Did you know that it’s important to maintain a healthy mouth as bad oral health can affect your overall health?
Not taking care of your oral hygiene can lead to gum disease and cavities, alongside increasing the chances of more alarming issues such as heart disease and cancer.
You should learn to take good care of your mouth early on, as your overall health will benefit through avoiding long-term dental issues and saving money.
To help you understand your oral health better, we have made a list of common dental symptoms and issues that we recommend you look out for.
Symptoms of common dental issues:
- Loose teeth: occurs when a tooth no longer has support and begins slowly detaching from the gum and bone.
- Receding gums: condition when your gums begin pulling away from the tooth, which results in exposing the root of your teeth.
- Bleeding and swollen gums: this usually is evident after brushing your teeth. Common causes include periodontitis and vitamin deficiency.
- Cracked and broken teeth: usually the result of teeth grinding, hard foods, age, immense temperature changes inside your mouth, weakened fillings and suffering blows to the mouth.
- Jaw popping: happens when the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) experiences dysfunction. This joint connects the jawbone to the skull and acts as a hinge allowing you to talk and chew.
- Dry Mouth: occurs when the salivary glands don’t produce enough saliva, causing a dry and parched sensation inside your mouth.
- Sores and ulcers (includes canker sores): mouth sores are common and usually a minor irritation that last a week or two. However, in some cases, if they do not heal, they are most likely caused by a bigger health issue.
- Toothache and pain: this includes pain that you feel around or inside your tooth, which most often is a sign that something is wrong with your gums or tooth.
- Sensitivity: tooth sensitivity can be temporary or chronic and usually can be treated by changing your oral hygiene routine.
- Chewing pain: excessive chewing, teeth grinding or biting can cause chewing pain.
- Chronic bad breath: may be caused by poor dental hygiene, foods and smoking. However, gum disease, alongside other health issues cause bad breath.
If you notice any of these issues, especially ones that last more than two weeks, you should book an appointment with your dentist.
Dental and oral issues:
- Cavities: includes areas of the tooth that have been permanently damaged. Cavities are common and are caused by bacteria in plaque breaking down sugars into acids that eat your enamel, followed by tooth decay.
Did you know that nearly 100 percent of adults have at least one dental cavity?
- Gum disease (gingivitis): inflammation of the gums, causing swelling and bleeding. This issue is caused by plaque build ups in the mouth due to poor oral hygiene. Untreated gingivitis can lead to periodontitis, a more serious condition.
- Sensitive teeth: usually most noticeable while consuming hot or cold foods and beverages. Some people naturally have sensitive teeth due to thinner enamel.
However sensitive teeth can be the result of dental issues or occur after having fillings or root canal.
- Oral cancer: the gums, tongue, lips, cheek, mouth floor and palates are all susceptible to cancer and the dentist is usually the first person to recognise the signs. Which means it is important to have dental checkups.
Oral cancer is a very serious issue and it is recorded that around 450,000 new cases of oral cancer are found each year globally, for more information, please visit the oral cancer foundation.
This does not include every dental issue, as there are many more issues besides these. If you have any concerns about abnormal signs, please don’t hesitate to contact us at Somerset Dental if you are concerned.
How to keep a healthy mouth and avoid issues:
It is important to maintain good oral hygiene to help avoid dental issues.
We recommend you brush twice a day with a fluoride-containing toothpaste, floss daily and use a mouthwash to kill bacteria to maintain healthy teeth and gums.
Further we suggest that you limit your sugar intake and set goals to achieve the daily recommended intake of fruits, vegetables, fibre and vitamins. Also, keeping up your water intake is extremely important as it not only helps flush out food and drink debris, but it also maintains your overall oral health.
Lastly and most importantly, visiting the dentist every six months is important as they will perform a checkup and clean (can include fluoride treatment) of your mouth. During the checkup, they will diagnose any issues and prescribe a treatment, even one as simple as a change in your dental practices.
The dentist may advise that you require fillings, crowns, sealants, surgery or root canal depending on the issue.
If you notice any symptoms that do not go away within two weeks or a reasonable timeframe, it is best to visit the dentist to get a professional opinion on your oral hygiene. We have not discussed every dental issue, so if something else besides what we covered here is concerning you, please contact us.
For more information on dental issues or to request a dental checkup, please visit us here.
Don’t forget to share this via Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and LinkedIn.
