How To Improve Your Dental Health At Home
June 23, 2008
Brush Them Right Away
Brushing your teeth is the best way to take good care of them and keep your mouth clean and healthy. However, many people are unaware of the correct way to do it, and often make little brushing mistakes that result in a less-than-optimal teeth cleaning.
A proper brush should be soft and have rounded bristles. Hard bristles and not rounded ones will damage the surface of your teeth, which can lead to tooth sensitivity over time. Besides, a hard brush leaves tiny scratch marks on your teeth, which are a perfect place for dangerous bacteria to live in.
You should choose a brush with a small head, which will allow it to reach every area of your mouth. Also, be sure to replace your brush every three months, or as soon as the bristles start to bend or wear out. You should also replace your brush after you have had a cold or any other contagious illness.
It’s a good idea to always keep a new, unused brush at hand, so you can avoid using the old one as soon as you notice its bad condition. Keep in mind that an old brush not only will not clean your teeth properly, but may actually hurt your gums, leaving a potential place for an infection to develop.
Load the brush with a pea-sized portion of fluoridated toothpaste. Brush your teeth’ inner and outer faces with an up-down motion, and make sure you take care of all of them. Use a circular motion for the chewing surfaces. Also, position your brush in a 50/55 degrees angle to the gums, in order to allow the bristles’ tips to clean under them.
A good brushing session should last not less than three minutes, and you should brush at least twice a day: when you get up, and before going to bed. Brushing after breakfast and after lunch can improve your mouth’s health dramatically.
All teeth, gums, tongue and palate should be covered, as harmful bacteria can build up in all those places.
Additional Care
While brushing your teeth is the first step towards a healthy mouth, it’s not the only one; you can improve your mouth’s health condition by using further cleaning methods.
Using floss is one of those methods. Flossing cleans the area between the teeth, removing food and other matter that may have been caught in there. You should floss gently to avoid harming your gums. Also, remember to use a clean piece of floss every two teeth.
A good mouth wash will keep your breath fresh and at the same time will get rid of bacteria and debris. Make sure you wash your entire mouth, taking care of every space. There are many good mouth washes on the market, and some of them are alcoholless.
Remember that, even when they are not toxic, you are supposed to spit out the mouth wash and not swallow it. The fact that they will not poison you does not mean that they will not harm your stomach! Keep in mind that they were designed for your mouth only.
If you follow these guidelines, you will be in the right path towards a clean and healthy mouth. Be sure to visit your dentist often, as he will be able to suggest different cleaning methods that are more specific for you. Besides, a visit to the dentist is worth a hundred brushings!
Anatomy Of An Unhealthy Mouth – Part 2
June 16, 2008
Welcome to the second part of this two-article series. On the first one we talked about cavities and gingivitis, the two most common problems that can affect an unhealthy mouth. In this one, we will go further on our list by addressing less common mouth problems.
“Coated” Tongue
The top of the tongue is covered by a substance known as keratin. This is normal and generally doesn’t represent a problem.
Keratin is a component of the papilla, the small projections on the surface of the tongue that are in charge of the sense of taste. These projections normally fall off the tongue when they get old, and get replaced by new ones.
However, in certain circumstances, papilla don’t detach themselves from the surface of the tongue, and instead they continue growing. When they get too big, there is an excess of keratin. If this excess is not eliminated, the tongue gets coated in this substance.
Although it is a somewhat harmless condition, a coated tongue can be really annoying, as it sometimes comes with halitosis (bad breath), and it’s aesthetically unpleasant.
As the keratin builds up on the tongue, bacteria and debris accumulate between the papilla, and form dark projections that somewhat resemble hair. This condition is known as “black hairy tongue”.
Poor oral hygiene contributes to the development of black hairy tongue, as well as smoking and prolonged use of certain chemicals (antacids, certain antibiotics, certain mouthwashes that are too aggressive, etc).
There are toothbrushes which come with a tongue scraper in the back, which may be used to reduce or eliminate the dark discoloration. There are also some specific peroxide-based products to fight against black hairy tongue.
White Tongue
White tongue is a condition that refers to a white substance covering the tongue. Sometimes it also refers to the development of white patches (calluses) in the mouth, even when they are not actually on the surface of the tongue.
This white tongue-coating substance prevents the sense of taste from working correctly, often resulting in a persistence of a metallic taste. White patches can cause fetid breath, and makes your mouth more prone to infections. If untreated, these white patches can lead to the development of oral cancer.
Although poor oral hygiene, alcohol, certain types of food (particularly very hot sauces) and abnormal growth of the papilla can cause white tongue, by far the main cause of this condition is the habit of smoking.
Besides the well-known harmful effects of smoking on your respiratory system, this nasty habit also causes problems to your mouth. Both the temperature of the smoke and the high amount and diversity of toxins it contains can have horrible effects on the soft tissues in your mouth.
Other Problems
There are a lot of other mouth problems that can be caused by a poor oral hygiene and by habits such as smoking and alcohol. Those problems include inflammation of the tongue and salivary glands, impaired wound healing, difficulty to fight against infections, plaque and reduced blood flow.
All of these conditions can be very dangerous if not addressed in time, so be sure to take proper care of your mouth. Also, visit your dentist often. He will be able to detect and treat these conditions before they represent a real threat.
Well, that’s all for now. Keep coming back for more useful information on oral health!
Anatomy Of An Unhealthy Mouth – Part 1
June 15, 2008
Most people know that taking good care of your mouth can prevent many diseases or unwanted conditions. However, many of those people don’t know exactly what those diseases are. If you want to find out what kind of problems can an unhealthy mouth bring you, take a look at this two-article series.
The teeth play an essential role in digestion: they are in charge of grinding what you eat, making it easier for your stomach to brake the structure of the food and thus ensure it is properly absorbed by your intestines. Therefore, keeping your teeth healthy is important to keep your body working correctly.
When no adequate attention is given to your teeth, a series of undesired conditions will appear:
Cavities
Cavities, also known as “dental decay”, are maybe the most widely known of dental problems. They are also one of the easiest to prevent.
A cavity is, simply put, a hole in one of your teeth. As the exterior part (the enamel) of a tooth is not alive, a superficial cavity causes no pain. It may, however, lead to an increase of sensitivity, making you more susceptible to temperature (i.e. your tooth can hurt when you drink a cold drink, like iced tea, or a hot one, like a cup of coffee).
If a cavity is left untreated, it will become bigger and deeper. When it gets deep enough to reach the dentin, which is the matter beneath the enamel, it may cause pain, ranging from a little discomfort to a moderate pain. But the dentin is not as hard as the enamel, and will be easily destroyed by an untreated cavity.
If the cavity progresses further into the tooth and gets beyond the dentin and into the pulp chamber, it will cause extreme pain. This is because the pulp connects with your jaws’ nerves directly.
Also, as there is a hole exposing an inner part of your body (essentially the same as a deep cut), it can cause infections. Some of those infections are extremely dangerous, and can even be life threatening if they are left untreated.
As the exterior of the tooth is not a living part of your body, it lacks the ability to regenerate and heal on its own. For this reason, the only way to get rid of cavities is to let a professional dentist take care of it by removing the affected part of your tooth and then rebuilding it with a special material.
Gingivitis
Gingivitis is the inflammation of your gums, which are soft masses of tissue that cover the roots of your teeth. When your gums swell, they expose a part of the root, which is very sensitive to temperature.
Gingivitis also makes your gums bleed easily, which keeps a path open for any tiny foreign object, fungus or bacteria to enter your bloodstream and cause an infection.
A “light” case of gingivitis will present itself with a little pain or an “itchy” feeling. On more advanced cases, your gums get completely detached from your teeth, leaving a pus-filled space between them. In addition to pain, gingivitis causes halitosis (stinky breath), and loose teeth.
Both gingivitis and cavities can be prevented by brushing your teeth regularly.
This brief article has talked about the two most common problems that can affect an unhealthy mouth. Keep an eye opened for the second part of this series, where we will address some less common (but very dangerous) mouth problems.
See you around!
Why Do You Need To See The Dentist?
June 2, 2008
Everyone knows that taking a good care of your mouth prevents oral problems. Keeping a good oral hygiene is essential to avoid potential problems such as cavities, gingivitis, bad breath and other discomforts.
However, many people pay a visit to their dentist only when there is something to be fixed, i.e. there is tooth pain or gum bleeding. They consider the dental professional to be a “fixer”, when in fact it is a “preventer”. Visiting your dentist at least twice a year will keep oral problems away and maintain your dental health at its maximum.
You may do anything you can to improve your mouth health at home, and that’s great. But there are some things that are simply impossible to do by yourself and can only be done by your dentist. For instance:
Exploration
The best way you can check your own mouth is to look at it on a mirror. This may be useful for locating cavities and other things that affect the front area of your mouth, but if something is wrong in the back then you won’t be able to detect it.
Your dentist, on the other hand, has special tools that allow him/her to look everywhere, being able to spot even the tiniest sign of a potential problem. If something turns out to be wrong, your dentist can immediately fix it most of the times, or suggest a way to fix it yourself.
From tiny mirrors that are specially designed to explore the “hidden” regions of your mouth to x-rays, your dentist has the tools you don’t have at home.
Lab Tests
If your dentist founds something suspicious or potentially dangerous, he/she can send a sample of what was found in your mouth to the lab for testing. This way he/she can spot infections that are not yet symptomatic, even before you begin feeling ill.
It is not uncommon to find certain problems that can be easily mistaken for others. For instance, white patches on the tongue could be mere accumulation of bacteria and keratin, but they also can be signs of a much more severe condition, like oral cancer. Identifying them in time is a huge advantage.
Keeping Track Of Your Oral Health
Regularly visiting your dentist will allow him/her to keep a record of how your overall oral status varies in time. He/she can suggest changes in food habits, hygiene methods and other oral practices according to the health status of your mouth.
Keeping track of your oral health also allows your dentist to detect conditions that may be developing somewhere else in your body. For instance, certain gastric diseases have manifestations in your mouth, commonly bad breath. If your dentist sees any symptom that is “out of place”, he will recommend you to a specialist that can help you out.
It is recommended that you visit your dental professional regularly, at least every six months. If your mouth is in bad condition or you are genetically or environmentally prone to infections, then you should see your dentist more often, four times a year or even more.
Taking care of your teeth and mouth at home is priceless to ensure oral health, but nothing is better than regularly checking with your dentist. Both home practices and professional consultation go together, and will allow you to keep strong teeth, a fresh breath and a healthy mouth for years to come!