What Do You LOVE About Our Community?

Drs. Ressler, Hirschl, and Lelchuk, your Miami Beach and North Miami Beach dentists, are situated around some pretty unique neighborhoods. Each is special with its own personality, created by the people and places (and our amazing patients) living within.

Today, our team thought we'd ask: What are your favorite things about our community? Is there a local event you attend every year? Do you have a favorite eatery? Perhaps a favorite getaway in Florida?

Please feel free to share some information about your favorite local hang-outs and everything you love best about “your neck of the woods” in Florida.

If you need to schedule your next appointment, give us a call! Have a great week!

Skipping Dental Visits and your Oral Health

With these tough economic times, delaying dental treatment might sound like a way to cut back on spending. But in fact, avoiding dental treatment could lead to oral health problems that require more expensive and complex procedures down the road. For example, by skipping regular checkups and cleanings you could find yourself in need of a root canal or tooth extractions. It’s important to remember the saying that dentists have preached for a long time, “You can pay a little now, or pay a lot later.”

Our team at the office Drs. Ressler, Hirschl, and Lelchuk encourage you to read this recent article from the St. Petersburg Times that discusses the topic of skipping dental visits and how they can prove to be costly in more detail.

May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month!

Did you know the month of May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month? In 1983, President Ronald Reagan encouraged Americans to incorporate more physical activity into our lives. The reminder is even more significant today as people are more distracted by television, social networking, video games and working more hours. Living an active lifestyle can improve physical and mental health, productivity and overall well-being. The best part? It doesn’t have to take a lot of time or effort.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has provided these public health guidelines for your reference. The guidelines call for people to exercise one hour every day of moderate intensity physical activity (such as playing sports or brisk walking) or one hour and 15 minutes of vigorous activity (jogging, dancing and jumping rope).

At Ressler, Hirschl, and Lelchuk, we always encourage our patients to exercise or participate in sports. However, we want to remind you to always wear a mouth guard or other forms of facial protection when doing so. To learn more about how often you should exercise, we recommend you check out these helpful tips, courtesy of our friends at the American Heart Association.

$1.50 for a Cavity

Vending machines are a quick way to satisfy hunger. You put in $1.50 and you get back a candy bar, bag of chips or even a soda…but that’s not all! Drs. Ressler, Hirschl , and Lelchuk would like to remind you that vending machines not only dispense sweet treats and caffeine bursts, but they also dispense cavities!

Every time you chow down on that chocolate bar the bacteria in your mouth have a party feasting on the sugar. The sugar quickly turns into acid; that’s right, ACID!!! The acid sits on your teeth and eats away at the tooth’s natural enamel (the stuff that protects your tooth from decay). When this enamel is eaten away by the acid on your tooth, you get a cavity! Brushing your teeth after eating a sugary treat can help prevent cavities; but before you indulge remind yourself: “can’t brush? Hold the sugar!”

When choosing a snack, consider these nutritional options that will not only satisfy your hunger and that “sweet tooth,” but won’t cause acid build up resulting in cavities:

• Fresh Fruits (berries, oranges, melon, pears, etc)
• Raw Vegetables (broccoli, celery, carrots, etc)
• Bread
• Pretzels (low salt)
• Milk (low or non-fat)
• Cheese (low or non-fat)
• Nuts and seeds (pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, etc)
• Sliced meat

If you want more advice on how you can prevent cavities, ask Dr. Ressler, Dr. Hirschl, or Dr. Lelchuk during your next appointment.