Dr. Endre Selmeczy is a dentist and has answered some of the common questions bizymoms visitors have about Oral Health.
Q. What Causes Tooth Loss?
A. Nature takes care of our baby teeth. We lose them usually by our early teen years. That is normal. In some cases we retain some of our baby teeth longer and lose them at a later time. Once our baby teeth are replaced by our adult teeth, we are supposed to keep those for life. However, there are many reasons why you could lose your adult teeth prematurely. Here are just few of them:
Gum disease (Periodontal disease)
Tooth decay
Failing dental restorations
Medical conditions and certain medications
Poor nutrition
Excessive sugar intake between main meals, such as soft drinks
Injuries
Grinding your teeth (Bruxism)
Recreational drug use
Q. What Causes Periodontal Diseases?
A. The cause of the most common form of gum disease is bacteria trapped inside of the dental plaque. There are also several risk factors which could make the disease progress faster, doing more damage to our body quicker.
Here are some of the risk factors:
Smoking
Diabetes
Medical conditions and certain medications
Genetics
Poor Oral Hygiene
Stress
Pregnancy and hormonal changes
Drug abuse
Q. Can Periodontal Diseases Be Prevented?
A. Yes. Eliminating as many risk factors as possible and the use of a dental professional to maintain an ideal oral health could prevent the most common forms of periodontal diseases. A very rare form of the disease, which is not really significant can’t be prevented due to low frequency of this particular form of the disease.
Q. How Does Plaque Attack the Gums?
It is actually not the plaque itself doing the attack. The bacterial activity and their end products doing the damage to our gums and eventually to the bone structure supporting our teeth. Plaque due to the bacterial activity turns into a hard, rock like substance called calculus which could irritate our gums, creating some swelling and bleeding of the gum tissue. Left unattended the end result could be disastrous to the patient. All of the teeth could be lost as well as it could create serious medical risks. Gum disease has been linked to several illnesses such as heart disease, stroke, premature birth so on.
Q. How Do You Stop Plaque Attacks?
A. Plaque build up can’t be stopped, but it could be kept under a certain threshold level so it would not do harm or damage to your teeth or to your gums.
The important elements to do that are:
Remove plaque daily, practicing good oral hygiene habits
Minimize sugar intake between main meals
Ideal dental care to minimize the presence of cavities, defective fillings, crowns, bridges, ill-fitting dentures or any failing dental restoration.
Use of topical fluoride
Q. How many times a day should I brush my teeth?
A. Brush at least twice a day (morning and night before bed time) and floss at least once a day. Ideally brush and floss after every meal.
Q. What kind of toothpaste should I use?
A. Generally speaking you have the freedom to pick and choose your personal favorite and it would not make a significant difference, as long as you follow the correct brushing guidelines. Most of the toothpastes on the market are ADA (American Dental Association) approved containing fluoride and tartar control substances. Some of them have bleaching materials as well. If you use one of the teeth whitening toothpaste the ADA seal is important to look for to make sure it is safe to use. In conclusion , if you pick any of the toothpaste approved by ADA, you are okay.
Q. How to contact Dr. Selmeczy if we have further questions?
A.
Address:
489 North L St.
Livermore, CA 94551
Phone: 925-447-8344
Fax: 925-447-4074
Email: selmeczy@pacbell.net
Website: www.livermoresedation.com
