Wordless Wednesday - Brushing teeth is important for toddlers too!
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Monthly Archives: August 2011
Smelly Rotten Tooth Monster
Have you ever met someone for the very first time and were completely shocked by the look of their teeth or the smell coming out of their mouth? You are not alone. You just want to say to them, “Man, that is nasty, you should really take care of your teeth more”. Most people just think this, and not saying this right to the other’s face. You may be the one other people are thinking this about. Stained (or rotten!) teeth are a real turnoff, and won’t help you winning any points with the opposite sex or at job interview for instance.
I do meet people that disgust me a lot by opening their mouth. I am not sure that it is not me that is focusing on this too much and seeing mouth conditions that are blowing my mind, but surely there are too many people out there not caring about their teeth enough.
Sometimes I see people with a lot of stain and cavity on and in between the teeth and they don’t seem to be bothered about it, they smile at me, other people while they disgust and shock me and all I can think is: “God damn, this person has not been brushing her/his teeth lately or maybe not at all.”
WHY? Why are people so careless about their teeth?
There is one more thing I just can not stand and this is more common than I or you would think. It is the rotten tooth smell. Once one of your teeth gets attacked by cavity, you’ll notice a strange taste/smell in your mouth, even though the cavity is small and hard to locate. BUT still, you should react on that immediately and get your tooth fixed (the smaller the cavity, the easier and cheaper to fill the tooth), and you’ll chase the “Smelly Rotten Tooth Monster” away.
I have to admit that I meet this “Smelly Rotten Tooth Monster” a lot, a bit too much. Even some of my close family members have it. My gynecologist (!!! he is driving a Mercedes and is really well off) has it. Teachers have it. Young children have it. AND they DISGUST me BIG time. This monster seem to be present everywhere.
WHY? Again WHY? I am not rich but I at least get the fact that oral health is as important as your own body health. We should all take care of our mouths better!
Do you think that this post was provoking? I told you that I had opinions.
My evening procedure
OK. Friends had already told me, my Hubby had already told me, my kids had already noticed my evening before-going-to-bed procedure. I told you in my previous post that I am obsessed about teeth. And so I developed this procedure of tooth brushing. I bet you already guessed that it takes time for me to go to bed. Haha.
- I go to the bathroom and start with washing my hands with soap and hot water.
- After this I dry my hands and use floss in between my teeth.
- Then I take my electrical toothbrush with extra soft brush attached, hold it under hot water, letting the brush become soft.
- I put special toothpaste that contains vitamin A and fluoride but WITHOUT sodium laureth sulfath (I am not going to write down it’s name here).
- I brush my teeth with the electrical toothbrush for 2-4 minutes.
- After this I grab an extra soft Swiss made special extra soft toothbrush and put some more toothpaste on it.
- I make sure to brush all over my teeth again with it and to brush even behind those hard-to-reach places like behind the wisdom teeth.
- I rinse my mouth twice (at least).
- Then I grab my tongue scraper and scrape thoroughly my tongue with it, as many time as it is needed to be clean.
- I rinse again.
- I make sure to clean all the devices properly before putting them back to their places.
- I remove my makeup (mostly eye makeup) using quite a lot of cotton pads and sticks.
- I wash my face with warm water.
- Then I clean my face (leaving my eyes out of the procedure) with special cleanser fluid.
- After this is done, I let it dry a bit then I apply anti-aging eye wrinkle cream around my eyes.
- I continue applying anti-aging night-cream on my face and neck.
- When this is all done I rinse my mouth with mouth water containing fluoride.
- I take a shower.
- I file my soles.
- I put body lotion all over my body.
- I go to bed.
- I apply foot cream on my feet (I am so afraid of getting those cracked soles )
- I put some lip balm on.
- I rub my hands with hand cream.
- NOW I am ready to sleep.
I do this every single day. Call me crazy, if you want to. I do call myself obsessed. Or do you think that this is normal? Never the less, do you as well have some odd “procedures”? I would be happy to hear them .
How the hell did I get so damn obsessed about teeth?
Back in my young ages I did not care too much about oral health. AND the worst problem was that my parents gave it a shit too. I AM VERY MAD AT THEM because of this. They let me brush my own teeth when I was small, and never ever checked me. As a small kid you don’t understand the importance of a good brush. I just had a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste, brushed my teeth (at most) twice a day, morning and evening and THAT was it. I did not even care about missing some of the brushing occasions or eating some candies or chocolate after brushing my teeth in the evenings. On the other hand I ave not even heard of floss or fluoride either.
As far as I can remember, my parents had very bad teeth, I recall my father with black and missing front teeth and both my parents with loose teeth at their late thirties already. This terrified me somehow, and that was the point when I got obsessed with my own oral hygiene.
At that time I had a bunch of holes (cavities) already in several of my teeth and by the age of 18 I had to have one of my teeth removed (pulled out). So I decided not to end up there where my parents were, so I tried to overcome my fear of THE DENTIST and started to visit a dentist. I got all of my teeth filled and fixed and since then I’ve been going there recently, even for check-ups without any reason.
Now I know that your oral situation does not only depend on the genes transfered from your parents (if they had bad teeth, you tend to have them too) but on the fact how you take care of them during your life.
I read a lot about oral care, simple and cosmetic dental procedures, filtering out everything valuable to apply on myself and my kids. I try making the oral situation better for my friends and family members as well by giving them advices, but they don’t seem to listen to me, everyone has this huge fear of dentist, and when they react it is most usually too late.
You can not imagine how much you can do for your teeth just by using floss once a day before going to bed!!! So if you are interested in my ramblings about oral hygiene, keep reading my blog, and I promise, I’ll try to give you some important information and relevant issues that are free of medical expresses and easy to read.
Wanna protect your baby’s future teeth?
I have talked about your own teeth during pregnancy already, but now it is time to talk about your newborn baby’s teeth.
You baby is born and you have everything in your life upside-down but still you have to concern some major issues about the baby’s future teeth.
Even when your baby is only a couple of months old, you should keep her gums healthy and clean. Gently wipe her gums with a wet, clean, soft cloth every day. The most important thing to remember is never to put your baby to bed with a bottle. Any kind of drink except water can cause a baby’s teeth to decay, even breast milk and infant formula. Other liquids that cause tooth decay are powdered fruit drinks, soda and juice. Any drink that contains sugar can cause tooth decay when your baby gets older. A two-month-old baby should drink only breast milk, formula or water.
Typically primary teeth will begin emerging from the gums at about 6 months of age. However, not every child is the same, so will begin teething as early as 2 months or as late as 1 year. Most of the kid experience pain when teething, there are actually a lot of symptoms to teething you will want to be aware of, such as: fussy, excessive drooling, loud crying, change in sleep habits, constant gnawing, loss of appetite, diarrhea, chin rash, and even ear aches. You can help by rubbing a cool washcloth on the gums or giving him cooled chew toys to help ease the pain. Be sure to give extra love and care during this traumatic time of his life.
These are some tips for you to follow in order to protect your baby’s future or present teeth:
- Always hold your baby or keep your eyes on him/her during feedings. Do not prop up the bottle or leave your baby alone with the bottle in the bed.
- If your baby needs a pacifier at bedtime, make sure it is clean and dry. NEVER EVER put the pacifier or bottle nipples in you own mouth (not even for a quick clean), because this would transfer the bacteria from your mouth to your baby’s mouth.
- Do not dip the pacifier in honey or sweet liquids. Your baby might like the sweet taste, but these liquids will cause tooth decay when her teeth come in. Germs and spores in honey can also make a baby sick, that is why honey is not recommended under the age of 1.
- Clean the nipples of your baby’s pacifiers and bottles by washing with soap and rinsing carefully and thoroughly with clean water. You could use a sterilizer in your microwave oven too.
How to clean your baby’s teeth?
Under the age of 6 babies, toddlers are too young to clean their own teeth, but what you can do is to start making their teeth cleaning a lifelong daily habit. Your baby learns most from watching you, so show him/her a good example by brushing your own teeth after every meal. Then clean your baby’s teeth by using a soft, wet, clean cloth to remove germs after every meal he eats. Start using toothpaste as soon as your baby gets his first tooth.
Make teeth cleaning a pleasant experience. That way your baby will want to try it on her own. In this case let him do it AFTER you have cleaned/brushed his teeth.
Is your unborn baby “sucking” all the strenght out of your teeth?
You can get to a point where you may think so. So did I during all of my pregnancies. My teeth kept breaking and I definitely felt that they were getting weaker and weaker not mentioning those inflammations that popped out time after time. You start wondering…
He are some facts about oral health during pregnancy:
- Pregnancy is truly a delicate time for expectant women because of the drastic hormonal changes that affect practically every aspect of their bodies, including their oral health. During pregnancy, the risks of gum disease increases, which also puts the baby’s health at risk. This is why taking good care of teeth as well as gums is very important for pregnant women.
- There is an old wives’ tale -which is not totally true-, that one loses a tooth with each pregnancy, and while women will certainly notice a difference in their oral health during and after their pregnancy, there are a number of steps they can take to minimize the risk and ensure their teeth stay as healthy as possible.
- Oral hygiene during pregnancy is very important to maintain. Due to the change of hormonal balance the gums may become irritated by dental plaque. Brushing at least twice a day and flossing daily after meals will help prevent dental decay and gum inflammation. Pregnancy Gingivitis is not fatal, but it is often very painful and can cause bleeding bleeding gums. Buy and use an extra soft toothbrush and use dental floss to avoid this.
- Attending dental check-ups regularly, even during pregnancy is highly recommended. You do not have to be afraid of pain-killer injections as they only take regional effect. BUT avoid any bigger dental treatments when you are on your first trimester that can harm your baby, such as dental X-rays.
- Make sure to maintain a diet that is both healthy and balanced, it should contain a lot of cheese, yogurt and other dairy products, all of which are excellent sources of essential minerals that help develop strong teeth and gums. The baby’s first set of teeth form during the pregnancy’s first trimester (12 weeks).
Try to remember these basic facts and you’ll manage your teeth health during your pregnancy just as fine as I did. Cheers!
Crowns for the teeth - is that a good solution?
Despite the fact that there are numerous types of different dental care issues, there are some really common approaches towards these problems. One of the most common dental approaches to many dental care issues to use the crowns for teeth.
The crowns for teeth have been used for many years but they started to become even more popular these days because of several reasons. First of all, in the past the crowns were made of low- quality materials. Also, only the people from the lower classes used to wear those things because the richer people have different options ahead of them.
One of the most common reasons why the people used to neglect the dental crowns is the fact that they were made of really bad materials. Some people experience some really unfortunate allergic reactions and this is the primary reason why they had to leave those dental crowns for good.
However, nowadays all this is changed. Nowadays, the dental crowns are made of high quality materials and this is the main reason why the people are going to feel extremely happy about that. In the past, the dental crowns disturbed the natural appearance of the tooth. Nowadays, thanks to the new technologies and the different materials, which are used in the process of creation of those dental care structures, the dental crowns are not going to disturb the natural appearance of the tooth. They are going to look absolutely white and this is the primary reason why the people are going to be quite happy about that.
One more thing, the dental crowns are made of porcelain these days. This is going to become a golden standard in the process of creation of those dental care structures. You may ask why. Well, you must know that the dental crowns, made of porcelain, are going to look absolutely natural in the tooth because they appear white. Also they are strong enough and that is how the general strength of the tooth is improved tremendously. This is something that all people want and that is how the people are going to enjoy to have some of the best dental crowns in their teeth.
Dandruff? Go natural!
Dandruff is a skin disease that knows no boundaries and affecting millions all around the world, cutting across age and race. Dandruff, also called seborrheic dermatitis is an itchy, flaky and persistent skin disorder of the scalp, without redness. The scalp sheds dead skin cells in large numbers and dandruff appears as dry, white or greyish flakes usually on the top of the head. It is normal to continuously shed some dead skin flakes, as the skin is constantly renewing itself. With dandruff, this whole process of skin renewal speeds up, so a greater number of dead cells get shed. In addition, the cells are shed in clumps, which are big enough to be seen with the naked eye as embarrassing flakes. The scalp may also feel slightly or very itchy in some cases.
Treatment of dandruff
Dandruff is a natural process. Elimination takes time, but you can manage and control it. Treatment of dandruff is directed at fighting the skin inflammation. This is done either directly, by using cortisone-based creams and lotions (which reduce inflammation), or by reducing the yeast that builds up on scaly areas and adds to the problem.
- Keep the hair and scalp clean, to decrease the accumulation of dead cells. Wash frequently so that flakes do not build up.
- Brush your hair daily to improve the circulation and remove any flakiness (even for you with short hair).
- Massage the scalp daily using the fingertips. This stimulates the circulation, dislodges dirt and dandruff and helps in the hair growth.
- Avoid spicy and greasy food because it helps dandruff to increase and spread. Add more fresh and green vegetables and fruits to the diet. Have a balanced diet containing lots of vitamin A, B6, B12. Avoid intake of fried foods, sugar, chocolates and nuts. Strong tea and coffee and processed food should be avoided as well.
Natural home made remedies
Most of the dandruff shampoos claiming to reduce dandruff contain Zinc Pyrithione, Nizoral and salicylic acid to contain the growth of fungi and reduce dandruff. However, the more chemical you apply to your skin, chances of reactions are always a concern.
- Rub onion onto scalp. Onions are high in sulphur, which is essential for a healthy scalp.
- Avoid dyeing hair, unless an absolute must. We all have bacteria on our scalp, some of which are beneficial. This ‘good’ bacteria prevent dandruff yeast, and hair dyes reduce their numbers.
- Garlic whether eaten or applied externally is excellent for fighting dandruff.
- Apple cider vinegar (diluted with equal amount of water) when massaged onto scalp helps curb dandruff. It is a natural antiseptic.
- Lemon juice or sour curd when applied onto scalp is also useful.
- Fenugreek seeds - ground into a fine paste, applied onto scalp, and left for half an hour.
- Juice of bitter gourd when massaged with oil onto scalp relieves dandruff.
- Boil some neem leaves in 4 teacups of water. After cooling and filtering, use for washing hair.
- Numerous herbs are beneficial to the skin and scalp and can be made into a rinse, or added to your shampoo. For example: Comfrey, Thyme, Plantain, and Licorice.
- Essential oils are also effective dandruff cures. Some essential oils that are particularly beneficial are: Rosemary, Thyme, Sage, Lavender, Lemon, Cypress, and Tea Tree.
You can add a few drops of any of the above essential oils to your favorite herbal shampoo. Essential oils can also be added to vinegar to make a massage oil mixture for dandruff. You’ll need:
- one tablespoon of cider vinegar
- 5 drops of Thyme
- 3 drops of Sage
- 3 drops of Cypress
- 5 drops of vegetable oil (e.g. evening promise, jojoba, carrot)
Mix the above listed items and add them to one ounce of spring water. Use about one teaspoon of the mixture each time, massage into the scalp (not the hair) every night before going to bed.
Remember! Treatment for dandruff is not a one-time affair. Dandruff comes back, if regular care on a daily basis is not taken. Consult a doctor if your scalp is red and itchy or if the skin is flaky around the eyebrows, round the nose or behind the ears, because you might be having a more severe form of seborrhoeic dermatitis.
Inexpensive cosmetic dentistry - does it exist?
Many people wonder whether cheap cosmetic dentistry exists. This is absolutely normal, when you take the following facts into consideration:
First of all cosmetic dentists are a special type of dental care experts. This means that their first job is to graduate from the dental schools and universities. This process takes between 5 and 7 years, depending on the type of the universities and the additional sub- specialties. After that this dentist has to master the art of cosmetic dentistry. This means that he has to put more efforts and money into his education. These are the primary reasons why the ordinary people do not believe that they are going to manage to find a cheap cosmetic dentist.
However, they are not entirely right. Yes, finding these specialists is quite a challenge, but there are some really good methods, which might help you find the right dental care experts who deal with cosmetic problems. The easiest way to do that is to search the internet. You can try something like “cheap cosmetic dental services near….”. Fill in the location where you live, so you might find some dentists that live near your town. This is a really convenient method and you are going to be more than happy to know that there are some really good dentists who live near you.
When you are browsing the Internet, you can see the dentist’s profile and his patient’s comments. Read trough all the comments because they are a valuable source of information that should not be underestimated. There are many people who neglect that and this is the main reason why they may turn up to be disappointed because of the dentist that they have chosen. Reading trough the comments lets you to see the patients’ personal feelings about this dentist and how the patients assess his skills and manners. All of this really matters, when you are looking for the best dental care specialist, who deals with cosmetic issues. People who follow these simple rules are going to find the dental care provider that they have been looking for.
Bad breath? I give you some “home-made” solutions.
A large number of people suffered from bad breath and they are not realizing it themselves until someone pointed it up to them. Everyone gets bad breath sometime and here are some alternative methods of fighting it before you would run to your dentist.
Some alternative home made solutions to fight bad breath:
- Herbs
Instead of toting around breath mints to fight bad breath after a meal, carry a tin or baggie of herbs such as mint (the real one), thyme, fennel, cinnamon, anise, or cloves. Chew any of these after meals to fight bad breath.
- Baking soda
You know baking soda as an ingredient in recipes, however it is also used in laundry and refrigerators to combat odor. Use it orally to fight bad breath. Simply add some to your toothbrush, add a little water, scrub and rinse.
- Salt water
Rinse your mouth out with warm water and salt. This is also a remedy used to help get rid of a sore throat.
- Lemon or lime water
Rinse your mouth out and gargle some lemon or lime juice mixed with warm water
- Essential oils
Essential oils are plant extracts which means you’re getting a strong concentration of the plant’s benefits. Many essential oils have qualities that can fight bad breath. One home remedy is to add a few drops of tea tree oil to your toothpaste before brushing. For mouth wash, add one drop of Myrrh oil to warm water.
- Parsley or mint
When parsley or mint is used as a garnish, there is a reason for that. It is also meant to be eaten to help fight bad breath from odorous meals. This bad breath home remedy
has been used for thousands of years.
- Apple cider vinegar
For such an odd smelling liquid, vinegar has many uses and can help cure quite a few ailments as already reveled in one of my earlier posts. Add a little bit of apple cider vinegar to your water and drink it at least once per day. This will work for loosing some weight too .
And here you go some ineffective solutions that probably won’t work:
- Overusing mouthwash
This can actually make your bad breath worse by contributing to a dry mouth.
- Breath mints
This method of fighting bad breath only masks the problem and can contribute to tooth decay which also creates bad breath.
- Chewing gum
Chewing gum, like breath mints, is not good for fighting bad breath since it only hides the smell. A better alternative to gum is water as a method of avoiding dry mouth.
And at last let me share the favorite motto of a friend with you:
“When your mouth stink onions, you can always take that smell away with some garlic!”
