Are there teeth grinders in your house?

Grind, grind, grind. If you live with a teeth grinder, you may be familiar with this unpleasant sound. A recent study published in the journal Head & Face Medicine suggests that people—adults and kids—faced with stress tend to cope by grinding their teeth.

During stressful times, teeth grinding can be a nuisance that causes headaches and sleep problems, but it also can cause lasting problems for your teeth and gums, including chipped teeth, worn enamel, chronic pain, or even TMD, a painful jaw disorder.

The first step of recovering from teeth grinding is noticing the problem, says Dr. Baker. Symptoms of teeth grinding include:

• Sensitivity in the teeth
• Tightness or pain in the jaw
• Dull headaches, earaches, or facial pain
• Chipped, worn down, or loose teeth

An important thing to remember is that people frequently grind their teeth in response to stress, and taking measures to reduce or eliminate stress can help solve the problem. If the teeth-grinder in your house can’t stop, schedule an appointment to see us by giving us a call. Dr. Baker and our team at Baker Orthodontics can help determine the cause of the problem.

Lifting the tobacco smoke screen, from Dr. Baker and Healthy Smiles

Dr. Bradford Baker and our team participate in the San Diego State University’s health program, “Healthy Smiles.” This month’s topic is other forms of tobacco, such as hookah. This form of tobacco is relatively new in the U.S. and we wanted to provide our patients with some current information about hookah.

Hookah or the “water pipe” refers to the use of tobacco in a method by which the smoke passes through water prior to entering the smoker’s body.

Passing smoke through water does NOT make it healthier or safer. In fact, smoking hookah is just as harmful and addictive as cigarettes!

Smoke from a single hookah session contains approximately 36 times the tar, 8.3 times the carbon monoxide and 1.7 times the nicotine of the smoke produced by 1 cigarette.

Smoking hookah has been linked to lung cancer, oral cancer, and respiratory, cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. Shared mouthpieces pose a health risk for infectious diseases such tuberculosis.

Hookah bars expose non-smokers to second hand smoke risks including high levels of fine particles known to cause cardio-respiratory problems.

The tobacco industry markets hookah to teens and young-adults and portray tobacco as exotic, sophisticated and fun. Hookah is usually available at bars or lounges around college campuses, even in San Diego, CA!

Smile wider, live longer, from Baker Orthodontics

Folks with big smiles may actually live longer than those who don’t, according to a March 2010 study at Michigan’s Wayne State University. Dr. Baker has known for quite some time that positive emotion has been linked to both physical and mental health, but researchers at the university did something quite interesting: they looked at photos of 230 ball-players who began their careers in baseball prior to 1950 and studied their smile intensity (ranging from big smile, no smile or partial smile). The players' smile ratings were compared with data from deaths that occurred from 2006 through 2009. The researchers then took into account other factors that impact life longevity, including body mass index, career length and even college attendance.

The results? Researchers found that players who weren't smiling in the photos died at the average age of 72.9 years. Players with partial smiles lived to be 75. Those with big smiles, however, lived on average to be 79.9 years old.

The take-away from the new study? Smile now, smile often and you might just live longer! Have you been perfecting your smile by visiting Baker Orthodontics on a regular basis? If not, give us a call!

Silly March holidays with Dr. Baker and team

This March, our team at Baker Orthodontics would like to have some fun with patients and celebrate a few of the month's wacky holidays. Stay tuned in the upcoming weeks as we post updates about a few of our less-celebrated occasions, such as International Pancake Day. We would love if you shared your responses to these holidays on our Facebook page, or by commenting on our blog.

Happy International Pancake Day, from all of us at Baker Orthodontics!!

Are you feeling lucky?

Is there a pot o' gold at the end of your rainbow? Do you have any good luck charms, or slight superstitions that you believe are associated with good luck? Here at Baker Orthodontics, we create our own luck! In the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, however, we are hosting a Lucky Charms Contest to bring out the Irish in us all.

Now through March 31, we invite patients to stop Baker Orthodontics and enter our Lucky Charms Contest. The contest winner will receive $25 in gold coins.

Good luck!