Pandemic Routines for your Teeth

It is 2020 and the world is a little different this year.  The fact is that many of us are changing how we work, shop, and live.  The regulations for each state, county, and location are different and many people have literally changed their entire lives due to the pandemic.  What this has done is also changed up how we are eating, drinking, and socializing.  Which in turn has had drastic effects on our dental health.  Some of them are negative and some of them are rather positive, but depending on your personal focus it can go either way.  With all of the complicated things that are happening, I wanted to just jot down some simple routines, that most people can follow that may keep you from having extra dental emergencies and another trip out to the dentist. 

With many people working from home we have all found something out.  We are now more likely to be closer to our refrigerator than we were before.  This can be a great thing and also a problematic issue for those who find themselves eating and drinking more.  This means we are possibly more likely to be grabbing that soda, or eating something that may be detrimental to your dentalhealth.  That can mean that you need to actually only allow yourself to visit the kitchen or fridge at certain times.  If you need to set an alarm to allow yourself to visit it, then do it.  But having extra sugar or acid placed on your teeth throughout the day may be a big problem for your teeth.  If you are adding extra damage each day, it can really add up and you should try and limit the extra drinks and foods you are eating.  This may also keep those pounds off as well. 

Another way to help the food and drinking issue is to add in water to your daily diet.  Now many of us drink the right amount of water, but I am always finding myself needing to drink more water every single day.  So what I have done is added a water bottle to my routine.  Instead of drinking disposable water bottles, I added in a nice stainless steel bottle.  This is something that I refill each day and several times a day and it helps keep me hydrated.  This has some beneficial things that help your teeth. 

Water actually helps rinse off those harmful sugars and acids.  The drinking of water each day can really help improve getting those things off your teeth.  The bonus thing that drinking water does and along with keeping you hydrated is to help you create more saliva.  Being hydrated means your mouth is producing the right amount of saliva which is your body's natural cleaning solution.  This extra habit can really help you in the long run and keep you from visiting the dentist multiple times throughout the day.

 

I highly suggest also making sure your tooth brushing is happening and probably even more than normal.  I went to three brushings a day and I think that brushing right after lunch has helped protect me and my dental health more through the pandemic.  It has allowed me to keep the bacteria causing foods and acids off my teeth and lowered my plaque buildup and has kept my teeth brighter.

When to visit the dentist

The time may be nearing and that could be a great or bad thing for you.  What time might I be speaking of?  Well, that would be the time to visit the dentist of course. This is a topic that is so complicated and may be a scary one for many people.  The thought of visiting the dentist in 2020 can be a life and death situation with the COVID-19 Pandemic.  Across much of the country, we are under stay at home regulations and can't leave except for an emergency.  It really is a scary time and many people are using this reasoning to not go to the dentist at all for most reasons. That is why it is important to know when you should go out and visit the dentist and when you maybe should call first before you run over.

 

I think that knowing problems ahead of time is important. This goes doubly so for when your health is involved.  So my personal preference is to visit the dentist for health checkups or cleanings a few times a year. The ADA also suggests scheduling a biannual cleaning as a good rule of thumb just to stay on top of possible problems that may happen.  This is a good thing to do and I like to schedule my first cleaning or checkup of the year right after the Holidays.  So that is right in the beginning of the new year and then in the middle. 

 

What I usually get when I go to the dentist is a new game plan for the next 6 months.  I want to know that my teeth are safe and this is where everyone differs.  We all have different needs and teeth and dental hygiene areas that we need to focus on more than others.  This is why no one answer is correct and that everyone should go see their own dentist to see how they are coming along in their health.  So I would suggest putting that on the schedule to help pre-empt any issues that may end up occurring.  

I also like to visit the dentist after any major issues happen.  Well, that seems obvious but many people will feel extreme pain and do nothing about it or simply live with it.  At this point, dental health issues can lead to major medical issues as well.  That is why we need to be aware of things that may go wrong and stay strong in the idea that sometimes we need help.  If you are feeling discomfort in your teeth or lots of sensitivity, you probably should give your dentist a call and see what is best.  Video diagnosis is huge in 2020 and they can usually do a small consultation over the phone or computer.

 

Zoom is basically doing lots of medical and dental consultations this year.  The covid-19 pandemic has left us using lots of technology to protect us and to save time and cost for seeing doctors and dentists.   But if you are feeling pain, then it is definitely worth giving the dentist a call or zoom, to see if they can diagnose what may be happing quickly to get you feeling better and experiencing less pain.  I am all for less cost and pain in the long and short run! So set those appointments!

How Viable Is Botox To Treat Bruxism

Bruxism refers to teeth grinding, which can result in persistent headaches and jaw pain. This practice can result in the loss of tooth enamel, added tooth sensitivity, and chipped teeth. The treatments available have been focusing on preventing or treating dental damage until, but recent studies suggest that using Botox can stop teeth grinding.

Botox for teeth grinding

When discussing Botox, most people think of a cosmetic treatment aimed at treating wrinkles. The material used in the Botox treatment uses botulinum toxin, which paralyzes muscle tissues. This property makes Botox an ideal treatment for relieving muscle spasms, particularly in the facial area. Using a calculated amount of Botox can limit the functionality of a muscle to release tension from it.

A recent study shows that you can treat bruxism by injecting a small amount of botulinum toxin into the muscle tissues that are responsible to control your jaw movements. The maxillofacial surgeon will inject a small amount of it into the masseter muscle below the cheekbone and temporalis and frontalis muscles.

Botox works by halting the bruxism. According to a report by Chicago Tribune, the success rate of Botox for the treatment of teeth grinding was found to be around 50%, which looks quite promising because of the prospects of success.

Teeth-grinding also shares a two-way connection with temporomandibular joint (TMJ) problems. It may be worth mentioning that Botox seems promising for the treatment of TMJ disorders. Other TMD treatments are either palliative or invasive, so Botox may prove to be quite an effective alternative treatment in this regard.

Side effects of Botox

Botox can provide instant relief from a painful situation caused by teeth grinding, but it is not a long-term way to treat the issue, at least for now when this treatment method hasn’t matured enough. Using Botox injections repeatedly can result in the loss of bone density, according to UConn Today.

While the long-term effects of this treatment are still under review, Chicago Tribune reported a "lopsided smile" in a couple of patients involved in the study to see the impact of Botox treatment for teeth grinding. That lopsided smile returned its natural shape after a few weeks when the effects of the treatment wore away.

Other treatments for teeth grinding

An oral maxillofacial surgeon will check your oral cavity to analyze whether or not you are a candidate for Botox treatment. The surgeon will suggest the treatment based on this analysis.

Your dentist or surgeon will want to go with more conservative methods to treat your bruxism problem. For instance, they may suggest you use a night guard, which is similar to a mouth guard that you wear during sports. The purpose of the night guard is to prevent teeth in the upper and lower jaw from coming in contact with each other. Over time, the use of a nightguard will decrease the impact of damage due to bruxism and relax your facial muscles.

According to the Bruxism Association, you can approach this problem by engaging in muscle relaxing exercises and improving your sleep habits. Improving sleep habits will help you prevent nighttime bruxism, which is impossible to control the consciousness of your mind.

Tooth Whitening Alternatives

When items are a little scarce you can always find alternatives.  In 2021 after the COVID issues we are seeing some items become less frequent.  Now, to get over some of the lack of deliverability of items there is a new trend of using charcoal for just about everything that has taken our TikToc and social media by storm.  One thing it has also done is whiten our teeth all while not using harmful chemicals.  Now it is not perfect for everything and there is a downside to everything and I want to go over a few things that have to deal with Charcoal.  I also want to go over how successful it has been in my own experience with whitening my teeth with alternatives

My wife brought this to me and gave me the idea. There were so many pranks and funny things that kept popping up that it actually grabbed my attention.  I decided along with my wife to look into actually using charcoal for our teeth.  After seeing enough non-paid advertising on Instagram I wondered if it was actually a real dental hygiene tool that we could use. This was interesting to me because I have had such problems with whitening strips in the past.  On special occasions like weddings and vacations, I have used the normal whitening stuff and most of it has caused me a lot of pain and sadness.

Most of these white strips say on the package that sensitive teeth are possible side effects, but for my mouth, that is really painful.  It is so painful that I have not done them in years and don't plan on ever going back.  The strips do work and they work very well.  I always ended up with a really bright and white smile and that was something that I at least appreciated.  But now that there was a possible alternative to the pain-filled days and night I decided to give it a try.  

Now I was pretty skeptical to start with.  I really didn't want to trust my teeth to a non-main branded toothpaste. So I decided to start slow and only use the charcoal for one brushing at a time.  I noticed that it was meant to absorb stains on your teeth and the more I read I saw that it was light abrasive so it did actually scrape off plaque in a very small way.  This seemed to be a good thing to me and I went to town using it daily. 

Black teeth are a side effect and also black spit too.  It was a bit of a fun smile and reminded me of a scene in the movie the Patriot.  The one thing is that it does stain your toothbrush and leave your sink a bit black.  Be very careful spitting this stuff and I would really not suggest giving it to kids.  I can only imagine what my kids would have done with this.  But my wife and I have had a good experience. 

It was still fun and useful, and  I am so glad about that and I still feel like it is protecting our teeth at night while brightening our smile. So if you are careful with it and are able to brush your teeth several times a day I would suggest it.  I swap between both types daily now.