When you’re struggling with diabetes, you can often experience further problems with your oral health. Part of this has to do with your poor circulation; when your blood isn’t flowing at an optimal rate, your body is less able to fight infections. Therefore, when bacteria begins to thrive in your teeth, it takes longer to get it under control.

Meanwhile, the blood of a diabetic individual is generally more saturated with glucose. This same glucose can travel from your blood into your mouth, where your oral bacteria is able to feed on it in the same way it would feed off of other sugary substances. This is why people with diabetes are more likely to require dental implants and other serious dental procedures.

To make matters worse, if you’re unfortunate enough to contact gum disease, you’re only aggravating your diabetes. It has been shown that diabetic patients suffering from gum disease require more medication, and their condition becomes more manageable after their gum disease is controlled. With this in mind, be sure to take special care of your teeth if you struggle with diabetes.

Do you habitually grind your teeth? This condition, technically known as bruxism, is highly damaging to your teeth. If allowed to go on for too long, you will break down the top surface of your teeth, invite serious tooth decay, and throw your teeth and jaw out of alignment. Severe cases may call for dental implants and other extensive reconstructive dentistry. Fortunately, there are ways to manage bruxism:

Stress is a big cause of bruxism. Identify the stressors in your life, and try to manage them.
Some bruxism is brought on by discomfort in your mouth. If you are experiencing pain, talk to your dentist.
Cut back on alcohol consumption.
Cut back on caffeine.
Avoid chewing anything that isn’t food. Chewing gum, bottle caps, ice, pens; all of these put you in the habit of clenching.
You can train the muscles in your jaw to relax by placing the tip of your tongue between your teeth.
Sometimes, people only grind during the night. Try relaxing your muscles before going to sleep, applying a warm washcloth to the sides of your face.

The gap left behind by a missing tooth is not ideal for your oral health. Teeth adjacent to this gap will tend to drift in to fill the void, which compromises your bite and encourages a loss of bone structure in your jaw. This is why it is important to have a lost tooth replaced by an effective dental implant.

But what about smaller gaps, like the ones existing between two teeth that are just a bit further apart than they should be? Some people fear that such gaps may make them more susceptible to tooth decay. The good news is that this is a myth; actually, since it is easier to clean between these teeth, you may actually be less likely to get a cavity than if your teeth were too close together.

Unfortunately, if the gaps between your teeth are too big, it probably means that they’re crooked. One tooth may be crowding another, or drifting into the space left behind by a missing tooth. Talk to your dentist to learn more, and visit Bellevue Dental Implants for all of your implant needs.

Bulimia is an unfortunate eating disorder, similar to anorexia. The difference between the two is that, while anorexia entails dangerous under-eating, bulimia is where you eat all you want and then purge it from your system immediately thereafter before it is absorbed by your system. Bulimic individuals generally look healthier than anorexics, as they manage to get at least some of the nutrients they need. However, in many ways, they are actually worse off.

It is very common for a person struggling with bulimia to lose one or more teeth. Part of this may be attributed to the lack of adequate calcium and other nutrients needed to keep your oral cavity healthy, but the biggest danger when it comes to bulimia is the constant vomiting. When you vomit, you are exposing your fragile mouth to the brutal acids of your stomach. The effects of the occasional stomach flu aren’t anything that you can’t deal with, but when you vomit multiple times a day every day, you’re going to quickly break down your gums and tooth enamel.

If someone you know struggles with bulimia, encourage him or her to stop before he or she loses any teeth. Should the damage already be done, visit us for a dental implant in Bellevue.

Some households are more prone to tooth decay than others. There are many reasons to account for this; perhaps the family just has bad dining habits, maybe they’re not getting their regular dental visits, and maybe they’re genetically disposed to decay. According to a study from New York University, the amount of conflict going on in the house also plays a big role in how many cavities you have.

This study demonstrated that individuals living in troubled homes, regardless of economic class, average more cavities than those with positive family lives. Every above-average increase in one partner’s verbal or physical aggression toward his or her spouse represents a significant rise in cavity occurrence. Women showed an average of 3.5 more cavities, men had an average of 5.3 more, and children exhibited 1.9 more cavities for every above-average increase of aggression.

The problem is likely a multi-faceted one. First of all, noxious home environments undermine regular routines, like brushing and flossing. Meanwhile, such a stressful situation encourages people to indulge in comfort foods, many of which are sugary.