[caption id="attachment_1606" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Image via Shutterstock ID 198052919[/caption] Chewing and eating are actions that our body is able to complete almost automatically. When you eat you don’t have to stop and think to open your mouth and then close it, and then to continue to chew, and we certainly don’t usually think about which side of our mouth to chew on. Researchers say that picking a preferred chewing side may have to do with pain. How Chewing Works Eating food doesn’t require much concentration and subconsciously the tongue generally moves the food to one side of the mouth or the other. The jaw joint is made up of a right and left temporomandibular joint that both support and guide the mandible when you chew. Generally the TMJ on the opposite side of the dominant chewing side is the joint that receives the larger amount of stress and tension. For example, food chewed on the left TMJ will put the right TMJ under the most stress and vice versa. According to the NIDCRmore than 10 million Americans suffer from TMJ disorder and have a problem with one of their temporomandibular joints. In many cases the disc is somewhat out of place and, surprisingly, people tend to unconsciously chew food on the same side of the problem TMJ because the stress is actually lower on the chewing side than the other. At the same time, continuous chewing, especially of hard foods, can weaken and further aggravate an already imbalanced or misaligned TMJ. If you suffer from symptoms related to TMJ disorder, the cause may be an imbalanced bite that can be fixed with the help of an experienced Nashville TMJ dentist. Contact Dr. Clark's office online or call Downtown Dental at 615-254-1393  to learn more about TMJ disorder and the treatments available to you.
NL_0915_TopDentists_Clark You may see a familiar face in the September 2015 issue of Nashville Lifestyles Magazine! We're thrilled to have Dr. Clark listed among the TOP DENTISTS of Nashville. This ranking system is cool because it's ranking done by fellow colleagues: consider it a way for the dental community to comment on the top doctors in their industry.  It's like a clinical high five! Click on the photo to expand or pick up your own copy at the news stand!
As part of our effort to stay healthy from head to toe, we wanted to take some time this month to talk about heart and dental health. A few months ago, we shared two unconventional ways to commit to total body heath. Instead of spitting out statics from the latest studies, here is how and why taking care of your teeth help keep your heart healthy. How does taking care of your teeth affect your heart health? Understanding the connection between heart and dental health isn’t complicated. Most people know if you don’t take proper care of your teeth, diseases such as tooth decay and gingivitis develops. Also, you probably know that if you don’t regularly floss, your gums can become sore bleeding can result. Studies have shown the bacteria you’ve built up from poor dental habits can make its way into your blood stream. Traveling through the rest of your body, the bacteria can provoke inflammation or cause clogged arteries. Over time, these issues can develop into more serious problems. Why does it matter? Over time, the issues caused by bacteria in your blood stream can contribute to heart disease or other heart related issues. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the U.S. According to the American Heart Association, an estimated 2,600 people in the U.S. die of heart disease every day. That's an average of one death every 34 seconds. In short… By not taking care of your teeth and gums, you’re ultimately opening yourself up for the potential to be diagnosed with heart disease or other heart related issues if dental bacteria enters the blood stream. It is evident from research that the two are directly related. How do you prevent this from happening? While regular dental exams and cleanings are necessary to remove bacteria, plaque and tartar and detect early signs of gum disease, you can play a major role in preventing bacteria build up: • Brush for two to three minutes twice a day with fluoridated toothpaste. Be sure to brush along the gumline without using too much force. • Floss daily to remove plaque from places your toothbrush can’t reach. • Use a mouth rinse to reduce plaque up to 20 percent. • Eat a healthy diet, low in refined sugars, to provide essential nutrients (vitamins A and C, in particular). • Avoid cigarettes and smokeless tobacco. At Downtown Dental, we want you to have more than a nice smile; we want you to live a healthy, vibrant life. That’s why we’re committed to total body health. Join us in staying healthy from head to toe and taking care of the most important part of your body: your heart.
This past month, Downtown Dental teamed with Dr. Damon Barbieri of Barbieri Orthodontics and approximately 20 other businesses in a joint effort to provide food for our Middle Tennessee community through Second Harvest Food Bank. Giving Back this Holiday Season with Second Harvest According to Second Harvest, there are 103,000 people in Davidson County who classify as food insecure*. While this number can seem overwhelming at first, organizations like Second Harvest are working hard to decrease the number of families who suffer from food insecurity every year. After learning the impact that Second Harvest is making in our community, we jumped on board to help!

How you helped:

For 30 days, Downtown Dental collected items for Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. Here are a few numbers that speak to the impact you made:

3,800

The total amount of food items collected through a united effort of local companies

1,074

The number of food items collected from Downtown Dental patients and other downtown residents and businesses.

25%

The percentage of the total amount of food collected by Downtown Dental

If you’d like to see complete numbers and participating offices, click here.  Thank you x 1,074! Our staff was literally tripping over food items in the office. We were overwhelmed by the compassion you showed for our local community and we are so grateful for everyone who helped collect food for those in need. We’re truly inspired by your generosity. Because of you, families and individuals will be taken care of this season. We appreciate all of the kindness shown this year! If you’d like to learn more about Second Harvest and how you can help, visit http://secondharvestmidtn.org/. There are dozens charitable organizations in the Nashville area you can help to give a “hand up” to those in need. We plan to continue our philanthropic efforts throughout the year and hope you all join us again for our future campaigns!