To Mouthwash or Not

/ Glenn Reit D.D.S./

They come in all colors and flavors in small and large bottles. To use or not to use; that is the question. There’s the original yellow Listerine which we have all used when we have a sore throat. It even tastes like medicine. Is that a good thing? All these products claim to do something including fresher breath, fewer cavities and whiter teeth. For most people with healthy teeth and gums, it’s just a personal preference. What are the benefits of using these products? Cosmetic benefits include freshening your breath for an important meeting or whitening your smile for a date. The products temporarily control odors by masking them with a pleasant aftertaste but they don’t last long. Therapeutic benefits are used to control gingivitis, dry mouth and/or mouth sores. The problem with daily use of these rinses is many are alcohol based. In that case you are continually ingesting alcohol into your oral cavity which is not in your best interests since alcohol dries out your mouth. There are many alcohol-free mouthwashes on the market which are the ones you want to use if you are using a mouthwash daily. Most important to remember is that mouthwashes do not replace brushing or flossing. It is only an adjuvant to these daily necessary routines. When you have a sore throat due to a cold the old Listerine does help you to swallow easier.

At the dental practice of Dr Glenn Reit DDS located at 1498 Third Avenue between 84th and 85th streets we care about you and your teeth.  With decades of experience we’ve seen it all.  Our vision is to educate you about your dental health, give you alternatives for any treatment you may need and discuss what it will cost before we begin so you may make an educated decision on how to proceed.

We want to instill confidence and create a bond with you while performing your dentistry in a stress free environment.  We realize going to the dentist is not on most people’s top ten list so our goal is to give you more in service value than what you pay for your dentistry.

Call us today at 212 517 9000.  You and your teeth will be glad you did.

Looking for a Dentist in the Upper East Side?

At the practice of Glenn Reit DDS; we provide quality care in a relaxed, comfortable, clean and safe environment. Please contact us today at 212 517 9000 for this or any other of your dental needs. We look forward to seeing and taking care of you!

Make Cleaning Your Teeth a Daily Habit

/ Glenn Reit D.D.S./

When you do things often enough at the same time each day, it turns into a routine. Some routines are monotonous while others can be quite exhilarating. When you exercise routinely, you experience an endorphin rush after your workout. This makes you feel good. Feeling good helps you maintain your routine. Taking a shower or bath each day makes you feel clean, which for most is an enjoyable sensation. To achieve something, you need to develop a routine. To clean your mouth, ideally it should be done twice daily, in the morning and in the evening. When you wake up each morning, you might have the sensation that I call morning mouth. The bacteria within your mouth have been having a party. They have grown and are producing noxious substances, which can irritate and smell. To reduce the party, you should brush and floss before you go to bed, causing the bacterial count in your mouth to be less upon waking. So the goal is to brush in the morning and follow up in the evening. All the bacteria in your mouth are anaerobic, meaning without oxygen. The air contains 20% oxygen. So, when you brush your teeth, you bring air into your mouth, and the oxygen within destroys the bacteria. You can only brush the top, front, and backs of your teeth. To prevent cavities between your teeth, you need to floss. The floss brings air in between your teeth, which kills the bacteria hiding there. Everyone wants a healthy mouth. You have the tools to make it so. By brushing and flossing twice per day, every day, you will make cleaning your teeth a routine, which ultimately leads to a habit that in this case will maintain your tooth health. You should also come in to see us for a professional cleaning twice per year. We can tell you how you’re doing and make sure there is nothing growing inside your mouth. Since most dental insurances cover your exam, X-rays, and cleaning at 100%. It’s a no-brainer.

At the dental practice of Dr Glenn Reit DDS located at 1498 Third Avenue between 84th and 85th streets we care about you and your teeth.  With decades of experience we’ve seen it all.  Our vision is to educate you about your dental health, give you alternatives for any treatment you may need and discuss what it will cost before we begin so you may make an educated decision on how to proceed.

We want to instill confidence and create a bond with you while performing your dentistry in a stress free environment.  We realize going to the dentist is not on most people’s top ten list so our goal is to give you more in service value than what you pay for your dentistry.

Call us today at 212 517 9000.  You and your teeth will be glad you did.

Looking for a Dentist in the Upper East Side?

At the practice of Glenn Reit DDS; we provide quality care in a relaxed, comfortable, clean and safe environment. Please contact us today at 212 517 9000 for this or any other of your dental needs. We look forward to seeing and taking care of you!

Nobody Wants Cavities

/ Glenn Reit D.D.S./

Everyone wants to be healthy. Luckily today concerning your teeth with fluoride in the drinking water the amount of tooth decay is way down, especially if you make the effort to brush and floss your teeth. How do cavities occur? Sometimes you can be predisposed to decay due to your genetics but most of the time it is due to eating sugary, sticky foods and not removing the remaining residue by not cleaning your teeth. The outside of your tooth is made up of enamel which is a very hard substance. The inner part of your tooth is made up of dentin which is technically millions of little straws pressed close together. For decay to inhabit your tooth it has to break through the enamel layer. Think of decay as looking like an upside down or right side up pyramid depending if you are on your upper or lower teeth. The top point is the entry point into your inner tooth. Most people have grooves and lines on the surface of their teeth so if food remains there it disintegrates giving off acids which attack the surface of your teeth. Once the decay forms that little hole into the interior of your tooth it now has an ideal environment to cause mayhem. For decay to grow it is looking for a dark, warm area without oxygen and a continual source of food. Inside your mouth it is dark, approximately 100 degrees and once the decay is inside your tooth there is no oxygen. As you continually eat there is a constant source of food. Since the decay is within your tooth you are unable to remove or clean it with your toothbrush and it continues to grow. The only way to remove it is to see your dentist who will excavate it out and replace the missing tooth structure to restore your tooth to health. You can also get decay between your teeth by not flossing to remove any impacted food remaining there after eating. Here at Dr Glenn Reit’s dental practice, we do not want you to have decay. If you do, we will remove it and restore your tooth to health.

At the dental practice of Dr Glenn Reit DDS located at 1498 Third Avenue between 84th and 85th streets we care about you and your teeth.  With decades of experience we’ve seen it all.  Our vision is to educate you about your dental health, give you alternatives for any treatment you may need and discuss what it will cost before we begin so you may make an educated decision on how to proceed.

We want to instill confidence and create a bond with you while performing your dentistry in a stress free environment.  We realize going to the dentist is not on most people’s top ten list so our goal is to give you more in service value than what you pay for your dentistry.

Call us today at 212 517 9000.  You and your teeth will be glad you did.

Looking for a Dentist in the Upper East Side?

At the practice of Glenn Reit DDS; we provide quality care in a relaxed, comfortable, clean and safe environment. Please contact us today at 212 517 9000 for this or any other of your dental needs. We look forward to seeing and taking care of you!

You Lead With Your Smile

/ Glenn Reit D.D.S./

So, having a pleasing smile can only help you navigate through life. When you look in the mirror are you smiling or not? If not, is it because there’s something you’d like to change? If it concerns your teeth there are multiple alternatives to rejuvenate your smile. Maybe your teeth are looking a little dark from too much coffee or wine. Maybe your teeth are a little chipped or worn down from just experiencing chewing? Or maybe like a stagecoach some of your teeth have decided to take a journey somewhere else. If you are experiencing any of these problems there are solutions. A little lighter color can be achieved through tooth whitening. Here after three or four home applications with tooth whitening trays for ten to fifteen minutes voila your teeth are whiter. Might make you feel a whole lot happier. If your teeth look worse for wear with the application of composite matched to the color of your teeth we can bring you a more pleasing look. For these procedures there is no dental drilling or giving of anesthesia so it’s painless. If your teeth have lost their way and need to be brought back to the ranch we can heard them into alignment. Wear clear plastic aligners over a period of time your teeth will move back into formation giving you a more pleasing smile. It’s not painful; it’s relatively quick and can make you feel a whole lot happier when smiling. Right or wrong people judge you. Your teeth are right out front. A pleasing smile often leads to a more pleasing response from those you meet. Some of this is unconscious but it does have a bearing on interactions with other humans. Sometimes all it takes is the standard dental cleaning to enhance your smile. Coming in twice per year to have your teeth examined and cleaned can catch most problems before they become a problem. Being proactive versus being reactive in the long run is always a better proposition.

At the dental practice of Dr Glenn Reit DDS located at 1498 Third Avenue between 84th and 85th streets we care about you and your teeth.  With decades of experience we’ve seen it all.  Our vision is to educate you about your dental health, give you alternatives for any treatment you may need and discuss what it will cost before we begin so you may make an educated decision on how to proceed.

We want to instill confidence and create a bond with you while performing your dentistry in a stress free environment.  We realize going to the dentist is not on most people’s top ten list so our goal is to give you more in service value than what you pay for your dentistry.

Call us today at 212 517 9000.  You and your teeth will be glad you did.

Looking for a Dentist in the Upper East Side?

At the practice of Glenn Reit DDS; we provide quality care in a relaxed, comfortable, clean and safe environment. Please contact us today at 212 517 9000 for this or any other of your dental needs. We look forward to seeing and taking care of you!

Can I Ignore A Cracked Tooth

/ Glenn Reit D.D.S./

If you see a crack, you must react. There is a difference between a craze line and a crack. Everyone has craze lines on their teeth. If you hold a light up to your teeth you will see fine lines on the surface of the teeth. This is caused over time due to temperature differentials when you eat. You bite into an ice cream cone and the ice cream is below 32 degrees. You then immediately drink some coffee which could be at 90 degrees. The immediate difference in temperature causes these lines to occur. A crack however is much deeper and more apparent. If you bite down on something and your tooth starts to hurt you may have a crack. If you’re a grinder or clench, meaning you bite down hard on your teeth or move your jaw back and forth while holding your teeth together, a crack can only become worse. Clenching and grinding is due to stress, and if you can’t remove the stress, we can help with a night guard. It’s like when your car’s windshield is hit with a rock, sometimes it causes a chip while at other times the chip expands into a crack which progresses. This is the condition with your teeth. Sometimes a chip turns into a crack and can spread. In a minor case it is seen and repaired quickly. Left alone, it can expand into the nerve requiring root canal therapy. In the worst case, it can fracture your tooth in half requiring the removal of the entire tooth. So if you see a crack, go on the attack and give us a call so we can resolve your situation.

At the dental practice of Dr Glenn Reit DDS located at 1498 Third Avenue between 84th and 85th streets we care about you and your teeth.  With decades of experience we’ve seen it all.  Our vision is to educate you about your dental health, give you alternatives for any treatment you may need and discuss what it will cost before we begin so you may make an educated decision on how to proceed.

We want to instill confidence and create a bond with you while performing your dentistry in a stress free environment.  We realize going to the dentist is not on most people’s top ten list so our goal is to give you more in service value than what you pay for your dentistry.

Call us today at 212 517 9000.  You and your teeth will be glad you did.

Looking for a Dentist in the Upper East Side?

At the practice of Glenn Reit DDS; we provide quality care in a relaxed, comfortable, clean and safe environment. Please contact us today at 212 517 9000 for this or any other of your dental needs. We look forward to seeing and taking care of you!

Dental Implants- What To Do If You Lose a Tooth and You Miss It

/ Glenn Reit D.D.S./

Only a dentist can love a tooth but most individuals love their smile. Sometimes due to trauma or failure of a dental restoration a tooth will need to be removed. Unfortunately teeth are unable to repair themselves when injured. A minor incident can lead to a filling or if a filling fails to a crown. Now you’re royalty. I wonder how many crowns Queen Elizabeth has? Dental crowns, that is. Sometimes the nerve in your tooth decides to check out. In that case a root canal may be needed. But, even root canals can fail and if that happens and the tooth is lost you may want a replacement. Back in the day if you lost a tooth you had three options: Do nothing, replace it with a tooth permanently connected to your adjacent teeth or with a tooth you could take in and out of your mouth. Today, if you lose a tooth we can replace it with one that is most like your original tooth and not compromise any of your existing teeth. This is accomplished by placing a dental implant. A dental implant is a biocompatible piece of titanium which looks like you own dental tooth’s root. It is placed into your jaw basically right into the hole where your original tooth resided. Several months later the bone of your jaw will grow into the implant allowing the piece of titanium to become part of your jaw. At this point a crown can be placed on the implant which resembles your own original tooth. Since the implant mimics your own tooth in appearance and function you will believe it is your own. The implant surgery is done right here in the office. you will be able to function normally the next morning. Since the treatment is spread out over several months, so is the cost. Dental insurance companies will cover this procedure if the tooth involved was taken out while the insurance policy is in effect. For those with flexible spending plans this is a qualified expenditure. Even if you lost your tooth several years ago we may still be able to replace it with an implant with an additional procedure done at the time of implant placement. Realize when you lose a tooth you begin losing bone which supports the tooth. The loss of bone can lead to a dimple expression on your face. Most adults are not into the Shirley Temple look. If this situation sounds like you or if you have friends or loved ones who have that gap tooth look come on in for a consultation to see if this is a solution for them or you.

At the dental practice of Dr Glenn Reit DDS located at 1498 Third Avenue between 84th and 85th streets we care about you and your teeth.  With decades of experience we’ve seen it all.  Our vision is to educate you about your dental health, give you alternatives for any treatment you may need and discuss what it will cost before we begin so you may make an educated decision on how to proceed.

We want to instill confidence and create a bond with you while performing your dentistry in a stress free environment.  We realize going to the dentist is not on most people’s top ten list so our goal is to give you more in service value than what you pay for your dentistry.

Call us today at 212 517 9000.  You and your teeth will be glad you 

Looking for a Dentist in the Upper East Side?

At the practice of Glenn Reit DDS; we provide quality care in a relaxed, comfortable, clean and safe environment. Please contact us today at 212 517 9000 for this or any other of your dental needs. We look forward to seeing and taking care of you!

Nobody Wants Stained Teeth

/ Glenn Reit D.D.S./

You may want to stain some wood but you certainly do not want to intentionally stain your teeth.  However, certain of our habits are conducive to darkening the color of our teeth.  High pigmented drinks such as coffee, tea, red wine and soda along with berries and tomato sauce will darken your teeth.

One way to lessen the effects of these foods is to rinse your mouth with water after consumption or brushing your teeth.  You could also use a straw which directs the staining liquids away from your teeth but for most this will not be acceptable like drinking a cup of coffee through a straw, not.

Stopping smoking in addition to being good for your gums and teeth is good for your overall health.  The tar and nicotine in teeth will stain them over time.

Most importantly consistent oral hygiene plays a crucial role in preventing tooth staining.  When you build up plaque on your teeth it traps stains and makes them more difficult to remove. 

We recommend a soft toothbrush twice per day to get the surfaces of your teeth and dental floss to clean in between your teeth which will lead to less staining.

If you are unhappy with the color of your teeth professional tooth whitening may be the answer for you.

Tooth staining and discoloration can detract from the beauty of your smile.

At the dental practice of Dr Glenn Reit on the Upper East Side of Manhattan between 84th and 85th streets on Third Avenue we like meeting new people and helping them resolve their dental problems.  If you are looking for a dentist give us a call at 212 517 9000.

You and your teeth will be glad you did.

Looking for a Dentist in the Upper East Side?

At the practice of Glenn Reit DDS; we provide quality care in a relaxed, comfortable, clean and safe environment. Please contact us today at 212 517 9000 for this or any other of your dental needs. We look forward to seeing and taking care of you!

Five habits to keep your teeth healthy and attractive

/ Glenn Reit D.D.S./

Change is Good

Here are 5 habits you should alter to keep your teeth healthy and attractive.   Are you a nail biter?

Over time this subconscious habit can lead to chipping, cracking and causing excessive wear to your teeth.   Since most nail biting occurs on your anterior teeth it can and will be noticed by others.

The old chewing on inedible objects such as pens, pencils or sunglass stems.  Constantly chewing on these non forgiving substances can only lead to detrimental changes in the look and strength of the teeth subjected to these objects.

You are not an ice crusher.  It seems many like to chew on ice.  For some reason chewing and breaking the ice makes you feel better.  Probably due to some stress in your life, crushing the ice with your teeth makes you feel stronger.  Over times cracks appear on the surface of your teeth leading to a greater potential of the tooth eventually fracturing

Jaw breaking as in jaw clenching is definitely related to being stressed out.  In fact clenching bringing your jaws together or grinding moving your jaws back and forth is a way for your body to release stress.  Unfortunately, this causes increased pressure on your jaws and teeth leading to breaking of the teeth or injury to your jaw joints. 

Brushing too hard or using a hard toothbrush can cause injury to your gums which surround and support your teeth.  Not paying attention while you are brushing can cause whole areas of your mouth to be missed.

If any of these habits are you, maybe now is a good time to say bye, bye to them.   You and your teeth will be glad you did.

At the dental practice of Dr. Glenn Reit located at 1498 Third Avenue in Yorkville on the Upper East Side of Manhattan we like meeting new people and getting to know them and taking care of any dental issues they may have.

Even if you just need a cleaning give us a call at 212 517 9000 to schedule an appointment.

You and your teeth will be glad you did.

Looking for a Dentist in the Upper East Side?

At the practice of Glenn Reit DDS; we provide quality care in a relaxed, comfortable, clean and safe environment. Please contact us today at 212 517 9000 for this or any other of your dental needs. We look forward to seeing and taking care of you!

Gum Disease Is Not Your Friend

/ Glenn Reit D.D.S./

Foundations

Just like a building, a tooth needs a strong foundation.  For teeth the foundation is your jaw and gums.  You can have decay free teeth but if the support is not there they can end up in your hands.  Keeping your gums healthy is not too difficult if you just make a small effort.  

How do I keep my gums healthy?  Visiting the dentist twice a year is recommended.  Here we can look into your mouth and with x rays determine any problems that might be brewing.  If you have no decay then with a dental cleaning and your efforts your gums and jaw bone will remain healthy.

Your part is simple.  Come to the dentist and then compliment your visit with your daily dental home care.  Every morning upon waking and every evening before retiring you need to brush and floss your teeth.  The brushing removes accumulations on the top, back and front of your teeth.  The flossing removes accumulation between your teeth and is more important than the brushing for gum health.

Around every tooth is a pocket or cuff.  In a healthy situation the pocket is two to three millimeters in depth.  At this level when you floss the floss will reach the base of the pocket and remove any build up of food and bacteria present.

Gum disease happens when the food between your teeth is not removed.  As the food breaks down it releases acids which attack the gums allowing the pockets to deepen.  Once the pocket gets greater than four millimeters even if you floss you will not be able to reach the base of the pocket and the gum disease continues. 

Over time if not checked the gum disease starts to attack the bone in your jaws.  When enough bone is lost the tooth starts eventually becoming loose and needs to be removed.  It takes time for this to happen and often the patient is not aware of it till the end.

Coming in for dental check-up and cleaning will catch this situation before it can become a problem.   You lead with your teeth and your teeth make up your smile.  If it’s been awhile maybe it’s time to come in for a check-up and cleaning

At the dental office of Dr. Glenn Reit we always like meeting new people and taking care of their dental needs.  We are located at 1498 Third Avenue between 84th and 85thstreets in Yorkville.  You can reach us at 212 517 9000

Looking for a Dentist in the Upper East Side?

At the practice of Glenn Reit DDS; we provide quality care in a relaxed, comfortable, clean and safe environment. Please contact us today at 212 517 9000 for this or any other of your dental needs. We look forward to seeing and taking care of you!