Frequently Asked Questions
Dr. Yang Answers Your Health FAQs
Patients come in and ask these questions. We have compiled a list of products and tools that may help you on your journey to staying healthy. We know how hard it can be to find the right tools, so we have linked to Amazon as an affiliate and have curated the following products to help you.
Yes, please! Electric toothbrushes make your life so much easier! Imagine brushing 10-50x as much as you do now! After 2 minutes of brushing, your teeth feel squeaky clean! Your toothbrush usually times it for you!
It's great to have a manual toothbrush when I'm away from home. When used properly, manual toothbrushes are effective.
There are two brands I always recommend: Philips and Oral-B. They've been around for a while and I've tried them both.I like the smaller circular brush head on the Oral-B iO9. If you're looking for a starter electric toothbrush, I recommend the Philips Sonicare below.
You can purchase Oral-B iO9 or Philips Sonicare at Amazon by clicking the link below - this is an affiliate link.
There are many reasons why someone may experience having bad breath, also known as halitosis.
Buildup of bacteria and food in the mouth leads to plaque, tartar and calculus. Not removing this from the teeth well can allow the growth to fester and exist in the mouth. Good oral hygiene is important here to maintain fresh breath. But what happens if you ALREADY brush and floss 2-3 times a day?
It could be that you are missing one of the biggest parts of your mouth: the tongue.
Have you ever noticed that the tongue sometimes can have a thick layer of white stuff on it, and sometimes if you feel that white substance it scrapes off like plaque? That's because that is bacterial growth on your tongue as well! You have to use a tongue scraper to gently scrape it off. It only takes 2-3 swipes on the tongue to remove the cloudy white layer and you'll feel so much more fresh.
If you're thinking about brushing your tongue, do not do it. Brushing your tongue, your taste buds, with toothpaste may actually make your tongue worse. Some people have sensitivities to foods and flavors, like cinnamon toothpaste. Do you remember those? They were not the best tasting at all. Toothpaste can irritate your tongue more than help.
We have attached a link to tongue scrapers below. Click on that link to go to the Amazon website and add it to your dental cleaning collection.
If you do all of the above and there is still a smell, it may be something else in your body. For example, check your tonsils to see if you have little white specks in them. These are called tonsil stones. They need to be removed. Also if you are an adult and your tonsils are still very present, you may want to consult an Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) Doctor.
Floss is so important! It reaches in between teeth, a place where your toothbrush bristles have a hard time cleaning.
Often times patients ask me if they can use floss picks, I always say that's fine as well, but string floss is optimal.
We have found some floss that works very well, if you want a floss that grabs food and plaque well opt for the Cocofloss option.
If you need something that slips between the teeth easier, you can use Reach floss.
If you like picks, we recommend the GUM picks below, they come in convenient plastic cases.