Tips for Enjoying a More Nutritious Diet

Tips for Enjoying a More Nutritious Diet

In our last post, we talked about the benefits of a nutritious diet—how it can help you support your overall health, and even your oral health. In today’s post, we’d like to look a little more at the topic of nutrition by offering some specific examples for how you can improve your diet on a daily basis.

First, how can you include more vegetables in your life?

As this article suggests, one way is by including a greater variety of vegetables in an omelet recipe, but you can expand beyond that as well. There are countless recipes for nutritious salads and soups out there. 

Finding them just takes a willingness to look for them, as well as a sense of adventure. Trying new things can be difficult for some, but the rewards are absolutely worth it.

Our second tip has to do with the all-important topic of dessert.

Instead of serving up a bowl of ice cream or snacking on a handful of cookies, experiment with fruit. Mix and match your favorites in a fruit salad, or trying preparing them in ways you’ve never tried before. Sometimes baking a fruit with a spice like cinnamon can result in an exciting combination of flavors and sensations.

But these are just two ideas. For more, take a look at this article to see what you can do to improve your diet. And to reserve an appointment with Dr. Wade, just give Stonebriar Smile Design a call today. We serve patients from Frisco, Plano, McKinney, Allen, Dallas, and The Colony.

Why Are Nutritious Foods Important for Your Smile?

Why Are Nutritious Foods Important for Your Smile?

If your first thought was, “Because they’re good for your teeth!” then you’re partly right. Certain vitamins and minerals are beneficial for your teeth. But really, the answer to that question is much broader than that. Eating nutritious foods helps you support your overall health, improving your quality of life in a wide range of areas.

This article highlights some of the health problems that a nutritious diet can help you protect against. They include:

·         Heart disease

·         Bone loss

·         Type 2 diabetes

·         High blood pressure

·         Certain types of cancers

So, while all of this might not affect your oral health directly, the implicit recognition is that every aspect of your health—from your smile to the rest of your body—is connected, and that benefits in one area can spread to others as well. As result, taking steps to improve one area may also help you in others.

But of course, a healthy diet is no substitute for great brushing and flossing, or regular dental checkups. To ensure that you’re enjoying optimal oral and overall health, we recommend a combined lifestyle of great nutrition and great oral care.

To learn more about the connection between nutrition and oral health, as well as overall health, call Stonebriar Smile Design to reserve your next visit. Dr. Wade and her friendly team would be happy to help you assess and improve your oral health. Our Frisco office offers excellent cosmetic and wellness services to help patients from Plano, McKinney, Allen, Dallas, and The Colony achieve optimal oral health.

Call us today to schedule your appointment with Dr. Wade.

Stay Hydrated with Water Instead of Sugary Drinks

If you read our last blog post, then you know how concerned we are about our Frisco patients staying hydrated during the rest of this hot summer. But today’s we’d like turn our attention away from sugary drinks towards the topic of water.

Water is the best drink you can consume, no matter what the temperature is outside. Here are some of the biggest benefits of drinking water:

•  Drinking water helps decrease the body’s acidity levels. As a result, the body produces fewer free radicals and inflammation is reduced.
•  Though not a substitute for brushing and flossing, drinking water after meals helps teeth stay clean by washing away debris and leftover food.
• Water that’s enriched with fluoride can strengthen teeth by attracting important minerals.
• Consuming plenty of water improves the body’s overall function by supporting kidney health, keeping the body hydrated, and helping to maintain a stable weight.

Knowing about the benefits of drinking water puts the whole issue of hydration in perspective. As tasty as fruit juices, soft drinks, sweetened teas, and sports drinks might be, do the pros of regular consumption outweigh the cons? Is it wise to drink beverages that have a negative impact on health when a pure, beneficial drink like water is so easily within reach for most of us?

Do you still have questions about how drinking water can benefit your smile and your overall health? Dr. Jill Wade at Stonebriar Smile Design would love to answer your questions. Call our office today. We serve patients from Frisco, Plano, McKinney, Allen, Dallas, and The Colony.

How Are You Staying Hydrated This Summer?

Summer may be coming to an end, but it won’t officially be over until September 21. That means that hot temperatures will be with us for at least another month. It also means that staying hydrated will still be a major concern.

But how are you choosing to stay hydrated? Is it by drinking plenty of water throughout the day, or is it with a can of soda or a glass of fruit juice?

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a cold, sugar-filled drink from time to time, but relying on them for hydration comes with problems, both for your overall wellbeing and your smile.

The Dangers That Sugary Drinks Pose for Your Smile and Your Overall Health

One of the most obvious problems with sodas is that they often contain caffeine, a diuretic. Because diuretics decrease the amount of water in the body, consuming too many caffeinated drinks during the hot summer months can lead to dehydration.

What’s more, drinks loaded with sugar are also loaded with calories. Soft drinks in particular have been linked to rises in obesity in both children and adults, though fruit juices, sweetened teas, and sports drinks are also to blame.

But overall wellbeing is just one area we’d like to address. The other is in the arena of oral health.

The danger of sugary drinks is that sugar encourages the growth of bacteria, which in turn causes decay, or what you might know better as cavities. What’s more, the acid from sugary drinks can contribute to decay by wearing away the protective enamel that covers teeth. Both of these combine to leave teeth more vulnerable to serious oral health problems.

Do you have questions about sugary drinks and your overall/oral health? Call Stonebriar Smile Design with your questions. Dr. Jill Wade and the friendly team at her Frisco office are happy to answer any questions you might have about sugary drinks and staying hydrated.

SomnoMed—An Alternative Solution for Treating Sleep Apnea

 

SomnoMed—An Alternative Solution for Treating Sleep Apnea

Since June, we’ve been doing a series on sleep apnea, covering topics ranging from the symptoms of sleep apnea, its causes, and how it can be treated with a CPAP machine. Today we’re going to wrap up our series on sleep apnea by talking about a non-surgical alternative to CPAP that’s bringing relief to patients everywhere—an oral appliance from SomnoMed.

Why an Oral Appliance?

In our last post, we mentioned a few reasons for why patients might want to consider an oral appliance over treatment with CPAP. One common problem is that the noise a CPAP machine makes can keep patients or their partners awake, preventing sleep. Other problems include nasal congestion, sore throat, conjunctivitis, skin irritation, and nosebleeds.

All of which is reason enough to consider an oral appliance. An oral appliance is custom-made from an impression of your smile and is designed to fit unobtrusively over your upper and lower teeth. It’s works by repositioning your tongue or lower jawbone, preventing the blockage that commonly causes sleep apnea. As a result, patients are able to sleep easily throughout the night without waking up to take a breath.

Are you ready to make your sleep apnea a thing of the past with an oral appliance from SomnoMed? Dr. Jill Wade and her experienced team are ready to help. Call Stonebriar Smile Design today to schedule your appointment with us. Our office is conveniently located in Frisco and serves patients from Plano, McKinney, Allen, Dallas, The Colony, and beyond.

Treating Sleep Apnea with a CPAP Machine

 Treating Sleep Apnea with a CPAP Machine

In our last blog post, we began a series on sleep apnea by talking about its symptoms and what causes it. Over the next couple of posts, we’ll look at how doctors have treated sleep apnea, beginning today with CPAP.

What Is CPAP?

CPAP stands for continuous positive airway pressure. For patients who are receiving treatment with CPAP, this continuous flow of air is produced by a machine and is pumped through a delivery tube to a face mask, providing patients with a steady supply of air. As a result, patients who receive treatment with CPAP may finally be able to sleep comfortably, getting the much-needed rest they deserve.

And yet, as effective as treatment with CPAP can be, there are some downsides associated with it. For some, wearing a mask at night can be difficult, while others may have a hard time adjusting to the feeling of forced air. Still other problems include:

·         Nasal congestion

·         Sore throat

·         Conjunctivitis

·         Skin irritation

·         Nosebleeds

Still, despite the common problems associated with CPAP, for some it is an effective solution for combating sleep apnea and finally getting some well-deserved rest.

There is another solution for treating sleep apnea, though, and in our next post we’ll talk about how this simple, non-surgical approach is restoring hope for those who struggle to sleep at night.

Until then, if you have questions about sleep apnea or treatment with CPAP, we’d love to hear from you. Call Dr. Jill Wade’s Frisco office today to schedule an appointment. Our office provides great dental care to patients from Plano, McKinney, Allen, Dallas, The Colony, and beyond.

What Causes Sleep Apnea?

What Causes Sleep Apnea?

  

In our last post, we talked about some of the signs and symptoms of a common sleep disorder known as sleep apnea. In this post, we’ll talk more about what sleep apnea is and what causes it.

For patients with sleep apnea, getting the kind of restful night of sleep necessary for a healthy lifestyle is difficult. That’s because patients with sleep apnea experience interrupted sleep—that is, they actually stop breathing throughout the night. As a result, they are continually waking up so that they can breathe.

Why do sleep apnea patients stop breathing?

The most common reason is that their airways have become blocked by their tongue or their lower jaw. That’s why another name for sleep apnea is obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, or OSAS.

But the good news is that patients with sleep apnea don’t have to just live with their problem. With treatment, it’s possible to enjoy the kind of deep, peaceful sleep you’ve been missing.

How is sleep apnea treated?

By supplying your lungs with the air they desperately need. And that can happen in a couple of ways.

In our posts for next month, we’ll discuss those methods in greater detail. For now, if you suspect that you might suffer from sleep apnea, give Dr. Wade a call at Stonebriar Smile Design. Together her with smart, talented team, she can answer all your questions about sleep apnea, in addition to providing you with a treatment solution.

Call us today if you live in Frisco, Plano, McKinney, Allen, Dallas, The Colony, or a surround area. We look forward to helping you!