Your Dental Care Guide

by: Christine Zafra

Do you hate the feeling of having fat lips after you’ve had your tooth extracted? The anesthesia normally wears off for about 3 hours, making you feel a little awkward when talking to someone (although you really look normal and the “fat lip” is just what you’re feeling due to the anesthesia). Now, with OraVerse, dentists can now give their patients this drug to wear off the anesthesia instantaneously. Patients need not to wait for 3 hours before the fat lips start to wear off. In fact, the wearing off time can be cut in half. This can be the solution to those who do not wish to have fat lips for a long time.

Photo taken from http://www.medgadget.com

by: Christine Zafra

Planning on having dental crowns place on your teeth? Recent studies show that the younger the patient is, the longer the crown will last. They have studied more than 80,000 patients who have had dental procedures for the past 10 years and almost all of those were at least 18 year olds. They also found out that metal crowns are much sturdier than the ceramic crowns used by many and also, metal crowns last longer than the usual ceramic and metal crown combination. Those who had metal crowns needed only minimal repairs compared to the two other crown users who needed replacement badly.

Photo taken from http://www.restorativearts.com

by: Christine Zafra

It is a fact that smoking damages the lungs of the person, making the person eligible of the different kinds of lung diseases such as lung cancer and emphysema, and other oral illnesses such as lip cancer and teeth decay. We all know that these lung diseases can affect both the first hand and second hand smokers, but little do we know that cavities also attack even those who only inhale second hand smoke. According to the research done by the dentists from the University Leuven in Belgium, about 30% of the 5 year olds they have observed have tooth decay. They also concluded that a 5 year old who has at least one smoking parent, will most likely have 3 times the chances of having cavities compared to those who do not have any smoking parent at all.

Photo taken from http://images-cdn01.associatedcontent.com

Getting kids to brush their teeth after meals or before they go to bed is a rather painstaking task for most parents. It is important that parents discover delightful ways to make their children understand that brushing their teeth, aside from being an essential part of maintaining personal hygiene, is also a fun way of keeping their teeth safe from cavities. Instead of regular mint toothpaste, a fruity flavor will be more enjoyable for them to use. The use of toothbrush with fancy characters is also a good way to make them see that brushing is a fun activity especially when done with music playing in the background. Furthermore, it’s better to ask them to brush their teeth right after dinner or before their favorite television show.

It comes as no surprise that hen faced with the daily hassles of life, making sure that one’s dental health hygiene does not take a backseat is quite a difficult task. To make certain that an individual does not neglect his or her oral health-related duties, he or she needs to take the necessary actions. Indeed, it may be tempting to skip brushing or flossing one’s teeth in order to get to a meeting on time, but something as simple as a Post It note on the bathroom mirror or on the boudoir can already serve as a reminder. Should an individual feel that such a reminder would not be compelling enough when viewed side-by-side warning signs that tell him or her that she has seemingly more important tasks to do, perhaps a picture of a set of cavity-infested teeth beside the Post It note would help do the job. In this way, busy individuals can be reminded of the importance of proper dental health.

Picture from
Chopstork. 5 May 2008 http://www.chopstork.com/blog/2005/08/.

It is always a possibility that people will dismiss the blood on their toothbrush as mere occurrences that do not need further inspection. Still, such an incident (particularly if it occurs more than once) should serve as a visual alarm clock that wakes one up from the dream which fools one into thinking that worrying would be futile. Brushing too hard may feel like the right thing to do at first—it would be easy to think that by brushing as hard as one can, one can get rid of a world of cavities and bacteria—but in the long run damaged gums do not look enticing in the least.

Picture from
Britannica Online Encyclopedia. 5 May 2008 http://student.britannica.com/eb/art/print?id=73292&articleTypeId=31

Ever wonder why no matter how many times you brush or floss your teeth, they never seem any whiter? Even worse, has the above question made you think (even for a millisecond) that brushing is therefore useless? Sit back, relax, and appreciate your teeth, though. After all, not everyone was meant to have dazzling white smiles. Of course there are always products or dental procedures that will give you that spotlessly white set of teeth, but first of all it must be realized that just as people of varying races have different skin color, the color of people’s teeth, or at least their shades, vary as well. Moreover, just because one’s teeth are a tad bit yellowish does not mean that they are loaded with cavities and plaque; it may simply be the result of years of inherited genes or the result of belonging to a particular race. Hence, there is no urgent need to say adieu to one’s toothbrush just because one cannot blind the sun with a smile.

Picture from
TeethLuver.com 5 May 2008 http://www.teethluver.com/ebpage.asp?page=bleaching

In discussing children and their dental needs, it is easy for adults to realize that a child may not take to liking brushing his or her teeth right away. However, what happens when, even as adults, individuals feel a decline towards their relationship with their toothbrush? Regarding this, adults should take to mind that their very age—and the implications of such—requires them to be more diligent in brushing. This is especially so if the individual holds a job that requires them to eat more than one meal with their clients in one day. Furthermore, adult individuals are more exposed to teeth-damaging activities such as smoking or drinking alcohol in late night parties that encourage the average party-lovers to forego brushing their teeth and instead just hop into bed. Indeed, taking a good look at one’s own lifestyle and then checking one’s teeth-cleaning habits are two much related activities that all adults should participate in.

Picture from
Living Green in LA. 5 May 2008 http://lagreenliving.com/blog/2006/03/10/dental-dilemma/

It is said that “The family that prays together, stays together.” On the other hand, whether brushing teeth together as a family helps keep the most basic unit of society together, is still quite unknown. However, when making an ideal adventure out of the concept of brushing one’s teeth fails and parents are faced with stubborn faces and tantrums, it is suggested that they encourage their children to brush their teeth by offering to do it together with them. By doing so, a parent or guardian may be assuring the child that he or she is not being made to suffer some unjust punishment, and that adults need to brush their teeth as well. There are setbacks to this method, of course. For instance, there is no telling how long a child would require an adult to brush his or her teeth along with him or her. Also, it must be kept in mind that children have a tendency to become too enthusiastic with activities once they have been induced into conducting them and may even insist on brushing their teeth out of the blue, even when it is unnecessary. This of course, would prove difficult to the child’s parents or guardian since this may intrude with their daily duties. It seems then, that the way to go about this method would be to tell the child early on that he or she will not always be brushing his or her teeth with someone else simultaneously doing the same activity. After all, it is only a matter of time until the act of brushing one’s teeth starts to appeal to a child’s desire to proudly show his or her parents that he or she can do things on her own as well, with that innocent self-pride children eventually develop.

Picture from
BBC Newsround5 May 2008 http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_7300000/newsid_7307100/7307129.stm

Some people think that if we just had even more dentists, there wouldn’t be an access to care problem. But all numbers of the dentists is not the main issue-it’s where they’re located, how many people are able to treat and whether all the people can afford treatment or whether there’s a way to pay for their care. Some places, even some individual communities have helped place the dentists in rural or urban underserved areas through stipends, loan forgiveness and other incentives. The American Dental Association is still expanding their team approach for delivering the care by creating a community dental health coordinator.