The month of May blossoms annually with commencement ceremonies honoring students graduating from high schools, colleges and universities. For each graduate, the occasion represents a major milestone along their road to adulthood. It's also an appropriate time to assess their dental development.

Although our teeth and gums continue to change as we age, the greatest change occurs during the first two decades of life. In that time, humans gain one set of teeth, lose it, and then gain another in relatively rapid succession. The new permanent teeth continue to mature, as do the jaws, up through the time many are graduating from college.

Of course, you don't have to be in the process of receiving a diploma to “graduate” from adolescent to adult. If you are in that season, here are a few things regarding your dental health that may deserve your attention.

Wisdom teeth. According to folklore, the back third molars are called wisdom teeth because they usually erupt during the transition from a “learning” child to a “wise” adult. Folklore aside, though, wisdom teeth are often a source for dental problems: The last to come in (typically between ages 17 and 25), wisdom teeth often erupt out of alignment in an already crowded jaw, or are impacted and remain hidden below the gums. To avoid the cascade of problems these issues can cause, it may be necessary to remove the teeth.

Permanent restorations. Though not as often as in adults, children and teens can lose teeth to disease, injury or deliberate removal. Because the jaw is still in development, dental implants are not generally advisable. Instead, patients under twenty often have temporary restorations like partial dentures or bonded bridges. As the jaws reach full maturity in a young adult's early 20s, it's often a good time to consider a permanent implant restoration.

Smile makeovers. An upcoming graduation is also a great reason to consider cosmetic smile upgrades. When it comes to improving a smile, the sky's the limit—from professional teeth whitening for dull teeth to porcelain veneers or crowns to mask dental imperfections. It's also not too late to consider orthodontics: Braces or the increasingly popular clear aligners can straighten almost anyone's teeth at any age, as long as the person is in reasonably good health.

This may also be a good time to update your own personal care. Regular dental visits, along with daily brushing and flossing, are the foundation stones for keeping your teeth and gums healthy throughout your life. So, as you “commence” with this new chapter in your life, make a dental appointment now to “commence” with a renewed commitment to your dental health.

If you would like more information about adult dental care, please contact us or schedule a consultation. To learn more, read the Dear Doctor magazine articles “Wisdom Teeth” and “Teenagers & Dental Implants.”

Sometimes it seems that appearances count for everything—especially in Hollywood. But just recently, Lonnie Chaviz, the 10-year-old actor who plays young Randall on the hit TV show This Is Us, delivered a powerful message about accepting differences in body image. And the whole issue was triggered by negative social media comments about his smile.

Lonnie has a noticeable diastema—that is, a gap between his two front teeth; this condition is commonly seen in children, but is less common in adults. There are plenty of celebrities who aren’t bothered by the excess space between their front teeth, such as Michael Strahan, Lauren Hutton and Vanessa Paradis. However, there are also many people who choose to close the gap for cosmetic or functional reasons.

Unfortunately, Lonnie had been on the receiving end of unkind comments about the appearance of his smile. But instead of getting angry, the young actor posted a thoughtful reply via Instagram video, in which he said: “I could get my gap fixed. Braces can fix this, but like, can you fix your heart, though?”

Lonnie is raising an important point: Making fun of how someone looks shows a terrible lack of compassion. Besides, each person’s smile is uniquely their own, and getting it “fixed” is a matter of personal choice. It’s true that in most circumstances, if the gap between the front teeth doesn’t shrink as you age and you decide you want to close it, orthodontic appliances like braces can do the job. Sometimes, a too-big gap can make it more difficult to eat and to pronounce some words. In other situations, it’s simply a question of aesthetics—some like it; others would prefer to live without it.

There’s a flip side to this issue as well. When teeth need to be replaced, many people opt to have their smile restored just the way it was, rather than in some “ideal” manner. That could mean that their dentures are specially fabricated with a space between the front teeth, or the crowns of their dental implants are spaced farther apart than they normally would be. For these folks, the “imperfection” is so much a part of their unique identity that changing it just seems wrong.

So if you’re satisfied with the way your smile looks, all you need to do is keep up with daily brushing and flossing, and come in for regular checkups and cleanings to keep it healthy and bright. If you’re unsatisfied, ask us how we could help make it better. And if you need tooth replacement, be sure to talk to us about all of your options—teeth that are regular and “Hollywood white;” teeth that are natural-looking, with minor variations in color and spacing; and teeth that look just like the smile you’ve always had.

Because when it comes to your smile, we couldn’t agree more with what Lonnie Chaviz said at the end of his video: “Be who you want to be. Do what you want to do. Do you. Be you. Believe in yourself.”

If you have questions about cosmetic dentistry, please contact our office or schedule a consultation. You can read more in the Dear Doctor magazine articles “Beautiful Smiles by Design” and “The Magic of Orthodontics.”

You've heard it. Your parents heard it—maybe even your grandparents too. Dentists have been alerting people for more than half a century that high sugar consumption contributes to tooth decay.

That message hasn't changed because the facts behind it are the same in the 2020s as they were in the 1950s: The bacteria that cause tooth decay feast on sugar and other leftover carbohydrates in the mouth. This causes them to multiply and increase their production of acid, which softens and erodes tooth enamel.

What has changed though, especially over the last couple of decades, is a growing understanding of how sugar consumption may affect the rest of the body. Just like the evidence of sugar's relationship to tooth decay, current scientific studies are now showing there are strong links between sugar and diseases like diabetes, heart disease and liver disease.

What's startling about what researchers are finding is that cases of these diseases are growing, Especially in younger people. This is a parallel trend to our skyrocketing increases in per capita sugar consumption: the average American now eats the equivalent of 19.5 teaspoons of added sugar every day. Health experts generally agree we should consume no more than 6 teaspoons a day, and children 4.

This is vastly more than we consumed a generation ago. One reason is because processed food manufacturers have increased sugar in their products, hiding under technical, unfamiliar names in ingredient lists. But it's still sugar, and an estimated 74% of processed foods contain some form of it.

But the real surge in sugar has come from our increasing consumption of sodas, as well as energy and sports beverages. These beverages are high in sugar—you can meet your daily allowance with just one 12-oz can of soda. These beverages are now the leading source of sugar in our diets, and, according to experts, a highly dangerous way to consume it.

In effect, dentists of old were on to something: too much sugar is bad for your teeth. It now turns out that it may be bad for your overall health too. Strictly limiting it in your family's diet could help lower your risk of tooth decay and dangerous diseases like diabetes.

If you would like more information on sugar and your health, please contact us or schedule an appointment for a consultation.