Common Tooth Problems & Tips on When to See a Dentist

Having a beautiful smile isn’t all about appearance only. It’s about your health as well. In fact, that’s something that must always come first, before anything else, because if your teeth aren’t healthy, that’s going to impact your overall well-being.

The reality is that everybody wants to have healthy teeth and gums, but sometimes, people are afraid to go to the dentist for a variety of different reasons. If that’s the case with you, then you must find a way to overcome that fear to avoid any major teeth-related issues.

There are numerous problems that may strike your teeth, and today, this article is going to focus on the most common ones, along with the warning signs that will tell you that it’s time to pay a visit to your dentist. So let’s check them out together!

The Most Common – Tooth Decay

Tooth decay is known as dental cavity and dental caries as well, and it’s probably an issue that almost everyone has dealt with at some point in their lives. It happens when bacteria create a film, so-called plaque on the surface of the tooth.

Then it starts generating acids from all the sugar in food. The acids then completely ruin the outer layer, or the enamel of your tooth, and then continue to damage the softer dentin layer that's below the enamel.

All of this results in holes in your tooth and/or cavity. People then start experiencing mild to severe toothache, which becomes the primary reason why they decide to go to a Dentist South Perth expert or any other seasoned and skilled dentist. Besides this very common symptom, you can also experience these:
1. A strange taste in the mouth
2. Bad breath
3. Brown or black spots on the tooth

Your dentist will first start analyzing your tooth decay to see the level of damage it has done, and then provide you with the right treatment, which may involve crowns, fillings, and/or root canal.

Even though this problem is pretty common, it can easily be prevented, if you regularly brush your teeth (twice per day is going to cut it), and floss them too. Of course, it’s also very important to go to your dentist on a regular basis, even if you do not experience any symptoms.

Moving On to Gum Disease

Gum disease (also known as gingivitis) happens when plaque piles up around the teeth and infects the gums, which leads to swelling and some type of irritation. If not treated on time, it can result in periodontitis which can lead to various issues, such as painful chewing, bleeding gums, tooth loss, and receding gums.

This is another tooth problem that’s relatively common, especially among adults over the age of thirty. The most effective treatment for it is antibiotics, along with a deep cleaning which normally includes root planning and scaling to eliminate plaque and tartar, and, at the same time, alleviate the damage caused by gum disease.

If a person is dealing with advanced periodontitis, then they may need to have surgery, but that's something your dentist will determine.

Missing A Tooth

This is another problem that’s quite common among adults, hardly ever among children. A person may have one or more missing teeth for numerous reasons. The most common ones include the following:
- Gum disease – Over time, if not treated on time, gum disease can destroy both teeth and bones, which can cause tooth loss.
- Hypodontia – This is a medical condition that occurs in people who were born without at least one tooth. Although this is something that may happen to anybody, it's frequently hereditary and can impact teeth in any region of your mouth.

Different types of injuries – People can lose teeth because of any accident of any kind, like falling downstairs, sports injuries, and many others.

Missing a tooth may seem like something that’s relatively benign, however, at times, it can be really inconvenient, not allowing people to properly chew their food. Aside from that, if you keep neglecting this, you will increase the chances of dealing with other tooth-related problems.

That’s precisely why you shouldn’t ignore this issue, but instead, go to your dentist as soon as possible. Luckily, there are several treatments that your dentist can utilize to effectively tackle this problem, and the most common ones include these:
- Dental bridges
- Dental implants
- Braces or any other orthodontics

Whether we like to admit it or not, teeth are generally very fragile and susceptible to all kinds of problems. Today, this informative guide focused on the ones that are quite common, but that can easily be resolved.

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