Dental Issues and Their Solutions

The Impact of Acid on Your Gums

If you are like most of the people, you may know how difficult it can be to spend an entire day without drinking a couple of glasses full of soda or orange juice. Here, the most important thing you should be concerned about is the effects of acid contained by these beverages to your oral cavity.

When you consume a lot of acid this way, the enamel on your teeth is exposed against the higher risk of erosion. And when this erosion tends to happen near the gum line, it can cause damage to the gums and ultimately to your entire oral cavity.

Signs that you are consuming too much of acid

Since you may not be able to realize that you are consuming too much acid, there are some signs which you can look at in order to get an idea. You will start seeing the signs of erosion when you consume acidic beverages such as sodas, citrus and wine for quite some time. This may be the high time you should seriously consider limiting the consumption of acid. The signs are worth mentioning here.

  1. The first sign to talk about is the discoloration of your teeth. When the tooth starts to seem yellow, it means that internal layer, called dentin, is more visible due to thinning of tooth enamel.
  2. Sensitivity is the second sign which can show that your tooth is suffering from erosion. Your teeth are sensitive when you feel pain in them while eating hot or cold foods. Tooth enamel’s another job is to ensure restricting of high and low temperatures from reaching the internal layers of teeth. Thinned enamel doesn’t put much of the resistance against the temperatures.

These are the earliest signs of erosion you may observe. The advanced signs include tooth decay, cracks, and consistent pain.

How gums are affected

Now, you may wonder how the gums may be affected in this process. Keep in mind that acidity basically irritates the soft tissues which are present in the gums. This irritation causes inflammation which can further lead to infection. The gums become vulnerable against bacterial attack. The end result comes in the form of consistent worsening of gum health. A few signs which you need to watch out for in order to know if you have damaged gums are as under:

  • Red and swollen gums
  • Difficulty and pain while chewing
  • Tender gums which bleed easily
  • Bad breath
  • Receding gums and longer appearing teeth
  • Loose teeth

There are some ways you can prevent enamel erosion and gum damage. You have to make sure that you are taking care of your oral health by sticking to best oral hygiene practices. Moreover, you will need to have healthy foods.

Finally, visiting the dentist is the major requirement you will need to fulfill. Getting your oral cavity fully checked at dentist’s office can let you know about the issues and risk of issues on timely basis.

3 Reasons Alcohol Isn’t Great for Your Teeth

A lot of us enjoy alcohol and, if you drink it in moderation from time to time, it may not hurt your overall health.

However, this can be one of those too-good-to-be-true things because alcohol just isn’t that great for your overall dental health. There are three major reasons this is true, in which we’ll delve into in this article.

Staining

Wine is by far the biggest culprit here. Just like coffee, wine can stain your teeth if drank a lot over time. This can be attributed to the acidity of alcohol, which can wear down your enamel, allowing colors and things like tannins to stick to your teeth. These things all work in conjunction to make your teeth less white than you would prefer.

One way to counteract the staining effect of wine is to chew on some food while you’re drinking. This keeps your mouth covered in saliva and keeps your pH level at normal, which wards off the acidity of your alcohol and the staining agents in turn.

Drying

Alcohol is quite the opposite of water in that it doesn’t hydrate but rather dries out your mouth. This can leave your teeth exposed to bacteria and acids that cause cavities, something you definitely don’t want. Just as well, the acidity of alcohol is then perfect for certain bacteria to go to town on your teeth when your mouth is dry. No bueno.

One of the biggest reasons this drying effect is bad for our mouths is that we don’t typically shotgun a single glass of wine or alcohol and call it a night. Rather, we sip for the evening, which leaves our mouth in a dehydrated state for hours on end.

The long term

The more you drink, the more things begin to add up and compound, which shouldn’t strike you as shocking. Oral cancer is a definite risk if you drink too much over many, many years. And smoking can increase your risk up to six times. You’ve got to be cognizant of the health risks that come with both of these activities.

Overall, your mouth and dental health is in your hands. If you can keep your habits in moderation and choose a healthy option at a good ratio to your not-so-healthy activities, you’ll be in good shape down the road. Just know it’s all up to you and how you take these things.

Why Do People Looking for Love Always Care About Dental Health?

Here’s a topic that’s pretty interesting to discuss. From someone who’s had a chance to date a lot of different people and just go on different dates with people, I’ve got a pretty okay understanding as to why everything involving your dental health is quite an important part of a “date” and why people care so much.

To start, let’s break down the different components to dental health that people looking for love are actually paying attention to.

Your teeth’s whiteness.

While this isn’t actually the most important one, it’s the one that people notice first. While I have plenty of friends whose teeth aren’t the whitest (and mine aren’t perfect either), they generally maintain a decent dental routine, so they’re fine.

If your teeth are abnormally yellow, this is typically a sign that you don’t take care of your teeth. Maybe you’re an outlier and you’re just a huge coffee fan, which has caused your teeth to stain over the years. That’s something you can explain to your date.

But for the most part, if you cared enough about succeeding on a date, you’d be aware of the discoloration in your teeth and would try to take care of it through whitening methods or by having your dentist do a whitening procedure for you. Your pearly whites are the first thing that a date will notice, so don’t take this lightly.

Your breath

Here’s the big one. You can’t see it, you can’t notice it until you’re close up with someone, but once you do notice it, it’s a MAJOR turnoff. I’m talking date killer, here. You could be on a date with the most interesting, beautiful, funny, successful person ever and just think they are the one. But if you’re close to one another and talking and you realize their breath smells quite bad, it can completely change your perception of them. All the good things your brain just registered are out the window because the thought pops into your head and sticks around: “How could this person be this great and not realize their breath is putrid?”

Brush twice a day, floss, take care of any potential gum disease, and don’t let odorous food smells stick around.

Food in your teeth

Admittedly, this one isn’t a huge deal so long as you take care of it immediately. Asking a date “Do I have pepper in my teeth?” isn’t exactly a bad thing as it can reveal your vulnerable side and you’re at least being honest and trying to acknowledge you think you have food in your teeth. But if you just came from somewhere else and haven’t brushed all day and something is lodged between your incisors, you could distract your date the entire time they’re with you and even make them think less of you.