Smiling and Laughing – It’s Healthy!

At our office, we believe in smiles. Having a healthy smile not only looks great, feels great, and is great for you physical health…it’s also great for your mental state and overall well-being. Research shows that there are definite health benefits in direct correlation with smiling and laughing. Let’s talk about them today.

We’ve all heard of endorphins right? They’re a chemical in our body that makes us happy and lowers our stress levels. Often they’re associated with physical exercise, but they’re also released when you smile. Whether the smile is real or fake! Can you believe that? So once you smile, the muscle movements in your face trigger the release of these chemicals. 

Endorphins are an amazing part of our biology. They work to lower our stress level by reducing the stress hormone cortisol. Endorphins even help  minimize physical pain and increase your pain tolerance. Smiling and laughing more has also been linked to lower blood pressure, lower blood sugar, improved immune system functionality and mucus minimization. While we by no means claim that a simple smile and laugh can achieve all of this instantly, studies do connect these health benefits with a lifestyle that includes more smiling and laughing.

One more great advantage has to do with the benefits of a happy and positive lifestyle – which is also connected to the way you feel.  It’s no secret that smiling can make you more attractive to people, making you more approachable too. For your overall well-being and social life, whether it be at home or work, a smile a day goes a very long way :)

Flossing 101

Flossing is an important part of your daily routine. It loosens up plaque wedged between your teeth and is a great defense to help fight against gum disease and tooth decay. All in all, we're big fans of flossing, and always advise our patience to make it a habit. 

We always want our patience to get the most out of their dental health routine day to day. So we'd like share 3 tips for flossing the right way.

1. Position Yourself

Wrap the floss around both middle fingers and grip the floss between your thumbs and pointer fingers. Make sure you're working with around 20 inches of thread each time your floss. More is more when it comes to floss!

2. Be Kind

It's all about being gentle. Don't forcefully push the thread into place. Once you've positioned the floss between your teeth, lightly curve the thread down, then up, around the sides of each tooth.

 

3. Stay At It

Consistency counts when it comes to flossing. It's a great habit to get into every day, and once it's a part of your daily routine it really becomes second nature. Plus, the more your teeth and gums are used to flossing, the less painful the process will be as your gums become stronger. 

So position yourself, be kind to your gums, and stay at it - soon you'll be a flossing pro!

'Filling you in'

We have two brand new members to our Toms River Family Dental Team! We couldn't be more thrilled.

• Harry is our new, full-time dental assistant and he's already a patient favorite! So happy to have him as a part of the family.
• Dr. Jesse Hofer is our new board certified Periodontist! He'll be at our practice every Thursday and many Fridays. We're very excited to have him with us!

Scholarship Awards Night!

We are so pleased to talk about our first annual Toms River Family Dental Scholarship Awards, held on July 2nd. With so many promising applicants it was not easy to choose who would be awarded the scholarships, but in the end three candidates stood out among the rest.

High school seniors from our three local Toms River high schools were asked to submit essays about why they chose to enter the health care field. Our winners were Molly Applegate from Toms River South, Victoria Emm from Toms River North, and Miles Stafford from Toms River East. Each were awarded $500 scholarships, along with a party we threw for them.

Two things we at Toms River Family Dental love to do is support our community and help support students as they achieve their goals. This was a way to accomplish both, and it's a new tradition we are very excited about.

So sending a BIG congratulations to all of our winners and their (rightfully) proud families. It was a wonderful night to help jumpstart three very bright futures.

Toothbrush Tips

Happy day before the Fourth of July everyone! Hope you're gearing up for a long weekend filled with friends, family, food, fun and flossing! Today we wanted to discuss your toothbrush. It's an important part of your life and everyday routine, but it's something we often don't think about. Before the festivities of the holiday begin, here are some tips to keep in mind about your toothbrush technique.

1. Don't Share It, Ever
Even if it belongs to your family member, we never recommend sharing toothbrushes. Not only that, but it's important to keep your toothbrush in a separate place from any others. Any opportunity for toothbrushes to touch is an opportunity for germs to spread - and that's not good!

2. Keep It Germ Free
Having you toothbrush resting in a cup by itself is a great storage routine. By doing this, the toothbrush remains upright to dry faster once you've rinsed it off. It's the safest way to rid the toothbrush of any bacteria.

3. Toss It
We believe in using your best judgement about when to toss your toothbrush. If at any point there's hesitation around whether to keep it or not, our advice is to just ditch it for a new one. Better safe than sorry. If there bristles are frayed or you've had it for longer than two months, it's time for a new brush!

Happy July 4th to all of our patients! Enjoy it!