Teeth Health - How to Keep Your Teeth Healthy?

An unattractive smile will lower your self-esteem. Teeth health affects the total health of body and the practice of dental hygiene is important for the maintenance of healthy teeth and gums. A healthy mouth is free from the infections and other dental problems such as tooth decay, bad breath etc. Different diseases and other negative conditions of the body can badly affect your dental health.

Teeth health is related to the physical well-being of the body. Healthy teeth are required to complete the digestion process to supply various nutrients to the body. Poor dental health can affect your speech and the total appearance. Learn more about the different problems that affects teeth and gums, apply the preventive measures in advance and take the appropriate treatment for the present oral problems etc. will help to keep your mouth and teeth in good condition.

Factors That Affecting Dental Hygiene

Some factors that can affect dental health are oral cavity, shape of the jaw, quantity of saliva and tooth configuration. Structure of jaw or oral cavity in some cases, makes it is difficult to clean the oral area. Small cracks and fissures that are found in some teeth allow the bacteria and acids to infiltrate more easily. The quantity of the saliva in the mouth is a deciding factor to remineralise the teeth.

Information about the various dental problems and the practical ways to prevent them will help you to have good oral health. Dental problems can affect your general health in different ways and continuous problems with teeth will affect your self esteem also. Some of the common problems that are affecting teeth are the following:

Gum Disease: This is a periodontal disease and it is linked with other major health risks such as heart attacks, strokes etc. Gum disease is the infection of the gums and may cause loss of tooth in adults. The beginning stage of gum disease is known as ‘gingivitis’ and it can be cured by treatment. The second stage of this disease is termed as ‘periodontitis’.

Genetics, some medicines and tobacco use are the causes of gum disease. Gum disease may cause bleeding of the gums, tooth loss and bad breath. This disease may cause serious health disorders like diabetes, heart disease, stroke and premature birth of babies. Treatment of gum disease includes the removal of plaque and calculus, medications and surgery. Treatment should be taken in the initial stage itself to prevent it to go to the secondary stage.

Oral Cancer: Oral cancer is a serious health risk that affects millions people. Oral cancer affects mouth, lips or throat. Tobacco use and heavy alcohol drinking are the main reasons of this cancer. Age, extended exposure to the sun or radiation are the other causes of oral cancer.

Appearance of oral cancer may be mistaken as some common mouth ulcer and only a skillful examination by a dentist will diagnose the disease. If the cancer is detected, the treatment involves surgery alone or surgery along with radiation. Oral cancer can be cured completely, if it is diagnosed in the early stage itself. To prevent the attack of oral cancer, you should completely avoid the tobacco of any kind and limit the intake of alcohol to a moderate quantity. Also avoid the overexposure to sun or use a sunscreen on your lips in necessary circumstances.

Tooth Decay: Tooth decay is the formation of cavities that are creating by the plaques on the teeth. The plaques are deposits from the left overs of sugar and starches you are eating. The acids from the plaques will attack tooth enamel to make cavities. Following tips will help to prevent tooth decay and to fight against cavities:

• Brush daily with toothpaste containing fluoride.
• Floss daily to remove the wastes of the food items between the teeth.
• Limit intake of sugary drinks and eat nutritional items that is good for your teeth.
• Use antimicrobial mouth rinses to wash the mouth after brushing.
• Chew sugar-free gum to increase the flow of saliva.

Tooth Sensitivity: Tooth sensitivity is the feeling of discomfort or pain from some food items such as hot drinks, cold drinks, sweets etc. This discomfort may be present even at the time of brushing or flossing also. If you have sensitive teeth, brush the teeth with desensitizing toothpaste that containing fluoride and it will help to strengthen the tooth enamel.

Tooth Erosion: Tooth erosion is caused by the effects of acid on the enamel of the tooth. It will result in the loss of sensitivity, discoloration or cracking of the teeth. Some preventive methods of tooth erosion are:

• Use soft toothbrush for bushing and toothpaste that containing fluoride.
• Rinse your mouth well after drinking acidic foods.
• Do not swish acidic liquids in your mouth, swallow them directly.
• Chew sugar-free gums to increase the saliva flow. This will help to remineralize your teeth.

Bad Breath: Bad breath is caused by some other dental problems such as gum disease, oral cancer, cavities, dry mouth and bacteria on the tongue etc. According to the studies, more than 85% of the people have this problem. Using mouth wash gives temporarily relief from this problem but it will not cure the problem permanently. Follow the guidelines below to prevent bad breath:

• Do brushing and flossing twice a day.
• Avoid foods like garlic, cabbage, onions and coffee.
• Rinse your mouth occasionally using a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water to kill the bacteria in your mouth that causing bad breath.
• Chew sugar-free gums to help to enhance the production of saliva in the mouth.
• Quit smoking.

Mouth Sores: Mouth sores are not a very serious disease if it does not last for more than two weeks. Different types of mouth sores are canker sores, cold sores, ulcers and fever blisters. Canker sores are the most common type and practically there is no complete cure for this type of sores. But to ease the pain and other discomforts of canker sores, some treatments are available as given below:

• Prepare a mix of hydrogen peroxide and water and apply it with a cotton swab to the affected areas. The antiseptic property of hydrogen peroxide will kill the bacteria in the mouth.
• Apply the liquid suspension of magnesium hydroxide (Milk of Magnesia) to the affected area, after the application of hydrogen peroxide mixture to reduce pain and to help healing process.
• Rinse your mouth with warm saline water mixed with baking soda (sodium chloride and sodium bicarbonate) for 30 seconds, repeatedly. Apply the paste prepared by mixing baking soda and water, to the affected area to reduce the alkaline nature of the bacteria in the mouth.

To find out about your dental problem, many factors such as the tobacco use, alcohol consumption, diabetes and pregnancy are to be taken into consideration by your dental doctor. After the evaluation of present the condition of your teeth, the dentist will give some advises to retain your teeth health. Some helpful guidelines to protect your teeth are giving below:

• Brush your teeth twice a day and clean between the teeth with toothpicks once a day. For brushing, use fluoride toothpastes; fluoride will inhibit demineralization and encourages remineralisation. Fluoride can be added to the drinking water or can be taken as tablets or supplements. But excessive intake of fluoride may cause mottling of the teeth, which is known as ‘fluorosis.
• Avoid eating too much sugar or sugary foods. Foods that containing fermentable carbohydrate catalyze tooth decay. So avoid the over consumption of sweets, pasta, rice, potato crisps and fruits. Some foods like crisps and biscuits sticks to the teeth and promote tooth decay, but some other foods like caramels and jellybeans are washed away very quickly by saliva. Be selective in the consumption of the food items.
• Chewing sugar-free gums are good for teeth health. They will increase the production of saliva and their ingredients such as calcium, phosphate and fluoride help to maintain the health of the teeth.
• Do the dental check up in every six months to prevent any forthcoming dental problem. If you have some dental problem already, increase the number of check ups in a year.