On Guard Against Dry Mouth

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by Lynnwood Song Dental

Issues with Having a Dry Mouth

You need saliva in your mouth to guard you from infections.  When your mouth is too dry, it invites harmful cultures of bacteria and fungi to thrive in your teeth and gums and cause tooth rot and gingivitis.

It is for this reason that our Lynnwood dentist wants you to be on the lookout for dry mouth, and be mindful of anything that contributes to this condition.

  • Any kind of smoking can cause dry mouth.
  • Chewing tobacco can dry out your mouth.
  • When you breathe from your mouth, you’re venting moisture faster than it can be replaced.  Excessive mouth-breathing generally leads to dry mouth.
  • A lot of diseases, including AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, anemia, hypertension, mumps, rheumatoid arthritis, and strokes, cause dry mouth.
  • Many medications list dry mouth as a side effect.  Check your medications for such side effects.
  • Certain medical treatments, like chemotherapy, can cause damage to your salivary glands and impair their ability to produce saliva.
  • If you suffer an injury that damages your nerves in your head or neck area, it may inhibit your salivary glands.
  • When you become dehydrated, your body is likely to cut down on saliva production in favor of more vital functions.  Be sure to drink enough water.

What Causes Crooked Teeth?

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“Malocclusion” describes when your teeth aren’t fitting together properly.  This can be very uncomfortable, making it difficult to eat, speak, or clean your teeth properly.  Song’s Lynnwood dental center can help you in avoiding this unfortunate condition, which starts with looking out for the following risk factors:

  • Bad habits like thumb-sucking or mouth-breathing at a young age can cause teeth to come in crooked.  If your child has a persistent habit, consult your dentist for options.
  • Tooth loss can cause teeth to move out of position.  This can be any kind of tooth loss, resulting from tooth decay, injuries, or a tooth extraction.  Try to hang on to all of your teeth by maintaining proper oral hygiene and wearing a mouthguard for all athletic activities.
  • Some people just have bad teeth in their genes.  If you suffered from malocclusion that didn’t result from one of the above effects, there’s a good chance that one of your parents had it, and there’s a good chance your children will have it as well.

If you or one of your family members has malocclusion, consult Song’s Lynnwood dentist to be connected with a proper orthodontist.

Why Are My Teeth Getting Stained?

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We whiten a lot of teeth at our Lynnwood dental clinic, and many patients want to know what they can do to keep their teeth white.  Many of them are already aware of the bigger threats to their enamel: they eschew smoking, coffee, candy and soda, and yet they still routinely find themselves with a lackluster smile.  The unfortunate truth is that it’s hard to completely avoid tooth-staining substances, for even many of our healthier options can have a tendency to leave a mark on your pearly-whites.  Consider this list of tooth-stainers:

  • Berries.  This includes both whole berries and berries that have been processed into pies, jams, wines, and the like.
  • Colorful sauces, like soy sauce, tomato sauce, and curry.
  • Tea, even herbal teas and white teas, may have at least as much staining potential as coffee.
  • Sports drinks and energy drinks.

Obviously, you can’t be expected to cut all of these out of your diet.  Some represent foods that a good nutritionist would advise you to eat on a daily basis, and you shouldn’t be denying yourself a healthy diet to preserve the whiteness of your teeth.

What you can do, however, is adopt habits to minimize tooth stains.  Drinking certain drinks through straws can reduce their staining potential, and brushing soon (but not too soon!) after staining meals can eliminate staining agents before they settle in.  And of course, no matter what may happen, you can always count on Song’s dental center to put the sparkle back into your grin.

Plaque and Tartar: What’s the Difference?

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When you go in for a cleaning with our Lynnwood dental clinic, you’ll probably hear the words “plaque” and “tartar” a lot. Some people make the mistake of thinking that these terms are interchangeable, and this shows an unfortunate lack of understanding in the harmful build-up that afflicts your mouth.

In simple terms, plaque is a sticky film that grows on your teeth. This is where bacteria is mingling with the food you eat and producing the acids that can break down your teeth and gums. The good news is that it’s easy to remove; a gentle, twice-daily brushing and flossing is all you need to keep plaque down to manageable levels.

When plaque isn’t dealt with quickly enough, it will eventually turn into tartar. Tartar is similar to plaque in that it continues to contribute to tooth decay, but now it’s a hard shell that cannot be removed with normal brushing. This is the substance that your dentist needs to scratch away during your regular cleanings.

The process of removing tartar deposits is called scaling, and only a dental professional should attempt it. If you attempt to scale your own teeth, you might dig into your enamel and damage your tooth. So keep up your regular brushing to manage your plaque, and leave the tartar to Song’s Lynnwood dental center.

Does Honey Rot Your Teeth?

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Is honey healthier?

Honey has a number of benefits as a sweetener, compared to conventional refined sugars. Knowing this, some people make the mistake of thinking that these benefits extend to your oral health. They’ll use honey as an alternative sweetener, hoping that it will add up to less tooth decay, sometimes even going so far as to coat a baby’s pacifier in honey. This is an unfortunate mistake.

The fact is that honey has just as much potential to rot your teeth as cane sugar. Approximately 82% of honey is made up of sugars, which amounts to about seventeen grams of sugar per tablespoon. Though these are natural glucose and fructose, they still provide your oral bacteria with the food they need to produce the acid that eats away at your enamel.

As sticky as it is, there is even some additional risk that honey will linger in your mouth longer than most sweeteners, inviting further decay.

When eating honey, be sure to treat it much the same way you would treat any sugary snack. Enjoy it sparingly, and consider rinsing out with water afterward. Consult our dentist, Dr. Song, for more help fostering good oral health.

Dental Emergencies: What Should I Do?

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Dental Emergency Lynnwood

Even if you take the best of care with your teeth, accidents can always happen. A dental emergency can come in the form of a cracked tooth, a broken jaw, or even a severe toothache. If any of these befalls you, call our office immediately. Do not put any aspirin or other painkillers on the gums, as this can burn gum tissues. Clean out your mouth with warm water and put a cold compress on anything that appears to be broken or swelling.

If a permanent tooth has come out, quick action may save the tooth. When you pick it up, handle it only by the crown, and never by the roots. Rinse it off gently if necessary, but do not scrub or disinfect it as this can strip away living tissue. If you can, put it back in the socket. If this isn’t possible, store the tooth in water, milk, or even just saliva until you can get to a dentist.

Depending on the severity of your emergency, you may wish to visit your hospital’s emergency room.

Does Less Sugar Equal Less Tooth Decay?

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We all know that sugar is bad for you. Too much sugar means obesity, lethargy, diabetes, and to your Lynnwood dental clinic it means tooth decay. The common wisdom, from a dental perspective, is that less sugar equals healthier teeth, but there are certain flaws in this logic. It’s important to cultivate a greater understanding of sugar’s effects on our oral health, and thereby foster the habits that will truly lead us to a happier and healthier mouth.

First off, it’s not specifically sugar that contributes to tooth decay. The main culprit is carbohydrates, of which sugar is only a small part. Fruits, vegetables, and grains, all of these are common sources of carbs. You could no more hope to cut carbs out of your diet than you could aspire to cut verbs out of your vocabulary.

Fortunately, it’s not the quantity of carbs that contributes to tooth decay so much as it is the duration of the exposure your mouth has to them. When you eat a sugar-rich meal, your mouth is under attack for maybe twenty minutes while your saliva clears away the remains. This is a lot less harmful to your teeth than sipping a sugary drink throughout the day, constantly assuring a feeding frenzy to your oral bacteria. This is why it is recommended that you limit sugary substances to regular meal times and keep from snacking.

Should I Get an Electric Toothbrush?

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With all the buzz that surrounds electric toothbrushes, many people ask our Lynnwood Dentistry whether or not it is actually worthwhile to replace their old brushes in favor of one of the high-tech alternatives.  The truth is that this is not an easy question to answer, and many factors should be considered when determining what is the right toothbrush for you.

In general, the best brush for you is whichever option you will actually use.  An electric toothbrush honestly isn’t brushing your teeth a whole lot better than you could by yourself, but some people find that it makes the chore an easier part of their routine.  This is particularly true if you’re lacking in manual dexterity, or otherwise have trouble manipulating a normal brush across your hard-to-reach teeth.  Other people also appreciate special functions that come with some electric brushes, like a timer that tells you when you’ve brushed enough or a sensor that tells you when you’re brushing too hard.  If these are areas that you have difficulty with, then maybe the extra cost of an electric brush is worthwhile for you.

Whichever brush you ultimately favor, the most important thing is that you maintain a proper brushing habit.  Use it twice a day, floss appropriately, and get your regular check-ups at your Lynnwood dentistry center.  If you’re not doing this, then there’s really no gadget on the market that’s going to keep your teeth happy and healthy.