Health and Fitness

by LAURA JEEVES

Oral emergencies require the prompt attention of a reputable dentist experienced in treating various dental issues. Many reasons might warrant an immediate visit to a dental office, including a broken tooth, toothache, and an infection. If you do experience a dental emergency, being armed with information can reduce stress and pain in times of distress, and prevent further trauma.

If you want to learn what to do during oral emergencies, read on to find out more. But first, let’s look at a few common emergencies.

1. Teeth Injury

It is possible to sustain a tooth injury due to accidents, sports trauma, or any type of trauma to the facial or mouth area. The injury may cause broken, loose, or knocked out teeth, and to avoid permanent injury, you need to see the doctor immediately.

2. Toothache

A minor toothache that can be cured with over-the-counter (OTC) medicine is not considered a dental emergency. However, if you experience severe throbbing, or debilitating pain resistant to OTC medicine, it is a sign of underlying problems like infection or tooth decay, which require immediate doctor’s attention to prevent bacteria from spreading.

3. Abscesses

This is a pocket of pus on your gum, associated with severe pain and swelling. It is caused by bacterial infection and, if left untreated, it can spread, causing damage to nerves, tissues, and even the socket. Any sign of abscess warrants an immediate doctor’s attention.

4. Lost Crown or Filling

Crowns and fillings restore the integrity of your teeth and smile; however, if they become loose or fall off, prompt medical attention by a dentist is necessary to have them fixed to prevent infections.

5. Root Canal

If you develop problems after root canal treatment, such as re-infection, allergic reaction or tooth fracture, you need to revisit the doctor immediately to have the procedure corrected, because this is a serious dental emergency. Leaving this unattended can worsen the severity of dental issues and cause other health problems.

What to Do in an Emergency

If you are experiencing oral issues that require an immediate visit to the dentist, it is advisable to do the following:

Keep calm: The urge to panic is quite normal, however, operating in panic mode can exacerbate the situation. Take a few breaths in and out to keep calm and think clearly before acting.

Ascertain if it is an emergency: Some issues can be cured with home remedies or OTC medicine. Check whether you have any of the dental emergency issues discussed in the previous section.

Call your dentist for an emergency appointment: Contact your dentist and get a slot allocated to you as soon as possible.

Decide if you need to go to the hospital: If you are experiencing heavy bleeding, facial injuries, injuries to your mouth or teeth, and severe or increasing swelling in your mouth, neck, throat, and eyes, you will need to visit the accidents and emergency (A&E) department at a hospital.

Do anything they tell you to prepare: A doctor may guide you on what to do during the call. If you have a knocked-out tooth, you may need to put the tooth back in its spot if possible. An alternative is to also place the tooth in a tightly sealed container with your own saliva or milk. You can also apply a cold press to the cheek avoiding extreme temperatures or apply pressure to stop bleeding.

Follow your dentist’s advice to the letter with aftercare: Take proper oral care after the emergency visit as advised by the doctor to avoid any complications.

Source>> https://www.amazines.com/Health/article_detail.cfm/6265485?articleid=6265485

by LAURA JEEVES

There is nothing more unpleasant than being around someone whose oral hygiene is non-existent; bad breath, a white tongue, discoloration, and tartar build-up on the teeth can be very disconcerting. Proper care of your teeth and mouth isn’t only important for your physical appearance and how you present yourself to people, it is essential for good health and general well-being. You can adopt many methods to maintain good oral hygiene, including regular visits to a reputable dentist to attend to your needs, and emergency dental care if necessary.

We usually learn how to properly care for our teeth at a young age, either from our parents, teachers, our dentists, or even commercials on TV. However, it seems as though sometimes the lessons may wash off with age, considering the alarming number of adults experiencing dental health problems due to a lack of good oral hygiene.

In this article, we will discuss the three heroes of oral hygiene: brushing, flossing, and regular visits to the dentist.

Brushing
Daily consumption of food and drinks, together with digestive enzymes, produce plaque and bacteria that form on your teeth, below the gumline, and on the tongue. Without proper brushing, you can experience diseases that include gingivitis, toothache, cavities, and periodontal diseases, which may warrant emergency dental care in their severity. The correct way to brush your teeth is as follows:

Using fluoride toothpaste, brush the upper and lower outer surfaces of your teeth, twice a day, going tooth by tooth.

Brush below the gumline by tilting your toothbrush at 45oC in a back-and-forth motion without applying excessive force.

Still tilting your toothbrush at 45oC, brush the inner upper and lower parts of the tooth in a back-and-forth motion.

Clean the chewing surface to get rid of the food trapped there. In addition, brush your tongue for fresher breath.
Flossing
The bristles of your toothbrush cannot penetrate between your teeth; hence, after brushing and rinsing, you should also floss between those hard-to-reach places. Flossing removes plaque and prevents gingivitis. If not removed, it can harden to form tartar and, in its severity, tartar may cause toothache problems, loose teeth, and tooth loss requiring emergency dental care. You can follow these tips:

Wrap a piece of floss around the middle fingers of both hands and then grip it between your thumbs and index fingers.

Gently floss between your teeth below the gum line, without applying excessive force that can harm your gums. Curve your floss as you move from tooth to tooth to clean on the sides.
You can choose from a variety of floss, depending on your needs. There is water floss that sprays water in between your teeth, or tiny brushes, and you can also even get a floss holder if you can’t grip the string properly.
Regular visits to the dentist

Routine check-ups and professional cleaning with a reputable dentist prevents a lot of oral diseases mentioned and helps identify and mitigate issues early on. In addition, if you are at high risk of tooth decay and gum disease because of other medical conditions, your dentist will provide methods for better dental care. The recommendation is to visit a dentist once every six months. This is why you should visit a dentist as recommended:

Professional cleaning: this involves the removal of built-up tartar and plaque below the gumline to prevent gingivitis, bad breath, cavities, and many other things that could need emergency dental care if left untreated.

Dental examination: examination of all parts contributing to oral health to check their conditions and look for early signs of disease.

X-rays: Further examination that can identify unnoticeable problems such as abscesses, cysts, damaged jawbones, etc.

To maintain good oral hygiene for better health, brushing and flossing are essential. In addition, a visit with a reputable dentist takes dental care to a whole new level with professional cleaning, dental examination, and x-rays. Therefore, the importance of developing a good relationship with an oral health practitioner cannot be stated enough; your doctor becomes your ally in good times and bad, particularly when you need emergency dental care.

Source>> https://www.amazines.com/Health/article_detail.cfm/6265516?articleid=6265516

by LAURA JEEVES

Oral hygiene is vital for good health and general well-being. Without proper oral hygiene, people become susceptible to a series of gum diseases, such as gingivitis and periodontitis (gum infections that damage the soft tissue around the teeth). Some issues don’t require urgent medical attention; however, failure to get treatment early on can cause even minor issues to become severe. Sometimes you may sustain an injury that needs immediate attention and, in some cases, an issue can be life-threatening, requiring emergency dental care.

Some oral diseases require urgent medical attention, while others don’t. The American Dental Association (ADA) describes dental emergencies as “life-threatening and requiring immediate treatment to stop ongoing tissue bleeding, alleviate severe pain, or infection.” In this article, you will learn the difference between emergency and non-emergency dental problems.

Emergency Dental Situations

These cover things that require emergency dental care, and some of them include:

Abscess: This is a pocket of pus that can occur in different areas around the tooth. Any signs of abscess warrant an emergency visit to the doctor’s office to drain the pus immediately. The presence of pus is caused by bacterial infection, which can spread to other teeth and different parts of the body if not treated promptly.

Knocked-out Tooth: Sometimes you may sustain injuries to the facial area that lead to tooth loss. When this happens, you need medical attention within 30 minutes of the accident. But before you get to the doctor’s office, you should make sure the knocked-out tooth is kept safe and “alive.” Ideally you should pick it up by the crown, clean it, and put it back in your mouth where it was originally positioned. If this is impossible, wrap it up in clean gauze and submerge it in milk.

Trauma: These are injuries as a result of direct impact on the mouth, which also include injuries to the gums, supporting bone, teeth, and soft tissue on the lips and tongue. They can range from minor to severe. Severe injuries, such as dislodged teeth, cuts in your soft tissue, or teeth jammed into a socket, warrant emergency dental care.

Throbbing Toothache: A throbbing toothache is when it is pulsating and feels like the tooth has a “heartbeat” of its own. It is caused by infected cavities or lost crowns, giving entrance to bacteria. When this happens, contact the emergency dentist immediately to get treatment sooner rather than later.

Non-urgent Dental Problems

These issues, while not debilitating, require a regular appointment with the dentist for treatment. Failure to seek medical attention can increase their severity over time. Non-urgent problems include:

Dull toothache
Lost filling, crown, or bridge
Minor chips or cracks
Food lodged between the teeth.

Non-urgent dental problems are minor and should only require scheduling an ordinary appointment with your dentist for early treatment to prevent them from developing into severe cases. Urgent dental problems, on the other hand, require emergency dental care. Regular visits with a professional, reputable dentist are therefore essential so that, during an emergency, you already have a medical professional you know and trust.

Source>> https://www.amazines.com/Health/article_detail.cfm/6265517?articleid=6265517