Monday, May 6, 2013

Do not Ignore your Teeth and Gums

I have always been wondering about the job prospects of thousands and thousands of dentists who pass out every year from various colleges across the country. I think in India dental problems are not given much importance expect in some sections of the society, usually the well off.
                A lot of mouth related problems occur due to lack of awareness and unhealthy eating habits. Bleeding gums is a very common pronlem with majority of the population in India and in 99% of the cases this is left untreated.
                 The incident that i am sharing with you people happened to one of my close friend. Deepak was a very healthy and bright guy, very regular in doing his fitness regime with utmost discipline all the time. He had graduated couple of years ago and was doing pretty well in his marketing job.
                One unhealthy habit of Deepak was binge eating and snacking at odd times of the day, especially the sticky foods which he used to eat on a regular basis. His marketing job involved a lot of travel and unlike many other office goers, rinsing and washing mouth after eating was not a choice he had. Not sure if he would have done that if he had one :-) Months passed by, he constantly complained to me about sensitivity of teeth while eating cold/hot food items. Blood while brushing his teeth in the morning, gum pains etc. He kept on ignoring all these symptoms like the majority of the population in India.
                Just last week, i got a call from Deepak's mother about his hospitilization. I was shocked and rushed to the hospital to see what had happened. I understood, unlike many others, his dental problems got so severe that they had to extract all of his lower jaw due to bacterial infection. Understood from the doctors that this might not be the case with everyone but there is a possibility if regular check ups do not happen.
               Just realized how important dental care was and tried to list down some of the best practices for  healthy gums and teeth, this list was given to meby the doctor.

1. Always rinse your mouth before and after meals and also after snacking.
2. Avoid sticky foods, especially during evenings and nights.
3. Drink lots of water through out the day.
4. Do not use toothpick/sharpobjects to pick your teeth.
5. Change your tooth brush at regular intervals of time.
6. Brush your teeth gently, do not put too much pressure and do not over brush.
7. Always clean your tongue with a tongue cleaner.

            Folks try to follow atleast some of these, if not all, would go a long way in protecting your teeth and gums from infection and other mouth related diseases


Hope some of the above best practices in dental care will help you in having a long lasting teeth and gums.
Regards,
Girish