Your mouth health is something you should always pay attention to. However, most of us ignore tooth ache until the last minute and we go through an immense amount of pain before we go to see a dentist.
This is why it’s very important to go get your teeth checked the moment you feel any pain, any swelling or anything similar. Actually, whenever you feel anything unusual in your mouth, you should see a dentist right away.
Prevention is the key. It’s better to visit a dentist every 6 months than to wait for too long and end up in a huge amount of pain and huge bills as well.
Instead of waiting for the pain to happen, you should have regular visits to the dentist and practice good dental health by brushing your teeth, flossing, eating well and so on. WebMD lists all of the ways to take care of your teeth on a daily basis here.
However, how to know when it’s time for an immediate visit to the dentist?
Here are some signs:
Painful Gums
You should never ignore painful gums. This is the first sign that something is wrong and that you should check that out. Even though you may think that gum bleeding on occasion is perfectly harmful, expert dentists say that this signals that you have gum disease.
So, if you see that your gums are bleeding when you brush or eat something harder or if you feel that they are a bit swollen, you should visit a dentist. This way, you’ll prevent that disease from growing and spreading.
When it’s in its early stages, gum disease can quickly and simply be treated with cleaning. However, if you have more advanced gingivitis, then you might even need surgery.
Aside from that, your gingivitis may be a sign of a bigger problem in your body. Sometimes an underlying disease like cancer or diabetes will show through gingivitis. Remember this and make sure that you don’t ignore gum pains. They are almost never completely harmless. If you need more info on gingivitis, here’s where to find it: https://www.nidcr.nih.gov/health-info/gum-disease/more-info
Receding Gums
This is another gum problem that people often ignore. If you notice that your gums are pulling more and more away from your teeth and exposing them, this means that you have an advanced version of gum disease.
If you don’t control this condition and ignore it for longer, it could give you numerous health problems too. Experts have linked gum disease like this with heart disease, diabetes, and others. This only goes to show how important it is to treat diseases like this one in their root instead of waiting for things to become really bad.
Tooth Fell Out
When a tooth is loose or when they fall out, you really need a dentist ASAP. The thing is, children should lose baby teeth – that’s normal. However, this shouldn’t happen to adults with healthy teeth.
Unless you’ve had someone punch you in the mouth, your teeth could be falling out because of gingivitis, which we already mentioned. In some cases, gingivitis can transfer to bones around the teeth and this can cause teeth to be loose, move in your mouth and fall out in the end.
This can also cause you a lot of pain.
Older people also often lose teeth because of osteoporosis – the jaw bones become weaker and then the teeth fall out.
Tooth Cracked
When your tooth gets broken, you need to visit the dentist immediately. While it may not seem like much to you at first, a broken tooth can cause you a lot of pain, it can make that part of your mouth incredibly sensitive and it creates an easy way in for all sorts of harmful bacteria. If you feel like your tooth has been cracked, a quick check-up will alleviate the pain and prevent all sorts of issues. Small cracks can be fixed with filling and a bigger one can be a cause for a root canal. Sometimes the tooth will have to be pulled out.
A possible cause for this problem is grinding teeth, as you can see in this article, a blow to the mouth or even food that’s difficult for teeth to process.
Sensitivity
If your teeth are sensitive, especially to cold food and drinks or sweet food and drinks – or quite possibly, any food – this warrants a quick visit to the dentist. This is extremely annoying as it prevents you from enjoying your food and it can be damaging to your lifestyle. It’s also a sign that there is a bigger problem in your mouth like tooth decay, fractured teeth, gum recession and so on.
Digital Dentist Southpoint states that it might even be teeth grinding, which means you have to get a mouthguard. It can be caused by a rough toothpaste or toothbrush, too much brushing and flossing or doing this too harshly. A dentist would likely give you a filing in the sensitive area or you could have a procedure done.
Numb Tooth
It’s also not good when you don’t feel anything in a certain area. It’s a sign to get checked. It could be an infection that warrants a root canal or it could mean that you have a crack or a cavity. You might have had an injury or you bit something too hard.
Any of these issues could signal a more serious problem. This is why it’s so important to react quickly and see a dentist before the problem spreads.
