Category: la vista plantation

I’m a millennial. I was born in 1994 and with all the information available on the internet, it can get quite overwhelming. Social media affects what feels important to me and they are mostly not promoting self-care and definitely not taking care of your teeth. Having a nice smile can go such a long way with romance and business. Although hygiene and dental care is not necessarily promoted on social media, what is promoted is gimmicky products promising a world of great smiles and beautiful teeth, all by purchasing a cheap product manufactured in no other than China itself. These products range from teeth whitening, to charcoal toothpaste, to oil pulling. Although some of these things may have greatly benefit your smile, it isn’t guaranteed that these BRANDS will. With little to no requirements, you could be using 5 cent toothpaste and teeth whitening products for all you know! With the risks not disclosed. Your smile is a huge part of your first impression, which means spending a little extra money on these services is more than worth it.

I’m lucky to have a family member that is a dentist and has given me such great advice about caring for my teeth and gums. His name is Dr. Freddy Vallejo of WholeLife Dentistry by Dr. Vallejo. I’ve been going to him as a dentist for a while now and every visit I learn something new. My parents used to set up my appointments for me and I would just go when they told me but when I started paying for my treatment myself and driving myself, I become more aware of what it takes to take care of my mouth monetarily and physically.

The standard for a teeth cleaning is every 6 months which can cost up to $500 without dental insurance. I never got dental insurance because I get a family discount rate so I won’t disclose what I actually pay. In between those 6 months, you can really build up a lot of plaque. That’s why it’s so important to brush your teeth 2 to 3 times a day. You definitely should brush your teeth first thing in the morning, and before you go to sleep. You should also floss each time you brush your teeth.

I’m not sure about this but I think dentists recommend that you should brush your teeth and floss after every meal. As a teenager, he told me that I should get braces but I didn’t. My dad really tried to convince me to do it but he didn’t force me to which I’m very grateful for. He told me that if he could go back he would’ve done it and he also told me that I would regret it. I would say now that I’m really not sure if I regret not getting braces or not. I vividly remember that I didn’t want to get braces because I was in high school and I didn’t want to feel “ugly”. Not that I felt that people with braces were uglier but I just felt self-conscious about it for myself. My top teeth were pretty straight, it was just my bottom teeth that were crowded and therefore crooked. Since my smile only showed my top teeth, I felt that it was not a big deal. Later I realized that as I or anyone speaks, their bottom teeth show and I didn’t want people to see that.