Category: Oral Health

Dental Information · Dentist's Tips · Oral Health

5 Top Tips For Healthy Teeth & Gums And The Top Consequences Of Neglect

Posted on by Marty

Female dentist with patient

The gums and your teeth are essential body parts, as they keep bacteria and other harmful elements away from your blood and other important organs. Knowing how to take good care of your teeth and gums is important, as maintaining optimal oral health can actually help prevent heart disease or even cancer.

Read and learn more about the top 5 tips to healthy teeth and gums and the top consequences of neglecting this area.

5 Top Tips For Healthy Teeth & Gums

1. Eat a Healthy Diet

The first tip for healthy teeth and gums is to eat a healthy diet. The food you eat affects the state of your teeth and gums. Consider adding more fresh fruits and vegetables into your diet. Fresh fruits and vegetables are important for your oral health, as they contain vitamins and minerals that help prevent tooth decay and gum disease.

Avoid eating too much sugar and processed foods, as they can destroy your teeth and gums. It is also important to choose the right type of food. For example, avoid drinking sodas or using a straw, as it can damage your teeth.

Also, chew chewing gum and don’t chew on ice.

2. Brush Your Teeth Regularly

The second tip is to brush your teeth regularly. Brushing your teeth with a good quality toothbrush is an essential part of your oral health care. In order to have healthy teeth and gums, you must brush your teeth at least twice a day for no less than two minutes.

Also, use toothpaste that contains fluoride as it has been proven that fluoride also helps to prevent tooth decay.

3. Floss

The third tip is to floss your teeth. Flossing is a part of the most important oral hygiene habits. It is highly important to floss your teeth because it can prevent gum disease and cavities.

You should also do it the right way. In order to floss, you must use a flosser and wrap it around your fingers, not your hands. Pull the floss gently from one tooth to another, as you move from one tooth to another. Don’t forget to floss your back teeth as well.

You can also go to a professional dental clinic and ask for a flossing demo. This is a great way to learn how to floss properly.

4. See Your Dentist Regularly

The fourth tip is to see your dentist regularly. You should schedule a dental appointment at least twice a year. Your dentist will help you to maintain your oral health. In addition, a dentist can help you to prevent tooth decay and gum disease.

It is recommended to go to a dental clinic at least twice a year. or if you begin to experience any oral pain.

5. Use a Mouthwash For Oral Health

The last tip is to use a mouthwash for oral health. Mouthwash helps to keep your mouth clean and fight bacteria. You should use a mouthwash that contains fluoride.

To use it the right way, you must rinse your mouth with at least one mouthful of mouthwash after you eat. It is also important to rinse your mouth with mouthwash right after you brush your teeth.

Rinsing your mouth with mouthwash helps to strengthen your teeth and gums and fight bacteria and infection.

Woman smiling

4 Consequences Of Ignoring Your Oral Health

1. Tooth Loss

The first consequence of neglecting your oral health is tooth loss. If you don’t take care of your teeth and gums, you risk losing your teeth. The first step is to eat a healthy diet. You must avoid sugar and other harmful foods as much as possible. Also, you must brush your teeth regularly and floss your teeth.

Flossing is highly important because it can prevent tooth decay and gum disease. Also, you must go to a dental clinic and maintain your oral health.

In conclusion, be sure to take good care of your teeth and gums and the consequences will be far less severe than losing your teeth.

2. Gum Disease

The second consequence is gum disease. When you neglect your oral health, you risk developing gum disease. Gum disease is a serious illness and it can lead to tooth loss and other serious complications. It is important to go to a dental clinic and ask for a regular dental appointment.

Also, you must brush your teeth regularly and floss your teeth. Brushing and flossing your teeth helps to keep your teeth and gums healthy.

3. Tooth Discoloration

The third consequence is tooth discoloration. If you don’t take care of your teeth and gums, they can become discolored. This can happen because of the different food you eat and the drinks you drink, such as coffee and tea.

You should avoid smoking and second-hand smoke. If you smoke, quit smoking as soon as possible to prevent tooth discoloration.

4. Oral Cancer

The last consequence is oral cancer. If you don’t take care of your mouth, you can develop oral cancer. You can develop this terrible disease if you don’t floss your teeth regularly. You shouldn’t smoke, as it can cause oral cancer.

In order to prevent oral cancer, you must floss your teeth regularly and maintain a healthy diet. Consult with a dentist and ask for a dental appointment.

Wrapping Up

In conclusion, the five tips for healthy teeth and gums and the top consequences of neglecting this area are:

  1. Eat a healthy diet
  2. Brush your teeth regularly
  3. Floss your teeth
  4. See your dentist regularly
  5. Use a mouthwash for oral health

4 Consequences of ignoring your oral health are:

  1. Tooth loss
  2. Gum disease
  3. Tooth discoloration
  4. Oral cancer

If you follow the five tips for healthy teeth and gums you will help avoid the top consequences of oral neglect and you can enjoy a lifetime of healthy teeth and gums.

Dental Information · Oral Health

The Common Problems That Missing Teeth Cause

Posted on by Marty

Having one or more missing teeth might cause feelings of low self-esteem and make you feel self-conscious and embarrassed. In addition to the emotional trauma of a missing tooth, there are a number of other concerns and dangers associated with a missing tooth or teeth, which often results in significant health concerns.

1. TMJ Problems

People that have missing teeth, especially the molars, will often experience a shift in their original bite. This usually occurs on the opposite side of the missing tooth as the remaining teeth compensate for inabilities to chew properly on the side where the tooth is missing.

This usually results in jaw stiffness and pain that increases as time goes by and can develop into TMJ disorder. TMJ is a condition that causes the jaw to click or pop, pain, muscular headaches and can even start to limit how wide you can open your jaw.

2. Breeding Ground For Bacteria

You have probably already noticed on commercials for toothpaste and mouthwash, that most of the bacteria present inside your mouth is hidden in the areas that are harder to reach.

When you lose a tooth, the dark cavern which is left behind is the ideal space for bacteria to breed. This often results in gum disease, cavities, and decay.

You will probably also experience the issue of food becoming trapped or stuck in the spaces that are left behind from the missing tooth, which leads to issues such as bad breathe along with more bacteria growth.

3. Limited Diet

When you have a tooth that is missing, you may start finding it more difficult to eat certain types of food on that side of your mouth. This might start placing a limit on the type of food that you eat, especially when it comes to harder foods such as meat, nuts, and hard vegetables or fruit.

When you stop chewing in the area where the tooth is missing, this results in an increase in wear-and-tear when it comes to the other teeth in your mouth.

4. Shifting Teeth

Over time, the teeth that are next to the site where you lost a tooth will start to move into the spaces left behind. This might result in more gaps between the remaining teeth, and the shifting teeth might start twisting or tilting as they start shifting.

When this starts to happen, your eating abilities become further compromised, while the likelihood of developing TMJ also starts to increase.

5. Facial Changes

While some people attribute changes to the face with losing weight or getting older, when you start losing teeth these processes start to accelerate.

As bone loss in your mouth starts to increase, the width and height of the jaw bone start to decrease which can result in a number facial changes that include bite changes, your face height starts to decrease, and your chin might start moving forward.

6. Bone Loss

Bone strength is largely dependent on regular stimulation. The jaw bone holds the responsibility of supporting your teeth and stress and small vibrations caused by teeth contact makes sure the bone remains resilient and strong. It can be compared to muscles that get stronger when a person regularly works out.

When a tooth is lost, that areas in the jaw bone no longer receives these stressors and small vibrations, and the bone density starts to decrease which includes the height, width, and the overall bone volume.

In one year, many people experience up 25% of width loss in their jaw bone.
In 2 to 3 years after losing a tooth, the bone in this area can decrease by as much as 4 millimeters.

Bone loss is also associated with causing aesthetic problems, along with issues with pain, talking, and eating. If you carry on losing teeth, these problems become even more exasperated, with bone density loss that can result in fractures.

7. Low Self Esteem

A missing a tooth or teeth will make you feel uncomfortable when it comes to speaking or smiling when around other people. You might even start to speak differently, or even start avoiding social settings.

Treatment Options

Fortunately, today there are various options to treat missing teeth which can restore the normal functions of your mouth. Below are some of the common treatment options for missing teeth:

• Dental Implants

Dental implants are known as one of the most effective options. In most cases, an implant looks just like a natural tooth when it comes to both the function and appearance of the tooth.

• Bridges

Unlike the implants, a bridge is positioned using adjacent teeth as the anchor points. This is a less expensive option when compared to the implants, yet the bridges are not as long-lasting.

• Dentures

When you have lost most of the teeth in your mouth, dentures are the most cost-effective option. These come in partial or complete dentures, where they replace both the gum tissue and the teeth.

Hopefully, this gives you some important information in regards to the negative impact of leaving missing teeth untreated in your mouth. Our advice is not to delay in replacing missing teeth as the negative effects greatly outway the cost of replacing them.

Dental Information · Dentist's Tips · Oral Health

What You Should Expect At A Dental Check Up

Posted on by Marty

Going to the dentist is very important. Everyone should be making it a priority to go to the dentist a minimum of two times per year. For those with issues, more visits might be necessary depending on your dental condition.

Getting the proper checkups throughout the year can really help you keep your dental health in check. Below, we will be going over some of the things that you should be expecting at a dental check-up.

What To Expect At A Dental Check-Up:

1. X-Rays.

One of the things that you are going to be expecting at a dental checkup would be x rays. Getting x rays completed during a checkup is typically recommended especially if you haven’t had one in a while. During these x rays, they will be checking for everything from jaw or bone problems, decay, cysts, and even tumors.

An x-ray will tell the dentist a lot about your dental health and it can help to spot issues that wouldn’t normally be able to be detected with the naked eye.

2. Full Examination.

Another thing that you should expect at a dental check-up would be a complete examination of the mouth. Your dentist will look through your entire mouth checking for signs of gum disease, tooth decay, and other common issues. They will be checking to see whether or not there are specific issues that might be cropping up that they could treat to prevent the issue from becoming an actual problem. This allows them to offer preventative measures and care for their patients.

They will typically come in at the end of your cleaning to see what the hygienist has to say about your teeth and the condition they were in. Also, they will ask you all kinds of questions and whether or not you are dealing with any pain or issues with your teeth.

3. Thorough Cleaning.

Most of all, you are going to be getting your teeth thoroughly cleansed. Checkups are a time at which you will have a dental hygienist or even your dentist perform thorough teeth cleaning.

During this, the hygienist will be using various state of the art instruments in order to scrape hardened plaque off of your teeth, below your gum-line, and more. They will likely polish your teeth and even floss your teeth to remove anything stuck between your teeth.

This is a necessary aspect of a dental checkup because you want to get any buildup that cannot be removed with your own toothbrush and flossing routine. Otherwise, the plaque buildup could lead to issues like tooth decay and even gum disease because it will provide food for bacteria to thrive.

Overall, there is a lot that you should be expecting from a dental checkup.

You want to be sure that you are investing in a checkup a minimum of twice per year. That way, you will be able to get your teeth thoroughly cleaned and avoid issues that can stem from having major plaque and tartar buildup.

By getting your teeth looked at twice per year and by getting the proper x rays, your dentist should be able to tell you whether or not you have to make changes to your oral health care routine and whether or not there are certain things that can be done to protect your oral health.

You want to go to the dentist to get a dental checkup anywhere from 3 to 6 months at a time if your teeth are healthy.

However, if you need to go back for further treatment due to having a cavity or for another reason, you will be making an additional appointment to handle it.