Lifestyle changes to improve oral health

• Be a role model to your child by practising good oral health care habits.
• Check your child’s mouth for bleeding gums, swollen gums, gums receding away from teeth and bad breath.
• Eat a balanced diet, including foods high in calcium and vitamin C.
• Stop smoking.
• Brush twice a day, floss once a day.
• Watch for signs of gingivitis (gum disease)—redness, swelling or tenderness.
• Visit the dentist twice a year.
• Limit intake of sugary foods.
• Eat two hours before you sleep (good for losing weight too). As saliva flow is less during sleep, food clearance is slowed.
• Fluoride treatment: a) Use a toothpaste with more fluoride b) A fluoride mouthwash can be self-applied on a weekly basis or can be staff-supervised in a dental care centre.

Warning signs to visit your dentist

• Hot or cold sensation in your teeth.
• Pain on chewing.
• Food particles getting stuck in the gums or teeth.
• Brown or black discolouration on teeth.
• Swelling or salty taste in the mouth.
• Bleeding from gums in the morning or on eating.
• Irregular placement of teeth.
• Loose teeth.
• Pain on one side of the face.
• Missing teeth.

Medications that can cause a dry mouth

• All anti-allergy medicines.
• Decongestants (cold, cough or asthma medicines).
• Painkillers.
• Diuretics (Used for high blood-pressure, hypertension and water retention).
• High blood-pressure medications (some are not diuretics).Anti-depressants.
   

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Dentists are a busy and a frustra-ting lot. After waiting for almost a month to get an appointment with a dentist, you only end up getting the doc’s usual reprimand: “I wish you’d come to me sooner.” And, they couldn’t be more right. Today, your teeth tell a great deal about your face. It can also predict everything from diabetes, heart attacks, lung disease to cancer and osteoporosis.

Whether you like it or not, dentists have come to exercise greater control over our lives. Dr Sandeep Sharma, 39, partner at Axiss Dental, a national chain of clinics that also powers the dental departments of some Fortis Healthcare and Artemis hospitals, laughs. “We have five more centres coming up to torture people,” he chuckles. I try to keep my mouth shut so that he can’t see what’s inside, but he is quick. “That front tooth needs a cap,” he says.

Apart from the you-have-to-get-a-dental-check-up-done-every-six-months spiel he gives me, his other advice is sound.

Check-Up Time

Simply put, prolonged gingivitis (a gum disease) is a leading cause for tooth decay and tooth loss. If left untreated, gum disease can become periodontitis, a more severe and irreversible stage. This may lead to serious damage of the gum tissue and jaw bone, causing your teeth to fall out, as well as increasing your risk of a heart attack or a stroke.

How? If bacteria in the infected gums dislodge, they can enter the bloodstream, cling to blood vessels and increase clot formation. Clots decrease the blood flow to the heart, and can increase the chances of a heart attack and aggravate high blood-pressure. The worst thing is many gum diseases are painless. You may never know you have one until you visit a dentist. Enough reason for me to take dentists seriously.

The bad guy of gum disease is plaque: the sticky, colourless film of bacteria and sugar that constantly forms on our teeth. It is the main cause of cavities and gum disease, and can harden into tartar if not removed daily.

In case a person has diabetes, plaque can weaken your mouth’s germ-fighting powers. High blood-sugar levels can make the gum disease worse. At the same time, gum disease can make diabetes harder to control.

Medications can have oral side-effects. Some medications may cause abnormal bleeding when brushing or flossing, inflamed or ulcerated tissues, mouth burning, numbness or tingling, movement disorders and taste alteration (See table: Medications that can cause a dry mouth). If you experience any of these symptoms, consult your dentist or physician. Be sure to tell your dentist about any medication that you’re on, even medicines that you purchase without a prescription.

In fact, nine out of 10 cases for sensitive teeth may actually be due to your sinus, and nothing to do with a gum disease. So, there is an upside too.

Are we done? Not unless you consider your child’s susceptibility to dental problems. As working parents, we’re all too focused on spending ‘quality time’ with our kids to waste time on peering into their milky mouths or monitoring their TV or junk snacks. So, sensitise your little one to dental health so that they don’t face the problems that afflict you or your family.

Teaching Tots

“Kids often tend to doze off while drinking milk, and the remnants of milk build plaque in the mouth,” explains Dr Kunal Gupta, 33, paediatric dental consultant at Artemis Hospital. “A child’s first visit should take place before his or her third birthday.” Tip: take your toddler with you to your own appointment first. That way, the dental office becomes a
familiar place.

“Kids nowadays need a range of dental treatments like pit and fissure sealants, diet counselling for teeth care, caries risk assessments, and brushing techniques,” explains Gupta. Making your children take care of their teeth means helping them avoid other health problems later in life.

“The number of kids with dental problems is rising at an alarming rate,” explains Dr Ruchi Puri, medical advisor at Delhi Public School, Gurgaon. “Just information isn’t enough. Most working parents need to be connected with their kids to know,” she feels. “And please, for younger kids, just supervise their bed-time brushing,” she pleads.

Dental problems, then, go beyond the mouth area, into your body, to give you warnings that can prevent serious health problems later. It’s like someone telling us when the tsunami will come so that we’re better prepared to evacuate the beach.

If you don’t evacuate the beach, you could get swept away. So, pay heed. And, never shy away from saying, “Ahhhhh…”

The writer is an independent loyalty, distribution & CSR consultant who writes on wellness.