Southlake Family Dentistry Blog

Smoking and Your Oral Health

February 25, 2017

If you smoke, you already know it’s bad for you. It can cause emphysema, heart problems, and various types of cancers. What you might not know is that in addition to putting your overall health in danger, it also creates mayhem inside of your mouth. There are both cosmetic and health concerns when it comes to the way smoking impacts your teeth and gums. Check out these issues that you might run into as a smoker, as well as some tips on mitigating the damage.

Gum Disease

Smoking can interfere with the way the cells of the gums live and function. This can make you more susceptible to gingivitis (early stage gum disease) and also periodontitis (later stage gum disease). If you notice bleeding when you brush or floss, or if your gums are red or swollen, it’s likely that you have gingivitis. If left to progress without treatment, your gums can become infected, and this can lead to loose teeth and eventual tooth loss.

Oral Infections

Smoking also affects the way tissues heal, so any minor abrasion in your mouth is more likely to become infected if you smoke. It can be something simple and otherwise fairly unnoticeable, like a minor bite on the inside of your cheek or a canker sore that hasn’t healed properly. You can also get infections at the gumline or at the apex of the root of a tooth. Also, if you have oral surgery, such as an extraction or gum surgery, you are at an increased risk of infection and poor healing if you smoke.

Halitosis and Yellow Teeth

You probably already know that smoking causes a range of cosmetic issues, like yellowed teeth and bad breath. Teeth may become badly stained, and infections or tooth decay can contribute to the bad breath associated with smoking.

What You Can Do

Obviously, the best course of action is for you to quit smoking. If this is not an option for whatever reason, there are some other things you can do to mitigate some of the damage caused by smoking. First regular brushing and flossing is a must. You should also clean your tongue well and use mouthwash if recommended by your dentist. Since some foods (like coffee, wine, and dark berries) cause staining, avoiding them can minimize overall yellowing of the teeth. Seeing your dentist regularly can help, too; your dentist might recommend coming in every three or four months instead of every six months. This is particularly true if you have gum disease.

Talk to your doctor about ways to quit smoking if you’re having trouble. Also, let your dentist and hygienist know that you smoke so they can offer you advice for minimizing the impact on your teeth and gums.

Creative Commons image by Yana Lyandres.

DIY Emergency Dental Care

February 18, 2017

It’s Murphy’s Law: You’re more likely to get a toothache or break a filling on a holiday, a weekend, or in the middle of the night, when your dentist is unavailable. No, that’s not true… but it can feel that way! When you have a dental emergency during the week, it’s generally simple to get in to see your dentist, but a painful dental problem at a time when the office is closed is a much more stressful event, so it only seems to happen more often. If you get caught in this situation, there are a few things you can do to make yourself temporarily more comfortable until you can make an appointment to see your dentist for a permanent fix.

See Your Pharmacist

If you normally take a particular over-the-counter medication for a headache, you can safely take it for a toothache, too. If not, stop into your pharmacy to find out which OTC medication you can take. It’s particularly important to ask first if you take any prescription medications, because some might interact with the most common painkillers, which are ibuprofen and acetaminophen. Also, if you have a health condition like high blood pressure or diabetes, it’s best to check first before taking any medications not specifically cleared by your doctor.

Get a Temporary Filling Material

Did you break part of a filling or have a crown pop out? You can perform a temporary fix by checking out the dental care aisle of your local drugstore or even some grocery stores. Look for a temporary dental filling material; one brand is Dentemp, but there might be others at your particular store. The material is soft and pliable, so all you need to do is clean off the tooth and stick a piece of it in the hole left behind. Once you bite down, the filling will mold to the right shape and will harden over time. Remove any extra material before it hardens. You can also use Dentemp and similar filling materials as a temporary glue to place a crown back in your mouth. One caveat: Make an appointment with your dentist to have the temporary material removed and the tooth fixed permanently as soon as possible. A DIY filling is not something to keep in your tooth over the long term!

Seek Emergency Care

Most dental emergencies are just uncomfortable and inconvenient. If you are in severe pain, however, or if your jaw is swollen and/or you have a fever and other symptoms of a serious infection, it’s not the time for do-it-yourself treatment. Call your dentist and see what he or she suggests. If your dentist is away, there should be someone covering emergencies. If you can’t get ahold of your dentist and you think the situation warrants it, you can even go to the emergency room. Note that an ER doctor will not be able to replace a filling or perform a root canal, but you will be able to get antibiotics if you need them.

Sometimes, you can avoid dental emergencies by keeping up with your routine dental care. Brush your teeth twice daily and floss before bed. Keep your twice-yearly dental checkups and cleanings. Catching problems when they first start can help you avoid a dental emergency later. If you do end up with a toothache in the middle of the night, call the dentist even if it goes away with an over-the-counter painkiller; the next time, it might not go away so easily.

Creative Commons image by 囧斯基

Halitosis: How to Banish Bad Breath

January 11, 2017

If you’ve ever enjoyed a tuna sandwich with extra onions on your lunch break and then had to return to work for a face-to-face meeting, you know the embarrassment and discomfort that bad breath can cause. Also called halitosis, bad breath affects all of us at one point or another. Everyone wakes up with “morning breath,” and depending on what you’re eating and how your dental hygiene is, you might also experience it at other times. When halitosis is a common theme in your daily life, however, it’s worth doing something about it. Check out these tips on banishing bad breath.

Step Up Your Oral Hygiene Regimen

Be honest: Are you brushing and flossing as much as you should be? If you skip flossing more often than not or you aren’t brushing well before bed, that means that food debris and bacteria are partying it up inside of your mouth. This can lead to bad breath any time of the day. In addition, if you don’t brush and floss regularly, then the problem might not be solved as easily as catching up on your regimen; over time, this bacteria can accumulate under the gums and cause gingivitis, which is early periodontal disease. It can also cause infections in the gums and tooth decay, both of which can cause some funky breath.

In this case, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Brush two or three times per day and floss once, preferably before bed. If you’re past the point of prevention, then see your dentist promptly. He or she can get you back on track by providing a deep-down cleaning and, if needed, treatment for tooth decay and gum disease.

Keep the Saliva Flowing

Throughout the course of the day, you might develop not-so-fresh breath. This happens because you might be eating various foods, dealing with the dry mouth that accompanies stress, and maybe letting yourself get dehydrated if you’re not drinking enough. All of these can lead to halitosis. Try chewing sugar-free gum to keep your saliva flowing. You can also sip water frequently, which will not only keep your mouth moist, but also wash away food debris that can start to smell after a while.

See Your Doctor

If general improved oral hygiene isn’t helping your bad breath situation, then it’s worth making an appointment with your doctor. Sometimes a condition like diabetes or kidney disease can show up as bad breath. Also, acid reflux and stomach ulcers can cause halitosis. It’s good to get these conditions ruled out or confirmed if you’re suffering from chronic bad breath. If one of these is a problem, then treating the condition can treat your halitosis.

Another cause of bad breath can be medications that you are taking. Don’t stop taking anything without your doctor’s advice, but if you have recently begun a new medicine and are now noticing an “off” taste in your mouth, it could be the problem. Talk to your doctor about switching medications if it’s very bothersome. He or she can also give you some tips on minimizing the bad taste and smell.

Halitosis can be embarrassing and frustrating, but it’s usually treatable. Make an appointment with your dentist, then move along to seeing your doctor if halitosis persists despite keeping up with a good dental health routine.

Creative Commons image by peasap (Flickr).