Swollen and painful gums are symptoms of periodontal disease, an inflammatory gum disease. At Stephen Ratcliff Family and Cosmetic Dentistry in Arlington TX, we see patients every day who complain about pain and discomfort. Swelling of the gums occurs from an auto-immune response of the body reacting to an infection. Infections are noticeable through pain, […]
General Dentistry
How Tooth Grinding Can Damage Your Smile
Categories: Dental Health, General Dentistry
Teeth grinding is a common behavior among people of all ages. Known formally as bruxism, it is when someone involuntarily clenches or grinds their teeth. It can have serious consequences, but is treatable at Stephen Ratcliff Family and Cosmetic Dentistry in Arlington TX. Teeth grinding can occur during the day or night and can affect […]
More Ways To Fight Decay
Categories: Dental Health, General Dentistry
We tend to associate cavities with children, but the truth is that you can get a cavity in one of your teeth at any age. You can minimize the risk, and even prevent cavities, with daily brushing and regular checkups at Stephen Ratcliff Family and Cosmetic Dentistry in Arlington TX. Most people have at least […]
5 Ways To Prevent A Cracked Tooth
Categories: Dental Health, General Dentistry
Cracked teeth can be painful, unattractive, and costly to repair. In this post from Stephen Ratcliff Family and Cosmetic Dentistry in Arlington TX, we offer an easy-to-follow list of tips to keep your teeth whole and strong. 5 Preventative Measures Avoid chewing on hard things. Patients should steer clear of ice, hard candies, hard nuts, […]
A Dentist’s Indispensable Tool
Categories: Dental Health, General Dentistry
At Stephen Ratcliff Family and Cosmetic Dentistry in Arlington TX, providing first rate dental care is much easier when we have thorough information about our patients’ dental health. Pictures are more accurate than written notes. Since they show what’s going on below the surface, they’re worth even more than a thousand words. Along with a […]
Gently Now (Protect Your Gums When You Brush)
Categories: Dental Health, General Dentistry
Everyone wants nice, pearly white teeth. It makes sense, then, to brush our teeth more often to get them – right? Well, no. As we explain in this post from Stephen Ratcliff Family and Cosmetic Dentistry in Arlington TX, brushing too aggressively can result in receding gums. Gum recession is when your gum line exposes […]
Protect Your Enamel, Protect Your Teeth
Categories: Dental Health, General Dentistry
This message from Stephen Ratcliff Family and Cosmetic Dentistry in Arlington is about tooth enamel. Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the body, and well-suited to protect your teeth. If you keep your tooth enamel healthy, you will avoid many dental ailments. Your risk of getting cavities goes way down. Your teeth will be […]
Oral Cancer: Early Diagnosis Makes A Big Difference
Cancer remains one of the scariest diagnoses anyone can get. Oral cancer is especially frightening, because it generally has a higher mortality rate than other cancers. Please keep reading this post from Stephen Ratcliff Family and Cosmetic Dentistry in Arlington, because we actually have some encouraging things to tell you. The reason that the death […]
How Much Do You Know About Gum Disease?
Gum disease is a leading cause of tooth loss in adult Americans, yet many people are surprisingly under-informed about it. In this blog post from Stephen Ratcliff Family and Cosmetic Dentistry in Arlington, we share some basic facts about gum disease. In its earliest and most treatable stage, gum disease is called gingivitis. The more […]
What Are Impacted Wisdom Teeth?
Categories: General Dentistry, Wisdom Teeth
When a wisdom tooth tries to come in but is obstructed by the adjacent tooth, it becomes impacted and can result in such complications as pain, inflammation, or tooth decay. At Stephen Ratclif Family and Cosmetic Dentistry in Arlington we can extract wisdom teeth. It’s challenging to clean partially-erupted wisdom teeth. Since they have a […]
