remember a book with  the Berenstain Bears (link to it here) that I grew up with.

Another suggestion would be to work on brushing the child’s teeth at home. Getting the child used to something in their mouth is extremely important. The earlier that you can do this, the easier it is for the parent and dentist to brush the child’s teeth.

Lastly, telling the child what to expect is a big help. Describing the dental chair, the mouth mirror and that the dentist cleans their teeth helps tremendously in preparing the child. The more a child knows about the dentist, the easier it will be.

I hope this helps and can alleviate some of the stresses involved in a child’s first dental visit. Please email me at drjonathan@forddentalgroup.com or call us if you have any questions.

 

 

Ford Dental Group Huntington Beach Dentist 

www.FordDentalGroup.com 16511 Goldenwest St Huntington Beach, CA

A Child’s First Dental Visit

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A guide on what to expect and how to prepare your child for his or her first visit

The first visit’s goal is to introduce the child to a dental environment. It is more of a meet and greet for the child and the dentist. If the child is able to sit in the dental chair by him or herself, that’s fantastic; however, most of the time, a parent will sit with the child, while the dentist describes what each tool is used for. Simple things like a dental mirror, air/water spray and suction are completely foreign to a child. So it is important that each instrument is shown to a child so they become comfortable with them and the surrounding environment.This guy look familiar?

The next step in the visit is a bonus during a young child’s first visit. A dentist will “count” the child’s teeth to see how many teeth have erupted. The primary purpose for counting a child’s teeth is to check for any cavities. It is extremely important to catch decay in children’s teeth early. Children’s teeth are much smaller than adult teeth and the outer layer of a child’s tooth is much thinner. These reasons make children’s teeth more susceptible to decay.

The last step during a child’s visit is to clean their teeth. This can be done several different ways. In my office, I prefer to have the child sit in a parents lap facing the parent, and have the child lean back with their head in my lap. The dentist can then go around with a toothbrush and fluoridated toothpaste and really clean the child’s teeth. It also allows for an opportunity to teach the parent and child the proper brushing techniques. If this goes well, a dentist can eventually start using some of the dental instruments on the child and get him or her acclimated to the dental environment. Lastly, if the child is older than 2, a dentist will apply a fluoride gel to the child’s teeth. The gel is painted on the child’s teeth and is very well tolerated. The fluoride helps prevent cavities from forming.

In most cases, young children do not need x-rays. They are not needed due to the fact that most children naturally have spaces between their teeth. The spaces allow the dentist to view the entire tooth. In adults, there are not spaces between teeth; the only way to check for decay between someone’s teeth is through x-rays.

The next blog post will be on how parents can help make their child’s first visit a little bit easier.

As always, feel free to contact us with any questions that you may have through our website, www.FordDentalGroup.com or call us at 714-842-7431. Here is another great resource for question about children and their teeth, http://www.aapd.org/.

Dentist Huntington Beach 16511 Goldenwest St. Huntington Beach, CA 92647

What’s the deal with fluoride?

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Every quarter we send out a digital newsletter. Here is this quarters’.

Flouride: Why is it important?

What is fluoride, how does it protect my teeth and where can I find it? These are the three most common questions I get regarding fluoride. However, I also get questions about why fluoride is so controversial. I will address all of these questions in this quarter’s newsletter.

First, Fluoride is an element found in the earth’s atmosphere and is listed in the periodic table of elements.  It is a building block that forms many salts and crystals. It is so common that it probably sits on your kitchen table. Fluoride can be found in many types of table salt.  It can also be manufactured by pharmaceutical companies and put in many common dental products.

Fluoride can help prevent cavities from forming in several different ways. The first way that fluoride protects your teeth is by acting on the bacteria found in your mouth. The bacteria in your mouth break down sugar into acid. The acid then demineralizes your tooth and creates a cavity. Fluoride prevents the bacteria from digesting the sugars in your mouth. If the bacteria cannot process the sugar, it cannot create the acidic byproducts that cause cavities.

The second way fluoride works is by protecting your teeth directly. When fluoride is applied to your teeth, it alters the chemical composition. The tooth structure becomes stronger and more resistant to acid; preventing cavities from forming.  Therefore, fluoride is an essential tool in cavity prevention. Now, that you know how fluoride works; where can you find fluoride?

Huntington Beach Pier

Well, if you live in Huntington Beach or the surrounding areas of Southern California, you don’t have look for it, it comes to you. Fluoride is found in our tap water. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California regularly monitors the level of fluoride in the water to make sure it’s at the optimal level to help prevent tooth decay. However, in most patients an additional source of fluoride is needed to prevent tooth decay.  It can be found in almost any type of over the counter toothpaste. It can also be found in certain mouthwashes like Act.  Fluoride can be found in an array of dental products, and in whichever form you use, it prevents tooth decay.

So, why does fluoride create such controversy when the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) list water fluoridation as one of the top ten public health achievements of the 20th Century? People against water fluoridation often site research that relates the consumption of fluoride to cancer and broken bones. Well, these papers are correct when the dosage levels of fluoride are 10 to 100 levels higher than the recommended doses.  Before you freak out and tell people your dentist in Huntington Beach is poisoning you, let me put this in prospective. If you eat one bag of skittles, it will have virtually no affect on you. If you eat 100 bags of skittles every day, you will start to develop diabetes and become obese. For those patients on Coumadin or blood thinners, your medication is closely monitored. If the dose is too high, you will bleed to death, but at the correct dosage levels, it will protect you and allow you to live a longer, better life. Whether it is sugar, medication or fluoride, the dosage is key and at the dosage levels in our public water supply, fluoride will aid in cavity prevention and have no adverse health affects.

Hope this newsletter gives you insight into the importance of fluoride on your dental health. As always, feel free to email or call us with any questions you have. You can always check out our blog, www.FordDentalGroup.com/blog, for updates or even friend us on www.Facebook.com/forddentalgroup.

Lastly, the biggest compliment our office can receive from you is the referral of a friend or family member. If you want to go one step further, you can also give us a great review on google, http://goo.gl/6iBx4 or yelp, goo.gl/Yp24n. We look forward to seeing you soon.
With your dental health in mind,

Ford Dental Group

16511 Goldenwest St

Huntington Beach, Ca 92647

 

Why do I need to treat dry mouth?

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So, why is treating dry mouth so important? Saliva contains electrolytes, antibacterial agents, and digestive enzymes. The electrolytes consist of calcium, phosphate, and bicarbonate that create a buffer and protect your teeth from getting cavities. The antibacterial agents in saliva … Continue reading →

Why does my mouth feel so dry?

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Have you noticed an altered sense of smell or taste? Do you experience difficulty swallowing? Are you constantly biting your lips, tongue or cheeks? Do you wake up in the middle of the night with your mouth dry?  Do you ever have a burning sensation in your mouth or on your tongue? How about dry eyes? All of these are symptoms of having decreased salivary flow or dry mouth.

Baja California

Baja California

So what causes a decrease in salivary production? Well, the most common cause is prescription drugs. If you look at the side affect of most prescription drugs, you will find dry mouth or decreased saliva listed. An example of a very common drug with this side affect are allergy drugs or anti-histamines.

Certain diseases can also cause a decrease in saliva production. The most common is Sjogren’s syndrome. Sjogren’s syndrome is an autoimmune disease where the immune system starts attacking and destroying the salivary glands. However, Sjogen’s syndrome isn’t the only disease that causes decreased saliva. Other common diseases like diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis can cause dry mouth.

Radiation or chemotherapy of the head and neck can cause the destruction of the salivary glands; leading to no salivary production.

Being dehydrated can also decrease the amount of saliva and cause dry mouth. Even smoking or using chewing tobacco decreases the amount of saliva.

So, why is treating dry mouth so important? How can dry mouth be treated? This will be the topic of my next blog post.

If you have any questions about dry mouth and just can’t wait until the next post, please contact us through our website, www.FordDentalGroup.com or call us at 714-842-7431. We are a family dental practice located in Huntington Beach, CA. 

 

Dentist Huntington Beach

16511 Goldenwest St.

Huntington Beach, CA 92647

What is gum disease and do I have it?

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Gum disease (periodontal disease) is a slow progressing, chronic disease that infects your gums and the bone surrounding your teeth. If it becomes severe, it will ultimately lead to the loss of your teeth. If your gums become inflamed, irritated, infected or bleed easily, you have the beginning stages of gum disease.

perio xray

Gum disease is caused by bacteria. The bacteria feed off the food that we eat and break it down to form plaque. Plaque is a film that forms on our teeth and is composed of food, bacteria and bacteria waste products. Our body’s immune system is unable to fight the infection by itself. By removing the plaque through brushing and flossing and routine dental cleanings (prophy), we maintain healthy gums and help our bodies flight off the residual infection. If the plaque stays on your teeth for more than a couple of days, it begins to calcify and become calculus or tartar. The x-ray is an example of active periodontal disease.  Once calculus develops, it becomes visible on an x-ray (see red circles) and the only way to remove it is through a dental cleaning. Additionally, this x-ray shows how the bone level changes and gets lower in periodontal disease (see blue arrow).

Just like the bacteria that cause common cold, the bacteria that cause gum disease can be transferred between people. Kissing, drinking out of the same glass or sharing the same utensils are all ways periodontal pathogens can be transferred between people.

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So, how do you know if you have gum disease if it does not hurt?  Most patients who have gum disease have teeth that look longer than normal and/or have big spaces between their teeth. This occurs because the gums and bone have receded leaving more tooth showing. The picture shows a perfect example of this. This patient has teeth that look longer, which is shown by the blue lines.  The yellow boxes help display the bigger spaces between your teeth.  Another sign that you have gum disease is if you have teeth that are loose or mobile. If your gums bleed while you brush or floss them, you can also have the beginning stages of gum disease.

Lastly, gum disease is a chronic infection that affects the rest of your body as well. There is an abundance of scientific research relating gum disease to premature/low birth weight babies, diabetes, and heart disease. A healthy body means a healthy mouth as well.

If you have any questions about gum disease or would like to start treatment for it, please contact us through our website, www.FordDentalGroup.com or call us at 714-842-7431. We are a family dental practice located in Huntington Beach, CA. 

 

Dentist Huntington Beach

Dental X-Rays-What Dentists Look For?

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Tooth Decay and Abscess

I wanted to write a blog post today on what a dentist looks for in a dental X-ray. I’ll talk about the most common stuff first. The first thing a dentist looks for are cavities or tooth decay. Teeth appear very white on X-rays. The scientific term for that is radiopaque. The whiter the tooth appears the denser and stronger it is. When you get a cavity, acid has deminerialized your tooth and made it less dense. Since it is less dense, it will look black on a X-ray or “radiolucent.” The X-ray to the right shows a tooth with a very large cavity. The cavity is identified by the red oval. The really white part inside the tooth shows what a filling looks like on an X-ray. The blue oval in the bottom of the X-ray shows what an abscess looks like on a X-ray. A dental abscess is an infection that forms in the jaw bone and deminerializes the bone; therefore, causing a black area to appear on the X-ray. These two things show up very commonly on X-rays.

Periodontal DiseaseI chose this X-ray as an example of periodontal or gum disease. Your teeth stay in your mouth because your jaw bone holds them there. However, with gum disease, the bone that holds your teeth into place starts to dissolve. The reasons for periodontal disease can be a whole blog post in itself and will be the topic of my next post. The red line/arrow shows where the bone should be in a healthy mouth. The blue line and blue arrow show where the bone level is in this patients with severe gum disease. These teeth are loose, mobile and will eventually fall out. So X-rays definitely show us more than just cavities.

Lastly, I wanted to show you something that we see rarely on X-rays, but when we do, it can literally be a life saver. This type of X-ray is called a panorex. It allows a dentist to see your whole jaw and all of your teeth in one film. It gives us a general overview of your mouth. For specific information, we would need the X-rays seen above. In this particular panorex, look carefully inside the red ovals. You will see some small white dots. That is calcified material in your carotid arteries. The calcified material is an arterial plaque that is restricting blood flow into your brain. If these are left untreated, they will ultimately cause the patient to have a stroke.

CalcificationHope you enjoyed this blog topic. I’ll be back soon to share information on periodontal disease. Let me know if you have any questions or comments.

 

www.FordDentalGroup.com

16511 Goldenwest St

Huntington Beach, Ca 92647

Dentist Huntington Beach

 

How much sugar do you consume daily?

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Whenever I look at the nutritional labels on food, it looks like a foreign language. It is in grams and grams are a unit of measurement that I don’t relate to; so I turned to the dictionary for the definition of a gram? According to the dictionary, a gram is a metric unit of mass or weight equal to 15.432 grains. Well, that doesn’t help me much, since I don’t know what a grain is.

Over the weekend, a light bulb went off when I learned about an easy conversion that helped me demystify the nutritional tables. Here it is: 4 grams of sugar equals 1 teaspoon of sugar. Teaspoons are something I can relate to, since I use one every day. With this tidbit of knowledge, I went to nutritionaldata.com and reviewed nutritional values of common foods. The results were pretty astounding.

The next time you sit down and have a refreshing Coca Cola Classic look at the nutritional information on the side. In one standard 12 ounce can of Coke, there are 30 grams of sugar or 7.5 teaspoons of sugar. I knew sodas were going to contain a significant amount of sugar, but juices contain just as much. Apple juice contains 28 grams of sugar in one cup or 7 teaspoons of sugar. Things that we think are healthy and nutritious are often not. Let’s take a look at breakfast cereals. 

 First, a serving of cereal is one cup…one cup! I know I don’t have just one cup of cereal in the morning. One cereal that I thought would contain a lot of sugar is Fruit Loops. In that one serving, there is 25 grams of carbohydates or an equivalent to 6.25 teaspoons of sugar. However, Fruit Loops wasn’t even close to being the worst one.

The one that absolutely amazed me was Raisin Bran. It’s the one that adults choose because we think it is healthy. In a one cup serving of Raisin Bran, there are 45 grams of carbohydrates or 11.25 teaspoons of sugar.

If my assumption is correct, most people also add milk to their cereal. So, we need to look at the nutritional facts for milk. One cup of Skim Milk has 12 grams of carbohydrates or 3 teaspoons of sugar. Now, the main difference between whole and skim milk is the fat content, but whole milk did have a little bit more sugar with 13 grams or 3.25 teaspoons of sugar.

So, if we eat one cup of Raisin Bran with one cup of whole milk for breakfast, we are consuming 14.5 teaspoons of sugar to start off our day. That’s the equivalent of two cans of coke.

It is also important to remember that the serving sizes on the packages are significantly smaller than the amounts one normally consumes. The amount of sugar that we consume not only affects our overall health (ex. Diabetes, obesity). It also affects our oral health. I hope this information allows you to evaluate the sugar content of different types of foods and helps you suppress those sugar cravings during the holiday season.

Additionally, the holiday season and the end of the year are quickly approaching. This also means that your dental benefits will be expiring as well. So, if you have been postponing some dental work or have not been in for awhile, now is a great time to schedule an appointment before your dental benefits expire.

As always, feel free to email or call us with any questions you have. You can always check out our web site for updates on our office or for new insights into the field of dentistry. The web address is www.FordDentalGroup.com.

Lastly, the biggest compliment our office can receive from you is the referral of a friend or family member. If you want to go one step further, you can also give us a great review on google, http://goo.gl/6iBx4 or yelp, goo.gl/Yp24n. We look forward to seeing you soon.

With your dental health in mind,

Ford Dental Group

Dentist Huntington Beach,

16511 Goldenwest St

Huntington Beach, Ca 92647