Dental Health

Did you know half of Americans have gum disease? Gum disease happens when bacteria gets trapped below the gum line and damages the soft tissue. In its most advanced stages the bacteria cause bone and tooth loss. If it’s been a while since you’ve been to the dentist, Main Street Dental would love to examine […]

Diabetes is a chronic and complicated disease that affects how your body processes sugar—its main source of energy. Diabetes symptoms mostly affect your heart, eyes, nerves, and kidneys, but it can affect your whole body, including your mouth. According to the American Dental Association (ADA), more than 29 million Americans have diabetes, and almost 2 […]

Some foods will help you grow healthy teeth and keep them forever. Some foods will prevent you from growing healthy teeth, or harm the ones you already have. You can grow and maintain strong, healthy teeth by eating a diet that your mouth (and your body) will truly love. But do you know what foods […]

Most of us were taught The Golden Rule as children, but did you know dentists have a golden rule about tooth discoloration? We’re sorry if that pun made you groan, but it’s true we have a common phrase when it comes to what can cause your smile to look more dull and aged than you’d […]

has been an over-the-counter local dental anesthetic for people of all ages for many years. It is available in most drugstores, often under product names such as Anbesol®, Orajel™ , Hurricaine®, and Baby Orajel™.  Recently, the use of benzocaine has been linked to a rare but serious condition called methemoglobinemia, a disorder that reduces the […]

Full disclosure before your Wallingford dental team at Main Street Dental starts dropping knowledge on the muscles in your mouth that are partially to thank (or blame) for the foods you love: we’re hungry as we write this and are envisioning pizza; yummy, savory pizza with cheese that stretches when you grab a slice, crust […]

Temporomandibular joint dysfunction is a really long name… so let’s call it TMJ.  That sounds more familiar—you’ve probably heard it before. Maybe some lingering pain in your chewing muscles and bones even have you wondering if you have it.  TMJ dysfunction is sometimes called TMD, TMJD, or TMJ Syndrome, especially if there seem to be […]

We all know that it’s important to take care of our health, but that’s often easier said than done. Health and hygiene routines are an investment of your time every day. So, wouldn’t it be great if you could accomplish more by actually doing less?  As it turns out, when it comes to oral health […]

The Americans with Disabilities Act defines disability as a “physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.” (Specific examples of major life activities addressed by the ADA include functions such as caring for one’s self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing and learning.)  Disabilities may be congenital (present […]