Oral Health: Don't Ignore Your GumsOral Health: Don't Ignore Your Gums


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Oral Health: Don't Ignore Your Gums

When you go to your dentist, you are likely concerned about cavities and the stains on your teeth. If you are like me, then you probably never thought much about your gums. Unfortunately, this caused me to form a serious gum recession condition. My dentist said that hard brushing practices, poor flossing techniques, and even the consumption of sugary foods led to the recession. After some deep scaling treatments, I was informed that I needed a gum graft procedure. The gums are extremely important to your health. They provide your teeth with the nutrients they need and they protect the sensitive dental roots. The gums even keep bacteria away from your jaw bone. Don't ignore your gums like I did. Read my blog and learn about proper oral care techniques. Prevention practices can easily save your gums from necessary restoration.

How To Care For Your Teeth After You've Lost A Filling

If a filling in one of your teeth has cracked or fallen out, you should contact a dentist right away to set up an appointment to repair or replace it. However, you can also take extra steps to protect your teeth in the meanwhile. If you're having a problem with your tooth filling, follow these steps to gently care for your teeth without causing more damage.

Protecting the Pulp

Depending on the depth of the cavity in your tooth that the filling has fallen out of, the pulp of your tooth may be at risk of damage. Since the pulp of your tooth is fragile and easily affected by acids, you should cut coffee, tea, juice, and fruit out of your diet until the tooth is repaired. If you absolutely can't avoid acidic food or beverages, make sure to immediately rinse your mouth with water as soon as you're finished consuming them to wash the acids away.

In addition, if the tooth in question is a molar, try to chew on the other side of your mouth. The healthy tooth that's directly above or below the affected molar will still have hard enamel on it, which can grind against and harm the exposed pulp. Alternatively, try to stick to softer foods that don't require much chewing at all to avoid wearing down the pulp further.

Brush Gingerly

Even if you're experiencing some pain in the tooth, you should continue to brush it. However, make sure to be extremely gentle; the bristles should just barely make contact with the surface of your tooth. If it's too sensitive to be comfortably brushed, try using a desensitizing toothpaste or dab a little oral numbing gel onto the tooth shortly before you brush your teeth.

Don't Floss The Affected Tooth

There are very few instances where you shouldn't floss, but this is one of them. You can continue to floss all of your teeth except for the tooth that has lost or cracked its filling. Flossing can potentially catch on the jagged edges of your tooth or filling, pulling out any remaining portions of the filling in your tooth. Water flossers should also be avoided, as they use high pressure that can potentially loosen any remaining filling.

However, you can still use interdental brushes to gently clean the gum line on either side of the affected tooth. Just make sure to avoid touching the tooth in any areas where the filling was or is.

Taking care to not cause further damage to the tooth or any remaining portions of the filling will make your dentist's job easier, and keep your costs down. With these steps, your dentist will be able to quickly remove any remaining portions of filling, replace it, and get your life back to normal. To learn more, contact someone like Arbor Dental Care Ltd.