“Spring Cleaning” often refers to how many of us clean our homes and apartments of clutter and dust following the cold and dark winter months. But how can this apply to our dental health? Springtime is one of the busiest for local dentists and for good reason. Spring is the time when we come out into the sun with more activities and face-to-face meetings with friends and family. This means anything that has happened to our teeth since the start of last fall will be clear for all to see. Many people schedule one of their twice-yearly visits to the dentist in spring and those who don’t go consistently often do go in the spring. Let’s take a look at why.

Having Confidence in Being Seen

When it is freezing cold and pitch black by 4 pm, we don’t typically do too much in terms of group activities. There are few parties and even fewer weddings in the winter, and there is less desire to meet up with friends for dinner or drinks when the windchill is -2F. But now the season has broken and we can be thankful spring has arrived in full force. 

For those of us here in the Northeastern United States, and in particular, here in NYC; warm weather means getting outside and being seen. It’s a scientific fact that many (if not most) people who live in cold weather climates experience an energy and hormonal mood elevation shift when the sun comes back and it warms up. We smile more, we laugh more, we hug more, and we want to be with other people more than in the cold months. 

If you were self-conscious about the state of your smile last year it’s time to get to the dentist and start working towards the confident smile you deserve. As they say, “if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right”, and that could not be more true than with your oral health. 

Amazing how Little Improvements Add-Up

“Rome wasn’t built in a day”, is a popular slogan we likely use too often as a society, but it rings true for dental health. If you have a rotting tooth that needs to be extracted, you know it didn’t rot overnight. The path to tooth extraction takes some time and the same goes when we are repairing any oral health problem like missing or cracked teeth. Like any long-term goal, work at it a little every day and it will compound until you get the result that you want. 

Consider some little changes that when added up over time can completely turn your confidence in your smile around:

• Brushing and flossing twice a day: will improve overall dental health, eliminate bad breath, prevent cavities, and can begin whitening teeth with the right toothpaste. 
• Visiting the dentist 2 times a year: even with optimal home dental hygiene, you can develop tooth problems that only a trained eye can detect. The simple act of going to the dentist for a routine cleaning adds up to preventing major oral health problems while also optimizing your smile. 
• Reducing or eliminating refined sugar from your diet: springtime is also “get in shape time” for many people. This is good for your physical well-being but can also be good for your teeth. Cutting out refined sugars is one of the best ways to improve your oral health. Refined sugars create acids that slowly destroy tooth enamel and can lead to sensitivity and cavities, which in turn lead to worse problems. Little incremental changes like this improve your waistline, but also cardiovascular health, skin health, dietary health, and oral health. 
• Using an Electric Toothbrush: are you still manually brushing your teeth? This has been proven to be less effective than using an electric toothbrush for a few reasons. Manual toothbrushes require physical exertion which means you do work and also make it too easy to do too little time. With most electric toothbrushes there is a timer that lets you know when you’ve hit the optimal brushing time of 2 minutes. You also don’t have to work out your forearms when you use an electric brush. This means your overall brushing experience has gotten easier to do and better at the same time. 
• Reduce Acid Consumption: along with sugars, the #1 thing that damages tooth enamel is acidic foods and drinks. Things like alcohol and citric fruits come to mind but there are also less obvious examples of high-acid foods. You likely can’t eliminate acid from your diet but you can be aware of it and reduce it, that is an incremental change that adds up. 

Many Dentists Offer Spring Cleaning Specials

We all know the dentist is important but not everyone has dental insurance. That is ok! Springtime is the highest time for dental discounts here in Coney Island New York and that means getting to the dentist at a very low upfront out-of-pocket cost. 

We offer first-time patients a discounted cleaning, x-ray, and oral health screening the entire spring season because we want everyone to be confident with their teeth. Missing a tooth? Do not be ashamed! We work with hundreds of patients every year with missing or badly damaged teeth and are proud to help every single one of them get back to a confident smile they can smile wide with.

Make your Coney Island NY Dentist Appointment today with over 40+ years of local expertise, right here at ConeyIslandDental.com