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.

Protect Your Teeth With A Mouthguard During These Three Physical Activities

If you lead an active lifestyle, you probably know the importance of slipping in a mouthguard before you engage in a physical sport such as basketball or pick-up ice hockey. However, if you take a lackadaisical approach to dental care during a variety of other physical activities, you might find yourself suffering a dental injury that requires multiple trips to the dentist to fix. It's advantageous to protect yourself by scheduling a visit to your dentist to get fitted for a custom mouthguard. Once it's made for you, be sure to include it when you're enjoying these three activities.

Tennis

Sure, the professional tennis players you watch on TV don't wear mouthguards, but let's just say that their reaction time is a little better than yours. The last thing you need is to be playing close to the net and catch a hard volley in the mouth or be playing doubles tennis and wander too close to your partner's swinging racket. In any sport in which projectiles travel at high rates of speed, it's ideal to wear mouth protection. A custom-fit mouthguard will keep your teeth properly protected on the tennis court and can give you the confidence to charge the net.

Gladiator-Style Races

If you've always enjoyed marathons but have recently stepped up your game to try the gladiator-style race events that have boomed in popularity, you might be thinking about your overall fitness level rather than the health of your teeth. Take a moment to consider the latter, though – the physical nature of many of these courses can often trip you up and leave you landing flat on your face on a variety of hard surfaces. In many cases, you'll slip and fall before you're able to brace yourself, which means your chin and mouth might can easily make contact with the ground and cause a dental injury. With a mouthguard firmly in place, you can tackle the course with confidence, knowing that your teeth are protected.

Weightlifting

Visiting the gym to lift weights can transform your body, but it's important to overlook dental protection when you're engaging in this physical activity. While there's always the risk that you'll drop a weight onto yourself when you're lying in a prone position, such as during the bench press exercise, a graver concern is that you'll get into the habit of grinding your teeth as you struggle through the last few reps in a set of exercises. Over time, this grinding can wear down your tooth enamel and cause myriad issues. Wearing a mouthguard means that you'll be applying pressure to its soft surface rather than your teeth.

To learn more about how you can protect your teeth, contact a company like Simmons Craig A D D S