Thursday, May 19, 2016

Baby Teeth And Teething: How To Comfort My Baby?

WONDERFUL! YOUR BABY IS TEETHING, A LANDMARK SHOWING HEALTHY GROWTH.

Teething is a collective term given to signs and symptoms occurring when a new tooth emerges in the oral cavity cutting through the gums. Generally it's used for problems occurring when teeth start to erupt in infants.


Baby teeth erupting.
When does it start?

The age range for the milk teeth to erupt is from 6 months to 3 years. But it can even start at 2-3 months of age and sometimes, the baby may even be born with 1 or 2 teeth in mouth. And by the age of 3 yrs, the baby would be having the complete set of milk or primary teeth.

The eruption sequence of milk teeth is as follows:



What are the symptoms of teething?

The baby can become highly irritable, cranky and fussy. Baby may even stop eating and drinking. We can see red and swollen gums, saliva drooling, red rash on chin or cheeks because of dribbling saliva, restlessness, sleeplessness and mild fever in some cases can occur in the range of 100–101 °F (37.8–38.3 °C).
And some lucky babies may even go symptom less.


Babies become cranky.

How to prevent the symptoms or how to soothe the baby?


It becomes a little tough time for both the baby and the parents. The parents need to have a lot of patience in order to deal with this situation and provide comfort to the baby.

  • Gently massaging or rubbing the gums with clean fingers can help. Babies respond to massage nicely.
  • We can give special toys called teethers to chew on, they are made of soft, non-toxic plastic or rubber safe for babies, this is because chewing aids in tooth eruption.

Baby biting on a teether.
  • We can give something clean and cold such as cold washcloth to the baby to chew on. Cold things help in suppressing the discomfort. Care should be taken that cold cloth should not be given for a long time.
  • We can also give some medications like pain killers and anti-pyretics for fever but ONLY after consulting the doctor. 
At this time babies have the tendency to put anything in their mouth and chew like their finger, your finger or just any object. So care should be taken that anything that is small and can chock the baby should be always kept out of reach of the babies like coins, small plastic objects, wire or any such dangerous things.

Baby biting on it's own finger and enjoying.

When to call a doctor?

Although it's a normal condition and consultation is not required but you should always consult if the symptoms or fever is aggravating.
                                        :) :) :) :) :)

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Want to make your teeth look whiter?

Teeth Whitening  or Bleaching is the most marketed or demanded procedure in cosmetic dentistry now-a-days. It is a procedure which makes our teeth appear white. We all want our teeth to glow and look beautiful like pearls and give us a beautiful and attractive smile.

Before and after bleaching.

 Why do we need to go for tooth whitening procedure?
 Simple, the answer is 'because our teeth look yellow or brown or you can say stained."
 Now , there are a number of causes which make our teeth discolored or stained. They are as follows:

 1) Internal factors causing Intrinsic stains
  •  Some discoloration is present by birth: When our teeth erupt, they are already discolored      (yellowish, brownish). This happens if the mother takes antibiotics like tetracycline or  doxycycline at the time of gestation or if children take these antibiotics before 8 yrs of age.
  •  High level of fluoride in drinking water of the locality causes fluorosis. 
  •  Trauma to tooth also causes internal bleeding in tooth leading to intrinsic stains like red, brown, green stain.
 2)  External factors causing Extrinsic stains
  •  Food items: Tea, coffee, cola containing drinks, etc
  • Tobacco and betel nut chewing, smoking.
  • Plaques and calculus.  
  • Mouthwash stains

 Am I the right candidate for teeth whitening?
      Yes, you can go for teeth whitening procedure if :
  • You don't have highly sensitive teeth.
  • Your gums are not receding.
  • You are not allergic to hydrogen peroxide or sodium carbamide.
  • You don't have any carious decay or fractured tooth (go for filling of teeth before whitening)

 What are the advantages of bleaching?
  •  Teeth bleaching or whitening gives you amazingly beautiful white teeth, which makes your smile beautiful.
  •  It helps in boosting your confidence and adds an edge to your personality, specially if you  have to give some presentations, apply for modelling or acting, if you are going to get married,  or attend some special function.
      Remember if your smile looks beautiful, you look beautiful...the world becomes a beautiful place for you. And with the whole new confidence you can win the world.


What are the limitations of teeth whitening?
   Teeth whitening or bleaching can not be done on teeth which are restored such as filling, crowns, veneers, bridges, because bleach can not alter the color of these materials.


What are the side effects of bleaching? 
   Bleaching causes tooth sensitivity and some gum irritation for a few days, which goes away easily with the help of sensitivity tooth pastes, mouth rinses.


 How is teeth whitening done?
   There are two ways of bleaching teeth:

   1) In Office Bleach; In this technique, you go to your dentist and the dentist uses a bleaching paste containing Hydrogen Peroxide to whiten your teeth. A gum protecting layer would be applied followed by the bleaching paste. The dentist can also use a laser light for whitening after applying the paste.


A gum protecting gel is applied before applying the bleach paste.

   2) Home Bleaching: In this technique, you buy over the counter bleach kit and use it yourself to bleach your teeth. You will get a custom made tray that can fit around your teeth and a bleaching paste. You have to put that paste in the tray and then wear that tray on your teeth. Since the tray is custom made, it may not fit properly on your teeth and the paste may cause irritation on your gums.


Home bleaching kit containing trays and bleaching paste.

 It is generally advisable to go for In Office Bleaching because the procedure is done by specialist and under proper supervision. 


How to take care of my teeth after bleaching is done?
      After bleaching you have to keep a few things in mind:
  • Maintain proper oral hygiene by brushing your teeth twice daily with a soft bristle brush, interdental brushes, dental floss, etc.
  • Do not use chlorhexidine containing mouth wash continuously for more than 2 weeks.
  • Try to reduce the intake of stain causing food items listed above.

 What would be the follow up schedule after bleaching?
     The truth about bleaching is that it is never permanent. The teeth may change color again after a few months or year. For maintaining the whiteness you'll have to go for some cleaning, polishing and touch ups from time to time.

                                                           Happy Tooth Bleaching :)




Wednesday, May 11, 2016

What is Teeth Cleaning? Does cleaning my teeth make them weak?

           Teeth Cleaning / Scaling or Oral Prophylaxis is simply a procedure of removing yellow and brown deposits on and around our teeth. It is a very essential part of maintaining our oral and general health.
           Most of us won't be knowing that our mouth is the mirror of our general health. By examining the oral cavity we can get to know a lot about someone's health, the diseases they have, the medications they are taking and a lot more. And the most important thing, the germs in our mouth can cause various kind of illness in our oral cavity as well as in our whole body ranging from fever, septicemia to serious illness like heart diseases.So, maintaining a good oral hygiene is really important for all of us.
          We dentists are observing that our Indian population is carrying a major myth about teeth cleaning or scaling procedure. And the myth is - "Cleaning teeth or Scaling make our teeth weak and they become mobile and ultimately fall at an early age".
          There's a big "NO" for this myth. "NO, THE TEETH DO NOT BECOME WEAK AND FALL BECAUSE OF CLEANING OR SCALING" Instead, our teeth become healthy and strong!
          The explanation to this goes as follows, in layman terms. when our teeth are dirty, when there are a lot of yellow and brown deposits on and around our teeth, the bacterial growth and multiplication is going on rapidly in our oral cavity in those deposits. As these bacteria grow, they produce acids and some other harmful metabolic products which in turn cause decay and dissolution of our teeth and the bone surrounding the teeth. These products keep on dissolving the bone and gradually the bone that holds and supports our teeth dissolves and our teeth become weak, they become mobile and ultimately they fall. So, in order to prevent our teeth from becoming weak and falling, we should always maintain our oral hygiene by getting our teeth cleaned by dentists, being regular in two time brushing the teeth and using other oral hygiene aids like dental floss, mouthwash,etc.


                                             
                      The deposits are being removed from the teeth with the help of scaler.                          

Before and after cleaning
               Therefore, we can see how 1) these deposits spoil our teeth and bones, 2) teeth cleaning or scaling is always helpful and never harmful for our teeth and also 3) it keeps our body healthy.