This two-part article series explains what the health of your teeth and gums can tell a dental healthcare professional about your lifestyle and the bad habits you may have.

Welcome back to the second installment of this two-part article series on the toll unhealthy lifestyles take upon the health of your teeth and gums. In our previous article post, the dentist in Arlington TX discussed teeth grinding, unhealthy eating and addiction: three traps people who hit it hard at work frequently fall into. In this article, we shall look at the dangers faced by those who hit it hard after hours…

2. Hitting it Hard After Hours

There is nothing better than loosening the tie, sitting back with a bunch of friends and knocking back a couple of beers, or cosmopolitans or whatever your poison may be. “Alcohol is a fantastic social lubricant and, because it acts as a central nervous system depressant, serves to relax one,” explains the dentist in Arlington TX. It’s then not hard to understand why a beer (or three) is especially welcome after a long and stressful day at the office!

It’s when alcohol becomes synonymous with ‘unwinding’ that lifestyles go from balanced to seriously compromised. “There’s nothing wrong with having the occasional drink with friends,” says the dentist in Arlington TX. “But most people don’t know when to draw the line. Alcohol becomes a coping mechanism; a way to escape and even a form of rebellion when one spends their entire day in a highly demanding and stressful work environment.”

Dentist in Arlington TX: Excessive Drinking

“For many reasons, heavy drinking has a terrible impact upon oral health and hygiene,” say the dentist in Arlington TX. “Most alcoholic beverages contain a lot of sugar and are very acidic. The sugar encourages oral bacteria to flourish, while the acid softens your dental enamel, leaving it more vulnerable to decay and cavity-formation.”

In addition to this, alcohol causes ‘dry mouth’. “The enzymes in your saliva act as a natural defense against bacteria,” explains dentist Arlington TX. “Xerostomia or ‘dry mouth’ impedes the healthy production of saliva, which leaves your teeth and gums incredibly vulnerable to decay.”

Dentist in Arlington TX: Bad Habits and Poor Oral Hygiene

It’s not only the direct impact hard drinking has upon your oral health. Hitting it hard after hours is also linked with other bad habits, such as smoking, poor oral hygiene and unhealthy eating. “If you stagger home at 5am, chances are you’re going to skip brushing and flossing and go straight to bed with a half-eaten bag of chips still clutched tightly in your one hand,” says the dentist in Arlington TX.

Drug abuse is also a problem amongst people who hit the pubs and clubs after hours.

The Dentist in Arlington TX: Achieving the Ideal Balance

There nothing wrong with having the occasional party. In fact, it’s essential for your overall health, even if you do find yourself getting a little tipsy. The socializing, dancing and unwinding serves to de-stress, lower blood pressure and increase ‘happy’ hormones. But, as with everything in life, we need to establish a healthy balance. “Hitting it hard at work is fine if you swap the nicotine and caffeine with a solid gym session,” says the dentist in Arlington TX. “The latter is a far more effective stress reliever anyway.”

Look after yourself well and you will find that your general and oral health will reflect your lifestyle. “What this means,” says the dentist in Arlington TX, “is more energy, greater emotional vitality, a stronger mind and… a beautiful award-winning smile!”

This three-part article series takes an in-depth exploration of the short and long term effects of tobacco addiction upon your oral health.

We have so far, in this three-part article series, (1) discussed the impact of smoking on your oral health and (2) provided some recommendations for proper oral health and hygiene care for smokers. In this, the final installment of the series, the dentist in Arlington TX will be answering some of the questions frequently asked about oral health and smoking.

Question: What kind of oral problems does smoking cause?

The Dentist in Arlington TX Answers: Smoking has significant short and long term consequences for oral health and hygiene. These include:

• Bad breath, or halitosis

• Tooth staining and discoloration

• Inflammation of the soft tissues in the mouth, says the dentist in Arlington TX

• Xerostomia, or ‘dry mouth’

• Accelerated accumulation of plaque and tartar

• Increased risk of oral and throat cancer

• Increased risk of oral bacterial infection and periodontal (gum) disease

• Tooth loss

• Bone loss in the jaw, warns the dentist in Arlington TX

• Delayed post-operative healing and a compromised immune system

• Lower success of tooth replacement procedures (dental implants)

Question: How does smoking cause gum disease?

The Dentist in Arlington TX Answers: Smoking increases your risk of developing acute and chronic bacterial infections of the gums in many different ways. First of all, it retards the production of saliva in the mouth, which is your body’s natural defense against bacteria. Smoking also impedes healthy blood circulation to the gums, explains the dentist in Arlington TX, which slows healing while increasing the risk of infection. In general, this habit interferes with the normal functioning of soft tissue cells. Combined with an increase in oral bacterial infection, smokers are left at a much greater risk of periodontal (gum) disease.

Question: What about cigar and pipe-smoking? Are they as bad for your teeth and gums as cigarettes?

The Dentist in Arlington TX Answers: Any kind of tobacco-smoking or chewing is a danger to your oral health. The Journal of the American Dental Association published the results of a 23-year long study, which indicated that cigar smokers experience the same rate of alveolar bone loss and tooth loss as cigarette-smokers. In addition to this, says the dentist in Arlington TX, smokers of pipes, cigars and cigarettes alike are all at the same risk of pharyngeal and oral cancers, as well as tooth discoloration, halitosis and periodontal (gum) disease. And this applies even if you don’t inhale the smoke as is frequently the case with cigar-tokers.

Question: Aren’t smokeless tobacco products safer for you?

The Dentist in Arlington TX Answers: Just like cigarettes and cigars, smokeless tobacco products like chewing tobacco and snuff, contain a whole lot of chemicals that have been shown to cause cancer of the mouth, throat and esophagus. In fact, says the dentist in Arlington TX, many chewing tobacco products contain greater amounts of nicotine than cigarettes! This not only makes it more dangerous for people to enjoy, but also more addictive. One tin of snuff delivers more nicotine than three standard packets of cigarettes!

Other reasons to stay away from snuff and chewing tobacco include:

• They irritate the gum tissue, says the dentist in Arlington TX, causing it to become inflamed and to recede abnormally from the crowns of the teeth. This exposes the vulnerable roots underneath, which not only contributes to an unaesthetic smile, but is also very dangerous for the health of the tooth as a whole.

• Exposed roots provide opportunities for bacteria to migrate deep down into the gums, increasing the risk of infection and disease.

• Exposed roots are also more sensitive to temperature extremes, explains the dentist in Arlington TX.

• Chewing tobacco contains quite a bit of sugar, which causes tooth decay. The American Dental Association found that people who chewed tobacco were four times more susceptible to decay than those that didn’t.

• Smokeless tobacco contains grit and sand, says the dentist in Arlington TX, which contributes to the erosion of your dental enamel.

Question: How can I quit using tobacco?

The Dentist in Arlington TX Answers: Tobacco-use is not only a physical addiction; it’s a psychological one too. As such, different people will experience greater success using different methods to kick the habit. Here are some tips from the dentist in Arlington TX. Singularly, they may not prove to be effective, but used together will certainly help you cope with the various stages of physical and psychological withdrawal. At the end of the day, says the dentist in Arlington TX, you must quit for you and for your health.

• Set a date to quit and stick to it. Try to co-ordinate this date with a period of low stress.

• Tell your co-workers, family members and friends about your initiative to quit smoking, advise the dentist in Arlington TX; even if you are afraid that you may fail. Their help and support will prove crucial.

• Ask the doctor or dentist in Arlington TX about any nicotine replacement products that may help with the initial withdrawal symptoms. There are even certain medications designed to help people quit, but don’t use these without your doctor’s advice.

• Remove all evidence of your past addiction from your car, office and home. These include lighters, ashtrays, cigarette boxes and, of course, tobacco!

• Develop new routines that take you away from the places you use to go and smoke, says the dentist in Arlington TX. For example, go to a different coffee shop during lunch break, avoid the pub while you’re in the throes of breaking away from the addiction and start getting out more. Get away from your old life for a bit, advises the dentist in Arlington TX. Gym more often, go on walks, go to the movies and stay away from smoke-friendly environments. Exercise! It’ll make you feel alive!

• When those craving come crashing in, practice the four D’s:

i. Delay: cravings usually pass in five to ten minutes.

ii. Drink water: this can actually satiate your cravings. It’s also very good for you!

iii. Do something else: distract yourself and keep yourself busy.

iv. Deep breathing: relax and center yourself. Oxygenate your body.

This two part article series discusses the four pillars of good dental health care: (1) preventative, (2) restorative, (3) periodontal health and (4) cosmetic dentistry.

It is truly breath-taking to consider the feats modern Arlington family dentistry is capable of nowadays. With the ceaseless advancement of engineering, technology and medical science, the dentist in Arlington TX is capable of achieving fantastic results in patients presenting with the full suite of oral problems and complaints; whether these problems affect one’s bite functionality, oral health or the cosmetic appearance of one’s smile.

A few decades ago, a visit to the dentist was organized out of sheer necessity and even then the solutions provided were crude to say the least. You had to be lucky or incredibly genetically gifted to make it to 50 with all of your original adult teeth left! Nowadays, with the sophisticated solutions provided by the field of Arlington family dentistry, there is no reason why you can’t make it to your late adulthood with your original smile still looking as healthy and as beautiful as ever!

In this two-part article series, we shall be taking a look at the four pillars of great Arlington family dentistry: Preventative care, restorative care, periodontal healthcare and cosmetic procedures.

Arlington Family Dentistry: Preventative Care

One of the key focuses of Arlington family dentistry is preventative oral healthcare. The last thing a patient would like to do is lose one or more teeth before they realize that they actually have a problem, which is why the dentist in Arlington TX recommends professional check-ups and cleanings once every six months. By booking and keeping those regular appointments, patients can maintain a high standard of oral health and hygiene. Furthermore, through the early diagnosis and treatment of existing and potential oral health problems, such as isolated tooth decay, a cavity, a mild gum infection or impacted wisdom teeth, Arlington family dentistry can effectively prevent patients from requiring far more invasive and expensive corrective procedures in the future! Remember: “Regular preventative oral healthcare is necessary right from early childhood,” says the dentist in Arlington TX.

Arlington Family Dentistry: Corrective and Restorative Procedures

Arlington family dentistry offers a wide array of procedures, treatments and surgeries that are designed to correct existing problems concerning the health of the teeth and gums. These might include root canal therapy, dental crowns, fillings, inlays and onlays, bridges and the placement of dental implants.

The dentist in Arlington TX also offers dental solutions for patients that do not have correct teeth and/or jaw alignment. Orthodontic braces can be used to straighten the teeth in the mouth, not only achieving far better smile aesthetics, but also addressing problems related to over-crowding in the dental arch. Arlington family dentistry also encompasses jaw surgery, which can drastically improve upon a patient’s appearance, bite functionality, comfort and quality of life.

Whether a patient was born with a malformation, jaw misalignment or facial asymmetry, or has developed decay, infection or disease, Arlington family dentistry provides a number of corrective and restorative solutions.

Arlington Family Dentistry: Stay Tuned for Part 2

To read about the next two fundamental spheres of what the dentist in Arlington TX does, stay tuned for the second installment of this two-part article series.