When patients finally land in his chair, Des Moines dentist Corbin Brady often sees what he calls “large, gigantic infections” that should have been treated days earlier. “They’re just trucking along as if it’s normal,” but he said alarm bells should have gone off earlier. Pain is a signal and ignoring it means simple fixes can turn into bigger issues.
Brady is the 2nd generation owner of Brady Dental Care in Des Moines. He’s a believer in nutrition and supplementation as a preventative strategy, turning to medications and invasive procedures only when necessary to ensure patient health.
He says most patients are surprised at the level of control they have not just over their oral health, but how their oral health impacts their overall health.
Signals of bad oral health
Most people don’t notice a dental problem until it hurts. “The time they’re aware of a problem is when they have pain—toothaches, jaw pain, swelling,” Brady said. He still hears patients argue that if it “doesn’t hurt,” it can wait. His response: “No, we can’t wait…this is not something we should deal with next year.”
Ignoring pain rarely ends well. “You can get some stuff that’s random pain” he says explaining that some minor pain can go away if you give it a few days, but that’s an exception. “Most stuff is going to get worse.”
There are also signs to look for of underlying issues before pain starts. One example could be if your gums bleed from time to time.
Do your gums bleed?
Bleeding during brushing isn’t benign. “Your gums are bleeding. That’s a signal. Something’s wrong,” Brady said. In a wide majority of cases, bleeding gums is the immune system reacting to bacterial overgrowth. It’s a sign you shouldn’t ignore.
“Too much plaque’s been sitting there too long, too much of the bad bacteria are starting to take over and your immune system’s responding to that.” He said. “Blood vessels basically dilate so they can get more of your immune components to fight these bacteria.”
Some patients will ignore this signal, but that can quickly turn into an infection, loss of bone density, or teeth can even loosen he warns.
In most cases, bleeding gums are a sign to get into the dentist. Your dentist can take simple actions in most cases to prevent pain in the future.
Bad Breath? A sign of poor health?
Halitosis isn’t always about lunch. “I don’t know if I’d say always,” Brady said of bad breath as a disease sign. “But it’s always a good sign to pay attention to it.” Bad breathe could pose more problems than just getting a date to go with your to that new downtown Des Moines hotspot.
Dry mouth from medications, poor plaque removal, or “hydrogen sulfide”–producing bacteria can be culprits. He bristles when people leap to detox cures: “How do we know that? Maybe, but there’s not enough evidence.”
Teeth: canary in the coal mine.
Oral decay telegraphs systemic strain. “If you’re seeing the damage happen here,” he says pointing to his mouth, “that same damage is happening elsewhere,” Brady said. Waiting means letting trouble migrate: “Once it gets to your pancreas and your liver, it’s a little bit harder to deal with” he says. “Dental damage can happen fast, but that stuff’s chronic.”
Dental Care for Kids
Parents these days understand they should ditch the candy. But the replacements are often not much better or worse. He sees many parents hand their kids crackers and goldfish by the fistful. “We don’t eat candy, but we have crackers,” patients tell him. “That’s just as bad,” he says. Parents should exercise caution when it comes to wheat starches “They hit your mouth, hit saliva, and within 30 seconds, it’s already being formed into glucose.”
The other killer is fruit juice. “You’ve stripped out most of the real health benefit” he says about fruit juice. The healthy parts, including the fiber is removed leaving just the sugar. With no fiber that sugar does damage.
Nightly brushing removes biofilm and starves bad bacteria
Brushing is a simple tactic to limit your visits to your friendly Des Moines dentist, but Dr. Brady says people still skip it! He explains when you do that, you create an environment for bad bacteria and microbes to thrive. Brushing isn’t just about cleaning debris, it’s about removing fuel for bad bacteria that want to take over. “You’re just basically trying to remove all the source of their fuel” Brady says. “So they can’t have a bonanza all night long!”
The culprits aren’t just “one or two bacteria.” There are “hundreds of different species,” he says. They form a complex network and work hard to grow little colonies all over your mouth. He lays out the chain reaction bluntly: microbes eat leftover carbs by “shooting acid into the teeth, trying to break it up, because they’re trying to literally eat it.”
Habits, or lack of them, are to blame. “It’s the will and the desire power to spend time on getting a good routine down,” Brady said. Brushing and flossing were instilled in him from a young age, his farther Dr. Kent Brady started the original dental care office on the east side of Des Moines. But brushing, for some, just isn’t a routine. “A lot of times they’re like, I’ll just wait,” Brady said. “Pain is the main motivator.”
Dental insurance in Des Moines, does it matter?
Many patients will call multiple dentists in Des Moines, looking for one that accepts their insurance. Delta Dental of Iowa, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Humana, UnitedHealthcare, Cigna and others are just a few examples, but Brady says it’s possible to actually find a dentist who is “in network” and actually pay more out of pocket than if you would have just paid cash.
“If you want to use your insurance, then yeah, you have to play by their rules,” Brady said. Some plans pay 80% out-of-network; others pay zero. But big annual maximums can be mirages: “They only pay for two extractions a year, two fillings a year, and that’s it,” as an example. And then there’s the tricky issue of treatment plans.
In some cases, Brady has seen patients use dentists that are technically “in network” but cost more. He recounted when some patients came to him for a second opinion from a provider that was technically in network. “They come out with these ridiculous treatment plans,” he said, “$5,000 worth of work!” he recalled of one patient—all of it, unnecessary.
Paying Cash Can Be Affordable
Everyone is conditioned to believe any healthcare is expensive and out of reach without insurance. This is a myth. Brady says, a cleaning can be roughly $90.00, and exam roughly $50 or $60, meaning you could be roughly $200 out the door. For low-risk patients who have good hygiene, “You’re going to spend a lot more doing dental insurance, that’s for sure.”
Membership plans are rising too. In many cases paying cash for two cleanings a year out of pocket is less than the cost of your dental insurance. To get clarity, call ahead! “You should be able to [ask], what do your crowns cost?” Brady said, adding he’s pondered posting every fee online: “It’s probably a good idea…more transparency.” He says he’s unsure if there are legal or regulatory concerns, so he’s doing due diligence first.
Des Moines dentistry takeaways:
- Pain is a late-stage alert—don’t wait to get it checked.
- Bleeding gums are an immune response, not a cosmetic nuisance.
- Bad breath warrants investigation, not mints.
- Processed starches and juice can be as destructive as candy.
- Oral decay mirrors broader metabolic stress.
- Night brushing disrupts biofilms and starves bacteria.
- Insurance can save—or waste—money; know the cost/benefit
- Ask for prices or seek a second opinion before committing.
Brady’s bottom line is pragmatic: act before it hurts, don’t let insurers dictate your options, and call your Des Moines dentist at the first sign of pain, “Let’s not wait till basically the damage is done.”
Thank you to Brady Dental Care. Years ago they were our first studio sponsor and we’re excited to have to have Dr. Corbin Brady in the studio for the first time.