Tooth decay is an ongoing problem to everyone that lives in Bath. From childhood to adulthood, it will affect us all at some point. It’s caused by build up of bacteria in the mouth from starchy foods and sugary drinks which then turns to acid, combined with poor oral hygiene. Once the bacteria sets in, plaque will develop and gnaw away at the tooth’s enamel. In time, cavities will form and then tooth decay will take over. If this is spotted early on normally through an X-ray at the dentists, the tooth and its nerve can be saved with a simple filling at the dentist- dental sealants and fluoride are also used to combat tooth decay in children, preventing bacteria from reaching the natural surface of the tooth. But serious decay may require a root canal. As harsh as it sounds, it’s become a regular procedure for dentists. Once the decay and nerves are removed, the tooth can be capped with a crown to save the tooth. If the decay is extreme, then the tooth will need removing. Fluoride treatments and chewing sugar free gum helps to maintain a high saliva level in the mouth (along with a positive diet), that naturally helps to breakdown bacteria in the mouth. Good oral hygiene with flosses, good brushes and pastes, and mouthwashes also help to fight the bacteria in the mouth and prevent tooth decay.
There are many reasons to maintain healthy gums in Swindon. Gum disease can cause many problems throughout the body as well as the mouth- gums can weep and bleed, causing bad breath, heart disease, oral cancer and tooth loss. The way of stopping problems arising in your gums starts with having a healthy diet, as this can affect the level of saliva in the mouth; good saliva levels breakdown the bacteria that leads to a build up of plaque and tartar and invariably gum disease. Of course, good oral hygiene helps to maintain healthy gums. Most dentists will advocate a daily program of brushing and flossing at least twice a day, with a correct toothbrush and toothpaste, backed up by mouthwashes. But also, any part of the body will respond to stimulation and it’s no different with gums, gentle massaging of the gums with herbal oils, exercising the teeth by chewing gum and flossing will activate the blood in the gums and keep them healthy. If you visit your dentists regularly, they will also be able to gauge the health of your mouth and rectify any problems that may have cropped up since your last appointment. Healthy gums rely on a choice of lifestyle. If you take things in moderation, such as smoking and drinking whilst keeping your body healthy, there’s no reason why your gums and teeth shouldn’t remain healthy too.
In Swindon, we can quite often place a heavy burden on dentists to resolve problems that arise in our mouths, and then usually scoff at the prices they charge for treatments when the bill comes in. It rather highlights the ignorance we have towards oral health because if we just took a little time out to research how to look after our teeth and gums, then we wouldn’t need our dentist that often. Oral health starts at home, as does taking responsibility for how we look after our bodies and our teeth. For starters, good diet and taking everything in moderation, like smoking and drinking, can help to build up our immune system and give strength to our teeth. Not only this, there are enough oral products out there at reasonable prices that make poor oral hygiene inexcusable. A daily routine of brushing with the right paste and brush, flossing and mouth washing should be enough to keep plaque and gum disease at bay- that and a couple of visits to the dentist each year for check-ups. But the importance of keeping our mouths healthy affects our overall health. Poor oral hygiene can lead to gum disease and in turn, to heart and kidney complications as well as oral cancer. There is no excuse for ignorance in dental hygiene, seeing as not only do we have our dentist to consult with, the internet is a hive of information on how we can look after ourselves.
Having a perfect smile is important at any age but if you have children you are probably especially concerned about that of your child. Your teeth develop in childhood and it is particularly crucial that the mouth is looked after during the formative years. It is important that a good relationship is struck up with a dentist in these times so that your child’s mouth can be looked over regularly by a professional.
Eating too many sugary foods is bad for anyone’s mouth but children ought to be especially wary. Sweet snacks should be kept to a minimum and consumed only as a treat. The plaque which sugary foods produce can cause teeth to develop cavities and no-one wants their child to have to have a filling.
It is important that children get into the routine of effective brushing from an early age. As a parent you can help them with this by encouraging them and perhaps offering rewards when they successfully follow the routine. Just like adults, children ought to brush for about three minutes, usually in the morning and before sleep. It is important that they reach all areas of their mouth so that plaque is not allowed to take hold.
The mouths of children are rather sensitive so you might want to get your child a special tooth brush with softer bristles. Children can have a tendency to brush quite vigorously so softer bristles can ensure that they are not damaging their gums when they are engaged in their oral hygiene routine.
Get into the habit of taking your child to see your Bristol dentist and explain to them that it is a positive and worthwhile experience. Your dentist will have lots more handy hints to ensure that your child grows up with a healthy smile.
We all know how important it is to retain a healthy mouth to ensure that eating, drinking and talking can be carried out in comfort. Beyond this, a healthy mouth is something that people like to show off and causes you to smile more. One of the most vital things to do to ensure that your mouth is healthy is to make sure that plaque is adequately removed.
Plaque is a substance that is formed after you have eaten. Sugary and starchy foods in particular form more plaque. Plaque must be removed adequately so that it cannot attack your teeth. Once it has broken down your enamel, the protective substance on the outside of your teeth, plaque can start interfering with the nerves and forming cavities. At this stage, teeth can start to break down or even come loose.
This is one of the reasons why it is so important to brush your teeth in the proper fashion. You should brush at least twice a day, usually first thing in the morning and again before you sleep. If necessary you might wish to brush additionally after eating sugary or starchy foods. Make sure that you are brushing your entire mouth, but not too vigorously as this can damage your gums and enamel.
If you find that your gums are quite sensitive then you might want to choose a tooth brush that has softer bristles. Using a tooth paste fortified with fluoride can help to strengthen enamel and give your teeth added protection.
Speak to your Swindon dentist today about how to brush away plaque and ensure the good health of your teeth and gums.
It is considered that a quarter of people in Bath suffer from dry mouths, and it gets more prevalent with age and it’s caused by a myriad of things. Certain medications can affect the salivary gland, reducing the amount of saliva produced. Radiotherapy too can damage these glands. Bad diet, smoking, blocked sinuses, anxiety and dehydration can also reduce saliva in the mouth leaving it extremely vulnerable to other problems. Saliva is important to the health of the mouth. It breaks down the acids in foods and fights the bacteria that forms plaque and if a dry mouth is allowed to continue and go untreated, the plaque build up can lead to gum disease and invariably, dental decay, cavities and eventually tooth loss and decay can be expensive to treat. A dry mouth will also affect speech and lead to bad breath. Regular check-ups become important with a dry mouth, to monitor any growth in gum disease or tooth decay and to get advice on ways of tackling the problem. Dental hygiene and diet are the important factors in this. Drinking lots of water, avoiding caffeine based drinks, sucking sugar free sweets and ice cubes all aid the problem as does avoiding smoking and heavy smoking.
If you have been fitted with fixed braces in Weston-Super-Mare, it will take extra vigilance to keep your mouth clean. Braces are a haven for foods to live in and if not removed, can breed bacteria that can lead to all manner of problems. When you have a brace fitted, your dentist will give you advice on how to maintain oral hygiene during this period. Brushing after a meal is important, as is rinsing, but when wearing braces, it’s important to brush correctly and electric brushes tend to be first choice. Complete care toothpastes combine various active ingredients to fight plaque, decay and disease. Interdental brushes can clean between the teeth and around the brackets and wires as can floss threaders. Harmless dyes can highlight plaque and there are special mouth washes that also prevent the build up of plaque. Having a brace is a tricky time mentally, so it would be wise to avoid further complications through poor hygiene.
For all our best efforts to keep our teeth healthy in Gloucester, sometimes problems get through. Tooth decay starts with the build up bacteria, leading to plaque, gum disease and ultimately tooth decay. Often, tooth decay or caries are a result of poor oral hygiene and lack of dental visits over a period of time and getting treatment can be expensive. If the decay is in it’s early stages, the best course of action may be a flouride varnish or paste. Flouride with strengthen the enamel in the tooth and make it resistant to the causes of decay. If however, the decay is in a more advanced state, the tooth may require a filling, a root canal or a crown. A filling is used where the decay has not penetrated deep in to tooth, and can be made from various materials, the most common being a silver amalgam, but the more popular being a tooth coloured composite. Gold inlays and onlays can also be used to fill the cavity. If the decay is very bad, it may require a root canal to remove the dead nerves and pulp inside the tooth, then the tooth can be filled or have a crown fitted. Crowns too come in various colours and materials. But sometimes, the dentist will have no choice but to extract the tooth. Once this has been done, replacement can be expensive, in the form of a bridge or an implant.
Dentists are highly qualified in all aspects of dentistry. This means that they can examine your mouth for any oral health issues and offer diagnosis and treatment. They are trained to look not just at your teeth but also your gums, tongue, soft palate and jaw and can diagnose oral cancer and sleep apnea.
The routine work involved in general dentistry is the six month check up where your dentist will assess your mouth for any signs of disease so they can be diagnosed early and undergo treatment before complications set in. Your Bristol dentist will be looking for build ups of plaque which damage enamel and leave your teeth open to attach from acids which cause cavities to form.
You may visit your dentist at another time if you have a specific problem. Perhaps you had an accident which has damaged your teeth and you need your dentist to decide on how to rectify it. You might have had a long standing problem with crooked teeth or teeth that have become stained. In this case your dentist might decide that you need to have crowns installed to restore a natural look to your mouth.
If you have begun to experience bleeding gums or regular tooth ache you may make an appointment so your dentist can discover what the root of the problem is. Dental practice has changed a lot in the past decade and dentists are now extremely concerned with relaxing their patients and putting them at ease, especially if an invasive procedure is involved.
Contact your Bristol dentist today to discuss any aspects of general dentistry and how it can work for you and your mouth.
If you experience dental pain, commonly known as tooth ache, you should seek the advice of your Bristol dentist immediately as it could be a sign of a deeper problem with your mouth. It is extremely painful and can render tasks such as eating, drinking and talking difficult to carry out. There are a number of forms of dental pain and your dentist is trained to spot each one and offer appropriate treatment.
When eating food or drinking liquids which are particularly hot or cold you find that your teeth are sensitive and subject to pains you might have weakened enamel. Enamel is a durable substance that protects your teeth but can be weakened by a build-up of plaque which allows acids in the food you eat to affect your nerves. This is something that ought to be dealt with immediately as if it left to worsen then the plaque might penetrate into your teeth and actually damage the nerves. If this happens you will experience chronic dental pain, better known as permanent tooth ache.
You may have an accident which affects your mouth or find that an abscess has formed and your face is swelling up. Here you will have excruciating pain. If one of your teeth is cracked or broken your nerves will be exposed and eating and drinking might cause pain. Medical studies now show that pain in the teeth is sometimes a signal that there is a serious underlying health issue with a part of your body other than your mouth, making it even more important that any dental pain is reported quickly to your Bristol dentist.
Your dentist can advise you on the best course of action to deal with your dental pain, whether it is surgery or the filling of a cavity or simply the improvement of your diet or a change in your oral hygiene routine.
Dr Gerrard is a Bristol based Cosmetic dentist with many years of experience and is one of only a small number of dentists accredited by The British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry
