Can I Just Use Mouthwash?
A lot of people wonder if they can get away with just using mouthwash instead of the whole routine of brushing and flossing every night. Mouthwash is antibacterial, many have fluoride, and it sure makes your breath smell better. It sure would be a lot easier too. The short answer to this question…
No, mouthwash can’t even come close to replacing brushing and flossing.
There are a couple of reasons why it is important to only use mouthwash as an extra tool when keeping your mouth clean and healthy.
Bacteria in your mouth is really tricky. If the bacteria just washed off your teeth anytime some liquid came along then they sure wouldn’t last long. One of the functions of your saliva is to try and do exactly that… wash away any food bacteria. It does this pretty well but even it can’t do everything you need. Bacteria have developed some pretty strong mechanisms for attaching to your teeth. Even teeth that have recently been cleaned very quickly become covered in in a layer of protein molecules that create a surface for bacteria to attach to. Other bacteria attach to these, and they all grow and multiply. Given some time, they create a heavy layer of plaque on your tooth. Mouthwash can’t break this up. Only mechanical removal will work at this point (such as toothbrushing).
Now this brings us floss or other interdental cleaners. Toothbrushes can only clean off surfaces that they can get to. They can’t get to the surfaces in between your teeth. Only floss, interdental cleaners, or some type of water flosser can do this. Again, you absolutely have to have that mechanical removal of dental plaque to avoid consequences.
So what is mouthwash actually good for?
Mouthwash is good to use in addition to proper brushing and flossing. It’s antibacterial properties can help keep your teeth clean longer and your gums healthier (for some mouthwash products anyway).
Mouthwash can be an extra source of fluoride (for mouthwash that contains fluoride). If you are using it for the fluoride effect make sure you wait at least 30 minutes after brushing before using it. You’ll also want to hold it in your mouth as long as you are able. Two minutes is a good time frame to shoot for. This gives it enough time to work.
Mouthwash is also good for freshening your breath. This is a temporary effect, especially if you don’t clean your mouth well, but it is probably the most effective product for a quick breath pick me up. Products that contain zinc usually work for the longest period of time. Listerine products also tend to have very strong “flavor” profiles and work well to hide bad breath temporarily.
Coffee: Good Or Bad For Your Teeth?
If you’re a typical adult, you probably drink coffee at least occasionally and more likely than not, drink it on a regular basis. I’ve seen various statistics that more than half of adults today drink coffee daily! These coffee drinkers average over three full cups of a day.
When you’re drinking your coffee do you ever wonder what it is doing to your teeth? Is it good, bad, or just a wash? I’m going to help you figure that out.
Black coffee can protect against the bacteria that cause tooth decay.
Here’s the one you wanted to hear right? Researchers in Brazil placed extracted baby teeth in a coffee solution and tested to see if it would promote the growth of bacteria that cause decay or not. Interestingly, the coffee solution actually helped to break down the bacterial colonies on the teeth.
In order for bacteria to attach to your teeth they must create what is known as a “biofilm” on your teeth. This basically means that they all secrete sticky substances that help them attach to each other and to your teeth. You know that dirty feeling you get on your teeth when you haven’t brushed them in a while? Yep, thats biofilm. Yuck!
They aren’t quite sure exactly what in coffee is responsible for this but the results are promising. It goes along with a lot of what I’ve seen personally as a dentist. Most routine black coffee drinkers don’t have a highly excessive number of cavities (as compared to routine soda drinkers who almost always have excessive numbers of cavities). All this assumes that you aren’t adding a bunch of sugar or milk to your coffee. Do that and you’ve probably lost the anti-bacterial effects of the coffee.
So, moral of the story? Drink your coffee black.
Coffee is acidic. Acid is bad for your teeth.
Black coffee has an average pH of 5. Anytime your mouth goes below a pH of 5.5 it shifts the balance in your mouth from enamel building to enamel breakdown. Before you get too worried, shifts in pH are a normal part of life in your mouth. Many foods, especially those containing sugars, carbohydrates, and acids push the pH down below this level. The goal is to limit how often throughout the day this happens. If you are sipping on your coffee every 5 minutes all day long, it isn’t going to be good for your teeth. If you drink it over a short time period and then are done with it for a while, you are far less likely to cause acidic damage to your tooth enamel.
Drink your coffee and be done with it.
Sweeteners in coffee aren’t good for your teeth.
Many people don’t like the taste of regular black coffee. I’m told it is an acquired taste (one which I’ve thankfully never acquired). As a result many coffee products are packed with added sugar, cream, or milk. This is especially true with coffee from the mainline coffee shops such as Starbucks of Dunkin Donuts. These added sugars have a tendency to stick to your teeth and raise your risk for tooth decay significantly (along with many other related health problems).
If you are going to add sweeteners, try to limit how long the coffee is in contact with your teeth. That means drinking it quickly and not sipping on it over the course of several hours.
Coffee stains your teeth heavily.
Some types of stains on teeth are very superficial. For example, if you get a bit of tartar build-up on your teeth and it stains. This type of stain polishes off pretty easily with a dental cleaning.
As a dentist, I can tell almost immediately if someone is a regular coffee drinker. Coffee tends to stain teeth in a very characteristic manner. In my experience, coffee seems to stain teeth on a deeper level. Stain molecules can penetrate deep into the tubules inside your teeth causing a much more lasting and difficult to remove type of stain. It usually imparts a dark brown or yellow hue to the teeth. Polishing the teeth usually doesn’t remove this type of stain. Teeth bleaching with peroxide type products is usually the only way to penetrate deep enough into the teeth and lift these stains out.
If you have any sort of cracks, bonding, or other types of dental work in your mouth, these will all have a tendency to stain and discolor as well. Bleaching won’t be enough to get these stains out. It usually requires additional dental work to remove the stained parts and cover over them with more filling material, crowns, veeners, etc.
For many people, a lifetime of drinking coffee leads to highly stained teeth that isn’t easy or cheap to fix.
How Drugs Affect Your Mouth
Most people have been told that they shouldn’t do drugs because it could ruin their health, their relationships, their job, school, or even kill them. We’re going to add one more problem to that list. You could lose your teeth too. A variety of drugs can impact the health of your teeth, gums, and the rest of your mouth. Let’s take a look at some of the most commonly abused drugs and what they can do to your teeth and mouth.
Methamphetamine (Crystal Meth, Speed, Crank)
I bring this one up first because it is the most dangerous of all the drugs for your oral health. Meth has a variety of effects on your oral health that can cause you to lose all of your teeth in very short order (think a year or less) which is almost impossible otherwise.
- Meth is extremely caustic. It literally can eat away the enamel covering your teeth.
- Meth causes extreme dry mouth and cravings for sugary beverages. The beverage of choice for most meth addicts in Mountain Dew which is consumed in large quantities. The combination of dry mouth, sugar, and acid breaks down the enamel of the teeth rapidly.
- Meth is one of the most addictive drugs of abuse currently known. Most people hooked on it can’t stop without help.
- I’ve personally seen many young people in their early twenties who have had to have all their teeth removed and dentures placed (not a fun process) due to meth abuse.
- Good dental care generally won’t halt the progression while meth use is ongoing. The only way to stop the process is to stop using meth.
Tobacco Containing Products
I’m going to include Cigarettes, Cigars, and Smokeless Tobacco in this category because they all have very similar effects on your mouth even if they work slightly differently and have slightly different risk areas.
- Contain a variety of carcinogens (cancer causing compounds) that are in close contact with the tissues of your mouth. This leads to high rates of cancer long term.
- Cause you to build up more plaque and tartar around your teeth resulting in gum inflammation and periodontal disease.
- Decreased healing in your mouth especially after surgical procedures such as having a tooth removed.
- Higher risk of cavities, root canals, gum disease, dry socket, and tooth loss.
- Higher risk of an implant failing
- Smokeless tobacco has an especially high risk of developing oral cancer in the area where the tobacco has been placed.
- Extremely addictive and difficult to quit without help. This is a result of the nicotine in the products.
- Bad breath is common.
- You can develop black hairy tongue. It is exactly like it sounds, and no, it isn’t pleasant.
- Increased risk of developing sinus inflammation.
- Cigars aren’t any safer than cigarettes. They have as much nicotine as a full pack of cigarettes and higher level of toxins.
Alcohol
Alcohol is always an interesting one because a lot of people don’t think of it as a drug. I think this is unfortunate because alcohol abuse can have some of the worst consequences of any on this list (including many of the illegal ones).
- Increased risk of oral cancer, especially when combined with tobacco containing products.
- Increased bleeding after surgical procedures
- Reduced effectiveness of commonly used drugs in dentistry including anesthetics
- Increased dry mouth
- Increased exposure to fermentable carbohydrates in alcoholic beverages
- Can cause vomiting which is extremely damaging to teeth
- Increased risk of gum disease
Marijuana (Weed, Pot, Hash)
While arguably safer and less addictive than tobacco it does carry many of the same risks as tobacco use including exposure to toxins, decreased healing, and an increased incidence of gum disease. Smoking drugs in general is pretty dangerous for your oral health. Taking this drug orally (as added to food, etc) will reduce a lot of the risks that are specific to your mouth.
Cocaine (Crack, Coke, Blow)
Cocaine was one of the first drugs known to be abused. People used to (and still do) chew on the leaves of the cocoa plants for the rush they get. Pure cocaine is a whole different story than the leaves though…
- Cocaine can cause extreme dry mouth leading to an increased risk of cavities.
- Some people will rub the cocaine into their gum tissue to help it absorb. This can cause some significant irritations of the tissue in the mouth.
- Increased incidence of teeth grinding which can damage and break them.
An interesting note about cocaine is that it is actually one of the first known anesthetics. People who snort cocaine through their nose get a profound numbing feeling in the area due to it’s anesthetic properties. It is still used occasionally for some applications in medicine and dentistry but has been mostly phased out in favor of newer anesthetics. It is also the only anesthetic with a potential for abuse.
This isn’t an exhaustive list of all the drugs you could possibly abuse. There are a lot more. I’ve only included the ones that can have very significant and well known effects on your dental health. Many of the other drugs of abuse can also cause some problems with your oral health as a result of increased dry mouth, grinding, or other interactions.
If you do use drugs, please let your medical or dental provider know even if it is a bit uncomfortable to check that box on your health history. They can provide far better care for you if they know this. At the very least, it can make treatment more comfortable for you, and at most it may save your life.
If you find that drug use becomes persistent and you are using them as a way to cope with stress or you continue to use them despite repeated negative consequences, you may have an issue with addiction. Ask for help as this isn’t usually something you can conquer with your willpower alone. You usually need help from friends, family, or professionals. There are a lot of good and free resources available today that can help you through this.
Dental Anxiety Success Story
I see patients on a daily basis who struggle with dental anxiety and phobias related to dentistry. Most relate a story about a bad experience they had earlier in life and how it has colored how they see and react to dentistry ever since. For some people this anxiety is minor and can be easily overcome with a bit of work. For some people this anxiety is debilitating in a dental sense. Simply getting in the door of a dental office is a major feat and not running out during a procedure is even more difficult. I had one of these patients yesterday who went from that debilitating level of anxiety to a place where she was able to tolerate treatment (4 fillings in one visit!) without major sedation. Here is her story.
We’ll call her Molly. Molly saw a dentist when she was young who wasn’t patient or kind. When she had dental work that needed to be done he used a papoose board to restrain her and complete the work without any sort of sedation. She was traumatized and hadn’t visited a dentist since.
Molly is now in her early twenties and has a mouth full of cavities (22 to be exact). When I first saw her for a consultation, she was shaking and could barely let me look at her teeth. She told me she wasn’t sure how we were going to get all this work done. I proposed we use a light sedative before the procedure and laughing gas and we would help her through the process.
She came back for her appointment to get the cavities taken care of (big accomplishment for her!) having taken a very light sedative to help with the anxiety. We started her on laughing gas and let her get comfortable but she really struggled. There was a lot of crying and shaking before we did anything. We numbed her teeth and then started on the cavities. At each step, I explained what we would be doing, what she would be feeling, and that if she needed a break we could do that. At first it was really difficult! She even told me at one point, “I really want to get these done but you may just have to let me cry through the entire appointment”. Slowly, as we went along she got more and more comfortable. She asked us questions about how we were doing things and if she was doing well. We assured her that she was doing great! By the end of the appointment she was totally OK with the sound and sensation of the drill and was relaxed! This was a huge success.
I share this story because I want to give people with dental anxiety hope! Molly has some of the worst dental anxiety that I’ve seen in my career. To make it through an appointment and be relaxed is a huge win. Upcoming appointments will be easier because we’ve found what works for her and allowed her to face some of her fears. Find a good dentist who will be patient with you. Let them slowly guide you through the process and there is a good chance you can be a dental anxiety success story too.
Do you have dental anxiety or a dental phobia? Have you had a success story? I’d like to her about it. Contact me or post on our new forums!
Glo Brilliant Personal Teeth Whitening Device Review
Article Updated: 04/15/2018.
Is all this worth it?? Let’s find out!
The Glo Brilliant Personal Teeth Whitening System makes some pretty spectacular claims about at home teeth whitening. As a dentist I’ve gotten a lot of marketing materials from this company pushing their products pretty heavily. I even had a couple of my staff members use this system at home and in my office to see if it actually does what it says it does.
Let’s take a look at their claims to see if this system is worth the cost ($176 for the whole system at the time of this writing).
The Claim: “Get your smile 5x whiter in 5 days”
This statement, which is currently featured broadly on the right side of their website, is quite deceiving. What they actually mean is that their studies have shown that people get 5 shades lighter with their system. As you can see from the chart, 5x lighter isn’t necessarily 5 shades lighter. Most white strips and also can easily get you 5 shades lighter.
My staff members who used this saw a slight lightening of their teeth. It wasn’t a major change and definitely not 5x whiter.
The Claim: “No trays needed”
Yes, no special trays are needed. You may think this even sounds like a positive for the system. For me, no custom made trays is actually a negative…
They claim the gel is easily applied, stays in place, and is sealed in place with the mouthpiece. Teeth whitening is dependent on the concentration of bleaching material and the amount of time it is applied to the teeth. You need both of these for effective whitening. While the gel may eventually stick to the teeth, your saliva very easily washes it away. The tray isn’t a perfect fit to your teeth and therefore can’t seal around them to keep the gel in place. The only way to get a good seal is a custom tray that fits to your teeth specifically.
The Claim: “NO Sensitivity”
They claim that all sensitivity is a result of bleaching gel getting on your gum tissues. While some gum irritation can occur with any type of bleaching material, it is not the major cause of sensitivity. Sensitivity / zingers develop in your teeth because the whitening materials literally lift some of the stain and debris out of the outer layers of the tubules in your teeth. This makes it so that your teeth are temporarily more sensitive to hot and cold. I’m skeptical of any company that claims that no one will develop sensitivity. With bleaching, some people will always develop sensitivity. Lower concentrations of bleaching agents can reduce the incidence but can’t make it go away entirely.
My staff members who tried this system actually developed some temporary sensitivity after bleaching. This is OK, but it isn’t what the marketing materials claim for this system.
The Claim: “Light and heat from the mouthpiece make it work more quickly”
Lights generally don’t make whitening materials work any more quickly, especially not at the wavelengths used by this product. It does look pretty cool though.
Heat can make bleaching materials work more quickly and the mouthpiece does deliver some heat (not enough to burn or hurt you). I’m not sure how effective this is though as compared to traditional bleaching. Based on results from my staff members, I didn’t find it to be anything special.
My Conclusion:
Don’t waste your money. Many of their claims are too good to be true. It makes for some great marketing pieces but fails to deliver the results to back it up (at least in the couple of cases that we tried). You will get whitening with this system. You won’t get enough results to justify the price. You’re going to spend a lot of money for a system that isn’t going to work appreciably better than white strips. You could buy 3-4 boxes of white strips for the same cost as this system. You’ll get far better whitening by using all the white strips than you’ll get from this system. In fact, spend just a bit more and get custom trays made at your dentist and you’ll get far better results. Custom trays and gel at my office are only $199, which guarantees good whitening results for most people.
Migraines Linked to Bacteria in Your Mouth
A recently released study by researchers at the University of California San Diego has discovered an interesting link between migraine headaches and higher levels of certain types of bacteria in the mouth.
Recurring migraine headaches are a very common disorder that can be very debilitating and painful for people who suffer from them. The reasons behind migraine headaches still aren’t terribly well understood. It is known that certain triggers can bring them on. Some of these triggers include hormonal changes, stress, exertion, and certain foods.
One of the most commonly believed explanations for why some foods trigger migraines is that they are high in nitrates. Nitrates are converted into nitrites which are then converted to nitric oxide. Interestingly, your body isn’t able to convert nitrates into nitrites all by itself. It is actually bacteria living in your GI tract that convert these compounds and allow you to use them.
Nitric oxide is thought to trigger migraines. Many heart disease patients take nitrates for blood pressure regulation and nearly 4 out of 5 develop headaches as a side effect. About 1 out of 5 them have to stop taking these medications because the headaches are so severe.
So here is where it gets interesting. Researchers compared samples of oral bacteria from people who suffered migraine headaches to those who did not. They found that the overall levels of bacteria in the mouth weren’t any different but that the migraine suffers had a statistically higher amount of certain types of bacteria that convert nitrates into nitrites and nitrites into nitric oxide. The research doesn’t say whether the presence of these bacteria directly leads to the headaches or if they are simply a symptom but it provides avenues for additional research and possible treatment options for migraine sufferers.
This research adds to the quickly growing body of literature that links your mouth to a variety of conditions that affect the rest of your body.
The Good and Bad Of Corporate Dental Offices
The United States has seen a massive explosion in the number of corporate owned dental offices over the last 10-15 years. A lot of people go to these offices thinking that they are privately run, because they are in network with their insurance, or because they saw some great marketing piece about them.
The big players in the corporate dentistry market include Aspen Dental, Comfort Dental, Heartland Dental Care (usually under different names), Pacific Dental Services, Monarch Dental, Small Smiles, Kool Smiles, and a variety of other smaller regional corporate dental chains.
I have some strong opinions about these places. I’ve seen all sides of it and I think I’m one of the best people to educate the public about what exactly is going on. I worked in several different of these corporate offices before I started my own practice and had friends work at others. I saw how they run and how they treat patients. I also see a lot of unnecessary treatment and sub-par treatment come out of these places. I get at least one or two patients a week in my dental practice that went to one of these places and wanted a second opinion because they didn’t feel well treated, their concerns weren’t heard, or they felt taken advantage of. They are relieved when someone will just take the time to sit down and listen to them!
Almost without fail they relate a similar story… They go in because of a special offer or in network participation. They are shuffled quickly through the office, taking x-rays, doing exams, a quick visit from the dentist, and finally being sent off to sit down with a sales specialist who attempts to get them to finance all their treatment up front on credit and get started immediately. Very often there is no personal touch and no attempt to sit down and talk through what is important to them and how dentistry can fit into their lives and budgets.
Now it’s not all bad. Some people have a perfectly good experience at these places. There are some benefits to a corporate office that a small private office can’t provide. Let’s start with those…
The Good:
- Offices can often run more efficiently and provide better prices
- Are often in network with dental insurance to bring your out of pocket costs down
- Better hours and the ability to schedule more than 1 or 2 family members at once
- Often have specialists who travel between their different corporate offices that you can see as well
Unfortunately that is about where it ends. The bad outweighs the good by quite a bit…
The Bad:
- Mostly staffed by associate (non-owner) dentists. Many of these dentists are relatively recent graduates of dental school and don’t have as much experience.
- Primary corporate objective is profit. Corporate offices set goals for average treatment plans and treatment done each day. Many of these averages are arbitrarily high and create a strong incentive for dentists to treat aggressively. I personally got in trouble multiple times when I worked at these places because I didn’t “diagnose” enough treatment.
- Often accused of using bait and switch or hard sell techniques. Aspen Dental has been sued (successfully) for such things. Care Credit (one of the major lenders used to finance dentistry) even had to change the rules on how patients can be signed up for these plans because of how many corporate offices were doing it.
- Double or triple booking patients. If too many show up at a time they either shortchange them on time or make them wait. Many of the pediatric offices such as Kool Smiles or Small Smiles overbook even more heavily. Dentists and hygienists often can’t do an adequate job with the time given and have very little say in whether they get more time.
The Conclusion:
Would I send my family to a corporate dental office? Absolutely not. While you can find a good dentists at these places, you are far less likely to get good treatment than you would at a privately owned dental office. Make a better choice for your dental health and find a locally owned private office staffed by a good dentist. If you’d like more information on picking a good office you can read another article I wrote about finding a dentist.
Is Homemade Toothpaste A Good Idea?
You can find just about any food or consumer product in a natural or organic version nowadays. If you’re willing to put in some more work, you can even find homemade DIY recipes for all of these things too. I’ve seen everything from soap, to lip balm, to natural laundry detergents. Many of these are really good and avoid the harmful chemicals and additives present in many consumer products. Lately, I’ve been seeing recipes for homemade toothpaste pop up on Pinterest and some dental related websites. You might be wondering if this is something you can make yourself. Save a little money and avoid chemicals… right?
Before we tackle that, let’s look at the actual function of toothpaste.
- It’s primary function is to reduce cavities! It accomplishes this through fluoride. Your teeth need that contact with fluoride toothpaste several minutes each day to get the maximal effect. You ideally want two minutes of contact twice a day.
- Secondarily, toothpaste is made to clean and polish your teeth. The abrasiveness of the toothpaste in combination with brushing is what accomplishes this. It takes a good two minutes to really brush them well.
- A third function (that isn’t always present) is to reduce the level of bacteria in your mouth. Some toothpastes do this by adding triclosan.
- It’s last function is to freshen your breath.
A homemade toothpaste can really only accomplish two of the four above. I think losing the fluoride component is a big deal. Adding fluoride to your daily brushing routine can easily reduce the number of cavities you develop by 20-40% depending on the fluoride strength. This is all from using a topical formulation of fluoride toothpaste that doesn’t expose you to the full body effects of fluoride in the water. I’m a big proponent of fluoride in toothpaste, but not of fluoride in the water. You can read more about that in my other article.
A second consideration…
Before the last several hundred years, toothpaste didn’t even exist! Did this mean people’s teeth were rotting out at an early age and they had terrible breath?
Sure, some people had rotten teeth and toothaches before toothpaste. It didn’t occur at the rate you’d think though. So why is this? Processed sugars have a big part in it. Before the industrial revolution, people simply didn’t have access to the processed sugars and carbohydrates that they do today. Streptococcus mutans is the primary bacteria in your mouth responsible for cavities. It likes to feed on sugar and it produces acid as a byproduct. It is actually this acid that breaks your teeth down. If aren’t consistently snacking on or drinking sugars, the bacteria won’t have anything to feed on, the acid won’t be produced, and cavities won’t form. This is why cavities weren’t a problem for most of human history.
From a tooth cleaning perspective, chewing fibrous foods such fruits and vegetables actually helps clean your teeth. Again, there weren’t all these processed sugars and sticky additives in foods before the industrial revolution. Your tongue, cheeks, and saliva, are all there to help keep your teeth clean even without a toothbrush.
So what does all this tell us?
If you’re going to eat the way most people eat today, you are going to need some extra help keeping your teeth clean and protecting them. They simply can’t stand up to our “modern” diet. This means that you need a toothpaste that is mildly abrasive (but not too much so), has a good proportion of fluoride for optimum cavity fighting abilities, and helps reduce bacteria in your mouth.
We have to use an unnatural toothpaste because our diet today is also unnatural.
Your other option is to radically change your diet. That means no sodas, no processed sugars, no processed carbohydrates and no grazing on food throughout the day. This is the only situation in which I would recommend you switch to an entirely “natural” toothpaste. The only thing you need out of toothpaste in this case is it’s ability to clean off your teeth and give you fresh breath.
What Is A Dental Abscess?
One of the most common causes of dental pain is a condition known as a dental abscess. An abscess is collection of pus in an enclosed space in the body. Pus forms in response to a bacterial or fungal infection. It is primarily a collection of dead cells and bacteria that have built up as your body fights the infection. As the pus builds up, it creates pressure, and this pressure creates pain in the area. Relieving that pressure is key to pain relief.
There can be several types of dental abscesses…
Tooth related
This is the the most common type of dental abscess. When the nerve of a tooth dies, either from trauma or a cavity, the area where the nerve used to be becomes infected. The areas acts as a reservoir for bacteria that continue an infection in the area. Until the tooth is removed or a root canal completed, the infection won’t go away.
Gum related
Most people with gum disease don’t develop an abscess, especially early on. They simply have a low level infection going on constantly. Occasionally this infection will get out of control and cause an abscess. When it gets to this point it is called a “periodontal abscess”. This type of abscess very quickly destroys bone around teeth. In most cases the tooth will be very loose. In almost all cases of a periodontal abscess, the tooth must be removed and the infection cleaned out.
Are antibiotics effective for a dental abscess?
In some cases an antibiotic can be effective, temporary treatment for a dental abscess until permanent treatment can be completed. It can reduce the amount of infection in the area which usually leads to a reduction in pain. It also makes it easier to get the tooth numb when it is time to treat it. Antibiotics do not treat the source of the infection and it will eventually come back. Some abscesses will not respond to the first antibiotic prescribed or to any at all.
Is a dental abscess dangerous?
It can be. If the infection from your gums or teeth spreads into your neck or sinuses it can cause a variety of life threatening conditions. In rare cases, people do die from untreated dental infections that spread to the rest of the body. This happens to children as well as adults. I wouldn’t recommend ever letting an abscess go untreated for a significant amount of time. Eventually it will cause problems, you just don’t know when!
What is the best treatment for a dental abscess?
In most cases the best treatment is the removal of the tooth that has caused the infection. You don’t necessarily have to be on antibiotics prior to having the tooth extracted. Active infection can make it more difficult for a tooth to be entirely numb though. A very large abscess sometimes needs to be drained before the tooth is extracted. Your dentist or surgeon will open the abscess up and drain out any pus. This will relieve the pressure and drastically reduces the pain.
Can I pop the abscess myself?
If you can’t get to a dentist, popping the abscess and draining out the fluid can provide some relief. Most of the time this isn’t recommended as most people use unsanitary instruments to do this and risk developing a secondary infection that is worse than the abscess. If you do find yourself in a situation where you have no other option, you can sterilize a small pin and use this to drain the abscess. The best to sterilize metal is to dip it in some type of alcohol and then light it on fire. This will kill anything that is on it.
Why You Get Food Stuck Between Your Teeth (And How to Get It Out)
I think everyone has had that moment where they get a piece of food stuck between their teeth and just can’t seem to get it out. Whether it is popcorn, meat, or a piece of fruit, it can be super frustrating! Even more so than being frustrating, if it stays stuck too long it can actually cause damage to your gums or contribute to cavities.
So what are some of the common reasons food gets stuck?
- You have a small space in between your teeth. This can either be how your teeth are naturally or sometimes your dentist will accidentally leave a small space when doing a filling or crown. If you’re consistently getting food caught right after having dental work done, ask your dentist what can be done to fix it.
- You have a cavity in between your teeth. When these cavities get big enough you start to develop a small hole in between your teeth. Food tends to trap in these areas pretty commonly.
- Your teeth are loose. If you have loose teeth from orthodontic treatment, excessive grinding/clenching, or from advanced gum disease it can cause food to get caught. The teeth will move just enough to allow the food to get caught. If it is from orthodontic treatment, it’s nothing to be concerned about. Your teeth will tighten back up after treatment is finished. If it is related to clenching and grinding then you should invest in a nightguard. This will lessen the amount of pressure on individual teeth and allow them to tighten back up. If it is from advanced gum disease, it is more tricky. Most of the time if your teeth are loose from bone loss, we can stop the process from progressing any more but can’t regrow bone yet.
- Gum recession that creates spaces around the teeth, especially in between where food can get caught. These are known as black triangles.
- Specific foods get stuck more than others. Even if everything is perfect in your mouth you’re still going to get sticky foods, popcorn, and occasionally meat stuck between your teeth.
- Sometimes you think you’ve got food caught but don’t actually. If you can allow your tongue to leave it alone long enough it’ll start to feel normal again.
There are several good ways to get the food out.
- Floss. If you have it available it is usually the best option. Some simple flossing will get most things out but if you’ve got an especially difficult piece of food stuck you’ll have to add an extra step. Make a small knot in the floss and then pop it down between the teeth as usual. Once you’ve done this you can grab both ends of the floss and pull the floss out sideways. This will allow the knot to catch anything that is stuck between the teeth.
- Toothpicks. This is the classic option for people who like eating corn on the cob. I don’t particularly love toothpicks because they’re a bit too big and can cause damage to your gums while you’re poking about. If you do use them, just make sure to use them carefully and not traumatize your gum tissue.
- Proxabrush. These are those cleaners you see at the drug store that look like tiny little Christmas trees. You can slide them in between the teeth and they’ll pull anything out that is stuck.
- Waterpik. If you’ve got a Waterpik, this can be a great option for removing food between your teeth. It uses a high powered jet of water to clean your teeth.
- Dental cleaning instrument. You can pick these up right next to where you find the floss. These can be good for going slightly under the gums to pull anything out.
- In some cases you’ll get a popcorn kernel lodged way under the gums and you can’t get it out yourself. If you’ve tried everything else, see your dentist asap to have them remove it before it causes problems.
All of this is important because having food stuck between your teeth can cause a variety of dental problems.
- Gum disease. If food is lodged down low enough it can cause a localized infection that causes your bone to slowly recede.
- Cavities. Food trapped next to your tooth provides a perfect source of food for the bacteria that cause cavities. I’ve seen a lot of patients who have developed cavities in the same exact spot where food has been getting caught.
- Bad breath. Food stuck in the mouth smells terrible. Keeping your mouth and tongue clean is one of the easiest ways to reduce bad breath.