1. How many times should I brush?

One should regularly brush twice daily- after waking up and before going to sleep. Also make sure you do not consume anything after you have brushed before sleeping. Also brushing for a longer time doesn’t make your teeth cleaner. Proper brushing is important rather than longer brushing. Here is a link for Brief video on the proper technique for brushing your teeth. https://youtu.be/xm9c5HAUBpY

2. Which toothpaste should I use?

Again, toothpaste is not important but the technique of brushing is. For kids with lots of decay in teeth, dentist might prescribe fluoridated toothpaste, but please be mindful of not self prescribing the toothpaste as a perfect dosage is essential. Excess of fluoride will create white spots and deficiency will not serve the purpose.

Also for those who complain about sensitivity in teeth might require anti sensitivity toothpaste. Though there are advertisements of several products that treat sensitivity they might not be the perfect solution towards your problem. You might need something more than just an anti sensitivity toothpaste.

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3. Should I stop eating sweets and chocolates to stop decay?

Not only sweets but any edible thing that you consume have a chance of causing decay. Sweets and chocolate might be sticky and thus they are one of the major causes to initiate decay in your teeth. Avoid sticky foods. Also avoid frequent snacking, rather if you are a hardcore dessert lover you should eat all that during your meals and not between the meals. Vigorous gargling after eating is advisable which removes all the remaining food particles stuck between your teeth.

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4. My teeth has gap, should I get cement filled?

Before opting for a cement filling, we must know where and why the gap is.

• If the gap between two teeth is due to decay we must treat the decay. If the decay is deep we might need root canal treatment where the doctor cleans the tooth from the depth of roots and fills cement which is followed by placing a cap over the tooth. If the decay is not so deep we might only require cement to treat the decay.

  

• If the gap is in between front two teeth, then you should ideally go for braces treatment, although it takes longer time but it is the permanent solution (after braces treatment you will be given a retainer or tray to wear for quite a time so that the space is not created again). The other option is that you might get cement filled between the two teeth. But cement is a temporary option as cement tends to fall off if a person bites using those teeth. Also if the gap is greater we might not be able to fill the gap with cement as it affects the smile and the teeth would look very big and artificial. Take a look below how braces treatment can change your aestethics.

5. I brush my teeth for half an hour still my teeth are yellow

Remember to not brush for long duration as it might lead to wearing of your teeth leaving them sensitive. Sometimes the natural hue of the tooth might be yellowish and you are not advised to do anything for that. If you are totally unhappy with the tooth colour, dentist might advise you to get veneers done. Veneers treatment simply involves minor trimming of your teeth and then covering it with thin layer of composite or ceramic with the colour which suits the patient. Also sometimes it might happen so that you have non-uniformly placed teeth and only certain area has yellowness, for that you might need regular scaling and if need arises you should go for braces treatment.

6. Somebody told me that scaling will make my teeth weak and loose

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Imagine termites attack on your wooden furniture, they build a termite mound over the furniture. On looking superficially, you will be able to see the mound that is attached to the furniture but the furniture looks fine.

(Image source- https://www.lethalpestsolutions.com/residential-termite-control/)

 

Now when the mound is removed you will see that there is the termites have eaten up the wood and left the furniture weak and useless. Here what we were not able to see was the damage they had caused when mound was attached to the furniture. If we would have removed the mound at the very beginning we could have saved the furniture.

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This is the similar case of your teeth and gums. The plaque starts to accumulate on the teeth and between the tooth and gums. Now if the plaque is not cleaned and allowed to stay longer, it will spread its area. Slowly gums will start to bleed and the bone which lies below gums will get affected. The bone will start to dissolve where there is plaque, so even the gums will start to leave its place. And this process continues till the plaque remains. Now this continuous insult to bone and gums will make your teeth loose. And it becomes quite late when you will realize that a lot of damage has already been done. After realization, when you go to the doctor to get the teeth cleaned, it will be just like removing the termite mound which will now expose the damage which was occurring but not visible. So scaling does not loosen your teeth, it only unmasks the damage that has already been occurred.

Timely scaling would in fact, make your teeth stronger and gums healthier.

 

7. What is a root canal treatment or RCT?

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Root canal treatment or RCT is done to treat the tooth that has decay which has reached the nerves and vessels inside  the tooth, resulting in a lot of pain. Also it is done in severely sensitive or broken tooth. RCT means to remove the decay and clean the nerves and vessels from inside till the root because blood vessels extend till the end of the root. The entire nerve space is cleaned using machine and hand tools along with chemicals and then filled with artificial material so that infection does not occur again. RCT is the way of saving  tooth from getting removed. Always remember saving a tooth is costlier and time consuming than simply removing it and so RCT is generally costlier than tooth removal.

8. What will happen if I don’t go for RCT and get the tooth removed.

Although RCT is costlier and time consuming compared to tooth removal, you should not overlook the pros and cons of both the options. RCT saves the tooth thus maintaining the integrity of all the teeth and gums but it requires 2-3 appointments. Tooth removal is not advisable as after tooth removal there will be space created. Now, the teeth nearby that space will try to fill up that space and thus lead to weakening of gums and slowly they will tend to loosen and eventually might need to be removed too.

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And then it becomes a greater investment of time and money to treat that condition.

9. Removal of tooth will affect my eyesight and hearing

It is just a myth that removal lead to eye and ear problems. Removal of tooth is an age old practice and no evidence has been mentioned in literature which can support this belief. It is always safe to get your tooth extracted the only condition is to use properly sterilized and autoclaved instruments. Also it is totally unsafe to hide any medical problems and the habits like smoking, drinking etc…

10. Tooth removal can cause cancer.

This is again a myth. Not a single case has been reported where tooth removal is found to be the cause of cancer. But tooth removal can definitely unmask the presence of cancer in your body. So it is very important to give all the habit history and medical history to your doctor so that he/she can advise you a proper treatment. Also tooth removal should be done on advise of the incharge doctor who is treating the cancer.

We’ll include some other question and myths in part-2. Till than if you have any questions, suggestions or compliments you can give your valuable comments below or you may reach out to us at following :

Email: 100nidc@gmail.com
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