Our Family Dentist Office Can Treat Your Bad Breath

Bad breath is a common condition that we treat in our family dentist office.  While it is easy to write off bad breath as a cosmetic issue and a matter of inconvenience, it can actually mean quite more.  For example, bad breath can be a sign of gum disease or a tooth infection.  Just like your breath can smell bad when you have a fever or the flu, it can also smell bad with an oral infection.  This makes your breath a simple first sign of most physical issues.  
Is your breath bad or terrible? As silly as it sounds, this makes a difference.  Bad breath due to last night's nachos can be corrected by brushing your teeth, flossing, and rinsing with mouthwash.  If, however, you have terrible breath that doesn't get better with brushing, it may be due to a tooth infection.  Therefore, pay attention to how your breath really smells and give us a call if you notice that it is getting worse.  
During your dental exam, we will look for signs of an infection that needs to be removed.  If this is the case, we will remove it immediately prior to restoring the structure and appearance of the tooth itself.  The procedure that we most often complete on an infected tooth is a root canal.  This proven method involves creating a small hole in order to remove the infected area.  Once the infection is removed, the tooth will be restored in size, shape, and functionality so that you can go back to eating like normal while having better-smelling breath. We can perform this procedure while keeping you comfortable in our family dentist office.
If you don't have an infection but have gum disease instead, this can also lead to bad breath.  Gum disease is typically caused by a buildup of plaque and tartar on the portion of the tooth that is underneath the gums.  Since there is no way to clean this area at home, the only way that you can treat the condition is to have the gums deep cleaned in a dentist office. This involves getting in between the gums and tooth structure to break up and remove the plaque and tartar that is causing the irritation.  Once this is done, the gums tend to heal themselves and return to good health.
As a family dentist, we prefer to identify and treat conditions like gum disease in their earliest of stages so that you (our patient) doesn't have to experience the discomfort that can be caused by the advanced stages of infection.  Simultaneously, treating a condition like gum disease early is far less invasive than if the gums have started to recede and a gum graft is needed to restore them.  This is one reason it is important to pay attention to how your breath is smelling.  If you are otherwise healthy and have brushed your teeth, but your breath still smells, we want to see you as soon as possible in order to ensure that there are no underlying oral health conditions needing to be addressed.

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Steps to Take After Calling an Emergency Dentist

In our emergency dentist office, we understand that life can throw curve balls and when it does, it is important to have someone to care for you and your family.  In our office, we are available to help treat your dental emergency after hours and on the weekend.  If you have physical injuries as well, head to the ER first, otherwise call our office instead.  The ER doctors are not equipped to deal with dental problems so visiting them will only get you a referral to a dentist.
If you have a dental emergency, call our office then take these steps:

• Rinse your mouth.  It is important to gently rinse your mouth with water.  If possible use salt water since that is a natural antiseptic.  Spit out the blood and see if your mouth stops bleeding or if it continues to do so. This will give you an idea of the condition of your teeth and mouth along with the severity of your injuries.
• Locate your tooth.  If your tooth has been knocked out, try and locate it.  There are times where we can save your tooth in our emergency dentist office.  In order to make this a possibility, you must locate the tooth, rinse it in water without scraping anything off of it, and place it into a cup of milk.  The calcium in the milk will help to preserve the tooth, and if you get here fast enough, we may be able to save it.
• Use ice.  Whenever your mouth is injured, it will naturally swell.  We suggest using ice to help alleviate the swelling, which will also make your face, jaw, and mouth more comfortable.  Place an ice pack on the injured area for fifteen minutes at a time, with a fifteen-minute break in between.
• Take medicine.  If you are experiencing intense discomfort, use ibuprofen to help alleviate it while also reducing the swelling.  Just be sure to avoid aspirin since that is a blood thinner that can only make the problem worse, especially in advance of an emergency dental procedure. 
• Use gauze.  If your mouth continues to bleed, find some gauze and place it in your mouth on the way to our emergency dentist office.  This may help it to stop and at the very least, will make you more comfortable. 

We have found that it is incredibly common to injure a tooth.  While it is made of hard enamel, teeth are still brittle, and something like a car wreck or sports injury can leave your teeth broken or chipped.  According to the American Dental Association the most common cause of a tooth injury is playing sports, something that most adults don't consider dangerous.  With that in mind, we recommend wearing a mouth guard while playing or practicing so that you can stay safe and prevent a tooth injury whenever possible.  We also suggest having your teeth cleaned regularly since healthy teeth are stronger and less likely to become damaged.  Still, if an emergency strikes, call our emergency dentist office for a fast appointment.

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