Patient Care

Mail-order braces are a controversial dental topic, and Coastal Cosmetic Family Dentistry weighs in today. Direct-to-consumer orthodontics companies make many appealing promises—no dental visits, aligners delivered to your door, and lower costs. But are the risks worth it?  Not according to this consumer alert from the American Association of Orthodontists (AAO). As of November 2017,… (Read More)

At Coastal Cosmetic Family Dentistry, education is paramount in our mission to help our Bolivia and Oak Island friends and neighbors improve and maintain their oral health. For this reason, we try to avoid using dental jargon when we’re speaking with our valued patient’s family.  However, some terms can’t be broken down as easily; in… (Read More)

The Americans with Disabilities Act defines disability as a “physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.” (Specific examples of major life activities addressed by the ADA include functions such as caring for one’s self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, and learning.)  Disabilities may be congenital (present… (Read More)

Do you remember feeling like standards of beauty were unattainable when you were a teenager? Heck, many of feel this way as adults! It makes sense that teenagers might be concerned with the appearance of their smile and pine for bright white smiles the same way adults do, because they’re often exposed to the same… (Read More)

We all want to keep our mouths healthy, especially as we get older.  But what kind of issues could affect your oral health as you age? That is a question that many adult seniors may be asking themselves, and if you are one of them, Coastal Cosmetic Family Dentistry hopes you find this information useful!… (Read More)

Oral cancer is a serious condition that develops in mouth tissues and affects thousands of people each year. At Coastal Cosmetic Family Dentistry in Bolivia & Oak Island, we offer oral cancer screening as a proactive measure taken to identify signs of oral cancer or precancerous conditions at an early stage. It involves a visual… (Read More)

Coastal Cosmetic Family Dentistry wants to tackle the issue of babies and water intake in today’s blog. Of course, water is the healthiest beverage available for kids and adults, particularly when it comes to oral hygiene, but in babies less than six months of age, water is a no-no.   Until babies are six months old,… (Read More)

When you’ve got your child’s first dental visit noted on the calendar, you might feel more anxious than they do as you approach the big day. At Coastal Cosmetic Family Dentistry, we want to help both of you relax and see there’s nothing to fear about having your smile cared for. Our team is kind… (Read More)

Today, Coastal Cosmetic Family Dentistry wants to give teens the bottom line about tobacco use: there is no such thing as a “safe” or “safer” tobacco product. Every tobacco product contains nicotine in varying amounts—and not only is nicotine addictive, but it can also harm the brain. (Many people don’t realize the brain continues developing… (Read More)

In this blog article, Coastal Cosmetic Family Dentistry discusses Social Stories™ and how they help provide emotional support to autistic kids with the goal of improving their dental (and other) experiences. A social story about going to the dentist follows specific criteria and story elements to reinforce a safe, detailed description of a dental visit… (Read More)