Our Blog

As a patient at Hartstone Dental, your opinion matters! Dr. Joel Hartjes and Dr. Jon Szewczyk and our team love hearing what our patients think about our practice and the services we provide, and now we want to know, what do you think we should blog about?

Perhaps there’s a treatment you’ve always wanted to know about, or you’d like to learn about a specific way to improve your health and smile. Whatever your idea, we’d love to hear about it! You can let us know by posting here or on our Facebook page!

Xylitol is a naturally occurring sweetener found in tree bark, plants, fruits, and vegetables. The human body also produces it in small amounts. It looks and tastes like sugar, so as part of a health regimen, most people require no willpower to use it.

Xylitol is safe (approved by the World Health Organization) because only a small amount is needed for health benefits. With a glycemic index of seven, it is safe for diabetics. It has less than three calories per gram and 40% fewer calories than other carbohydrates. If eaten in extremely large amounts too quickly, it has a laxative effect in humans.

Tooth decay happens when bacteria in your mouth consume the sugars you eat. When you eat food that contains ordinary sugar, it gives energy to the bacteria on your teeth, allowing them to multiply and start making acids that destroy the enamel on the teeth.

Since xylitol is a natural sweetener derived from the fibrous parts of plants, it does not break down like sugar, so it helps maintain a neutral pH level in the mouth. Xylitol also prevents bacteria from sticking to the teeth because they are unable to digest it. That is how it protects the teeth from cavities.

With xylitol, the acid attack is diminished. With less bacteria and acid, your teeth stay healthier. The frequency of xylitol ingestion is important: aim for five grams a day, or one gram every three hours.

Studies of xylitol use as either a sugar substitute or a small dietary addition have demonstrated a dramatic reduction in new cavities. It has also stopped and even reversed some existing cavities. This effect is long lasting and possibly permanent. Low cavity rates persist even years after the trials have been completed.

Xylitol needs to be one of the first ingredients in a product to be effective. It is convenient and easy to use. You can find it in health food stores and specialty grocery stores. Xylitol can be delivered to your teeth in chewing gum, tablets, or even candy and mints.

It also comes in toothpaste, mouth rinse, baby oral wipes, gel and pacifiers, nasal wash, dry mouth spray, a granulated form for cooking, granulated packets to add to drinks, and commercially prepared foods. It can replace sugar on a one-to-one ratio.

Sweet rewards in xylitol are good for the body and the teeth! If you have specific questions please feel free to contact Hartstone Dental. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Whether you’re using the latest note-taking app or old-school pen and paper, it’s a good time to start jotting down your resolutions for a healthier, happier New Year. To help the process along, we have some suggestions for traditional tooth-friendly resolutions—and also some ideas which might surprise you!

The Classics

• Brush and Floss Regularly

If you’re sticking to the “two minutes twice a day” brushing schedule as well as flossing once a day, great work! Often, though, that two-minute window starts to shrink as our brushing routine becomes *too* routine. Try timing yourself while you brush normally. If you’re falling quite a bit short of two minutes, taking just a bit more time will be lots more effective in removing plaque from your teeth.

And since gum disease is a leading cause of tooth loss in adults, commit to flossing once a day to remove irritating plaque and bacteria from between teeth and around the gumline.

• Use Fluoride Toothpaste

Fluoride toothpaste doesn’t just help prevent cavities by cleaning away plaque and food particles. It also helps make our enamel stronger. 

Acids created by plaque bacteria and acids in our diet dissolve minerals from tooth enamel, making it softer and more vulnerable to cavities. Fluoride bonds with the minerals in enamel to create an even stronger protective enamel coating. Check with Dr. Joel Hartjes and Dr. Jon Szewczyk or the American Dental Association’s website for the best toothpaste choices for healthy, strong enamel.

• See Your Dentist Regularly

Dentists typically recommend a full dental exam and cleaning twice each year. Your dental team at Hartstone Dental will take X-rays as needed, examine your teeth, gums, and general oral health, and screen for oral cancer. A professional cleaning will remove any built-up plaque and tartar, which is especially important for gum health.

Being proactive with your dental care means you’ll be sharing your healthy smile all year long—as well as discovering any potential problems before they can develop into major problems!

The Surprises

• Chew (Sugarless) Gum

When you’re not producing enough saliva, you feel the effects of dry mouth, including sore throat, difficulty swallowing, and bad breath. Another side effect? Poorer dental health. 

Saliva helps neutralize the acidic foods we eat, washes away bacteria and food particles, and contains minerals like calcium and phosphorus which remineralize tooth enamel. Chewing sugarless gum encourages saliva production. If you suffer from dry mouth, check with your dentist to see if chewing sugar-free gum can help.

• Don’t Brush Right After Eating

Brushing after a meal is great to remove food particles like sugars and carbs which stick to our teeth—and which the bacteria in plaque thrive on. But if you’ve been eating or drinking acidic foods, it’s best to wait about an hour before brushing. 

Acids in foods, like acids created by bacteria, weaken tooth enamel. Brushing right away can be abrasive and damage enamel, but if you wait for an hour, the minerals in saliva have a chance to remineralize and restore your enamel strength.

• Toss Your Toothbrush

Not that we mean give up brushing altogether! But your toothbrush bristles start to fray and fan out after several months, meaning that you won’t be getting the full cleaning effects of your great brushing technique. Put a note on your calendar to replace your brush every three to four months for the best in plaque removal.

If you’re already following all these suggestions for protecting your dental health, resolve to keep up the good work! If not, give these easy-to-follow recommendations a try. Protecting your dental health is essential to gift yourself a new year filled with happy, healthy smiles in Middleton, WI.

February is Gum Disease Awareness month, a timely reminder that preventing gum disease is one of the best ways to protect our oral health. 

Gum disease is easily treated in its earliest stages. Left untreated, the progressive nature of gum disease makes it one of the leading causes of tooth loss in adults. 

Let’s take a moment in this shortest month of the year to discuss how understanding, treating, and, above all, preventing gum disease can help us enjoy long-lasting healthy smiles.

How Gum Disease Develops

Gingivitis is the first, mild stage of gum disease. 

• Gingivitis begins with plaque. 
• Plaque irritates gum tissue, causing inflammation, which is the body’s reaction to injury or infection. 
• Typical symptoms include gums which are swollen or red. The gums might feel tender or bleed easily when you brush or floss. You could develop persistent bad breath. 

With proper care, gingivitis is reversible. Because gingivitis symptoms can be very mild, they’re sometimes overlooked. That’s why it’s important to keep up with regular checkups to discover and treat the disease in its earliest stages. 

Periodontitis is a serious gum disease which is destructive to the structures which support our teeth: gums, connective tissue, and bone. 

• Plaque, when it’s not removed, hardens into tartar, which can form on the tooth above and below the gumline. 
• The gums pull away from plaque and tartar deposits, creating a space between the gum tissue and tooth roots. 
• As the gums continue to recede, pockets form between the teeth and gums.
• Infection-causing oral bacteria thrive in these pockets. Gum infections can lead to painful abscesses—but gum disease is not just an infection.
• The body normally responds to bacterial infection with inflammation. With periodontitis, this inflammation becomes destructive chronic inflammation. 
• Over time, chronic inflammation and infection break down the gum tissue, bone, and connective tissue holding teeth in place. Teeth become loose or shift out of alignment.

The tooth’s support structure eventually becomes so compromised that extraction is the only option. That’s why prompt treatment is essential.

Treating Gum Disease

Several options are available to treat gum disease, depending on its severity.

Treatment for gingivitis can be as simple as paying more careful attention to your brushing and flossing and, if necessary, seeing the team at Hartstone Dental for a professional cleaning. In some cases, Dr. Joel Hartjes and Dr. Jon Szewczyk might recommend an antimicrobial mouthwash or rinse.

Periodontitis requires specialized treatment from your dentist or periodontist, and this treatment will be based on how advanced the condition is:

• Topical, oral, or time-release medications treat infection.
• Non-surgical deep cleaning procedures called scaling and root planing remove plaque and tartar above and below the gumline, allowing gum tissue to reattach to the tooth. 
• Flap surgery treats more advanced gum infection by reducing pocket depth and re-securing the gums snugly around the teeth.
• If needed, bone grafts, gum grafts, and other regenerative procedures are available which help repair and restore damaged tissue.

Preventing Gum Disease

What many people aren’t aware of is just how preventable gum disease is! 

• Brush twice a day, or as often as your dentist recommends. 
  • Use proper brushing technique, angling your brush toward the gums to gently clean around and below the gum line. 
  • Use a soft-bristled brush to protect both gum tissue and tooth enamel.
• Floss once each day or as directed by your dentist. Flossing removes food particles and plaque between the teeth, and it also helps remove plaque from the area around the gum line.
• Conditions such as family history, hormonal changes, medical conditions, age, poor diet, smoking, and other factors can increase your chances of developing gum disease. Talk to Dr. Joel Hartjes and Dr. Jon Szewczyk if you are in a higher risk group about proactive gum care.
• Having your teeth cleaned every six months, or as recommended, will remove tartar buildup which brushing alone can’t handle. 
• You can get tips for better brushing and flossing techniques from the team at Hartstone Dental in Middleton, WI, too!

Last, while gum health is essential for dental health, you may not be aware that healthy gums could affect more than just your oral health. Scientists are studying the potential links between gum disease and conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis.  

Even when it seems like there aren’t enough days in the month or hours in the day, it takes just a few minutes daily to care for your gums and teeth. And when you’re aware of just how much those few minutes mean to a healthy smile, it’s time well spent!