Dental care and hygiene should be given equal importance as any other health care people take up. A good set of teeth that are also healthy help you eat well and eat anything. Your teeth tend to lose their health as you age giving you lot of dental problems in old age.
Before preventing, you must know certain things about your teeth and dental hygiene to be able to prevent your teeth from any problem.
Teeth are protected by a hard, outer coating called enamel. Enamel covers your teeth and protects them from external harm. Though every day, a thin layer of plaque forms on your teeth which produces acids that can harm enamel and cause cavities. Brushing helps your teeth to remove plaque every day but if and once cavity is already formed, brushing cannot remove that set of cavity. A dental help is required then.
Almost everybody goes through dental problem at least once in their lifetime. There are people who almost never have to visit the dentist for dental cure as they are extra careful about their dental health. You can be one of those people who doesn’t have to visit the dentist for cures but must visit a dentist for regular check-ups.
To prevent your teeth from needing a dental cure, you must first and foremost brush twice every day for at least two minutes. According to a survey and studies, people brush only for 40 seconds on an average. This should be avoided at all cost. Brushing your teeth for two-minutes is essential and helps get rid of plaque from between two teeth.
Though almost every dentist tells you to floss once daily, you must not floss unless your teeth need to be flossed. Not every set of teeth requires flossing. Teeth that are naturally and nicely intact with no spacing in between them, usually do not require flossing and in fact can get unnecessary space between each tooth because of flossing. Hence, an expert opinion on flossing is essential here.
Cleaning of the tongue is important too. Food residues are also stuck on the outer layer of your tongue and can cause bad breath.
To keep healthy teeth, always avoid energy and soft drinks and chewing gums. Opening a bottle with your teeth instead of an opening can cause some serious damage to your teeth. Brushing roughly also causes your gums to weaken. Smoking must be avoided at all if good dental health is what you want.
When essential care is taken for your mouth and teeth, you will prevent your chances of requiring a dentist or getting any toothache caused by gums problems, tooth decay/cavity or oral cancer.
Oral hygiene practices like brushing and flossing are incredibly essential. Not caring for the teeth can cause them to decay and even fall off in extreme cases. Consequently, missing teeth can make chewing food complicated and cause extreme discomfort. To manage the problem, dentists affix dental implants in the jawbone that replace the lost teeth. Here is a quick guide on how implants work and their popular types and benefits.
How do dental implants work?
A dental implant effectively works both as a root and a tooth. The three components of a dental implant are:
Types of dental implants
The following are a few popular types of dental implants one may come across:
The best implant for a person will depend on their oral health and how much stress their bone structure can support at the time of the diagnosis. So, it is vital to do a detailed analysis and diagnosis before committing to a dental procedure.
Benefits of dental implants
There are several benefits to getting dental implants. Here are a few of them to explore:
Individuals suffering from missing teeth should speak to a dentist about the best treatment plan for them. The dentist can recommend a suitable type of dental implant to make chewing easier and lessen discomfort. The expert can also suggest tips to maintain the implant and prevent tooth problems in the future. However, it is important to note that dental implants are not the only solution to lost teeth. In some cases, the dentist may recommend using removable dentures or other alternatives.
Chronic migraine is a condition where the affected person experiences at least 15 headache days a month. It is observed that at least 8 out of these 15 days are migraine headaches with severe symptoms, and this pattern of discomfort remains consistent for 3 months. Initially, it may not be a frequently occurring episode, however, with time, the episodes may get regular with chronic headaches. If left untreated, this condition can affect a person’s life.
Causes
Several factors determine the onset of this kind of migraine. One of them includes a steady increase in the frequency of episodic headaches. Over-the-counter treatment options that are used to treat frequent headaches stop affecting over time, leading to side effects that develop into chronic headaches. Some other factors that can put an individual at a high risk of developing this condition include mood disorders like anxiety or depression, snoring, excessive caffeine intake, ongoing disturbed sleep patterns, and a history of stressful life events causing emotional or physical trauma. An unhealthy lifestyle leading to an increase in the body mass index (BMI) can also be a causal factor.
Symptoms
There is no difference between symptoms of chronic migraines and episodic migraines. However, the only thing to notice is the increased frequency of episodic headaches in a month. Some typical symptoms of this illness can be observed for timely diagnosis and treatment.
Transitioning symptoms (episodic to chronic migraines)
Diagnosis
A health professional will take a look at the affected person’s health history. If needed, the doctor may ask questions that help understand the migraine patterns. The questions include how and when the migraines begin, how long they last, are there any notable physical factors or triggers that worsen the condition, and where the location of the pain is.
The professional may also ask for a detailed history of other health conditions like anxiety, depression, lifestyle choices that may trigger these headaches, any treatment options used, and possible side effects that could be factored into the diagnosis. Based on the results, appropriate treatment methods will be advised and implemented.
Treatment options
Most of the treatment methods focus on managing the symptoms, the migraine attacks, and reducing the episodes and pain.
One of the treatment therapies includes focusing on lifestyle changes.
Some other treatment options for managing migraine attacks include:
Other techniques include:
Also, maintain a headache diary and note down the possible triggers and the number of migraine attacks in a month. If there’s a notable increase in the attacks, consult a doctor at the earliest. Knowing the triggers can help the doctor chalk out an effective treatment plan.
Preventive treatments and methods
Apart from treatment options that help manage the symptoms, there are preventive treatment methods that reduce the episodes of these headaches to a certain extent. These include using beta blockers and other therapies. One such treatment method also includes using an Allergan product named BOTOX®, which doctors recommend for those 18 years and older. The intravenous treatment method is administered around the neck or the head, where the migraine pain usually affects the person. This ten-minute procedure is not painful and can prevent headaches for three months. The procedure takes place in a doctor’s clinic under close supervision.
Chronic migraine can be painful and disrupt everyday life activities, so choosing the right treatment plan is crucial. Get all the information from a licensed health professional and seek the best possible treatment plan according to a detailed diagnosis.