Your teeth should last you a life time. Yet, having poor oral hygiene and making unhealthy food choices, can effect your teeth and your oral health. Even though poor oral health may not show up right away it will eventually given enough time.   There are many symptoms of poor oral health here are a few you should look out for.

1) Build up of plaque and tartar
2) Bleeding and/or painful gums
3) Consistent bad breath
4) Teeth sensitivity or pain
5) Decay in one or multiple teeth
6) Infection/Abscess that can cause dental pain
7) Loose teeth

Keep in mind the best way to avoid having these symptoms of poor dental health is by having good daily dental habits at home.  Also make sure to see your dentist regularly in order to maintain health teeth and gums.

Another look at an existing studies points toward a potential role for vitamin D in helping to prevent dental caries.   The review, published in the December issue of Nutrition Reviews, encompassed 24 controlled clinical trials, spanning the 1920s to the 1980s, on approximately 3,000 children in several countries. These trials showed that vitamin D was associated with an approximately 50 percent reduction in the incidence of tooth decay.

There are two categories for teeth whitening. First is extrinsic the removal of surface discoloration. Brushing your teeth is extrinsic whitening by physically removing colored biofilm adhering to teeth and uncovering the natural enamel underneath.

There there is intrinsic, changing the color of the tooth. Chemical bleaching is  intrinsic whitening it penetrates the surface and actually whitens the enamel. The bleaching procedure can be done professionally at a dental office or be a prepared product either in a dental office or at home under dentist supervision. It also can be done at home using over-the-counter products you can buy in most food stores.  You may want to talk over your whitening options with your dentist to find out what is the best choice for you.

Infants will tend to suck their thumb and while there are not teeth it will not hurt them to do so.  The real issue with thumb sucking comes from prolonged thumb-sucking.  Therefore it is in yours and your child best interest to do your best to discourage this thumb-sucking as your child gets older.  There are dental problems that may result from prolonged thumb-sucking in a child’s formative years.

One of the large dental issues linked to prolonged thumb-sucking is tooth misalignment.  If a child sucks his or her thumb for a long time, it can cause baby teeth to come in crooked. This can lead to issues with their permanent teeth later in life and in some cases, it can even affect the jaw alignment, causing your child to develop and underbite, crossbite, or overbite. However crooked teeth are not the only issue to prolong thumb-sucking. The roof of your child’s mouth may gradually become deformed if the sucking is frequent. This can lead to a number of issues later in life. The altered palate and crooked teeth may result in speech difficulties or impediments.

Many people fail to understand why they should take their child to see a dentist on or before their first birthday.  Yet there are many advantages to beginning dental visits at an early age.  One of he main one reasons is not really about receiving treatment at all.  The first dental visit is more to establish a comfort level for yourself and your child while under the care of a dentist.

It is better to build a relationship with a dentist over time, then to wait until an emergency happens and then have to have real treatment provided under stressful circumstances. The child will be less panicked and, hopefully, more comfortable when more extensive dental issues need to be addressed if he or she is introduced to the dentist early and if able to experience the dentist under less traumatic conditions.

Another reason is to monitor for early dental problems that may arise. One early concern is known as “baby bottle tooth decay” and is usually attributed to babies who are given a bottle to fall asleep with. In reality, babies’ teeth are susceptible to tooth decay as soon as they erupt, and overall gum health prior to the teeth coming in can have a huge effect on the long-term health of baby teeth.   Of particular concern is when an infant’s diet starts to include anything more than breast milk or formula, when more solid foods are introduced which may contain more sugars and ingredients or components that can encourage bacterial growth resulting in cavities.

General dentists would be your primary dental care provider. General dentist are also refer to as Family dentist as they are able to help patients of all ages. They can provide dental services to you and your entire family and they take care of your overall oral health.  Your general dentist takes responsibility for the diagnosis, treatment and overall coordination of services to meet your oral health needs. If you need a specialized dental procedure performed, the general dentist may either work with other dentists that are specialist or refer you out to a specialist in order to make sure you get the dental care you need.

A composite resin filling (white/tooth color filling) is a plastic and glass mixture used to restore decayed teeth. Composites can be used for cosmetic improvements as well such as changing the color of the teeth or reshaping disfigured teeth.

The main advantage of a composites would be aesthetics, since dentists can blend shades to create a color nearly identical to that of the actual tooth. Composites bond to the tooth to support the remaining tooth structure, which helps to prevent breakage and insulate the tooth from excessive temperature changes.

Lyme disease, which is initiated by a black legged tick, is difficult to diagnose, but your dentist may be able to detect this mysterious disease, reports the Academy of General Dentistry. Patients with Lyme disease report pain in their teeth, chewing muscles and jaw joint, which drives them to the dentist.    Based on a study of 120 patients with Lyme disease revealed that about 75 percent of patients reported pain in the chewing muscles, and 72 percent reported temporomandibular joint pain. Burning mouth was reported by 25 percent of these patients, and 70 percent reported a sore throat. About 47 percent of the patients visited up to 10 doctors before being properly diagnosed.

Poor dental health, especially tooth loss, is associated with several established cardiovascular risk factors, including diabetes, smoking, blood pressure, obesity and other novel risk factors, according to research being presented at the American College of Cardiology’s 62nd Annual Scientific Session.

The day a new “biotooth” can be grown in the gap left by a missing tooth as an alternative to having a false one implanted came a step closer recently when UK researchers revealed how they have developed a way to bioengineer new teeth from a person’s own gum cells.

Scientists have developed a new method of replacing missing teeth with a bioengineered material generated from a person’s own gum cells. Current implant-based methods of whole tooth replacement fail to reproduce a natural root structure and as a consequence of the friction from eating and other jaw movement, loss of jaw bone can occur around the implant.

A new study conducted by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Adelaide, Australia, has produced the strongest evidence yet that fluoride in drinking water provides dental health benefits to adults, even those who had not received fluoridated drinking water as children.

Mouse model studies show that administered genetically or topically, protein Smad7 protects against or heals mouth sores commonly associated with cancer treatment. In some cancer patients treated with radiation, the mouth sores known as oral mucositis become so severe that feeding tubes are required for nutrition and narcotics are needed for pain.

Microbes from the human mouth are telling Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists something about periodontitis and more after they cracked the genetic code of bacteria linked to the condition.

Researchers at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine and the Forsyth Institute published a study that found that a significant proportion of dental bib clips harbored bacteria from the patient, dental clinician and the environment even after the clips had undergone standard disinfection procedures in a hygiene clinic.

 Researchers from Tufts University School of Dental Medicine have discovered a statistical association between the injection of local dental anesthesia given to children ages two to six and evidence of missing lower wisdom teeth. The results of this epidemiological study, published in the April issue of The Journal of the American Dental Association, suggest that injecting anesthesia into the gums of young children may interrupt the development of the lower wisdom tooth.

Clinical trials continue. Data presented to oral medicine conference Cleaning your mouth and cleaning your arteries could be as simple as a once-a-day oral rinse if additional studies confirm preliminary findings about a new product.

Biomedical Development Corporation (BDC) on April 23 will present data to the American Academy of Oral Medicine showing that its oral rinse was safe and effective at fighting gingivitis in a recent clinical trial. But the most surprising finding of the study was that users of the oral rinse showed significantly lower LDL cholesterol levels than the placebo group.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is announcing a proposal to change the recommended fluoride level to 0.7 milligrams per liter of water. And the Environmental Protection Agency will review whether the maximum cutoff of 4 milligrams per liter is too high.

In an advance toward solving a 50-year-old mystery, scientists are reporting new evidence on how the fluoride in drinking water, toothpastes, mouth rinses and other oral-care products prevents tooth decay. Their report appears in the ACS journal Langumir. Karin Jacobs and colleagues explain that despite a half-century of scientific research, controversy still exists over exactly how fluoride compounds reduce the risk of tooth decay.

Beyond oral hygiene habits which hopefully you are maintaining, there are other bad habits that can hurt and damage your teeth. Such as grinding or clenching your teeth. Chewing or biting on pens and pencils or other hard object. These bad habits can chip, brake and ware down your teeth. Another bad habits that can effect your teeth, gum health and overall health would be smoking.

What your eat or drink can also effect your oral health. Drinking coffee or tea can stain your teeth. Even good foods can hurt your teeth just as oranges and apples can ware down your tooth enamel. This is not to say you can not have these types of food and drinks but to beware and informed so you can take the needed care maintaining healthy teeth and gums.  Make sure to talk to your dentist let him or her know your health and dental habits as well as any medical conditions so that your dentist can provide you with the best dental care that fits your lifestyle.