Taking Care of Your Teeth

The basic design of personal dental care is to preclude cavities from shaping in the teeth. In order for you to forestall cavities and sustain a healthy set of teeth, you have to take away plaque, a sheer layer of bacteria that sticks on the top of your teeth.

 

A few effective ways to forestall plaque from organizing is to brush your teeth at least twice a day and floss at the least once a day. Brushing your teeth will help energize your gums and successively keep them healthy and less susceptible to gum diseases.

 

Toothpastes are commonly made of detergents, abradants and foaming agents. The basic active ingredient in toothpaste is fluoride. Fluoride is the element of the toothpaste that's responsible for forestalling cavities from forming. When picking out what toothpaste to purchase, make certain that it has an expectant amount of fluoride to keep your mouth cavity-free. Written reports state that 1 out of 10 people have a disposition to amass tartar quickly. What is tartar? It's really plaque that has hard to remove and damaging as it's already in toughened form.

 

There are anti-tartar toothpastes and gargles available in the market today which may help keep tartar away. A different good tip for preventing the formation of tartar is brushing the teeth located close to the salivary glands.

 

For people that appear to have teeth which are sensitive to pressure, cold and heat, there are toothpastes especially made for tender teeth. All the same, a visit to the dentist might be most advantageous so that the dentist may assess whether the sensitivity of the teeth might lead to a grievous problem like nerve inflammation or serious cavity.

 

While brushing is considered to be the most crucial part in the personal dental care routine, it doesn’t really have the ability to get rid of the plaque and food specks between the teeth, below the gum line or inside braces. Floss is the weapon to do away with the teeth and mouth “pests”. Flossing may be done at least once a day.

 

On the whole, maintaining your very own personal dental care routine may be simple, as long as you've enough willingness and purpose to accomplish a great set of pearly whites.

 

If you're among the many individuals who don’t truly provide much attention to your teeth, don’t wait till you experience atrocious dental-related issues like toothache, bad breath (halitosis) or hemorrhaging gums.

 

Avoiding and Curing Halitosis

Halitosis, or bad breath, is mainly caused by bacteria building up on the back and under layers of the tongue. There are plenty of treatments available for bad breath, and these are important in good oral health. It is often asked whether only some people or everyone suffers with halitosis? In order to cure, you must know the causes and triggers of bad breath.

 

Bad Breath Indicators

 

When observing people reporting problems, it is common to see a build-up of mucus and bacteria, especially towards the back of mouth and tongue. Removing this film will not always cure the bad breath. Other symptoms of halitosis are a beige or white layer on the tongue, suffering with a dry or dehydrated mouth, tasting metallic or sour tastes, drainage from nasal passages and nodules of a white colour on the tonsils. Often, no amount of flossing or brushing of the teeth will cure this.

 

Causes of Halitosis

 

Halitosis will affect everyone during their life, but it is only an issue if it remains for a long period, or if it is a symptom of another medical problem. If cured by mouthwash or brushing your teeth, it is known as transient halitosis. When cured in this way, it can often have been triggered by eating foods such as fish, garlic or cheese. It can also occur if you have slept overnight, have been stressed or fasting.

 

Curing Bad Breath

 

1. Identifying the problem. If people you are talking to cough, cover their nose, give you a mint or back away, these can suggest you may be suffering with chronic bad breath.

2. Using certain types of medicine can often be a cause. Some can cause your mouth to dry, and can often cause halitosis almost immediately. If you find this, ask your doctor to see if there are alternatives.
3. Drinking at least 2 litres of water every day can be beneficial if you suffer from bad breath, and combined with a sugar-free chewing gum can help prevent dry mouth, which triggers halitosis.
4. Avoiding or minimising stress is always beneficial, as stress has been shown to trigger the dry mouth which can cause bad breath. Consider yoga, which is a known de-stressor.
5. Have a robust oral hygiene regime. Brush and floss your teeth, and scrape the tongue.
6. Avoid foods that can cause bad breath, such as dairy products and red meat, especially avoiding cheese.

 

Can Periodontal Gum Disease Be Reversed?

Can periodontal gum disease be reversed? The answer is yes, if you begin early enough and are diligent. More advanced periodontal gum disease may still be reversed, but it will take some special cleaning provided by your dentist to give you a fighting chance. 

 

Adopting a strenuous daily oral hygiene routine now can go a long way to reversing periodontal gum disease. 

 

1. Brush thoroughly when you get up in the morning and before you go to bed each night. Brushing or at least rinsing with water after meals and snacks will also help remove food and bacteria trapped between teeth, helping in reversing periodontitis. 

 

2. Rinse your mouth with a good antibacterial mouthwash for at least a full thirty seconds twice each day. This will help reach bacteria trapped in pockets below your gum line, aiding in reversing periodontal gum disease. 

 

3. Floss every single day. Pay special attention to flossing just below the gum line for reversing periodontal gum disease. 

 

4. Even better than flossing or rinsing is the use of one of the powerful oral irrigators on the market, which blast food particles out from between your teeth and clean the gumline. High-end irrigators can be purchased with special tips to reach deeply into any pre-existing pockets and clean them out. These special tips are necessary for effective cleaning if your periodontitis has already established itself. 

 

While a conscientious oral hygiene routine can go a long way in aiding the reversal of periodontal gum disease, sometimes the infection is too far advanced, and it is necessary to get professional help. 

 

If the problem is becoming severe, your dentist may see fit to perform a periodontal cleaning. If x-rays show deep pockets of bacteria surrounding any of your teeth below the gum line, your dentist can choose from special procedures known as debridement, scaling or root planning to go in and scrape the bacteria out and make the tooth less hospitable to germs. He may also order a prescription antibacterial mouth wash to be used daily that will also help in reversing periodontal gum disease. 

 

If more is required, he may perform actual periodontal surgery, which involves lifting the flaps of the gum to enable deep cleaning and suturing them back in place. After the procedure, you will have several appointments to check on the success of the cleaning. Still, there's good news for patients that have to suffer through surgery -- a 2001 study found that roughly 50% of patients with moderate to severe periodontal disease showed measurable improvement from surgery, while those trying non-surgical options enjoyed less success. 

 

The important thing is to seek help as soon as you notice any signs of trouble with your gums. The good news is, periodontal gum disease can be reversed if it's caught early enough.

Bad Breath and Gingivitis

Does this sound familiar to you? My dentist and hygienist mentioned that I had irritated gums as they cleaned my teeth. This is a symptom of gingivitis.

 

Gingivitis can be a stepping stone to major problems in the mouth and gum line. It can lead to periodontal disease, which is a much more serious problem with the potential for actual bone loss.

 

Halitosis (bad breath) could be related to a gingivitis infection as both are caused by bacteria. Red, swollen and/or bleeding gums characterize gingivitis. These symptoms are most evident upon flossing and sometimes from brushing.

 

Bacteria cause gingivitis. And bacteria are considered to be responsible for bad breath.

 

Sometimes, I could even see the bloodstains that the hygienist quietly wiped away with a towel. It was embarrassing enough to know that I wasn't controlling my gingivitis problem, but to know that she was actually trying not to make a big deal out of it was troubling.

 

I knew my dentist was concerned because she gave me a bottle of alcohol based mouthwash to try and mentioned that she wanted to see how I looked next time. I don't like using it; there is too much alcohol and the taste is not very pleasant. Alcohol may also dry the mucous membranes in the mouth.

 

The Problem

 

Bacteria can stick to your teeth and secrete acid onto them contributing to cavity formation. They can also infect the gums, particularly around the gum line, causing gingivitis. This can manifest initially as bleeding and irritated gums.

 

Having a lot of uncontrolled bacteria multiplying in the mouth may also lead to bad breath, but there is a natural and normal amount of bacteria in the mouth, and you will never completely get rid of them all, nor would you want to.

 

Theory has it that it is actually the anaerobic bacteria that live in the tongue and throat that produce sulphur that in turn produce hard to get rid of bad breath. These anaerobes create VSCs or volatile sulphur compounds. One type is the familiar rotten egg smell. There are other odours coming from VSCs as well. These sulphur-producing bacteria may feed on certain foods, like coffee, alcohol and meats.

 

A gingivitis problem can offer a way for bacteria to easily enter your blood stream and that can lead to additional problems. Systemic infections could come from this. Gingivitis can be something that makes your gums bleed easily in a mild case or it can be the root of deep gum recession, leading to bone loss in the worst case scenarios (Periodontal disease).

 

Loss of gum line can be discouraging. A friend of mind once described the process as, “getting long in the tooth". Sometimes, people experience this problem by brushing too hard. TIP: Using a soft bristled toothbrush with the type of motion that your hygienist recommends may help prevent eroded gum lines.

 

Treatment and Prevention

 

Had you ever heard of under-the-gum cleanings? This could be part of the protocol your dentist might invoke, should you develop periodontal disease. If you know people that have had an under-the-gum cleaning; they may tell you that it is not very pleasant.

 

Your dentist can deal with this problem in a variety of ways. However, prevention probably is the best option. Include good flossing and brushing habits - see your dentist for details. And you could add a non-alcohol based mouthwash alternative to your regimen.

 

I'm currently using a special toothbrush that uses vibration to clean the teeth. This device does a better job than a regular toothbrush in keeping my teeth clean. It does take a little while to get used to because of the vibration. It makes many, many vibrations per second. This helps to give it such wonderful cleaning abilities.

 

Don't feel sad if you have excellent oral health habits but you still have bad breath. This is common and many people experience this same situation. Oral health products that don't contain sodium lauryl sulphates or artificial flavours that can still kill the bacteria that cause bad breath without using harsh alcohol or tough chemicals may be helpful.

 

I am not a dentist. This article is for information purposes only. This article is not meant for diagnosis, treatment or prevention nor is it meant to give advice. If you have or suspect you have gingivitis, periodontal disease or any other dental problems, visit your dentist for a consultation.

Bad Breath, It Happens To The Best Of Us

So why do we get bad breath and how the heck can we get rid of it? These are two very common and very important questions that we have all had to ask ourselves at some time or another. The reason it is such an important thing to figure out is that it is so much a part of who we are. It affects our confidence with people and our reputation around people. Talking is such a part of our daily life and if we have bad breath we are either not talking for fear that someone will find out how nasty we are or we are embarrassing or offending those we are talking to. Bad breath is also not only offensive to others, it carries with it a taste that is offensive to the owner as well.

 

Now it is one thing to have bad breath once in a while or in the morning before we brush our teeth. This kind of problem is easily remedied with simple hygiene. But can you imagine (and some of you can) having bad breath chronically and so bad that simply brushing your teeth or avoiding spicy food at lunch is not enough. Well some people have to live with this nightmare called chronic halitosis.

 

So if you are one of these people you need to first know that there are very good remedies to most people's cases of bad breath that are worse than normal. First you should go see your dentist which is pretty obvious. You see bad body odours in general are secondary to the growth of microorganisms (bacteria, yeast, etc.) that are producing noxious fumes as a by-product of their metabolisms. It is always important to go and see that you don't have a major infection that is causing the rotten (literally!) smell in your mouth.

 

Often however there isn't a huge cavity or pharyngeal abscess to explain the terrible smells and because the aetiology is less obvious the solution is less obvious as well. Killing the bacteria is still the name of the game though and it just because people with chronic bad breath were unlucky enough to have gotten a particularly smelly strain of bacteria.

 

How do you do this? Well in several ways. One is to brush your teeth more often like every time you have food. Another is to get in the habit of brushing your tongue. Another is to buy a good mouth wash that kills the bacteria. Then lastly and maybe not so obvious is eating yogurt. You see yogurt contains a bacteria that lives well in the body and is very benign in terms of bad effects. If you do these things you may just find that your bad breath takes a hike.