Gum disease

How Older Adults can Take care of their Mouth Better 

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When you take care of your teeth, you’ll have them for a lot longer.  This matters at every single age, since healthy mouths means you’re talking, smiling, laughing, and you’re able to keep your teeth for a whole lot longer.  However, as you get older, there are certain things that you can do to help make sure that your teeth are fully taken care of.  Here’s how you can make your teeth last a whole lot longer even when you’re older. 

You may wonder why you should worry about your teeth? Well, teeth are a focal part to overall health and wellness, and if  you take care of it now, it can prevent future issues as well, especially in terms of your own body and wellness. 

As you get older, if you don’t prevent this, it can be a major problem, so be mindful of that when you’re looking for the right type of safety for this, and also, try to make sure that you also look at the overall big picture. 

Tooth Decay 

Tooth decay happens when starches and sugar feed on the teeth, attacking this. If you don’t handle this, it leads to fillings, crowns, extractions, and root canals, which are expensive and not fun. 

Gum disease 

Gum disease is another problem that happens whenever you don’t’ take care of your teeth. Because of the buildup of plaque and the tartar is left there untreated, it gets into the gums, making them swollen with a red color, and bleeding as well. This can get really bad, eventually ruining your gums, bones, and the tissue as well, and in severe gum disease cases, it results in tooth loss as well. 

How to prevent this 

You should definitely make sure that oral care is the main focus, and you should definitely understand it’s not too late for you to start taking care of your teeth. Here’s how you can. 

First, you need to brush your teeth twice daily. Use a soft bristled toothbrush with some fluoride, brushing this for a couple minutes usually.  You may struggle with this if you have arthritis or other conditions. You should talk to a doctor if that’s the case. You may want to use a bland of elastic to attach the toothbrush towards your hand.  You may also benefit from using a sponge and taping it there.  You can also use a toothbrush that’s electric if you do have limited types of mobility. 

Next, you should make sure that you do clean between the teeth every single day. This can be done with a flosser, or a water flosser, otherwise known as an interdental cleaner, since this helps those who struggle to use their hands with it. 

Next, make sure you’re seeing the dentist often. You can find out new and early signs of this decay, and then do something about it. Oral cancer can start in people above the age of 40, so proper dental screenings are imperative during this. Letting the dentist know about swelling you have, soreness of the mouth, or lumps is important. 

Then, make sure you use fluoride. This helps with mineralization. You can also use a rinse with this to help with it. Finally, if you’re going to take care of your teeth, you’ve got to look at the diet. Start to replace the carbs that are unhealthy with healthier foods. Try to eat fibrous foods, and also use the foods that’ll help keep the teeth nice and strong, so hat you’re not ruining the teeth as well. 

Back to School Oral Care Kits 

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With the school season always a focus for many parents, oral care is something that’s oftentimes not fully looked at, due to the flurry of haircuts, shopping, schedules, and even new seasons. When a child’s starting a new grade, putting together oral care kits for kids is perfect. That way, they’ll be able to walk into classrooms wearing the hottest accessories for the school year: bright, healthy smiles. Different kits vary based on age groups, and you’ll be able to experience your full journey with this. 

Planning these Kits

When putting together these kits, you want to get into good habits first and foremost, so that it sets up the family for success in the long term. 

While the weeks leading up to this feel like they’re forever, you should know that the health of a child is a critical part of starting this calendar. 

When you’re prepared for healthy routines, you’ll be able to kick things off in a strong manner. 

Taking time to schedule dental checkups a month before they begin, and even stocking up on oral hygiene and other items, and even good snacks is good.  It sets them up for a future of bright, healthy smiles. 

Now for kids ages 5 to 8, they probably don’t have a regimen down yet.  But don’t ferret, that’s normal. The simplest solution is to have reminders that’ll help them brush and get them to do this.  getting them to brush for 2 minutes, and then having them do this twice a day, especially before bed, is good. Sticker charts are a great way to keep one on track. 

These oral kits need to include: 

  • New toothbrushes of their choice.  You should make sure to change every quarter, as they are good for remembering to keep them clean 
  • Mild toothpaste with fluoride in them, so that they get a fun, exciting flavor 
  • Flavored floss or even flossing holders 

For kids 8 to 12 years old, they’re preteens, starting at new life stages, and teeth usually start to enter a new stage, which is the braces stage. It’s recommended that children get their first orthodontic checkup at the age of seven or so.  When setting this up, you can also ask your dentist for referrals to orthodontists if you’re worried about teeth alignment. 

When you put together a dental care kit, having these supplies in their gym bag, along with deodorant and shower gel, will help them stay on top of their oral health. 

Finally, you can get them an electric toothbrush. 

Their oral kit should contain: 

  • Battery powered toothbrushes for home, and a soft-bristle toothbrush on the go 
  • Fluoride toothpastes of choice 
  • Flavored floss and a flosser 
  • A small pouch to hold this 

Then at ages 12 to 18, you want to focus on the stress of teenagerhood.  They are definitely something that you’ll want to keep on hand.  You should give them a reminder either in their phone, or even notes. 

Adolescence is usually the best time to focus on keeping the cavities away, and brushing with fluoride types of toothpaste and treatment is good.  You want to make sure that you have good oral care, and also eat a diet that’s healthy and nutritious, in order to give teenagers healthier mouths. 

Their kit must include: 

  • Portable, manual toothbrushes that are good for their gym bags, or even a tongue cleaner 
  • An electric toothbrush that’s battery powered with different settings 
  • Travel mouthwash 
  • Fluoride toothpastes of their choice.  

These are all good for their bags to get them on the right path to oral health and success. 

The Importance of Mouthguards 

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Sports are something vital for both kids and adults to enjoy, and it allows them to be healthy and happy. The problem with sports, however, is that while they’re fun, there is a risk for breaking something.  Chipping and breaking a tooth can increase your dental bills by a lot, but one way to prevent this is a mouthguard. We’ll go over why here. 

Why are they important? 

Why should you wear a mouthguard? While you might wear a helmet to protect the head against head trauma, a mouthguard is great to prevent any further injuries to the mouth and the face.

When they’re made of a soft plastic, or even a laminate, this is something that prevents injuries that happen when you have something hit your mouth. They also protect the gums, the cheeks, and also your jaw.

So why do they wear these? Well, regardless of the age, the gender, or the level of skill, everyone’s at risk of getting a n injury to their mouth. While this is scary, a mouthguard can help prevent this from further getting worse. It actually reduces the prevalence of the trauma that happens with athletes during contact sports.

A lot of people will benefit from the protection that a mouth guard offers, especially if you’re in a high contact sport. In fact, over 41% of people who play sports wear this.

Now, you might wonder how it protects, and we’ll go over that here. 

Using mouthguard for Sports 

While mouthguards can’t prevent elbows from hitting you when you’re in the middle of a game. Those things happen. But what it can do is prevent the injuries from getting worse over time. They reduce the impact through spreading it out, and also reduces the damage to both individual teeth, and the mouth as a whole. 

The way that they’re made also ensures that there is some protection of the shock of the force. 

During sports, you’re bound to get injured. In fact, over a third of all the injuries that happen during sports occur near the mouth and the face.  The good thing about this though, is that while it’s hard to fully prevent injuries, you can mitigate the effects of this.

Mouthguards are in fact far cheaper than any other protective elements that are used. In fact, they’re so cheap you can get them at the drugstore for less than 20 bucks.  For just 20 dollars, you can prevent thousands in dental treatments from injuries.

The problem with mouthguards is that so few sports require them. While you have to wear one for high contact sports like football, those that are not as high contact like baseball  and basketball might not require it.  a lot of players wear them when they play, because if you get hit by an elbow, it could knock out the tooth if you’re not careful. 

Mouthguard Types 

You’ve got a couple of different mouthguard types out there, and it’s important to consider all of these.

A good thing to keep in mind is that the better the mouthguard fits, the better the protection you will be getting.

If you’re strapped for cash, you can get stock, as they’re cheap, but they don’t fit comfortably or have protection 

There is also boil and bite, which is where you boil the guard, bite it, and then leave an impression. These are middle-level types. 

Finally, you’ve got custom made, which are the most expensive, but protect the best.

Regardless, try to get your child a mouthguard, especially if sports are their jam, but injuries are not. 

How to Fix Bad Breath and Dry Mouth 

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Bad breath is something that we all have every single morning.

However, some of us have really bad breath, and it can be a bit embarrassing, and bring a self-conscious feeling to this.  The best way to prevent this is by practicing good dental health.

However, dry mouth also is the cause of bad breath, and that has so little to do with how you take care of your teeth.

However, there are ways to fix it, which is what we’re going to talk about here. 

The Cause of Dry Mouth 

The cause of this is a variety of reasons.  Vomiting, the flu, or dehydration are a lot of causes but those are temporary.

Sometimes, if you have diabetes or another medical condition, you may experience dry mouth.  It’s also a side effect that some medications have, including decongestants, antihistamines, pain meds, and muscle relaxants.  If you have a prescription for anxiety and high blood pressure medications, you might also suffer from dry mouth.

Finally, if you get chemotherapy, you might also deal with dry mouth. 

Bad Breath Reasons 

You may get bad breath sometimes from dry mouth, but that’s not always the case. 

How does it happen though? it’s actually not from the medication, but it’s actually chemicals present within the medicine.  They directly inhibit the production of saliva from the salivary glands. Saliva is responsible for hydration, getting rid of food particles from gums and teeth, and fighting off tooth decay.  Without the use of saliva, you’ll have more bacteria, dry mouth and oral parts of your mouth, and this creates bad breath.

Diagnosis of Dry Mouth 

You may have some problems in the mouth responsible for the production of dry mouth.

Woman using breath freshener

If the reason for dry mouth is your oral health, then periodontal disease, cavities, and the like might be the problem. 

If you’re taking medication that causes this, however, you should talk to a specialist, or even a physician, in order to take care of the issue at hand. 

Treatments and Prevention 

There are a few ways for you to treat dry mouth. Usually, it’s a two-step program. First, the doctor will give you some medication for the symptoms.  You may have bad breath, dental sores, and the like. If it’s caused by periodontitis, then a deep cleaning might happen.

They may also give you antibiotics to treat any infections that’ll happen. If this doesn’t go away, then you’ll get some tests for this, and you may also need to adjust the dosages and medications that are there. 

As for preventions, you’ll want to make sure that you look at alternatives so that you’re not dealing with bad breath. For those with limited medication options, or medical conditions, you might want to discuss this with your doctor.  The best way to prevent it in that case is to keep up with your oral care and hygiene, so that you prevent this development.

You should also engage in lifestyle changes too. There are certain products that prevent the formation of dry mouth, so make sure to ask about those. If you smoke, drink alcohol, or like caffeine, then you might also want to limit these habits as well.

There are a few causes for dry mouth, but you can improve this situation in a lot of cases. The best thing to do in this case is to make sure that you protect the mouth and the structures, engage in proper hygiene in order to have good breath that you can be proud of, and not hate as well!