Solving Dental Problems

Dealing with Crooked Teeth and Misaligned Bite

There can be many reasons for misaligned bite or crooked teeth. And there are many forms of misalignment to talk about. The most common ones are overbite or under-bite. However, there can also be severe misalignment which may require a person to consider advance treatment options.

You may want to know about the reasons of misalignment of teeth. Usually, the adult teeth erupt misaligned when the person’s baby teeth are lost too early. Other reasons include gum disease, improper fitting of dental restoration, unusual pressure on teeth and gums, misalignment of jaw due to injury, tumors in the mouth, and other oral health problems in children.

Problems that come with misaligned teeth

The misalignment of bite can result in the following problems.

Difficulty in proper chewing
Difficulty in cleaning teeth by brushing and flossing; thus, increasing the risk for cavities and gum disease.
Extra strain and stress on teeth and gums, increasing the chance of chips and cracks on teeth.
Low confidence level due to the appearance of teeth.

Knowing about the misalignment

You need to know whether or not your teeth are misalignment. In most of the cases, the misalignment is visible in the mirror. However, the misalignment can be hidden as well. In such situations, it is quite necessary to get your oral cavity analyzed by your dentist. Your dentist is going to look for the following things.

Abnormal alignment of your teeth.
Abnormal appearance of your face.
Discomfort while chewing.
Difficulty in speech.

If you have misalignment which needs to be treated, your dentist is going to refer you to an orthodontist who is a specialist in dealing with the misalignment issues.

The tests that you can expect from your dentist

Your orthodontist will require taking x-rays test, photographs of your face and impression of your teeth in order to determine the type of treatment that you are going to need. The position of your teeth and roots will be analyzed with the help of dental x-rays. More specifically, the panoramic dental x-rays provide enough details about the connection between teeth and jaws, and then the relationship between jaws and the head. Photographs of your face are further going to explain the connection between said areas. In order to prepare an exact copy of your bite, you are going to have to bite on a soft material to create an impression of your teeth.

Treatment options

If the misalignment of your teeth is not severe enough, you may only need to wear a retainer. A retainer helps you get your teeth reshaped in the desired shape. However, braces remain to be another option if your misalignment is not treatable through simple options. For severest cases, the dentist may decide to conduct a surgery.

Holiday Snacks You Can Enjoy Without Feeling Guilty

Poor dental health can usually be attributed to the amount of sugar your kids (and you!) may consume. Sugar is in everything, from juice (which is healthy for you) to desserts.

So, we know holiday snacks contain a lot of sugar as well. But did you know there are healthy alternatives that taste just as good? You don’t have to put off eating dessert or the other great tasting holiday foods this year. Just opt for the low-sugar variants instead.

These holiday treats are contain low amounts of sugar a lot them actually also use healthy ingredients that are good for overall health and your teeth. These ingredients include nuts, molasses, dark chocolate, and cranberries. Also, opting for whole wheat flour can turn any holiday dessert into a healthier option.

Almond cookies

Almonds are just great for your health in general. And when you combine them in everything from cookies to shortbread, the recipes often call for less sugar than most holiday desserts. You can’t go wrong with almonds.

Gingerbread

A lot of gingerbread recipes only call for about a half cup of sugar in comparison to the many other sugar cookie recipes that need more than a cup of sugar. Gingerbread can also have healthy amounts of fiber if the recipe includes pumpkin. Win win.

Oatmeal cookies

Substitute applesauce for most of the sugar in your oatmeal cookies (which by the way are quite better for you than any sugar or chocolate cookie) and you’re good to go.

Pumpkin pie

Pumpkin pie is pretty much known for the holidays. Did you know that it’s actually one of the healthier pies available to you? Just stay away from the whipped cream and you’ll be good.

Chocolate-covered strawberries

Not only do these pack great amounts of vitamin C and tasty chocolate, they always look incredibly pretty when done right. Strawberries are practically made for the holidays with their red and green color.

Cranberry sauce

For the most part, cranberry sauce can be quite a healthy dish for your holiday meal, and there are luckily some low-sugar recipes (especially if you happen to plop it out straight from the can). Cranberries are also known to be great for your teeth since they can help prevent cavities and periodontitis.

All of these things are great alternatives to sweeter treats during the holidays, but even some of these can rack up in sugar if you don’t eat them in moderation!

The Myths about Dental Care

Like any other industry or field, dentistry is also influenced by the circulation of myths. While some of the myths may make sense, some are quite ridiculous. It would be worth mentioning some of them to let you people know about what you need to believe in.

You don’t need to floss if you are brushing your teeth

Departments of Agriculture and Health & Human Services, in 2016, removed flossing from their dietary recommendations. The reason was that American Academy of Periodontology’s study failed to show any benefit of flossing at that time. If you are planning on throwing your floss away based on this study, you need to know that gum disease is extremely slow when it spreads. And so, the studies were not quite able to get conclusive results which could favor the flossing practice. Nevertheless, it is quite obvious that you need to floss if you want to get rid of plaque and food debris stuck in interdental space. Therefore, we recommend you to keep flossing if you are doing it already. And if you are not doing, start doing it today.

Hard toothbrush can do much better cleaning

You may be able to get rid of the plaque and food debris from your teeth with the help of abrasive brushing using a toothbrush with hard bristles. But this is not something you would want to carry on with in long term. Brushing your teeth abrasively can cause real harm to the tooth enamel by demineralizing it.

You need to take a break from brushing and flossing if your gums bleed

This concept makes sense to the ones who do not know the main purpose of brushing and flossing. Yes, you are going have your gums bleeding if you start brushing suing right technique for the first time in your life. But it is due to starting an activity you have not been doing in your past. Moreover, the inflammation in the gums can cause them to bleed. This is not the time you stop brushing and flossing your teeth. As a matter of fact, you need to do it the right way to get rid of the food debris and bacterial plaque. In other words, stopping brushing and flossing is not going to make your bleeding gums heal; it will, in fact, cause more infection.

Sugar is the main culprit behind cavities

Most of the people say that sugar is the main culprit behind cavities, and so are the carbohydrates. Well, the matter of fact is that sugar alone is not responsible for tooth decay and cavities. The bad bacteria consume sugars and carbohydrates in the mouth to release an acid which causes cavities. Therefore, you need to take care of your oral hygiene if you want to avoid cavities. And yes, you need to avoid the intake of sugar in excess amount because it is dangerous for health in many other aspects.

Are There Any Pitfalls Of Fluoride?

It is an ongoing debate whether the fluoride is safe or not. Fluoride is basically an inexpensive way to reduce the risk of cavity and strengthen the tooth enamel.

Almost everyone is susceptible to tooth decay and cavities. In this scenario, fluoride turns out to be the best option to prevent tooth decay and cavities. Fluoride is actually considered one of the 10 greatest health achievements in the 20^th century.

The different types of fluoride

Basically, there are two types of fluoride, i.e. topical fluoride and the systematic fluoride.

Systematic fluoride is the kind which comes from the foods and it works with the internal systems of the body. With fluoride in the system, the salivary glands release fluoridated saliva.
Topical fluoride is the kind that you can use directly on the teeth. It is usually available in the gels, foams and toothpaste. The application of this kind of fluoride in the teeth helps in proper disruption of acidity and reduces the risk of tooth decay.

While you can use any one of these types, combining the both can be of huge benefit for the teeth.

Is fluoride safe for kids?

You will have to make sure that you giving your kids the fluoride in right amount. While the initial teeth are still not erupted, the fluoride in the body system can be of great benefit for the health of oral cavity of your child. Since the main characteristic of fluoride is to strengthen the teeth, the teeth tend to be stronger when they erupt.

While you may try to ensure proper regulation of sugar intake of your children, they are still going to get sugar in an amount which can be dangerous. Fluoride works to buffer the sugars in this scenario in order to prevent the production of decay causing acid.

When should children start using fluoride toothpaste?

You should help your children start using fluoride toothpaste when they get their first tooth erupted in the mouth. In fact, you are going to have to brush their teeth. Since large amount of fluoride can be toxic, you need to make sure that your child rinses the toothpaste out of the mouth after brushing. If your child has braces, you need to teach him/her about right way of brushing. Remember, brushing abrasively while braces are on can cause brackets to dislodge and swallowed.

You need to consult with the dentist to know about the best way to brush with braces on.

Top Reasons for Tooth Extraction

Tooth extraction is basically a process of removal of your tooth from gum and jawbone. Now, you might start considering it scary, especially when it is referred to as an oral surgery. However, understanding the reasons for extraction of tooth may actually encourage you to go for this rather painful treatment.

In this article, we are going to mention some top reasons for tooth extractions.

Decay or trauma

When there is damage to the tooth due to decay or trauma, the dentists will try to go with the conservative approach which usually involves filling of the tooth or fitting of the crown. The main purpose is to save to tooth. However, if the tooth is beyond the point of being saved, the dentist may decide to remove the tooth. After the tooth removal, neighboring teeth tend to move to the placed emptied by the extracted tooth. To prevent this shifting of teeth, the dentist may choose to place a dental implant or bridge.

Orthodontics

The dentist may decide to extract your tooth in order to make room for the orthodontics treatment. The application of braces works only when the teeth can be moved in right direction for getting in right alignment. And when there is the problem of teeth crowding, the dentist may actually choose to extract the tooth/teeth first before applying the braces. Typically, the teeth are removed symmetrically, i.e. same two teeth in the jaw. It means that the dentist may have to remove 4 teeth in total. The removal of teeth for orthodontics may seem like an extreme measure but it actually helps in prevention of a more serious oral surgery, i.e. realignment of the jaw.

Wisdom tooth removal

If the third molars, also known as wisdom teeth, grow normally, they do not require any extraction. But, in many cases, the wisdom teeth become impacted. It means they either do not erupt above the gum line due to the lack of room or they grow at a strange angle to cause harm to the neighboring teeth. Both cases can be not only painful but they can actually be detrimental to dental health. Hence, they need to be removed for good. The removal of wisdom teeth can be a straightforward process as well as a complicated one. Either way, you need to discuss it with your dentist.

Extraction of baby teeth

In some cases, the baby teeth do not fall out on time. In such cases, the dentist may decide to remove the baby tooth in order to let the adult tooth underneath it grow without any obstacle.