It should be the most obvious thing in the world to anyone with a modicum of sense living in central Leeds, that if after brushing your teeth, you find that there is a crimson ‘hue’ to your toothbrush, then your gums are suffering from bleeding and that you should seek advice on rectifying the problem as soon as possible to prevent the problem developing into something more serious. Apart from a mouth ulcer or a canker sore, bleeding gums are and indication that you may just be going through the early days of gum disease- and if this is allowed to mature, it will cause a continuous, albeit mild, poisoning of your blood system, causing problems to the major organs of your body further on down the line. Once you have consulted your dentists, there are ways to nip the problem in the bud quickly. Lots of calcium and vitamin C through a healthy and balanced diet will help build up the body’s immune system and promote greater levels of saliva in your mouth to thwart the build up of bacteria. Learn how to de-stress and relax more, and not by having a cigarette- this with add to the problem; of course, keeping your mouth free of food and bacteria by competent brushing and flossing of the teeth and tongue and rinsing with warm salt water for a long period, should be enough for the bleeding to stop.
Thumb sucking is a natural thing in babies- it’s comforting, relaxing and helps them to sleep. As strange as it sounds in Leeds, some adults still suck their thumbs too- maybe for the very same reasons. But for all the soothing qualities of having a thumb in the mouth for a child (and adult), it has also been linked to teeth that grow incorrectly, altering the way the teeth position themselves as they come through- leading to a higher cahance of having to wear braces in the future. This is especially if the sucking is aggressive and repeated over and over again. Normally, and quite naturally, this will stop as the child grows older and should not overtly interfere with the growth of teeth. But doctors and parents do prefer to see children start to wean themselves away from the problem from around the age of four, by trying to incorporate various methods. Some may sound bizarre, some way outdated. Things like informing the child about the risks- although as we well know, parents can get a bit ‘colorful’ by adding what will happen, should they continue to suck their thumbs; they will fall off or, a man will burst through the door and cut them off with scissors! Some parents will even dip the thumbs is something that is revolting to the taste- whatever the method used, it’s certainly a difficult problem to break.
Under normal conditions, when a tooth is extracted, a blot clot forms- this is nature’s way of healing the gums and the bone after the trauma. But on many occasions, if the blood clot is prevented, a dry socket forms, exposing the nerves and the wound to the air. People in central Leeds most likely to suffer from this condition are those who- do not care for and are clumsy with their eating post-extraction; those who allow ‘sucking’ in the mouth from spitting, coughing, or smoking within a day after the extraction; those who smoke- the toxins from smoking can block the blood flow to the clot. So if you are prone to doing this, stop it and allow the blood clot to heal naturally. But if the condition does flare-up, there are ways of treating it. Applying medications such as anesthetics and clove oil onto the area, through gauze, will help keep the socket free from dryness, and keep the blot clot in a state of flux. Like any wound in the body, a tooth extraction needs to heal the way the body knows best. Interfere, and you are stopping the chances of a full recovery and putting your health at further risk.
If you want your child’s teeth to grow healthy, especially during the stage when they are losing their teeth, you may like to consider having your child checked out for Ankylosis. Yes, throughout, the dental profession in the city of Leeds, they have a name for everything, but you’d be acting naïve if you didn’t clue yourself on some of this terminology- just because you may never have heard of it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Milk teeth by their very nature dissolve- the ends fall off and with it, so do the roots of the tooth as they get absorbed into the bone, but when it doesn’t and the root remains glued to the bone you have Ankylosis. Essentially, the root is still there and ready to block the passage of the new tooth ready to come through. This is similar to an injury where the tooth is knocked out, yet the root remains. The causes in a child are put down to being hereditary and diet, but whatever the cause, there simply isn’t enough room for the tooth to grow; this can affect the size of the tooth and make it grow lower than others. The teeth can be monitored during this period, but inevitably the roots will have to be removed in order for all the teeth to grow healthy.
Most of us in Leeds love a god chew- it can have a strangely calming affect on our stress filled day, strengthen the muscles around the jaw (if done in moderation) and the biggest bonus of all, help reduce the amount we smoke. But there are other reasons why chewing can do your teeth and gums the world of good. If you chew with a sugar free gum or these days, one that has elements of herbal products in such as clove and Echinacea, it helps to massage and stimulate the blood flow in the gums and promote the natural enemy of bacteria- saliva. Your saliva helps to strengthen teeth and neutralize the build up of acids that cause tooth decay. Chewing gum can also help to break down plaque and tartar and reduce the risk of gingivitis and gum disease. Most important of all, it helps to remove any foodstuffs from around the teeth after eating- in fact, if you chew gum during the day, you are far less likely to give into the temptation of ‘snacking’ between meals. Who’d have thought that just by chewing a piece of gum, you could promote so much health in your mouth and body?
Tooth decay is a great enemy of the teeth in Leeds from as early as when they first break through the gums as a baby. Residues of food and drink cause bacteria in the mouth that can leave films of acid on the teeth. If left, the acid will start to eat away at the enamel of the teeth and cavities or caries will form and decay the inside of the tooth. An x-ray at the dentist can always determine if you suffer from any tooth decay and also how bad it is. In its mildest incarnation, tooth decay can be reversed with a filling, but at worse, you will need more extensive work like root canal treatment. It’s easy to avoid if you stick to your daily routine of brushing and flossing, and make regular visits to your dentist. For some people, especially children, the dentist can apply a thin plastic coating over the teeth to protect the exposed enamel of the tooth. But if you don’t avoid it, the decay can spread and affect the health of your mouth, the treatments can become precarious if you want to save your tooth, and the costs can spiral- for you will need to reconstruct to tooth to maintain its functionality, and that means splashing out on a crown.
You know, there is no reason at all why your teeth should not last you a lifetime if you look after them and this in easily achievable if you do the basic oral hygiene things. All of us in central Leeds want to keep our mouths healthy, and with the amount of products on offer to you, there’s never been an easier time. Perfecting brushing and flossing is the way to go- get this right and you’ll avoid the ‘baddies’ such as plaque and tooth decay. Meaning your visits to the dentist will be shorter and more pleasurable and you will save a fortune on expensive corrective treatments. Getting the right brush is the place to begin. Experiment until you find the right one and learn to brush correctly. Electric brushes will even do the effort for you and are proven to be more affective then you doing it for yourself; and don’t only brush your teeth, get around the whole mouth- especially the tongue, as this hides a multitude of bacteria. There are also dyes and tablets available that will highlight any areas plaque around the teeth. Then you should floss. This can be tricky to master at first but if you get in there among the teeth and gums, you’ll be removing and food that gets lodged within the mouth. This can be either done by wrapping a length of floss around your fingers and working it gently between the teeth, or you can buy a packet of little, individual plastic flossing tools that you can simply discard once you’ve used them.
It’s never wise to ignore gum disease, not only for the short term affects it can have on the health of your teeth, but for the long term affects that it can have on many of the vital organs in your body. Most of us in the city of Leeds are likely to suffer from some form of the condition at sometime in our lives. But when it happens, it needs to be checked immediately. It arises out of poor dental hygiene, but if allowed to flourish, it can promote decay in the teeth and inevitably tooth loss. If it’s caught quickly, it can be stopped easily; regular brushing each day, with the right added extras such as flossing, mouthwashes and a few herbal remedies can not only stop it from developing further, but and also regenerate stimulation in the gums again. Extreme gum disease however, will need the help of your dentist to deep scale your gums and teeth, remove any bacteria from the roots of the teeth and possibly a course of antibiotics. But there are more serious implications behind gum disease- it poisons the bloodstream and over a period of time, this will start to affect your heart liver and kidneys. It can also promote the development of diabetes in the body. Ironically, diabetes and gum disease are partners in crime, for diabetics are prone to gum disease, a vicious circle you really need to avoid.
Sleep apnea is one of those conditions, like snoring and teeth grinding that you may be blissfully unaware of, until you happen to share a room with another person. It is a condition that refers to the irregularity of the way you breathe- more commonly recognised as the pauses between breathing or it can be abnormally slow breathing, whilst sleeping. When you ‘drop off’ at night, you’re body goes into automatic. Your brain signals the lungs to draw air, so that the heart can continue to pump blood around the body. Stop the flow of air and all three hit the panic button, as they all rely on each other to function. You really, needn’t be told how serious an irregular heartbeat can be, especially when you are unconscious, because you can’t do anything about. If you are showing signs of extreme tiredness and fatigue when you wake and that persists throughout the day, you may be a victim of sleep apnea. Firstly, you may be referred to a sleep clinic to assess the problem, after which it can be treated- though there are a lot of methods to address the problem. Lifestyle and diet change are the more common suggestions after you have put yourself through a life management program. Exercise is also recommended, to understand the way you breathe. A dentist can also recommend a breathing device along with certain medications to keep the airways free at night. More radically, the problem may require surgery.
If you have been finding of late that a tooth has started to be of some discomfort when you eat, the odds are quite high that you are suffering from tooth decay and an x-ray by any dentist in Leeds will confirm it. You may have been lucky and get away with a filling, but pain indicates the tooth decay has well and truly set in- requiring a root canal to save the tooth. Once the decay has gone, the tooth needs restoring for it to function naturally, and the people’s choice is the porcelain crown. If the decay has set into a tooth that doesn’t experience a lot of force to function, then an all porcelain crown will look as beautiful as the original, however, if the original tooth had to work hard with chewing and biting, the equally beautiful, but stronger porcelain-over-metal would be a better choice. These crowns will be made from impressions of the cleaned, damaged tooth and then bonded into the hole. Porcelain crowns can also be attached to implants in the case where the tooth has been lost altogether. Generally, in the case where the original tooth is still in the mouth, a crown should last as long as the tooth, with care; with implants, the crowns should last for life
