Berna Sanayei DDS

Dear valued patient: In an effort to support national efforts to fight the COVID- 19 pandemic, our practice is taking the following steps to help assure your health and well-being and that of our community: We are following directives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a way to limit patient and staff exposure to this virus.... Your health, and the health of our dedicated staff, matters to us, so going forward we will suspend all non-emergency care for three weeks. Patients will be seen only for urgent and emergency dental needs. We will contact you soon to reschedule routine hygiene appointments. If you are already scheduled for an urgent issue, we will contact you the day before your appointment to discuss your health status, health screening protocols and confirm whether the appointment should be kept. Of course, please call us right away if you have a dental emergency or need immediate care. The safety and well-being of our patients continues to be our primary concern. We will continue to monitor the status of COVID-19 nationally and within our community and keep you up-to-date regarding our plans to reopen for business as usual. Thank you,

How do you take care of your oral health when you travel? Check out the ADA's top travel tips for your teeth!

Limiting the amount of sugar your entire family eats is good for your teeth and key to your overall health. Here are some dentist-recommended ways to start saying good-bye to unnecessary sugar throughout the day.

Cleaning between your teeth daily, the American Dental Association recommends. #Maythe4th #MaytheFlossBewithYou

Look who came to visit our office today!

Team Berna Sanayei DDS Solutes all the women out there! Happy Women’s Day.

Two more days! We cant wait to get started.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

Tooth Loss in Older Women Linked to High Blood Pressure New research published in the American Journal of Hypertension suggests that postmenopausal women who have experienced tooth loss may have a higher risk of developing high blood pressure. Researchers observed 36,692 postmenopausal women in the Women’s Health Initiative-Observational Study in the U.S. who were followed annually from initial periodontal assessment in 1998 through 2015 for newly diagnosed hypertension. Post...menopausal women had approximately a 20 percent higher risk of developing hypertension during follow-up than other women, according to the research. The study also revealed the association was stronger among younger women and those with lower BMI. Researchers say there are several possible explanations behind the association. One possible reason is that as people lose teeth, they may change their diets to softer and more processed foods. Researchers believe these changes in dietary patterns could be the direct link to higher risk of hypertension, rather than periodontal disease. The findings also suggest that tooth loss may serve as a clinical warning sign for increased hypertension risk, researchers said. Further research may help us to determine the underlying mechanisms by which these two common diseases are associated, said Jean Wactawski-Wende, PhD, a professor at the University of Buffalo and the study’s senior author. Researchers suggest improved dental hygiene as well as preventive care such as closer blood pressure monitoring, dietary modification, physical activity and weight loss may reduce the risk of hypertension. Read more of this study in the American Journal of Hypertension (2018); doi.org/10.1093/ajh/ hpy164. See more

Hookah Smoking Could Lead to Heart Attack A new University of California, Los Angeles, study published in the American Journal of Cardiology discovered that just a half-hour of hookah smoking resulted in the development of cardiovascular risk factors similar to those found with traditional cigarette smoking. Our findings challenge the concept that fruit-flavored hookah tobacco smoking is a healthier tobacco alternative. It is not, said Mary Rezk-Hanna, PhD, an assistant p...rofessor at the UCLA School of Nursing and lead author of the study. Researchers measured heart rate, blood pressure, arterial stiffness, blood nicotine and exhaled carbon monoxide levels in 48 healthy, young hookah smokers before and after 30 minutes of hookah smoking. The study showed that a single session of hookah smoking increased heart rate and blood pressure and significantly increased measures of arterial stiffness, a key risk factor in the development of heart attack and stroke. Studies have shown that the popularity of hookah smoking is rising, especially among youths and college students. One of the major issues with hookah is the fact that the tobacco is flavored with fruit, candy and alcohol flavors, making hookah the most popular flavored-tobacco product among (youths and college students), Dr. Rezk-Hanna said. The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act prohibits cigarettes from containing an artificial or natural flavor (other than tobacco or menthol) or an herb or a spice that is a characterizing flavor, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. But this prohibition does not apply to hookah. Learn more about this study in the American Journal of Cardiology (2018); doi.org/10.1016/ j.amjcard.2018.05.033. See more