ADD A SMILE TO YOUR DAY!
While all of your teeth contribute to the appearance of your smile, there are 6 teeth that play the biggest role in creating an attractive smile. Knowing their location and role will help you to understand how the dentists at Lotus Dental Group can help you improve your smile.
The wisdom teeth grow at the back of your gums and are the last teeth to come through. Most people have four wisdom teeth – one in each corner.
Wisdom teeth usually grow through the gums during the late teens or early twenties. By this time, the other 28 adult teeth are usually in place, so there isn’t always enough room in the mouth for the wisdom teeth to grow properly.
Your wisdom teeth don’t usually need to be removed if they’re impacted but aren’t causing any problems. This is because there’s no proven benefit of doing this and it carries the risk of complications.
Sometimes, wisdom teeth that have become impacted or haven’t fully broken through the surface of the gum can cause dental problems.
However, unlike how often you should floss which is pretty much unanimously agreed upon as at least once a day, this is one of those questions that is argued both ways and there is more variance in the answer given.
Reasons given for flossing and interdental cleaning before brushing the teeth boil down to the thought and belief that by doing it before brushing; you are cleaning the interdental space and gaps within your teeth, disrupting the plaque and food particles so that they can be more easily brushed away when you brush your teeth.
If you floss after you brush, there will be less plaque for you to get rid of since some of it would have been removed when you brushed. This makes flossing less time to consume and feel like less work for people. Some dentists also suggest brushing first since this is the way most of us have been taught. And since there’s no hard evidence as to which order is better, they say we should just continue what we’ve been doing before.
There is a close connection between the health of the body and that of the mind. There is further evidence to suggest those who experience mental illness also suffer from poor oral health.
Some of the most common mental illnesses that can have a negative impact on a person’s oral health include anxiety and panic attacks, depression, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, self-harm, schizophrenia, and psychosis.
Neglect: Research has shown that those suffering from mental illnesses tend to avoid dental care so much that their oral hygiene is neglected. This can result in gum disease and tooth decay.
Anxiety: Many people suffer from some form of dental phobia and as a result, stop seeing their dentist regularly. Infrequent dental visits have a severe impact on oral health.
White teeth are generally the preserve of the very rich or Americans. No more. Founder of Honestly Healthy Food, Natasha Corrett, has teamed up with premium toothpaste brand BlanX to find ways to naturally brighten your teeth. The foods below can help you gain, or maintain, a perfect smile. Some are a little surprising…
And you thought all those gleaming white smiles at Wimbledon were the result of expensive dental work. Strawberries are fantastic natural teeth whiteners because they contain Malic Acid, which removes surface stains from teeth and whitens the enamel.
An apple a day keeps the dentist away. Crispy apples strengthen the gums and their high water content increases the production of saliva, dispersing any bacteria in the mouth. And – like several foods on this list – apples function as a naturally abrasive scrub for the teeth.
Because it’s so stringy it makes a perfect natural dental floss. That’s a joke – please don’t floss your teeth with celery. But, like apples, the high water content of celery brings out that bacteria-washing salvia in force.
Alas, carrots won’t help you see in the dark. (That’s an old World War Two myth.) However eating carrots regularly could help whiten your teeth. You know the drill by now. High water content, brings out salvia, bye bye bacteria.
Chewing this hard fruit will keep your choppers in tip-top shape. The apple’s crispy texture scrubs your teeth and gums, while its high malic acid content helps to remove stains while increasing saliva production
Remember, an apple a day keeps the cavities away.
Carrots are a fantastic natural teeth cleaner. Similar to apples, its crunchy abrasive texture polishes teeth and removes surface stains. Carrots also encourage saliva production to protect teeth against cavity-causing bacteria.
This one is particularly gratifying. Hard cheese is full of calcium, which strengthens teeth and gums. Plus, being mostly colourless, cheese won’t stain your teeth in the manner of, say, coffee.
A toothache is a pain in and around the teeth and jaws. Tooth decay, an infection, loose or broken fillings, or receding gums can cause it.
A cold compress or an ice pack can help ease dental pain, especially if a toothache is due to injury or swollen gums.
A person can try holding the ice pack or a bag of frozen peas, for example, against the outside of the cheek above the painful tooth for a few minutes at a time.
Rinsing the mouth with warm salt water helps to loosen debris lodged in cavities or between teeth. It may also reduce swelling, boost healing, and relieve a sore throat.
A salt water rinse can be made by dissolving 1 teaspoon of salt in a glass of warm water and swish around in the mouth for about 30 seconds before spitting out. This process can be repeated as often as needed.
Over-the-counter medication, such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen, can provide temporary pain relief for a toothache.
Garlic has been widely used for medicinal purposes throughout history. It contains a compound called allicin, which accounts for its powerful antibacterial properties.
A fresh clove of garlic should first be crushed and then mixed with a little salt, and the mixture applied to the affected tooth.
Like cloves, peppermint has numbing properties that can soothe a toothache. Menthol, which gives peppermint its minty flavor and smell, is also known to be antibacterial.
You should visit your dentist for regular check-ups. Having regular dental check-ups will ensure any plaque and calculus – previously known as tartar – is removed from your teeth, particularly in areas that are difficult to reach.
Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral found in water in varying amounts, depending on where in the UK you live.
It can help prevent tooth decay, which is why it’s added to many brands of toothpaste and, in some areas, to the water supply through a process called fluoridation.
Brushing your teeth thoroughly with fluoride toothpaste is one of the most effective ways of preventing tooth decay.
A range of toothpaste is available containing different levels of fluoride. The amount of fluoride in the toothpaste can be found on the side of the tube and is measured in parts per million (ppm).
There have been some concerns that fluoride may be linked to a variety of health conditions. Reviews of the risks have so far found no convincing evidence to support these concerns. However, a condition called dental fluorosis can sometimes occur if a child’s teeth are exposed to too much fluoride when they’re developing.
The purpose of orthodontic treatment is to make the best of your teeth.
This includes straightening your teeth so you’re able to care for your teeth and gums more easily, and improving your bite so you can eat more comfortably. And your smile will benefit, too.
Treatment almost always involves using braces to straighten crooked, crowded or protruding teeth, close gaps between teeth, and correct the bite so the top and bottom teeth meet when the mouth is closed.
The ideal age to have braces is usually around 12 or 13, while a child’s mouth and jaws are still growing.
The opportunity for improvement in an adult is more limited and treatment is likely to take longer.
People talk a lot about sleep and associate a lot of myths with it. We just don’t hear them often but also experience them a lot of times. Some may be laughed off as “old wives tale” but some myths are based on incorrect information and can prove to be dangerous for us. Here is a list of common myths debunked about sleep complied by National Sleep Foundation.
Snoring sure is a sign of sleep apnea but both of these are different things. Sleep apnea can actually cause a person’s breath to pause up to 400 times throughout the night. These interruptions may last for anywhere between 10 to 30 seconds.
Sleep interruptions are capable of wrecking your body, mind and basically the whole day day-after-day. When you haven’t slept enough and sound, you put yourself at the risk of injuries at work, road accidents, heart attacks, and heart ailments.
Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common type of sleep apnea that occurs when the airway is blocked by your tongue, tonsils or other tissues at the back of your throat. It stops the air when you try to breathe.
A medical estimate states that in US, more than 18 million people are affected by sleep apnea. Most commonly, people above the age of 40 suffer from sleep apnea but the disorder can affect people of all ages. Being overweight, male, African-American or Latino puts you at an increased risk of suffering from sleep apnea. It also can be inherited and runs in families.