A DEAD PULP/TOOTH

                                  

" Aunty na so them born me o! "....that was the first thing he told me as soon as I mentioned that his front teeth were discoloured. Now tell me, do they ever give birth to a baby and he/she comes out with a tooth? (except for some rare cases) not to talk of the first upper incisors  having a totally different darker colour from the adjacent teeth.

He is my friend and my patient but this time, I knew he got something mistaken.
You see many of us assume that because we've always seen a particular deviation in our mouth for a long period of time, we conclude that it's normal. In this case, my friend had a condition we call a  "dead tooth". When a tooth is considered "dead" it means the nerve is dead and the supply to that tooth has been cut off. Have you ever seen someone who when he/she smiles a particular tooth stands out cos its very dark and funny looking?

This condition happens mostly to the front teeth (incisors). Soon after it dies, you won't see any difference immediately. It looks like any other tooth. But after a period of time, sometimes years, the tooth starts becoming darker. Uhnnn!

WHAT CAUSES THIS?

TRAUMA
When a tooth gets hit or traumatized. If the blow is severe enough, the tiny blood vessels at the tip of the root can get squashed. This can reduce the blood supply to the nerve inside the tooth root. Or even cut off the blood supply completely.
Without a proper blood supply, the tooth nerve will start to die. Unfortunately, once this process starts, it cannot be stopped or reversed. Sometimes the tooth will become very painful as the nerve dies. This is called pulpitis. Sometimes the nerve can die quietly, without you feeling anything.

DECAY
If a tooth gets a cavity and decays, then bacteria in the decay will start to irritate the nerve, causing tooth nerve pain. If you let this go untreated, the bacteria will eventually reach the nerve. The nerve becomes infected. Then it will start to die.

MANY YEARS OF HEAVY USE!

Sometimes a tooth can die if it takes a lot of the "weight" of your bite. Many people clench their teeth at night when they are asleep.

This can put a very heavy load on one or two teeth. The tiny blood vessels at the tip of the root become compressed, reducing the blood supply to the nerve. If this happens very often (ie. every night), and severely enough, the nerve will eventually die.

         When a single front tooth is darker than the rest of the teeth, it draws more attention to a smile's imperfection than when all is discolored. This can be very challenging. But then, leaving a dead tooth untreated for a long time is like a time bomb waiting to explode. It could lead to a tooth infection which can in turn lead to a bigger problem.

      

                                         SO WHAT SHOULD YOU DO
There are only two treatments for a dead tooth, one is to have it taken out. ( Of course you know I won't advice you to do that). The other is to save the tooth with a root canal treatment and then you have an option to restore the tooth colour back by either internally whitening the tooth or putting a crown/veneer on it.

"With this few points of mine I hope I have been able to convince and not confuse you that a dark-single or double, abnormally looking teeth is "Not Normal". Lol. 

                
                 Alright people, more tips will be coming your way soon. Cheers.

              

A LETTER FROM YOUR TEETH

                 

Am there with you all the time, morning, noonday and night, I stand with you during cheerful time and sad times, I helped you grasp those meals you couldn't hold on your own, I bent my back and allow you crushed those bones too strong for you, when the aroma arose and your stomach grumbled, I was the one who squashed the meal and satisfied your hunger, when you needed that job, I was one of the tools you used, when you met your love, I was there, attracting you two, you wake up each day and you use me all through the day, showing people through your smile how you feel. I was there, standing looking out for you and every time you open your mouth, I made sure I showed myself even if its just one or two of me so people will know you still have it going. I arranged myself and told my other siblings to arrange themselves as well so we can give your face a beautiful profile, so everyone would want to admire you.

So how come you never pay attention to me, how come even when you do, you just talk to Me once everyday for maybe less than two minutes, you give other part of you your time and love, you shower love on your body, pampering it with water and spa session, you take care of your hair, which is not so much as important as I am, you go for pedicure and manicure, yet you ignore me, you know sometimes I need to be cured! Give me time! 

Pamper me sometimes I beg you! I need it! I want it! I long for it! Please even when you want to clean me don't use that soft toothbrush, it just caresses the dirty on me and please NOooooo!! Not even the hard one (esp. The smoker's toothbrush) do you want to kill me? Use the medium toothbrush, I love that one best, it doesn't hurt me yet am cleaned. Also please can I ask for one more request? Can you give me a treat of SCALING and POLISHING at least twice a year? Its not too much to ask for, is it? Just twice in 365 days.

Its because I care that's why I want to prevent you from losing me through all those dental problems your dentist said exist. I love you so much and I love working for you, so please don't loss me yet, am the only one that will still remain after you're gone besides my uncle the bone. Its with me they can identify you after you're gone if need be. So Please take care of me don't ignore me, am begging you.

        Yours sincerely,

          Your Teeth.

WHY YOUR CHILD NEEDS A VISIT TO THE DENTAL CLINIC

          I know we don’t have children reading this blog but many of us have once been a child at one point in time and many of us have those little bundles of joy right now. Ever wondered what good you’re impacting on the children’s life by taking them to visit the dental clinic.

“I want to be a dentist when I grow up” so said a little damsel I just finished scaling and polishing 0n. Why? I asked. “When I grow up I want to wear this white gown you have on” referring to my clinical wear. That may have been one of the absurd reasons of wanting to be a dentist but to her it was the most important. It wasn’t surprising that this young upcoming dentist was relaxed enough as to want to be a dentist (which even an adult is scared of) this was her fourth visit in the five years she has lived. Tell me, why won’t she be familiar with us? And trust me she wasn’t coming because of pain, she was just having her routine checkup and scaling and polishing done.
Now I know someone reading this would  wonder how many teeth she has at that age to go through those troubles. 


The answer is “it doesn’t matter “. INCURE IN YOUR CHILD THE HABIT OF GOING TO THE DENTAL CLINIC AT AN EARLY AGE AND YOU’LL REAP A GOLD MIME OF 32 PERMANENT TEETH STILL IN PLACE IN HIS OR HER ADULT LIFE. Have you ever wondered how much money you have banked in your mouth? Let me give you an insight. For example, the least procedure in our clinic is 10,000 Naira per tooth, multiply it by 32 and you can pay someone’s salary for his or her entire working years. Mind you I said the least the most is within the range of 250 to 500 thousand per tooth, now you do the maths for 32 teeth. You see why it’s necessary to pay attention to your teeth? Whereas, the most routine treatment, scaling and polishing cost only ten thousand Naira for the whole teeth.






Imbibing the dental habit in your child helps save much stress and money at a later date. They become familiar with the dental environment thus eliminating or reducing the phobia for dental procedures. Most adult patient who are not dentophobic are patients who may have picked up the habit of dental visit as a child or while growing up. Also, note that going to the dental clinic as a child and regularly as an adult helps keep your teeth where they belong, in their socket inside your mouth!



 So friends if you have those lovely angels, take them to the dental clinic regularly. A routine checkup won’t hurt, remember prevention is always better than cure.

TOOTHPICK VERSUS DENTAL FLOSS

                               

                            vsvs

         In the world where Nkwobi, isi ewu, peppe soup, tasty fried chicken, goat meat, snail sauce and the likes of them holds a large trumpet that beacons on our appetite almost every time exist, toothpick seems to have taken the post of a caretaker.

            

Welcome again to our dental session, hope like never before your dental habits have improved? I want to believe so. By the way to get more info about your dental health education tips, you can follow me on twitter @sdc_nigeria and facebook; @smilesdotcom. Today we will talk about dental floss as against toothpick.

Although toothpick has added to the economy of Nigeria and its makers, it has contributed negatively to the dental tissues ( teeth and supporting structure ) of many individuals. Not only that it is dangerous to your gums and surrounding structure but it is most widely abused. It can be gotten in so many places like eateries or 'mama put' and even our homes. A discovery made by researchers has proven that dental floss is 100% better than toothpick, overly beneficial to your gums and surrounding structures and cannot go wrong. It doesn't matter how much you use it, no dentist will tell you " you floss too much".

In between our teeth and gum is an accepted space of up to 2mm. What toothpick does is to dig gently into these spaces enlarging them in the process. This happens because many of us don't know how to use these toothpicks effectively. Sometimes, you see people leave the toothpick in their mouth and even forget that its there. Remember the two edges of the toothpick is sharp and pointed, designed that way so it can easily penetrate the spaces between each tooth and remove food particles and plaque. But, unfortunately, these can cause more harm than good. Due to our inability to effectively use these toothpicks, we remove not only food particles and plaque, but also some of our gums, Creating a large space which is called periodontal pocket in dentistry. These pockets permits food packing, encouraging bacterial activities in that area. In the long run, that area becomes inflamed and if not treated on time, the bone around that tooth starts dying leaving the tooth mobile. So you see, that sweetness you enjoy when tooth picking is actually pain in disguise.

Dental floss on the other hand is a better and safer option. Its like a thread only that its made specially for the teeth and gums. It comes in two forms; the waxed and unwaxed. Although many people find it difficult to manipulate when using it to remove food particles and plaque at first, it is much more safer and hygienic than toothpick. A simpler kind that looks like a hoke with a toothpick end can also be gotten in supermarket, pharmacy or dental shops. We call it a floss pick. The floss is gently inserted between the teeth and scraped along the sides of the teeth, especially close to the gums or underneath them to remove particles and plaque. Proper flossing in addition to toothbrushing can reduce any gum disease and also mouth odour, because it contains some antimicrobial properties.

Now, please its is of utmost importance that you eat and enjoy your Nkwobi, goat meat , chicken and all the likes, you can even invite me to come join you at the table, believe me I won't miss it. *smiles* but after eating, with the option of toothpick or dental floss, please pick dental floss. It is better you eat and still have your complete set of teeth to eat another day, than to eat and suffer from pain later. Make sure you brush at least twice daily and also floss at least twice daily too. It is said " PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE".