With the New Year less than a month away, it’s a great time to be thinking about resolutions. Many folks make resolutions that help them get healthier. If you’re pondering joining a gym or starting a diet, don’t forget about your teeth. Your dentists here would love to help you improve dental health in 2024. A healthier mouth improves your overall health too!

If you need to make an appointment to visit our Houston, TX office, call us now at 281-643-0316. In the meantime, check out our advice for better dental health:

  • Straighten a Crooked Smile – If your teeth are crooked, you likely feel self-conscious and would like to straighten them. This improves your appearance, of course. But it’s also good for your oral health. Crooked teeth often cause a misaligned bite, and they can make it hard to keep your teeth clean. At our office, you can straighten your smile with Invisalign. These clear aligners are a practically invisible alternative to metal braces. It’s easy to take care of your teeth during treatment too. You simply remove the aligners for meals and oral hygiene. 
  • Make Exams and Cleanings a Regular Habit – It’s important to visit us every six months for an exam and cleaning. We remove bacteria and built-up plaque from your teeth to keep you free of cavities and gum disease. We also use exams to find issues in their earliest stages. This means they are simple and inexpensive to treat. In addition, preventive services like fluoride applications and dental sealants can give you added anti-cavity protection.  
  • Replace Missing Teeth – If you’ve lost teeth, you may have an unattractive gap in your smile. That’s bad enough. But missing teeth hurt your oral health – and also your overall health. When surrounding teeth shift out of place, it creates problems with your bite. Plus, you may struggle to chew some foods, often healthy ones like fresh vegetables and fruit. Luckily, we give you many options to replace missing teeth. Dental implants are the gold standard. You can replace any number of teeth with them. Unlike other kinds of replacement teeth, they’ll keep you from losing bone density in your jaw. This means your face stays fuller and healthier looking. 
  • Stop Smoking – It’s no secret that smoking is bad for you. There are volumes of research that link the habit to many serious diseases, including lung cancer. Not surprisingly, it’s bad for your dental health too. Smoking makes you more likely to experience problems like dry mouth and gum disease. Smokers also heal slower than non-smokers. This means you’ll take more time to recover from dental or medical procedures. Make 2024 the year you stop smoking. 
  • Get Treatment for Your TMJ Disorder – If you suffer from a TMJ disorder, you almost certainly have jaw pain and other unpleasant symptoms like headaches. You may also damage your teeth if you grind them (a habit often found in those with TMJ dysfunction). Grinding also negatively affects your sleep quality. We can supply you with a device that keeps tension off your jaw and protects your teeth. If a misaligned bite is contributing to your TMJ troubles, Invisalign treatment can really help. 

Ready to improve dental health? We’d love to help! Call Copperfield Dentistry at 281-643-0316 today.