Say ‘RCT’ at a crowded place and you can be sure of receiving some concerned glances. RCT or root canal treatment (RCT) has been a dreaded treatment so much so that people find it scarier than the problem triggering the need for it. And this fear has been caused by many myths surrounding the treatment.

Myth #1: If there is no pain, I don’t need RCT.
The truth is that absence of pain does not imply that you do not need RCT. If your dentist has found infection in your teeth pulp, do not wait for the pain to develop and start bothering before you decide in favor of RCT. If your dentist recommends the treatment, go for it at once.

Myth #2: RCT is extremely painful.
The truth is that RCT is no longer painful. Technological advancements have taken away the pain from the treatment. RCT has become equivalent to a dental filing procedure in terms of any discomfort.

Myth #3: It is better to get the infected tooth extracted than go for RCT.
Tooth extraction is not always better than RCT. Your dentist will know best whether you need to get your tooth extracted or get it treated. Infection in your pulp makes RCT important.

Myth #4: RCT means many visits to the dentist.
Well, the treatment does not require too many visits to the dentist. In fact, RCT gets over in two sessions at the dental clinic.

If your dentist recommends RCT, it is important you don’t delay the treatment or you will suffer tremendous pain later.

Tags: RCT, root canal treatment

Do you think eating chocolates is bad for your teeth? They aren’t actually, not for your teeth at least. However, it is important you follow it up with thorough brushing.

Interesting information, right? There’s more. Do you think dental health has something to do with the genes you inherited? Or, do you think teeth loss is inevitable with age? Well, Dental health is completely dependent on the way you treat your teeth and mouth. Your genes are not responsible for great teeth. And age has nothing to do with tooth loss; however, with age, we tend to stop taking care of ourselves, thus resulting in various ailments as well as dental problems. Take care of your teeth no matter how old you are.

Some people think that removal of tartar from your teeth leads to loosening of teeth. Do you think so too? When the tartar is removed from your mouth, your teeth will get more space and will lighter, however that does not indicate that your teeth have become loose. The tartar was not supposed to be there in the first place, so the feeling of lightness is a false feeling.

Most of us think that dental health means pain. This no longer holds true. Technological advancements in dentistry have ensured that your visits to the dentist become painless.

Talking about pain, many people will tell you that keeping an aspirin beside your aching teeth relieves you of toothache. This is extremely harmful for your teeth. Aspirin is acidic in nature, so it can erode the enamel of your teeth.

Don’t believe everything you hear unless it comes from a trusted source.

Happy smiling!

Tags: dental myths

Oral cancer is no laughing matter. And yet, when you try to put sense into a chain-smoker, your logic and arguments will be laughed off. Why do we look for treatments rather than prevent an ailment? Today’s post brings to you information each one of us should know about oral cancer.

Symptoms of oral cancer

• Swelling on the inside of the cheek

• Red or white patches on the lips or inside the mouth
• Blister on the lips or inside the mouth
• Sudden misalignment of teeth or dentures
• Bleeding in the mouth
• Unexplained pain in the throat and ears
• Sudden change in voice
• Numbness in some parts of the mouth
• Sore throat not borne out of common cold

Factors that cause oral cancer

• Excessive smoking

• Consumption of tobacco in any other form
• Excessive consumption of alcohol
• Poor oral hygiene accompanied by one the above factors
• Too much exposure to the sun’s UV rays

How to prevent oral cancer

• Visit your dentist if you have a dental problem and get it treated.

• Cut down on the number of cigarettes you smoke.
• Cut down the usage of tobacco in any other form.
• Cut down on your consumption of alcohol.
• Visit your dentist every six months for check-ups.

What should you do when you find out you have oral cancer? Don’t panic. Oral cancer can be treated with chemotherapy, radio therapy, and surgery.

It is important you don’t ignore any sign of the disease. And make sure you visit your dentist regularly.

Take care. Happy smiling!

Tags: Oral cancer, oral cancer causes, oral cancer prevention, oral cancer symptoms, oral cancer treatment

People spend days deciding on what they should wear and how should they groom for a particular occasion but they often forget that your smile can make or break an impression you have been so dying to make. Your smile just needs a few minutes in your daily routine. Is that really too much to ask? Here are eight simple dental care tips that will ensure you have a good smile throughout the year.

• Brush after every meal. Without this, you cannot ensure clean teeth. Make sure you leave a gap of an hour after a meal before you pick up the toothbrush.

• Floss your teeth immediately after you have brushed. Make sure you floss at least once everyday.
• Gently scrape your tongue once everyday. Make sure you do not clean your tongue too hard.
• Rinse your mouth well after you have eaten or drunk anything. This helps clean your mouth and prevent bad breath.
• Use a good mouthwash to rinse your mouth once a day. This will help freshen up your breath and keep bad breath at bay.
• Drink 8-10 glasses of water on a daily basis. This helps keep your mouth clean and hydrated at all times, warding off several dental and gum problems.
• Consume at least one daily product. This gives you the much-needed calcium for the teeth.
• Bite into a fruit at one meal in a day. Avoid drinking fruit juices as the sweet liquid tends to erode the surface of the teeth.

And don’t forget to visit your dentist every six months.

Happy smiling!

Tags: Dental Care

Last night I met a man I was very impressed with. He seemed to me a rare intellectual. He was intelligent, and above all, he was humble. I was impressed, and then guess what happened. In close proximity, I smelled that foul breath of his, and I was impressed no more. Yes, I know, I sound shallow. I also argued with myself saying that a man’s hygiene sense should not outweigh his wisdom. Irrespective of all sense, I could not take my mind away from the awful smell. Later, I wondered if I too have shooed away people this way.

Please go ahead and ridicule me. Even I don’t like my shallow self. But you have to agree that bad breath is a big turn-off. The simplest way to ensure you don’t sport the foul breath is to follow a good dental care routine.

You have got to make sure that your mouth is clean at all times. Clean your mouth after your meals and even between meals after you snack. Cleaning the mouth involves leaning the teeth, the tongue, and the gums. So, make sure that you do not skip any part of the daily dental care. Make the tasks of brushing, flossing, and tongue scrapping as important as eating and sleeping. And yeah, rinse. When you can’t brush, rinse your mouth thoroughly even if you have had just a sip of coffee or a piece of cookie.

Also, you have to see to it that you visit your dentist regularly. Regular dental check-ups ensure that your teeth and gums are healthy. If you and your dentist cannot find an obvious reason for bad breath, consult your doctor. Strong medication or an internal disorder can be factors leading to bad breath.

What do you do to make sure your wit and wisdom are not shadowed by something shallow?

Tags: Bad breath, Dental Health

Good habits are rare. And when it comes to dental care, some of us are reluctant about adopting habits or getting into a routine. We would rather wail in pain as toothache strikes or cavities become a permanent fixture on our teeth than get into a dental care routine. Try adopting a good dental habit today, and adopt a new one everyday for the next three days. You’ll be surprised at the results you’ll see in a month. Don’t you want to sport a bright smile, consistently? If your answer is ‘yes’, read on.

• Brush after every meal. Why? This helps your mouth clean and keep bacteria at bay. You won’t have stains on your teeth, bad breath, other dental and gum problems if you adopt this habit.

• Floss your teeth immediately after you have brushed. This will help keep the mouth clean. You need to floss only once a day. Flossing helps you reach the farthest corners of your teeth. I would say you floss just after you have brushed your teeth before hitting the bed.
• Drink plenty of water throughout the day. Water not only keeps your mouth clean but also keeps it hydrated. Also, water will help your overall health, making your smile glow more.
• Eat fruits instead of drinking the juices. If you are hungry, go for a glass of water, not for a glass of juice. And if you are hungry, just eat a fruit. Fruit juices can wash away the enamel of your teeth. It is important you avoid them. And if you ever have to drink a juice, use a straw.

Happy smiling!

Tags: Dental Care, dental habits, good dental habits

When do you visit the dental clinic? Most of us go to the dentist when we notice a sign of a dental problem. Only a few stick to the once-in-six-months visit to the dental clinic. If there is anything about your smile that bothers you, drop in to your dental clinic. You’ll be surprised at the dental procedures that you can undergo to enhance your smile. Let’s look at some of the major ones.

Contouring and reshaping: These are methods to fix broken, chipped, or crooked teeth. Along with correcting the shape of your teeth, contouring helps change the length of your teeth.

Enamel micro-abrasion: It is a method by which the stained teeth are rubbed with a compound to remove any stains and spots.

Invisible braces: These braces can magically fix your teeth without embarrassing you. These braces correct the shape of your teeth set from behind the teeth so that no one else can find out that you are wearing braces.

Veneers: They are part of a restorative treatment in which a thin layer of material is used to cover your tooth in order to prevent further damage to it. Veneers are also used for cosmetic purposes only; they help improve the look of your teeth.

Bonding: It helps hide spots and stains, cover any chip in the teeth or fill a gap. It involves applying an enamel-like material to the teeth and fixing it to make it a part of the teeth.

Zoom whitening: It is a process that whitens your teeth in less than an hour! Moreover, there aren’t any major side-effects. People with sensitive teeth may feel an itchy sensation but that’s temporary. Your dentist will prescribe you something to reduce the sensitivity of your teeth before the procedure.

So, what are you waiting for? Visit your dental clinic today.

Happy smiling!

Tags: Cosmetic Dentistry, dental clinic

Here are the six most common mistakes people make when looking after their teeth:

Skipping some teeth or parts of them while brushing: This is a mistake that most of us are in the habit of making. If you skip brushing a tooth or parts of teeth, you will make bacteria flourish in the parts that remain unclean. And you know the dangers of that.

Not rinsing your mouth every time you eat or drink anything: Rinsing your mouth with plain water, better with a good mouthwash helps keep your mouth clean and moist. This also keeps your mouth hydrated, protecting you from gum diseases.

Rubbing the tongue vigorously with the brush: It is important that you apply gentle moves to clean your tongue else you run the risk of scratching it, inviting bacteria to reside on the scratched surface.

Not flossing everyday: Most of us find excuses for not flossing. We find it too troublesome. However, for healthy teeth, it is important that you floss once everyday. You may fix a flossing time everyday, even if it is in the latter half of the day.

Using a tattered toothbrush: Invest in a soft-bristled toothbrush when you see your toothbrush wearing out. In fact, start changing your toothbrush every three months for better dental care. An old or tattered toothbrush is not only incapable of cleaning your teeth properly but it also tends to collect germs over a period of time.

Not brushing the teeth before going to bed: This is also a mistake most of us make. The bacteria in the residual food inside your mouth play up while you are sleeping. Make sure you do not have any food residue in your mouth when you go to sleep.

Tags: bad dental habits, dental care mistakes

No, today, I won’t start the post with the word ‘routine’. But routine is how we live our lives, don’t we? We get up, have or skip our breakfast, rush to work or work at home, spend our evenings watching TV or going out, cooking in or dining out. We have a routine in everything we do, even if we don’t acknowledge it. So, what is so bad about a dental care routine? Yeah, I know. You don’t like the fact that a certain routine is being imposed on you. Well, don’t follow this routine, but then don’t expect to keep all your teeth throughout your life. I won’t come and break them; you will do that yourself – slowly and quite painfully.

If you are still reading, the best way to take care of your teeth is by giving them due attention. Let me tell you what you need to do.

• Brush your teeth at least two times a day, preferably after meals. You must brush once before going to the bed.

• Floss your teeth once a day. This cleans your teeth thoroughly.
• Scrap your tongue gently once a day. Cleaning the teeth is not enough. However, the tongue should not be scraped too hard as it may open the pores for bacteria.
• Make fiber a part of every meal of yours. Go for vegetables and whole fruits. This helps clean your mouth and takes care of your overall health.
• Keep your mouth hydrated by drinking plenty of water throughout the. This prevents the formation of bacteria in the mouth.
• Rinse your mouth after you have consumed anything, be it a sip of milk or a biscuit.
• Visit your dentist once very six months. Visit sooner if you notice any sign of a dental problem.

Isn’t this routine simple?

Keep smiling!

Tags: Dental Care, dental care routine, dental care tips

Yeah, these are the ways towards good dental health. Read on.

EAT fruits and cheese.
Citrus fruits like lemon, guava, orange, grapefruit, and tangerine provide the necessary vitamin C required by the body. The deficiency of vitamin C causes gums to bleed. It is important to make citrus fruits a part of our daily diet. The vitamin C comes from the citric acid in the fruits.

Among all the dairy products, cheese is probably the most favorite. You will be happy to know that this tasty product is very good for you, of course when consumed in moderation. Cheese provides the necessary calcium to keep your teeth and bones healthy. If you dislike the taste of milk, go for cheese. It will definitely help you say ‘Cheese’ for as long as you live.

DRINK tea, not alcohol.
It has been found that drinking tea is not detrimental to your dental health but advantageous. Tea contains fluoride which is good for your teeth. Tea, like water, keeps our mouth hydrated, thereby preventing oral problems.

It is important to clean the mouth after consuming tea as tea may cause stains on the teeth.

GO OUT in the sun.
Vitamin D is an important vitamin for maintaining overall health. It also helps prolong the life of our teeth. So, just step out into the sun and you have got an important vitamin in your body. Should you shun your sunscreen or the UV-glasses? No, take all the necessary precautions to make sure the sun does not burn you. What you need is a 10-minutes exposure to the sun twice a week. Is it too much given your sunny smile is at stake?

Happy smiling!

Tags: cheese, citrus fruits, good dental health, sunlight, tea, vitamin d