What is Dry Mouth? Dry mouth occurs when you don't have enough saliva in your mouth to perform its beneficial functions. Saliva washes away food particles that may get lodged in your teeth. It also protects your teeth from the acids in foods and drinks. Without this protection, your teeth are more vulnerable to decay and gingivitis (inflammation of the gums). Dry Mouth Remedies Dry Mouth can develop for many reasons: medications, nutritional deficiencies, stress, and more. Your Beaufort dentist or physician can help you pinpoint the cause of your dry mouth and treat the cause. However, there are some easy dry mouth remedies you can do at home to help ease your symptoms. 1. Drink Water Dry mouth can occur as a result of …
How Stress Affects Your Oral Health
Stress can be defined as a state of tension triggered by difficult or tough situations. It is known to have a great impact on our physical health. Stress (or to be more specific “distress”) is part of life and it is almost impossible to get rid of it entirely. However, lowering stress levels is important to avoid irreversible consequences on our overall body health, and more specifically, our oral health. It is known that people who are subject to a high level of daily stress are statistically less attentive to their overall health. They are usually less likely to exercise, more likely to use alcohol tobacco or any other drugs, which simply increase tensions and keep their body under greater strain. And oral health is …
Receding Gums: Symptoms, Treatment & Prevention
Gum recession is when the margin of the gum tissue surrounding the teeth wears away, or pulls back, exposing more of the tooth, or the tooth's root. When gums recede, gaps can form between the gum and tooth, allowing disease-causing bacteria to build up. If left untreated, the surrounding tissue and bone structures of the teeth can be damaged, sometimes resulting in tooth loss. Receding gums is a widespread dental condition. Most people aren’t aware that they have receding gums since it occurs gradually. The first sign of gum recession is usually tooth sensitivity, or you may notice a tooth looks longer than normal. Typically, a notch can be felt near the gum line. Gum recession is not something you want to ignore. If you think your …
Saliva: The Hero of Oral Health
Saliva isn’t something you probably spend much time thinking about. But did you know that every moment of every day it affects your health? Saliva is vital for a healthy mouth, good digestion, and more. Read on to learn how saliva does a body good! What is saliva? Saliva is 98 percent water. It contains small amounts of important substances, including mucus, proteins, minerals, electrolytes, antibacterial compounds and enzymes. Saliva moistens the mouth for comfort, lubricates as you chew and swallow, and neutralizes harmful acids. It also kills germs and prevents bad breath, defends against tooth decay and gum disease, protects enamel, and speeds up wound healing. Saliva originates in the three pairs of major salivary glands and in …
Medications & Dental Health
Many people don’t realize that medications, whether they are over-the-counter drugs or prescription treatments, can take a toll on their teeth. A lot of medications include symptoms that are damaging to your oral health such as dry mouth, oral thrush, burning mouth syndrome, and various gum issues. What is even more threatening is if you are taking more than one type of medication, it can be much harder to pinpoint the exact source of the problem. Dry Mouth The most common symptom of medications that leads to oral health issues is dry mouth, which can lead to tooth decay and other oral symptoms. Most patients don’t realize the severity of issues dry mouth brings until it is too late. Medications that are linked to dry mouth include …
Dry Mouth
What is Dry Mouth? Dry Mouth, or Xerostomia, is a condition related to the salivary glands, which help keep the mouth moist, thus preventing decay and other oral health problems. When the salivary glands do not work properly, the amount of saliva in the mouth decreases, resulting in xerostomia—or, as it’s more commonly known, dry mouth. What causes dry mouth? Prescription and over-the-counter medications are the most common cause of dry mouth. There are more than 400 medications that can contribute to mouth dryness, including antihypertensives, antidepressants, painkillers, tranquilizers, diuretics, and antihistamines. Dry mouth also can be caused by radiation therapy and chemotherapy, hormonal alterations, or diseases, such as diabetes, …