June 6, 2007
“You’ve got a smile so
bright, you know it could have
been a candle.”
Dental hygiene is very
important and good looking
teeth are definitely a plus. But
just because your mouth looks
good does not necessarily
indicate that everything is
cool.
While some people may
tease the person who takes a
bathroom break to brush after
every meal, there are people
with huge gaps in their mouths
who wish they had taken
better care of their teeth.
Watch what you eat, brush
and floss regularly and
hopefully you won’t get
socked in the mouth and lose a
few teeth or somehow damage
the nerves in them.
Don’t think that buying a
hard-brush toothbrush is going
to get your teeth any cleaner.
You will end up with bleeding
gums and that is just not
supposed to happen. Get you
a soft brush toothbrush and
whatever you do, don’t rush
through this process. Spend
some time brushing back and
forth, gently.
Should something happen
because you didn’t take proper
care of your teeth and you
didn’t heed warnings and ate
way too much candy, and you
end up with a mouthful of
cavities; whatever you do,
don’t opt for the extraction.
Sure, getting your tooth
pulled is quicker, usually less
painful and doesn’t cost nearly
as much as a root canal, but
once that tooth is gone, you
can never replace it unless you
go through an even more
expensive process--dental implantation.
Talk about a costly
procedure! Local dentist,
Jocelyn Kidd says not only is
it expensive, but the process
takes a while.
So you can go for the quick
fix, and tell the dentist to pull
your tooth, if you want to.
After the pain is gone and
reality sets in, you will wish
that you had saved that tooth.
Or, you could find
yourself walking around
with a mouthful of
dentures and you’re not
even 25 years old!
Once you realize that
you have a problem, you
need to be making a visit
to the dentist’s office
immediately. Better still,
visit the dentist twice a
year. There are affordable
clinics –some even advertise
in this paper.
I believe if you can find the
resources to pay for a trip to
the dentist when you are in
pain, you can find the
resources to get regular
checkups.
Sadly folks won’t tell you if
you have bad breath or a piece
of something sticking between
your teeth. Some foods just
seem to naturally stick
between your teeth--like
spinach, or lettuce. Even
worse is having someone in
your face talking with a
strange odor threatening to
choke the life out of you—the
kind of smell that comes from
rot and decay or gum disease,
or even a dirty tongue. There’s
nothing like inhaling someone
else’s bad breath. It will make
you want to go rinse out your
own mouth right after you kill
the person who put you
through such a horrible experience.
That’s why it always helps
to keep aids handy so that you
can keep your breath in check.
And also keep that handy
compact mirror close so that
you can check yourself out for
stray matter messing up your
smile.
What else can you do to
help keep a fresher
mouth?
There are those
preventative measures
that you can take, like:
no smoking, no
chewing tobacco, no
gum, limit your candy
and again, always
brush (your teeth and
your tongue) and floss
regularly. Some might even
say stay away from the coffee.
But I know people who would
rather lose every tooth in their
head than give up their coffee
or cigarettes!
There is a possibility that
your funky breath is coming
from something else going on
with your body. Regular
checkups will save you most
of the time.
Then too, to avoid the
dreaded funky breath, there’s
always that faithful standby,
baking soda. It works
wonders.
And always remember,
when someone offers you a
mint, graciously accept it.
They may be discreetly
sending you a message that
your mouth needs some
attention. Don’t get offended.
It won’t help matters for
you to be offensive twice!
Next week, I am going to
talk about those people who
ruin perfectly good teeth, just
for the bling of it!
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