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The Dangers of Over-Whitening: Bleachorexia

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Over the past several years, more and more people have chosen to whiten their teeth with over-the-counter whitening products. That probably comes as no surprise. After all, we are bombarded day after day with images of celebrities with picture-perfect smiles, and who wouldn’t want to have a movie star smile? But some people have become obsessive about bleaching their teeth, and when it comes to whitening products, too much of a good thing is really, really not good. In fact, over-whitening your teeth can put your oral health in danger. This problem has become so common that dentists have coined the term “bleachorexia” to describe it.

As is the case for most things in life, moderation is the key. Whitening your teeth in moderation is totally safe. If you follow the directions listed on the package with regard to how often to whiten, you shouldn’t have a problem. Unfortunately, many people ignore those directions altogether in favor of having extremely white teeth. While the ingredients in teeth whitening solutions are completely safe when used as directed on the packaging, over-using them can damage the enamel of the tooth surface and cause gums to recede. Ironically, people with damaged enamel actually end up with a more yellow tinge to their teeth since the tooth surface under the enamel is not nearly as white as the enamel itself. Once the enamel is gone, it can’t be replaced, and no whitening product will change the color of the yellow tooth surface underneath the enamel. So over-whitening your teeth can actually lead to more yellow teeth!

Whiten Your Teeth the Sensible Way

If you choose to whiten your teeth, you should know that over-the-counter whitening products don’t work nearly as well as whitening kits purchased from your dentist. There are two reasons for this: 1) your dentist will usually provide you with a custom-made tray to use with the whitening solution, which will allow the bleach to come into contact with more of the tooth surface; and 2) the whitening agent itself is typically much stronger than any OTC product. The fact that over-the-counter products don’t work as well might actually be the reason that so many people are over-whitening. To avoid this situation altogether, it’s best to purchase your whitening product from your dentist, and to follow his or her directions with regard to how often to use the product.

Most dentists offer their patients two varieties of whitening products: those that are administered in the dentist’s office, and take-home kits that the patients can use at their convenience at home. Usually, the most effective results are produced by first having your teeth whitened in the dentist’s office, then following up periodically by using a whitening kit at home.

For more information about whitening your teeth safely, talk to your dentist. Whatever you do, don’t fall into the “bleachorexia” category. If you do, you could harm your gums and ultimately end up with yellow teeth!

Signs You May Need a Root Canal

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There may come a time in your life when the pain of a damaged tooth becomes so unbearable you finally cast your fears aside and visit the dentist for help. When a tooth becomes severely decayed and the pulp inside the tooth is diseased a root canal is the only option save just pulling out the tooth. The pulp of your tooth is the soft tissue that consist of nerves and connective tissue. Once a tooth’s pulp begins to decay then it needs to be removed and the tooth resealed to prevent infection and further damage. While root canals may seem time consuming and potentially painful they are highly effective at saving the tooth and preventing infection and gum disease. How can you tell if you need a root canal? Look for certain signs and symptoms that can be an indication you to visit your dentist immediately.

  1. Toothache. Most people will notice a toothache that is persistent and unrelenting. If you have had a toothache for several days or even weeks that cannot be relieved or if it hurts to eat or drink, it is time to visit your dentist.
  2. Sensitive Teeth. It isn’t unusual to experience some sensitivity in your tooth but if the pain of toothache increase greatly with temperature changes of food or drink it may be time to have a dental check-up. A tooth that is constantly sensitive to temperature or normal hygiene probably has significant damage.
  3. Changing Color of Teeth. If the tooth that is causing you pain begins to change color to grey or even black it is a sign that it is dying due to severe decay or damage.
  4. Inflamed and Bright Red Gums. Bleeding, red, and inflamed gums along with a toothache are a sure sign that something is very wrong inside your mouth. Don’t wait to see your dentist if you have a combination of these symptoms. It is likely an infection has set in and could even be accompanied by a fever. Antibiotics will be needed along with a root canal to heal gums and repair the damaged tooth.

It is very important that you do not put off visiting your dentist if you have any of these symptoms. Waiting can lead to severe gum disease, permanently damage the root structure, and even cause the loss of teeth. The team at Austin Dental Center is dedicated to helping you keep your teeth and gums healthy for a lifetime. Call to schedule an exam and end your tooth pain for good.

What is a Dental Emergency?

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It’s bound to happen at some point in everyone’s life, a chipped tooth, toothache, or even a permanent tooth that has been knocked out. Whether it be your own teeth or those of a spouse or child, when damage has been done inside someone’s mouth, how do you know if it is an emergency situation? If it is an emergency do you know the steps to take to save a tooth? When is a toothache cause for a dentist’s visit? Following the correct protocol could prevent long term damage and find the cause of severe pain. Learning to identify a dental emergency is important and necessary for keeping a healthy smile.

 

  • Loss of teeth. Locate the knocked out tooth immediately. Once tooth has been located rinse with water being careful not to touch the root. If it is the whole tooth try to place tooth back into the socket and keep it there as you get to your dentist immediately. Once there your dentist may be able to reimplant the tooth. If you cannot place it back in the socket, store the tooth in milk or in your mouth to keep it moist and immediately see your dentist. If it’s a baby tooth, the dentist may decide to leave it alone. If it’s a permanent tooth, there may be several options available.

 

  • Cracked or dislocated teeth. In both situations, it is important to seek attention from your dentist as soon as possible. If the tooth is chipped or pieces have been lost, try to find them and keep them moist until you can see your dentist.

 

  • Damaged or lost dental work. When you lose dental work such as a filling or crown or have damage to braces that could injure the inside of your mouth, see your dentist as soon as possible to repair the apparatus or redo fillings and replace crowns. Waiting to fix these issues could result in further damage or pain.

 

  • Soft tissue damage. If your tongue, lips, or gums have been injured and the bleeding cannot be stopped, this is an emergency. See your dentist or seek medical attention immediately.

 

  • Toothache. While a toothache may not seem like an emergency, the cause of the pain could be serious and may mean a procedure such as a root canal needs to be performed. If treating pain with over the counter relievers does not ease the discomfort see your dentist.

 

  • Broken jaw. If your jaw has been injured and you suspect it has been broken, place an ice pack on jaw and seek your dentist or medical treatment immediately for x-rays and treatment.

 

Learning to identify an emergency can mean the difference between long term damage and prevention. If any of these situations arise, seek out medical attention as soon as possible.

Dental Emergency First-Aid Kit and Tips

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Medical emergency kits are common in vehicles on the road today. This is great, given the risks while traveling. It is good to know that medical care is within reach.

First aid kits are sold in stores throughout the country for a very reasonable price.

However, what happens when there is a dental emergency on the road?

Though people take great precautions to be ready should someone suffer in an accident, they often overlook the damage that could be done to the mouth. Some of this dental trouble can be very minor and unprovoked, while other issues can be more serious.

Being prepared for dental emergencies is just as important as the first aid kit. It doesn’t take much to be prepared in case of an unexpected dental problem.

There are a few minor things that can be added to the existing medical kit that will keep your mouth safe until you get to the dentist’s office.

Petroleum jelly or temporary dental cement can be used to replace a dislodged cap or crown.

Sugarless gum or dental wax can prevent cuts from sharp wires of braces.

Though help for a broken filling will be needed as immediately as possible, a small cotton pellet soaked in oil of cloves can fill the space and ease any related discomfort until you get to the dentist. This is made much easier with a pen light and a dental mirror.

If a tooth is dislodged, it is good to try to replace it as quickly as possible without disrupting any tissue particle on it. If that doesn’t work, the tooth can be preserved in the side of the mouth (just be careful not to swallow. It can also be placed in a cup of milk until arriving at the dental office.

Gauze can be used to control bleeding from tooth loss and as a result of mouth trauma as well.

 

For more travel tips and safety advice, keep reading the full article.

Treating Toothaches Until Your Emergency Dentist Appointment

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The incessant ache and burning pain inside your mouth can be pure torture and knowing that you have to wait an hour, a day, or longer to see the dentist only makes it worse. Fortunately, there are things that you can do to cut the pain yourself, until you sit in the chair and have the problem cured.

Oil of Cloves

Don’t panic. This isn’t like some fancy recipe that requires a long ride to a specialty store and hunt through the aisles of exotic foods to find what you need. Oil of cloves can be found in most pharmacies and can drastically reduce tooth pain. Just be sure to use it according to the directions.

Cold Pack

Like most aches and pains, ice can numb toothache discomfort. Of course, it would be a bit difficult to hold a compress inside your mouth and directly on the tooth, but applying the cold pack to the side of your face should accomplish the same thing. This will reduce swelling and likely ease some of the pain. You can also hold ice water in your mouth for several seconds at a time to produce the same effect.

Sit Up

When you don’t feel good, you might be tempted to hit the bed, but doing so with a toothache can make the pain worse. Sitting up or standing reduces the pressure in that area of the body.

Wash

Food particles that are allowed to get stuck in the gum tissue can cause very troubling toothaches. To be sure that this isn’t the problem, it is a good idea to rinse the mouth with warm water several times and carefully floss in the troubled area.

Sensitivity Patch

Another cause of many toothaches is sensitivity. It can also be a symptom of tooth damage. If cold air seems to be aggravating the area, then consider a trip to the pharmacy for some dental wax. This can be applied to the tooth, like a temporary patch and will stop the air from hitting the sensitive area. In a pinch, the same thing can be done with a piece of sugarless gum.

For more helpful tips, continue reading about how to treat a toothache.

Sports Gear To Protect Teeth and Jaw

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If you are an athlete, then this is a good month to do some heavy reading about your sport.

As National Facial Protection Month, this is the perfect time to learn about how you might prevent the facial injuries that can result in serious issues now and long into the future.

These injuries are regularly seen by oral surgeons, who report that the most common cause is athletic accident.

So, for those who like to stay physically active and who may face regular risk of jaw injury, here are a few of the guidelines that can keep you safe, by sport.

Baseball
It has long been tradition of catchers and batters to wear head gear to defend against serious accidents, but more recently helmets with clear plastic have been crafted to further decrease the potential for injury. While they are great for batters, they also serve an important function in the field.

Ice Hockey
More and more frequently at professional, semi-pro, college, and high school levels, spectators are seeing players donning face masks that help to absorb the impact of a direct hit by fellow player or puck.

Boxing
Mouth guards were made mandatory several years ago, but they have been further improved upon in more recent years to increase the protection that they offer and also improve the airflow to the boxer.

Lacrosse
This is another sport that sees frequent player-to-player contact, and there is also risk of a ball or a stick to the face. For this reason players should wear helmets with full face masks.

For more information on many other popular sports, continue reading at the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial website.

Dental Emergency Information

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Dental emergencies aren’t just painful–they can also be a major health risk.

When you have a toothache that doesn’t resolve itself within 24 hours, getting treatment can be critical; but you may be concerned with how you’ll be able to pay for it.

Well, read on, there is help available.

When Is It Time to See a Dentist?

Chances are, your teeth are going to drive your decision to see a dentist. A toothache that doesn’t respond to common home remedies like aspirin or heat aren’t going to go away on their own, and unrelenting pain can certainly make it clear that you need help.

If you’re still uncertain, here are some of the things that constitute a dental emergency:

• Pain when you eat or extreme sensitivity to temperature changes
• Facial swelling
• Severe pain in your tooth or jaw
• Bleeding
• Infected gums
• Difficulty breathing
• A broken tooth
• A tooth that has been knocked out (be sure to put it on ice and bring it to the dentist with you as the doctor may be able to reattach it)

Emergency Dental Care Offers Help

An unexpected trip to the dentist can be very costly. Often times, people have limited dental insurance, or none at all, and that means an unbudgeted expense that can put a strain on family finances. In order to avoid the financial stress emergencies can cause, prudent families invest in an emergency dental care plan. While you may think that dental care plans are too expensive, there are some viable options available.

Medicaid recipients may be eligible to receive dental care though public assistance. A joint effort between the state and federal governments, public assistance automatically covers children under the age of 21; but if you do some research or speak with a caseworker, you may discover that your emergency dental care is also covered. Note: Medicare does not cover dental emergencies.

If you have medical insurance available through your place of work, dental coverage may also be offered. Look through your employee handbook or visit an HR representative to see if dental care is offered through your company policy. While there is a fee for this coverage, it is usually reasonable and could save you money in the long run.

While HMO and indemnity plans may offer dental coverage, they could have hidden costs that make them prohibitive. Be sure to check the price of the premiums, the deductibles, payout ceilings, and the length of the waiting period for certain procedure before contracting for a dental plan.

There are discount dental plans available that offer good coverage at a minimum cost. One of the big advantages of these plans is that there is no waiting period. They also publish a price list so you know what procedures cost, even in an emergency.

A little coverage can be a big help in an emergency. Take the time to do a little research into the dental plans available to you—you’ll be glad you did.

How to Ease a Toothache Naturally

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To say that a toothache is aggravating is an understatement when you are riddled with sudden tooth pain. Even more frustrating is the fact that it is not always simple to treat the pain of toothache, but if you can begin to understand what causes it and why it occurs, you might be better able to conquer this feat.

In some cases, the source is pretty easily determined. If the aches and pains begin each time you eat something extremely cold or overly hot, then tooth sensitivity is to blame. This can even be noted when outdoors in the winter and breathing exceptionally cold air. Thus, the obvious way to avoid the soreness is to avoid eating foods that fall in either category and wear a scarf over the mouth when out in the extreme cold.

It’s not always so cut and dry, however. Sometimes, the pain comes on suddenly and for no known reason. In these cases, the toothache has likely been triggered by dental complications. Generally, these types of toothache are a result of infection in the tooth of surrounding gum area.

As added annoyance, the pain can be felt in an entirely different area of the mouth than the actual problem area resides, so local anesthetics applied to the area that hurts will not be effective. In other cases, the toothache can be a side effect of illness of mental anguish. It could also be brought on by sinus congestion.

The good news is that there are ways to relieve toothache pain while awaiting a dental appointment. You can do so without the need of medication or anesthetic. These techniques may sound a little unorthodox, but many patients report that they are very effective.

First, attempt to breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth for several minutes. Sometimes, if the toothache is a result of sinus pressure, this pattern of breathing can alleviate some of the congestion and thereby dull the ache.

Another, acupuncture-style approach, is to squeeze the forefinger and thumb together, creating a circle. While pushing hard to create pressure on the tips of your thumb and finger, gaze through the hole at something in the distance for several moments. This can ease nausea and toothache.

If neither of these methods proves successful, do not lay down. Whenever a person feels discomfort, a natural reaction is to go home and find a place to stretch out to ride out the pain. However, this is not a good idea when one has a toothache.

The increased blood pressure in the head, which is a result of laying back, is likely to make the pain worse. Instead, walk or sit and do something that occupies your brain. This will keep your thoughts away from the ache and keep it at a minimum until you can get help for it.

Symptoms of an Abscessed Tooth

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You know you feel awful and your mouth is the source of the pain, but how do you know if it is an abscess? Of course, the most obvious answer would be to schedule the emergency visit with your dentist, but for those who just want to know the warning signs, this article intends to be your guide.

An abscess is an infection in the mouth that exists at the root of a tooth or between the gum and the tooth. It can be very painful, but will also come with a host of other symptoms. The severity of these can vary substantially from person to person, and some individuals will not notice all of them.

In most cases, however, fever will accompany the pain, which will be localized. In other words, you should be able to point to a single area that hurts. This area will also be more sensitive to hot and cold than it would be otherwise. The neck glands can become swollen and sore and the sufferer can also begin to feel ill.

In addition to this, a person with an abscess will typically have suddenly foul breath and may complain of a bad taste in his or her mouth that will not go away. The area of infection may appear red, swollen, or may even have an open sore on the side of the gum.

It is important to get immediate care if you show the symptoms of abscess. This type of infection can kill the root of the tooth and may continue to spread throughout the mouth if not treated.

For more information on this topic, read the full article.

What to Do If You Chip Your Tooth

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Frustrating, aggravating, and even a bit scary, chipping a tooth is not something that anyone wants to go through. Nevertheless, this is not an uncommon occurrence. If it does happen to you, pick up the phone immediately and make an appointment to see the dentist. The treatment options will vary significantly depending on the extent of the damage.

Your dentist will likely ask a few questions before recommending anything. He or she will likely want to know how it happened, whether or not you have found the missing piece of the tooth (which should come with you), and may need an x-ray to confirm the severity of the situation. This is due to the fact that it is difficult for the human eye to detect the extent of the damage done to inner layers of the tooth. For the smallest of chips, it may be possible to simply file them down, and otherwise leave them alone. Otherwise, a composite filling (the color of the natural tooth) may be needed to fill the gap and reform the tooth. For larger areas of damage, there may be the need for a porcelain veneer or crown, which would not only improve the aesthetic of the tooth, but also offer structural support.
For those breaks that cause root damage, the situation will likely be different. In addition to the veneer or crown, there may be a need for a root canal to prevent the dying nerve from causing further bacterial infection.

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