19 Aug 2022 Oral health is essential for overall health. If you talk about overall well-being, you will still have to pay attention to your oral health. Poor dental hygiene can cause serious dental issues which can eventually cause other serious health issues. Gum disease and cavities are small problems compared to some of the health issues poor oral hygiene lead to. Heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer can be the result of poor oral hygiene.
If you want to maintain healthy gum and teeth, you need to make a commitment to yourself. You must dedicate yourself to developing good oral hygiene and proper dental care.
To maintain good oral hygiene, you need to follow regular brushing and flossing routine. In addition to brushing and flossing, you must restrict sugary food intake. Nothing harms teeth worse than sugary and clingy food. The faster you learn to keep your gum and teeth healthy, the better it is for you.
It has been seen that maximum school children have got cavities. However, the cavity is not restricted to children only. Even adults have cavity problems. Gum disease, on the other hand, is noticed in adults mostly. As people grow older, their dental and gum problems increase. Due to this, everyone must ensure good oral habits at the early stage of their lives.
Even though brushing and flossing work the best when it comes to the maintenance of oral health, you need to ensure that your teeth get enough fluoride. If your area does not have fluoride water available, you must brush your teeth with fluoride toothpaste. It reduces the chances of getting dental or gum disease. In addition to this, you must give up tobacco and reduce sugar intake. A balanced meal that includes plenty of veggies and fruit is ideal for better oral health. Even though these will make your teeth and gum healthy, you still have to visit your dentist regularly to detect any dental problems.
What are the Symptoms of Oral Problems
If you follow experts’ advice, you should visit your dentist even if you don’t see any oral problem signs. Vising a dental care clinic every six months helps in detecting gum or dental problems. Eventually, it helps in curing problems before they get a chance to grow. Given below is a list of symptoms to be aware of.
Get in touch with your dentist if you notice sores inside your mouth that would not go away. The same goes for mouth ulcers and tenderness around the gum area.
Bad breath is more than just a matter of embarrassment. It can be a sign of serious dental disease. So, if you notice that you are suffering from bad breath for a longer period of time, you should at once speak to a dentist.
Toothache is another sign that you are suffering from some serious dental problem. Therefore, if you face toothache, you need to see a dentist without making any delay. Toothache can be the beginning stage of some serious issue that you may not be able to handle after a while. Therefore, getting treatment when there is still time is essential.
Loose teeth might be a sign that everything is not well with your oral health. You must seek medical assistance as soon as you notice that one of your teeth has become loose. Leaving it untreated will be a big mistake.
Face swelling may seem like a common problem. However, it may mean some serious problems. Therefore, if you experience facial swelling, you should speak to a dentist to find out the cause of the problem. It might mean a bacterial infection.
A dry mouth is not something that worries people. However, it may mean that your mouth is not producing enough saliva which creates protective shields around teeth and gum. Therefore, if you are suffering from dry mouth, you should see a dentist to get the saliva-producing glands activated.
What Causes Oral Diseases?
Cavities are not only painful, these are dangerous portals that allow germs and bacteria to get inside the gum. Therefore, if you have a cavity, you should go for a dental sealant to prevent further damage to teeth and gum. If you are wondering what causes oral disease, you might be surprised to know that a series of activities work together to cause oral disease.
Smoking is a major contributor to gum diseases like gingivitis. Therefore, if you are addicted to smoking, you should give it up immediately. If you continue to smoke, your oral health will gradually deteriorate.
Added to this, the habit of consuming sugary snacks, drinking sodas, and poor brushing and flossing habits are responsible for oral disease. Sometimes genetics play a big role in this. If your family has dental problems, you might suffer from them without even indulging in any bad oral habits. Vomiting is dangerous for dental health. Vomit discharges a high rate of acid which can melt tooth enamel and leave teeth vulnerable to breakage and bacterial infection.
Diagnosis
Dental and oral diseases can be diagnosed through dental exams. Dentists inspect different aspects of the mouth during a dental examination. They will examine your teeth, throat, tongue, and even your jaw in order to determine the depth of the damage you have accumulated.
Dentists use various types of tools to diagnose dental ailments. They use dental examination X-Ray to determine whether they are targeting the right tooth. It is essential to speak to your dentist about any other disease you may be suffering from. If you are under medication, your dentist needs to know that.
Gum pockets are essential parts of oral health. To determine your treatment, the dentist is going to probe the dental pockets to know whether you have a gum problem or not. If you have some kind of gum problem, dentists will prescribe fitting medicines.
Common Dental & Gum Diseases
There are various types of dental diseases. If you are not careful about your oral health, you are likely to encounter some diseases during your lifetime.
A cavity is the most common disease which affects both children and adults. Cavities are also known as tooth decay. If you have a cavity, you have permanent tooth damage. The problem with a cavity is – it does not have any symptoms at the initial stage. When people notice the existence of a cavity, the problem takes a serious form.
Gum Disease
Gingivitis is a common gum problem. It occurs due to gum inflammation. Usually, it occurs due to plaque build-up around the gum area. If you have gingivitis, you are likely to bleed during brushing and flossing. Even though people consider gum bleeding a common problem. However, it is not so. Gum bleeding may be a sign of something serious. You must pay attention to that and speak to a dentist without making any delay.
Periodontitis
It is a serious gum problem that causes overall health problems. Therefore, if you notice gum inflammation, you should see a dentist immediately.
Teeth Sensitivity
If you have sensitivity around your teeth and gum area, you need to do something about it as it might be a sign of upcoming gum disease. Teeth sensitivity may lead to gum reduction or broken teeth. Therefore, you need to get help the moment you feel the first tinge of discomfort after having something cold or hot.
Sometimes thin teeth enamel may lead to tooth sensitivity. However, in that case, a healthy lifestyle can take care of teeth sensitivity and other problems.
What Is The Connection Between Oral and Health Problems
Oral health has never been given much importance before. However, with time and new studies, it has been seen that oral health may affect overall health. Heart disease can be a result of poor oral health. Premature baby birth is another problem that may occur due to poor oral health. Bacterial spreads in the blood from a cavity. It may lead to infective endocarditis which is a serious health issue. You may have to take proper medication to combat the problem.
Treatment of Dental Problems
Cleaning is the first step to good oral health. Even if you are brushing and flossing regularly, you still need to go for professional cleaning a couple of times a year. This will get rid of the plaque and bacteria which don’t go away despite regular brushing. Dentists may recommend other treatments if they find more dental issues. Professional cleaning does not only remove germs and bacteria but also removes tartar which may build up around the gum.
Fluoride treatment is an essential part of the dental health improvement process. To keep teeth healthy and gum away from disease, dentists recommend a fluoride treatment.
Crowning, Filling, and Sealant
If you have a cavity, you need immediate dental treatment because cavities don’t stay in one position for long. If you don’t take preventive measures, a cavity will take a serious turn. In case, you have serious tooth decay, dentists may suggest you go for crowning, filling, or sealant. Small cavities may be repaired with filling. But big cavities need something serious like crowning or sealant.
Other than these, root canal, and probiotic treatments are also prescribed to repair damaged teeth. If you want to keep your mouth healthy, you need to commit to taking care of your teeth and gum.