Acid Reflux and Teeth

It is one in the morning and things are simply not going right.  You are awoken unexpectantly by a sudden pain and it is choking you.  The explosion of red hot pain feels like lava in your throat and you are coughing constantly.  This is what it feels like for many who have acid reflux.  It is not only a painful and terrible experience but has many other awful side effects.  It can take a person who has had amazing dental hygiene and throw it all out the window.  It can cause havoc on your dental health and be a very expensive issue.  So this problem happens to so many people and I want to go over some things that may help those who are just finding out they have this issue.

The first thing to know is that your body and stomach produce natural acids. These are used for digesting foods and a myriad of other things that are good and healthy.  Acid reflux is when these natural acids travel up the throat and get into your mouth.  This is when those acids begin to break down the good things in our mouth. This can start to even cause erosion of your teeth. Now the big problem is when this happens more often than not.  If you have acid reflux then this is more than a common occurrence and constantly attacks your mouth.  This is a dental catastrophe and is rather unfortunate. So let’s get into the specifics of what this can do for your teeth.

The main thing that acid reflux does is to wear away the enamel of your teeth. This is something that can easily be noticed by a compliant dentist and is a big reason to go and see your dentist regularly.  But tooth erosion is permanent and is something that simply does not come back.  This is pretty easy to discover and can feel like it is actually a problem with other things as well.  But if your teeth are very sensitive then it could be a problem. One area that they could be sensitive or it could feel pain is when you are drinking hot or cold liquids.  That can really show on the pain levels when your teeth are suffering from erosion.

Another common sign of tooth erosion from acid reflux can be the yellowing of teeth.  This is another sign that acids from your stomach are wearing away the enamel and slowly causing massive dental issues. If you are noticing a significant amount of yellowing around all of your teeth it could be an acid reflux issue as well. So what are some things you can do to help prevent these issues?

First producing more saliva to help clean your teeth is a great idea.  This can be done in many ways.  Drinking more fluids and staying hydrated is a great start.  Keeping a bottle of water around is a good way to do this.  Also chewing sugar free gum is another way to keep your saliva flow working at a higher level. There are also a number of over the counter products that can help to reduce the acid issues.  This is a great way to help stop a problem before it starts. Either way, see your healthcare provider to make sure you are properly taking care of the issue to maintain the best oral care.

Reason to Go to the Scary Dentist this Fall

The Fall singles many things about what it to come for many people in the United States.  It means the colder weather is on the way, trees are starting to turn different colors and that people are going to eat more sweets.  This time of year is the beginning of the sweets and gatherings for many people in our country.  It is work and regular holiday season and many people end up eating and drinking less healthy for your teeth foods and drinks.  It is the time of year that people tend to have the worst dental hygiene and think about there teeth the least. So I want to go over a few reasons why you should not neglect going to see the dentist during the fall and scary part of the year, because there is nothing worse then seeing a dentist for an emergency visit.

The first reason to see the dentist and to make sure your teeth are ok is to know ahead of time if a problem is already there.  I like to schedule a visit before the holidays or Fall because I know that if I am having issues that all the extra food and drinks will only make them worse.  Immagine has dental erosion happening and you are on the brink of multiple cavities and you didn’t know it.  If you simply stopped your sugar and acidic drinks intake that you would be ok.  But instead, you go out and party it up like normal and end up with 3 cavities and a route canal.  This could have all been prevented by knowing that you needed to be wise with your dental health for the next few months. 

The next reason is that if I am ok I can then get a checkup after the season if I know that my teeth are looking or my mouth is feeling different.  That is a great reason to go ahead and know that you need a visit if you are feeling these things.  That is the answer to all of the problems that could be solved and that is simply knowing.   The knowing is half the battle because it could end up saving you lots of money.

Preventative dental care is really important not only because it can save your pain and improve your health but it can also improve your pocketbook.  Emergency surgeries and visits to the dentist are not cheap.  They are expensive and not only cost you money but your time and ability to make money with that time.  The cost of visiting a dentist for a checkup and getting advice for preventative issues saves you so much more money most of the time.  It can help eliminate those surgeries and emergency trips.  It can also keep you from feeling all of the pain that is involved.  This is why I like to schedule my bi-yearly checkup right before the holidays and then six months after as long as nothing is wrong. 

There are many ways to get your schedule and dental health on track and I think that frequent trips to the dentist is one of them.  I mean frequent to be only twice a year and that is not a large burden in comparison to surgeries.

Coffee Bad For My Teeth?????

I never used to be a coffee drinker. I grew up watching my parents drink the stuff, but I never much cared for it myself. I did really enjoy the smell of coffee, and it reminded me of relaxing mornings, but I never cared for the taste much. I only ever drank it on mornings where I had slept very poorly the night before, and my mom would give me some to drink before I went to school to wake me up a little bit. It wasn’t until I got to college that I truly began to appreciate coffee. I only began drinking coffee because that’s what everyone seemed to do on my college campus, and there was a very popular coffee shop in the student center. I would drink it in small doses on occasions on social outings with my friends or something like that, or on days where I really struggled to wake up. 

However, the more I drank it, the more accustomed to the taste I got with it. I started to pick on a trend of using less and less creamer, enjoying more coffee simply for the flavor of the coffee and how it tasted. Uh oh.. Soon enough, I became a full blown coffee drinker. Count me in as one of the hundreds of millions of Americans who start their day with a good old fashioned cup of joe. Where I used to enjoy maybe two or three coffees a week before, I began to drink a lot more as I’ve gotten older. Freshman year of college, I finally broke down and bought myself a Keurig. The problem with this is that now I had access to coffee all the time. I started to drink at least one cup of coffee a day, if not much more depending on how busy I was, how tired I felt, or how much work I had to do. 

The problem I ran into with coffee is that it isn’t great for your teeth. In fact, I learned that coffee has a tendency to stain your teeth and make them look pretty gross if you don’t try to whiten them in some way. I have not gone to the dentist in years, but I have been taking good care of my teeth for the most part. I have only ever had one cavity in my life and have not had any serious complications when it comes to my dental health. However, I am very insecure about my teeth looking gross and therefore do not want my coffee drinking habit to have too big of an impact on my teeth. I looked up different dentist recommendations for whitening teeth and removing surface stains.

The biggest change I made is toothpaste. I wanted to get a toothpaste that would really help to whiten my teeth as well as prevent cavities and fight any bad breath. After hours of research, I decided to use Crest 3D White toothpaste and have so far been happy with the results. I also use this blue light and gel whitening technology that I got for Christmas last year, and that has also been helpful in keeping my teeth from getting too stained. It’s not at the point where I would cut out coffee, but maybe if my teeth get bad that is something I would consider. Geez, why does everything that’s good have to have something about it that is also bad?

Tooth extraction

As a child, I never enjoyed going to the dentist. Having someone’s fingers in my mouth was not the best thing to me as it was rather annoying and gross. I also never liked the metal tools they used to scrap my teeth. My mother told me the importance of dental hygiene and going to the dentist even though I do not enjoy it. I wish I had listened to her more as I recently had to get a tooth extracted due to excess plaque build-up. If I had listened to her, then I would have never had to experience such a grueling procedure. 

One day after having dinner with my family, one of my teeth was hurting me a lot. I tried to brush my teeth, but as soon as the bristles of the brush touched the tooth that was in pain, I stopped and screamed out in pain. My parents came running in to check on me. They asked me what was wrong or happened. I then told them that I had a tooth that was hurting me really bad, and I did not know why. My mother instantly told me that it was because I do not take care of my oral health. I knew she was right but never the less I got a dentist appointment scheduled so they could take a look at my tooth and help me out. 

When I got to the dentist’s office for my appointment, I had to fill out some paperwork. Once I finished the paperwork, and I turned it in. after I turned it in, I sat around for about another five minutes. After that, I was called back to the operating room. When I got back there, they got me situated in the chair and said the dental surgeon would be in in a moment. After about a minute, the surgeon came to my side and introduced herself to me. She asked me what was wrong, and I began telling her the pain I had in my mouth from a tooth, and I pointed to the general area. She said it might be a cavity, gum disease, or something like that. She had me open my mouth, and without needing to look too hard, she said it was gum disease that is possibly leading to tooth loss. She said she would need to extract it immediately. 

I did not hesitate to accept her judgment. I was not expecting the pain that was going to accompany the extraction. She numbed my mouth near the affected area. Once it was numbed, she began the extraction. It was simple. She really just pulled it out due to how loose it was and how much pain it was causing me. Once it was out, she put a metal tooth in, and that was that. 

The pain was excruciating following the extraction, but I am glad to have had it taken out. Now that I have a metal tooth, I like to think I am pretty cool. I wish I had listened to my mom before the issues showed themselves. Today I make sure to brush my teeth twice a day, sometimes three. I also make sure to floss and use mouth wash. I do not want any other oral health issues to present themselves.