Dr. Mantis’s North Shore Dental Blog

Maintaining healthy teeth is an important concern for our local Wilmette residents.

As your Dentist, it’s my job to help you understand how to care for your teeth and to keep them healthy.

Everyone knows that maintaining healthy teeth requires regular daily brushing and flossing. Regular visits to your local dental practice is also necessary to keep watch for cavities and to help you maintain proper dental hygiene. We often forget that maintaining a healthy diet can also be beneficial for the health of your teeth.

A diet that includes foods that help your muscles and bones will also help you develop healthy gums and healthy teeth. Examples of local foods to include in your diet include foods rich in vitamin B such as breads and cereals. Foods rich in vitamin C, usually fruits and vegetables, help improve the health of your gums. Zinc and magnesium are also good for the health of your teeth and are found in foods like lean beef, fish, and poultry.

All foods increase the production of saliva. Saliva is important to healthy teeth because it helps to maintain the pH balance in your mouth. Maintaining this balance helps keep your teeth and gums healthy. Foods high in fiber also encourage saliva production as does the chewing of sugar-free gum. Gum, however, can damage unhealthy teeth or pull out dental fillings, so always use caution when deciding whether to chew gum and which brand to chew.

Just as certain diet choices in the North Shore area can be beneficial to the health of your teeth, others can be detrimental. Foods and drinks that are high in sugars are more likely to form the acids that attack your teeth and result in decay. And while table sugar is often associated with the formation of cavities, other sugars such as glucose, fructose, and maltose are also causes, and are often found in juices and sodas. Limiting the consumption of sugars to mealtimes lessens the amount of time your healthy teeth are exposed.

Making good diet choices and limiting between meal sugar consumption can improve the health of your teeth and gums.

If you would like to learn how to better care for your healthy teeth, contact Dino Mantis DDS at 847.256.4776. We would love to hear from you.

-Dr. Dino Mantis

Wisdom teeth usually come in between ages 16 and 24 for people in the Wilmette

community. While not always troublesome, it is important to learn as early as possible whether your wisdom teeth are coming in sideways, or otherwise impacting your other teeth.

Checking your wisdom teeth in Wilmette is a simple and painless process, and can save you trouble down the road.

Our practice, ‘Dino Mantis DDS‘, works with patients from ages 20 to 80, and our leading edge treatment in a warm and friendly atmosphere staff can help you determine whether your wisdom teeth will need to be extracted. We can also help you determine whether your wisdom teeth will require advanced care, or if a simple procedure can solve the problem.

Wisdom teeth can be painful, and we don’t like pain at Dino Mantis DDS.  It’s our goal to give you the best care and attention when checking your wisdom teeth.

If you are in the Wilmette area and need to have your wisdom teeth checked, please stop by our office at 1625 Sheridan Road, in Wilmette, IL.

We specialize in restorative dentistry, and often perform cosmetic dentistry. We can take a look at your wisdom teeth and help you make a healthy decision for your future.

‘We’re your lifelong dental health partner’

When a tooth is threatened by severe decay, periodontal disease, or damage from an injury, a skilled Wilmette dentist or endodontist must make a judgment call concerning the course of treatment. If the pulp of the tooth is infected or inflamed, a root canal is often the only way to save the tooth.

Dino Mantis DDS: 847.256.4776

During a root canal procedure (or endodontic treatment) the soft tissue in the root of the tooth is removed. This tissue contains veins, arteries and lymph vessels. Once the roots are cleaned out and widened, they are filled with a special rubber material. The root canal is only the first step in the complete tooth restoration. After the root canal, without a crown, the tooth will become dry and brittle. The final steps are the core build up and crown.

At Dino Mantis DDS, we fabricate strong, natural-looking crowns that blend perfectly with the surrounding teeth. With proper oral hygiene and regular visits to a Wilmette dentist, a tooth with a filled root can often function problem-free for the rest of a patient’s life.

I am Dentist Dr. Dino Mantis. I have seen hundreds of teeth saved by this effective dental procedure. Root canal therapy at Dino Mantis DDS in Wilmette has a very high success rate.

Because teeth with infected pulp tissue often cause no symptoms, it is important to have regular dental examinations. I can determine which (if any) teeth have infected roots. If the infection in the soft pulp tissue is left untreated, it can progress to a point where the tooth cannot be saved. Is it time for a thorough dental exam? Call our office at 847.256.4776.

Call Dino Mantis DDS immediately if one of your teeth is screaming for attention!