Blog Archive

Philosophers will tell you that a pure heart produces pure speech and that smiling and laughing can heal your heart and mind, but this mouth-heart relationship is more than psychological. There’s a direct route between your mouth and your heart, and bacteria love to hitch a ride on that highway. ...

If you’re thinking about getting full-mouth dental implants, you’re on your way to a remarkable investment in your health, confidence, and quality of life. Dr. Caesar Sweidan, Dr. Laura Smith, and our team at St. Tammany Periodontics & Implants specialize in dental implants, offering you the information you need to...

A beautiful smile can light up a room, but you may keep your smile under cover if you’re self-conscious about showing too much gum when you grin. Fortunately, there’s a solution that can help you achieve a more balanced and pleasing smile — crown lengthening.  At St. Tammany Periodontics &...

Losing a tooth isn’t just a cosmetic problem; it’s a gateway to a host of other complications that can affect you physically and mentally. If you’re putting off that dental appointment, we encourage you to reconsider. At St. Tammany Periodontics & Implants in Slidell and Covington, Louisiana, Drs. Caesar Sweidan...

If drills and metal tools freak you out and keep you from getting the dental care you need, it’s time to check out dental laser therapy. Dr. Caesar Sweidan and Dr. Laura Smith offer an innovative way to address common dental issues, including fear and anxiety. Laser therapy trades in...

Whether you need a bone graft to prep your jaw for a dental implant or to stop bone loss due to periodontal disease, multiple materials are commonly used in the procedure, each with its own advantages. Our expert bone grafting team at St. Tammany Periodontics & Implants offers four effective...

Chronic bad breath can make you a social pariah, but beyond the surface-level embarrassment, it could be a symptom of a more profound health issue.  Here, Dr. Caesar Sweidan and Dr. Laura Smith, our experts at St. Tammany Periodontics & Implants, explore what causes bad breath (halitosis), focusing on the...

A sinus lift procedure lays the groundwork for dental implants, but like any major dental work, recovery is crucial.  Our sinus lift experts at St. Tammany Periodontics & Implants help folks throughout Covington and Slidell, Louisiana, navigate the ins and outs of post-surgery recuperation. Dr. Caesar Sweidan and Dr. Laura...

Imagine a life without worries about your teeth, one where smiling, eating, and speaking come naturally, without insecurity or discomfort.  For many, dental implants make this vision a reality. But who’s ideally suited for this cutting-edge dental solution, and is it the right path for you?  If you’ve been pondering...

Wisdom teeth, the hallmarks of dental maturity, don’t always announce their arrival with pain, but their presence can forecast a storm of dental issues.  If you’re wondering why your dentist recommends removing those late arrivals even though they’re not causing problems right now, you’re not alone. It’s one of the...

If your teeth look longer than they once did, it’s not because they’re growing. It’s because your gums are receding. What makes gums recede? Brushing your teeth too hard, wearing braces, having periodontal disease, and suffering direct trauma are the top culprits, but genetics also play a role.  Whatever the...

Your mouth may not come to mind when you think about cancer, but it should. Over 54,500 Americans get oral cancer every year and more than 11,500 die from it.  Cancer can attack any tissue in your oral cavity or throat, including your tongue, tonsils, gums, mouth floor, lips, mouth...

It may seem odd to read a dental blog about diabetes, but it makes sense when you consider the connection between diabetes and oral health.  Researchers have long known about the link between diabetes and periodontitis, and one study estimates that over 95% of people with diabetes have some degree...

Dental technology is evolving at an unprecedented pace, and leading the charge in this revolution is RAYFace, a groundbreaking 3D face scanner.  You can be one of the first to benefit from this new technology, because it’s now available in Covington and Slidell, Louisiana, at St. Tammany Periodontics & Implants. ...

When a tooth goes missing, whether due to decay, trauma, or extraction, the vacancy causes several problems.  One or more missing teeth allow the neighboring teeth to shift. The misalignment leads to bite issues, which leads to chewing, speaking, and digestive problems.  The loss of a tooth or teeth also...

“Laser” has become a household word, but it’s more than a handy pointer during your business presentation or an entertaining cat toy. The word is an acronym for “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation,” meaning that lasers emit powerful light beams that can cut through all kinds of materials...

Sugar gets a bad rap. It takes the blame for everything from obesity and diabetes to acne and hyperactivity. How can something that tastes so good be so bad for you? Sadly, the verdict is in, and sugar is guilty on all counts, including tooth decay. But to be fair,...

You’re not alone in your fear of the dentist. Dental anxiety or dentophobia affects more than 75% of adults in the United States.  When asked why, most people can name a few reasons they don’t enjoy visiting the dentist, but many simply experience generalized anxiety and can’t pinpoint exactly what...

You might think good oral hygiene is about keeping your teeth clean, and you’d be right, but your gums shouldn’t take a back seat. Your gums play a bigger role in your oral health than you may realize — in fact, they affect your overall health.  Our gum experts at...

Maybe you knocked your tooth out in an accident or lost it to infection and decay, but whatever caused the vacancy, you’re not alone. Missing teeth are more common than you might think. By age 65, about 26% of American adults have only eight or fewer natural teeth and 17% have lost...

With Dr. Caesar Sweidan at the helm, St. Tammany Periodontics & Implants has built a reputation throughout Covington, Slidell, and the neighboring South Louisiana communities as a caring, highly skilled team of qualified professionals who keep our patients the focus of everything we do.  That’s why we’re very picky about who we include on...

You can file money, love, and friends under the more-is-better category, but does the same hold true for brushing your teeth? Dr. Caesar Sweidan, Dr. Laura Smith, and our experienced dental team at St. Tammany Periodontics & Implants weigh in on this common question.  Keep reading as we explain the potential dangers of overbrushing and...

Your gums and heart are about a foot apart and perform very different jobs, so how can a problem in your mouth affect your most vital organ?  Researchers have investigated this question for years and have discovered some alarming information that links the two body parts.  Here, Dr. Caesar Sweidan and Dr. Laura...

Tooth loss is fairly common in the United States due to tooth decay, gum disease, and traumatic accidents involving a blow to the mouth.  Researchers estimate that about 120 million Americans have a missing tooth, and about 36 million have no natural teeth left. And the longer you live, the more...

“Long in the tooth” is an old saying to describe someone who’s gotten along in years. It refers to the practice of determining a horse’s age by measuring the visible length of the teeth as the gums shrink back over time.  But gum recession is neither normal nor healthy for...

Have you had trouble in the past maintaining your periodontal health? Maybe you’ve even had to get one or more dental implants because of periodontitis-related tooth decay. If so, periodontal maintenance can be an effective choice for your long-term oral health. But what can you expect from periodontal maintenance, and how can it help you?...

Tooth extractions are sometimes necessary. Severe decay, injury, gum disease, and overcrowding may necessitate tooth removal, but the most common reason is wisdom tooth impaction.  When your third set of molars, or wisdom teeth, emerges, the teeth may get stuck under the surface of your gums, a painful condition called impaction...

You may know that you’re supposed to floss daily, but that doesn’t mean you do it. In fact, if you don’t floss, you’re in the majority. Studies show that only 32% of American adults floss at least once a day, and 20% admit to never flossing. That’s about half of...

When you lose a permanent tooth, whether to injury or disease, replacing it as soon as possible is essential to your oral health because the open space can lead to shifting teeth, bite problems, gum disease, and bone loss. You have the option of closing the gap with dentures or...

If you weren’t born with perfect teeth, there are several dental and orthodontic procedures that can create the ideal look you want. One little-known treatment solves several different cosmetic and oral health problems at once — crown lengthening.  Dr. Caesar Sweidan and our experienced team here at St. Tammany Periodontics...

You probably don’t think about your sinuses very often until they get clogged with mucus during cold and allergy season. But these meandering canals behind your nose, eyes, and cheeks may also come into play when you’re getting ready for certain dental procedures. Dr. Caesar Sweidan and our expert team at St. Tammany Periodontics...

Your third molars are the last teeth to arrive on the scene. They typically emerge between the ages of 17 and 21, when you’re presumably more savvy, which is how they got their nickname “wisdom teeth.”  But many jaws are too small to accommodate four more teeth, so this new...

Your teeth rely on your gums to keep them firmly in place, so if the gums recede, your teeth become loose and may eventually fall out. Gum recession also creates gaps between your teeth and gums, which is a gathering place for bacteria to build up and cause infections and disease.  Gum...

Healthy gums are light pink and firm. If yours have a bright pink or reddish hue, that may be a cause for concern. Gum disease starts out mild, as a condition called gingivitis. In this early stage, we can treat it and reverse it before it does too much damage....

Losing a tooth is an incredibly common occurrence, whether it’s due to decay, trauma, or other issues. However, being common doesn’t make it comfortable. If you’ve lost a tooth, getting it replaced should be a priority.  Dr. Caesar Sweidan and Dr. Maryam Habibzadeh at St. Tammany Periodontics and Implants encourage...

According to research by the American Dental Association, 95 percent of the American population considers oral hygiene essential to their overall health and well-being. However, even with this widely held opinion, many Americans fail to practice proper habits such as brushing twice a day and flossing daily. Consequently, almost half of the...

Periodontal disease or periodontitis is a condition that occurs when bacteria found in plaque build up around teeth and gums, causing inflammation. Without treatment, this inflammation can cause the gums and supporting bone structure to deteriorate, leading to pocketing, receding gums, bone loss, and eventually tooth loss. There are a few factors that...

This type of procedure is usually not as scary as many people think. In fact, recovery time depends on your general oral hygiene, your body’s ability to heal, your age and the length of time the extraction itself took. Although there might be some discomfort for the first few days after...

There are few things as impactful as losing your teeth and not having an option for replacement. Fortunately, if you lost teeth in an accident, because of an uncontrolled systemic disease or any other unfavourable situation, you may be a candidate for dental implants. What are dental implants? Dental implants are...