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The merry month of May also happens to be National Fitness and Sports Month, so take advantage of the warmer days to get outside and exercise! Bringing a friend, family member, or coworker with you when you go for a brisk walk during a lunch break can provide an opportunity to socialize as well as health benefits. If you need a little more motivation, here are some good reasons to stay active and fit.

Exercise provides:

• Improved stamina and energy as well as toned muscles and bone strength and density
• Improved circulation and breathing for a healthier heart and lungs
• Reduced risk for Type 2 diabetes and certain forms of cancer
• For older adults, regular exercise may help improve balance and reduce the risk of falls as well as improved cognitive abilities

Children and Teens

Children and teenagers spend long hours at their desks in school, on the computer, watching television, and involved in other sedentary activities that result in obesity and poor health later in life. Getting them engaged in school or community sports teams can help them form good life-long exercise habits. One important note: If they are participating in contact sports, Dr. Venetia Laganis and our team at Laganis Pediatric Dentistry recommend your kids wear an approved mouthguard to protect those valuable teeth from injury! Ask us for a proper fitting of your safety appliance during your next visit!

A gym membership is nice but not necessary to stay fit; try these easy ways to work some exercise into your daily routine.

At Home

• Take a friend along for company on a walk through your neighborhood.
• Pursue gardening or other yard work, including mowing or raking.
• Take your kids on a bike ride or have them push a baby stroller around the block.

Couch potatoes take note: simply moving from the sofa to the floor for some sit-ups, leg-lifts, or push-ups while you’re watching television can help you get in better shape in no time.

At Work

• Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
• Take exercise breaks for walks around the building or parking lot.
• Walk or ride a bike to work.

So what are you waiting for? Get moving!

For more information on exercise techniques, or to schedule an appointment with Dr. Venetia Laganis, please give us a call at our convenient Maple Grove office!

Children’s baby teeth generally start to fall out when the adult teeth underneath them are ready to arrive. Visits from the Tooth Fairy begin around the age of six, and continue until the last baby molar is gone.

But sometimes, we can’t wait for nature to take its course, and children need a dentist’s assistance to remove a primary tooth before it falls out on its own. Here are some common situations where extracting a baby tooth is best for a child’s present—and future—dental health.

• Serious Decay

Dentists make every effort to save teeth, and this includes baby teeth. A filling or even the baby tooth version of a root canal can be used to save little teeth when a cavity appears.

But severe decay could mean that there’s not enough healthy tooth structure left to fill. Or that bacteria have caused infection inside the tooth. Left untreated, infections can spread to other tissues in the body and can become quite serious. When a primary tooth is seriously decayed or infected, an extraction is often the healthiest choice.

• Trauma

Sometimes a baby tooth will recover on its own if it’s been jarred by an impact. Sometimes an injured tooth can be repaired with treatment. If there’s serious damage, though, a baby tooth is at risk for abscess and infection, and, sometimes, can cause harm to the adult tooth beneath it. In cases like these, an extraction is the safest option.

When an injury causes a broken or dislodged tooth, call Dr. Venetia Laganis immediately. Whether the tooth can be saved or should be extracted depends on how serious the injury is and how soon you can get your child to the dentist’s office or the emergency room.

Whenever a child loses a primary tooth early, a pediatric dentist will be on the lookout for potential orthodontic problems. Remaining baby teeth tend to shift to fill any empty spot. Without the proper space to come in, the adult tooth can erupt out of place or at an awkward angle. Dr. Venetia Laganis  might recommend a space maintainer to keep baby teeth aligned properly and to make sure the right spot stays open for the permanent tooth when it’s ready to erupt.

We’ve talked about primary teeth which are lost early, but it’s also problematic . . .

• When a Baby Tooth Doesn’t Fall Out

Usually, a wiggly baby tooth is a clue that the adult tooth underneath has started pushing its way up and out. The baby tooth’s root is gradually absorbed as the adult tooth moves into place. Without an intact root to hold it in place, the baby tooth grows looser and looser until it falls out. Now the permanent tooth has the perfect open space ready for its arrival.

But when baby teeth don’t fall out on their own, this can be another source of orthodontic difficulties.

Stubborn baby teeth can mean adult teeth erupt behind them, creating a double row of teeth (colorfully known as “shark teeth”) and risking crowding and misalignment. Or a baby tooth can block an adult tooth from erupting at all. When that baby tooth just isn’t budging, an extraction will create space for the permanent tooth to erupt.

If an extraction is scheduled, consult with Dr. Venetia Laganis about these important topics in advance:

• Preparing for the Procedure

A pediatric dentist is an expert not just in caring for little teeth, but in caring for little patients as well. Because extractions can be scary for children, talk to our Maple Grove dental team to learn how to prepare your child for the procedure in an informative, comforting, and age-appropriate way.

• Sedation Options

A local anesthetic could be all that’s necessary for a simple extraction. If sedation is recommended for an extraction, or if you feel sedation is better for your child’s needs, discuss nitrous oxide, oral medication, and other options with your dentist.

• Aftercare

Whether it’s how to protect the area around the extraction, which foods and drinks are best over the days following, or how to treat pain and swelling, you’ll be given clear instructions by your pediatric dental team to help your child recover comfortably and quickly.

Little teeth can take different paths on their way to the Tooth Fairy. Your pediatric dentist is an expert both in treating children’s dental needs and in making sure their oral development is on schedule. If your dentist has recommended an extraction, it’s because this is the very best way to protect your child’s immediate oral health while ensuring a healthy future adult smile.

During the early days of the environmental awareness movement, those who demonstrated against pollution, toxic chemicals, and the general public health were known as hippies. The early 1970s were a time of change, and assertions that we needed to pay more attention to the Earth's atmosphere were generally dismissed. But within a couple decades, it had become clear that the previous generation was right; the citizens of the world needed to become more environmentally conscious.

Many people feel that they can't make a difference if they don't do something big. But caring for the environment doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing concept. In fact, the little things you do can add up to make a great impact, especially in our community. Here are a few ways you can help the environment on Earth Day, April 22nd and all year around.

Four Small Ways to be Environmentally Friendly

• Recycle Your Textiles. Nearly 21 million tons of textiles are added to American landfills each year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Donating your unwanted clothing to a secondhand store or an organization that repurposes fabric helps cut down on solid waste and conserves natural resources.
• Reduce Usage of Disposables. Plastic bottles and bags, disposable diapers and other things we can use and toss out are convenient, but they're not necessary. Simply choosing to replace one of type of disposable with a reusable product can help you cut down on waste that has a large negative impact on our environment.
• Conserve Water. If everyone in the United States turned off the water while brushing their teeth, more than 1.5 million gallons of water could be conserved. Turn the water on long enough to wet your toothbrush for brushing and rinsing, and then immediately turn the water off again.
• Turn Off the Lights. Flip the light switch to "Off" if you're going to leave a particular room for 15 minutes or more. This will conserve energy on incandescent light bulbs and cut down on cooling costs.

It's not necessary to be an activist or install solar panels all over your home to help the environment. Although you can do these things, the little everyday measures make a big difference in helping to conserve energy and the environment, while reducing your carbon footprint. Our team at Laganis Pediatric Dentistry wants to remind you to celebrate Earth Day and help the environment, knowing that it will benefit your and your children's generation.

Scientists have discovered tooth decay in specimens that are more than 15,000 years old. The ancients once thought that cavities were caused by something called “tooth worms” … Eew! They didn’t exist, of course, but how else could humans explain the holes that cavities make in teeth?

The appearance of cavities on a widespread basis is often traced to the rise of farming. The new diet filled with grains and carbs made our mouths a haven for cavity-causing bacteria. As we added more sugar to our diets, our teeth got worse.

The “tooth worm” idea didn’t completely disappear until the 1700s when scientists finally began to understand the process of dental caries. Once that part of the puzzle was solved, they began focusing on filling existing cavities and preventing new ones.

Dental Fillings Come of Age

Many different materials, including beeswax, cork, aluminum, tin, and even asbestos, have been used to fill the holes caused by dental decay. Sometime in the mid-1800s, however, dentists began to use metal fillings such as gold, platinum, silver and lead amalgams.

The amalgam we use today is mixed from liquid mercury, silver, tin, copper, zinc, and other metals, but some patients still like the look of a gold filling. Newer options include composite-resin fillings, which are made from a tooth-colored mixture of plastic resin and finely ground glass-like or quartz particles that form a durable and discreet filling. Porcelain or ceramic fillings are natural in color, but more resistant to staining.

Dr. Venetia Laganis can help decide which filling is best for you, based on cost as well as your dental and lifestyle needs. You may not have “tooth worms,” but if you have cavities, contact our Maple Grove office so we can take the proper action to protect the health of your mouth.