Are your gums growing over your teeth? Do you have swollen gums? If so, periodontist has answers and treatment options available to you. Swollen gum, also known as gum overgrowth or gingival enlargement can be a serious side effect of other conditions. Although it might not seem as bad to have your gums growing too much at first, it can actually cause danger to your teeth, look unattractive, and feel uncomfortable. So, why this happens and what dentist can do to restore your gums and smile back to health and beauty. Possible causes of swollen Gum Swollen Gum usually occurs when your gum tissues respond aggressively to irritants like plaque or tartar. Instead of leading to receding gums, gum disease can trigger excessive growth of gum tissue. Specific causes of gingivitis include: Poor dental hygiene resulting in bacterial plaque, gingivitis and periodontitis Smoking, mouth breathing and overcrowded teeth Systemic diseases especially diabetes, HIV infection But what causes your gums to respond this way? For some people, the condition is genetic. When this is the case, there’s no identifiable cause that we can look to, and we just have to deal with the consequences. Healthy, pink gum tissue grows excessively, completely covering teeth if it’s not removed. Swollen Gum is also a side effect of some medications. The medications most commonly linked with swollen gum are the anticonvulsant phenytoin, the immunosuppressant cyclosporine, and a number of calcium-channel blockers. Swollen Gum can also be the result of systemic changes in your health. Pregnancy is one of the most common, but other hormonal imbalances and leukaemia have also been linked to gum overgrowth. Effects of Swollen Gum Swollen Gum can look unattractive. With other causes of swollen gum, you may experience localized red, swollen gums. They can also be painful and are likely to bleed. Since most swollen gum are inflammatory in nature and are dangerous to your teeth and bones. In all cases, gum swelling can trap bacteria, tartar, and irritants under the gum line, leading to accelerated decay and more irritation. How to Prevent Gum swelling If your gum swelling is due to poor oral health and not genetics, there are a few things you can do to prevent it from occurring in the future. Removal of bacterial plaque by thorough tooth brushing and flossing Antiseptic mouthwashes such as chlorhexidine Ultrasonic treatments Courses of antibiotics to reduce oral bacterial load (e.g. erythromycin or azithromycin) Destress Another leading factor of gum disease is stress. Do your mental and oral health a favour and find ways to destress in your life to prevent gum disease. What is the treatment for swollen gums? We can also look at your medications to see which might contribute to gum overgrowth. You should talk to your doctor about other options that may not have the same effects. The only option is to recontour your gums with an attractive smile. Gingivectomy (surgical removal of the swollen gum tissue) may be necessary for severe cases and may be repeated if necessary. One of the reasons your gums begin to overgrow is from untreated gum disease. By visiting the dentist every six months for a cleaning and check-up, your periodontist can catch gum disease in its earlier stage. With immediate treatment, serious consequences like swollen gums won’t occur.  

Do you keep people away because of the bad smell they have in their mouths?  We have all been conscious of bad breath at one point of time or the other. Mints and mouthwash bottles have always been the instant solution, but did you know that it is only a temporary solution & does not get cured till the cause is removed. Would you be surprised if I say, there are more than 50 causes for bad breath? It is absolutely true. The most number of causes & the common ones have their origin in the mouth of the patient. The Basics of Bad Breath The best way to combat bad breath is to get to the root of the problem – no matter how embarrassing it may start out. We all have experienced bad breath from time to time. Whether it’s the dreaded morning breath or simply the result of a garlic-infused meal, or too much coffee – none of us are immune to it. However, when it becomes an ongoing problem, recurring regularly and seemingly without any apparent cause, then bad breath can have a big impact on our lives. Causes of Bad Breath Here are 2 main categories of problems causing bad breath – Causes in the mouth & outside the mouth (due to general health problems). Causes in the mouth – poor oral hygiene, diet, dry mouth, tooth decay, gum disease, food lodgement between teeth, coated unclean tongue, pus in the gums, bleeding of gums broken & badly decaying teeth etc. The good news here is that bad breath can be entirely prevented & if required treated too. How do we prevent bad breath? We can prevent bad breath by maintaining good oral hygiene, proper diet, good water intake from our side & then taking professional help to get the cleaning of teeth done. What is the treatment for bad breath? Treating the causes that arise from the mouth is the mainstream treatment of bad breath. It might range from a simple cleaning to a whole lot of things like fillings, root canal treatments, crowns, gum surgeries, extractions etc. Complete cleaning of your teeth will drastically reduce the amount of smell causing bacteria, plaque, and tartar on your teeth and in your mouth. This is one of the most common ways to help treat bad breath. Once all the obvious causes of bad breath are treated, but there is persistent bad breath, then it can be a symptom of illnesses such as diabetes, kidney disease, or any other medical conditions that should be treated as soon as possible.  So, the dentist not only takes care of your mouth & if required educates/facilitates you not only to take the a physicians’ help in getting the bad breath treated but also to have a better overall health.

Do you think this is real? Do you think it is possible? Yes, you may not find your regular tooth brushes in your bathrooms in future. How can this happen? We use technology to improve our life in all walks of life. Is there a possibility of technology to find its place in cleaning our teeth? Can technology improve your toothbrush? Answer for all the above questions is ‘YES’ & is only one. Lets’ explore this further. Brushing your teeth is not as easy and straightforward as it sounds. if you don’t do it right, you might end up with unwanted teeth problems. As a result, it is important that people take extra care when choosing their toothbrush & the correct way of brushing. One such option is Sonic brushes. These brushes while offering some additional benefits and features for your brushing routine, make you to enjoy your brushing routine & have the potential to replace your traditional manual brushes from your bathrooms. So, What Is this Sonic Toothbrush? These are a form of electric or powered toothbrushes, is a battery-operated toothbrush that cleans your teeth by vibrating the bristles at a rate of >30,000 strokes per minute. A normal electric brush vibrates or rotates at a rate of 2500 to 7500 per minute only. So a sonic brush is special & unique in its cleaning offering a better cleaning potential. How does the sonic toothbrush work? Instead of oscillating and rotating, the Sonic toothbrushes vibrate at a rate of 31,000 strokes per minute. The sonic technology allows a dynamic cleansing action that drives fluid between teeth and along the gum line. What does it do? The sonic movement creates air bubbles that disrupt the plaque biofilm that causes gum disease. It also massages the gums to promote blood circulation. With easy accessibility in difficult to reach areas. Advantages of using a sonic toothbrush A sonic toothbrush has been linked to several advantages including naturally whiter teeth, superior plaque removal, healthier gums, gentler brushing, helps stimulate saliva (great for dry mouth problems) and great for anyone with braces or dental implants as it cleans those hard to reach places. Some good brushes will have a powerful engine & can generate 22,000 to 82,000 wonderfully gentle brushing strokes per minute, yet it can be comfortable on the sensitive gums & good for those hard-to-reach spots. It can be used well on implants & braces too. BRUSH WELL! Good oral health is essential to a healthy body and a healthy life, at any age. From the youngest to the oldest, taking care of our teeth should always be a priority. On the contrary to all that I have said above I would like to end this blog by saying – Though Sonic brushes are good & efficient, more than having a good brush, using the brush is more important. So, the first step is to start using the brush you have properly & then think of using better ones.

Sensitive teeth can be a pain when you are trying to enjoy a delicious hot chocolate or refreshing bowl of ice cream. But what is tooth sensitivity? – It is your teeth reacting to hot and cold temperatures, giving you pain and discomfort.  It is also one of the leading cause for individuals seeking dental treatment. It is one of the most common complaints and usually described by the patient as a short, sharp pain arising upon cold or hot intake, brushing, eating sweets & on consuming soft drinks. What makes tooth sensitive? Sensitive teeth can be caused by many factors like – Tooth erosion after consuming lots of acidic foods Loss of enamel, either from the food you are eating or using a hard-bristled toothbrush Tooth wear near gums as a side effect of gum receding down. Wrong / vigorous brushing Wrong usage of dental floss Use of highly abrasive toothpastes Chronic traumas due to wrong habits (grinding teeth in stress situations) Broken teeth and broken fillings After gum surgeries Defect in the development of enamel and dentin When & how to use a desensitizing toothpaste? Most important thing is to detect the cause & once the cause is detected there are many ways in which we treat the sensitivity. One of the most common & conservative method to treat sensitivity is by using desensitizing toothpaste. This is used when sensitivity is due to receding gums or wearing out of teeth from the sides or biting surface. These pastes work by blocking the nerve impulses from the tooth surface, & the pain isn’t felt. This toothpaste has to be used twice daily by applying on the affected teeth & left for 10 minutes. After this step, the teeth should be brushed normally using the same paste. In addition to the toothpaste, you can also use a desensitizing mouthwash if needed. Do as per the directions of the dentist. What if I don’t treat it? Teeth sensitivity can also be caused by a range of dental issues such as a broken tooth, tooth decay, root canal infection, gum receding, pockets, wearing of teeth. It’s important to visit your dentist when you’re experiencing tooth sensitivity to eliminate these conditions. Most of these causes are related to teeth or gum related issues & can be treated by fillings, root canal treatments, crowns or by using Lasers. Your family dentist is the right person to advice you on how to manage this problem to relieve you of this unpleasant symptom.

You may have heard that probiotics are good for your stomach health, but did you know that probiotics are also good for your oral health? Your mouth has a mixture of “good” and “bad” bacteria. Your regular care such as brushing and flossing may not do enough to rid your mouth of the “bad bacteria”. There are many research reports saying that probiotics can help fight tooth decay, gum diseases and bad breath, which have boosted interest in their use. By proper education about the benefits and proper use, we can help people understand how probiotics can improve oral health. What Are Probiotics? Probiotics are good live bacteria and yeasts. They are helpful, primarily in terms of digestion because they help with gut health. They can be found in supplements and certain foods. There are two strains of “good bacteria” found in the mouth; one of them promotes healing, and the second one helps to kill the harmful bacteria. Both these good bacteria can be easily introduced into the mouth with a probiotic lozenge taken once daily. How do Probiotics Work? Your body is loaded with good and bad bacteria. When the balance between good and bad bacteria is disrupted, probiotics can help you restore it (The good bacteria, might have been lost after taking antibiotics). Probiotic works by filling the mouth with healthy bacteria that kills off the bad and allows the good bacteria to flourish in a healthy environment. A healthy balance between good & bad bacteria can help improve your oral health!  Natural Sources of Oral Probiotics Diet alone provides abundant amounts of prebiotics that feed probiotic bacteria in your body. Foods that include beneficial prebiotics include raw oats, unrefined wheat, barley, onions, garlic, chicory root, flax seeds, apples, asparagus etc. Probiotic foods include yogurt, cultured cottage cheese, butter milk, tempeh (high protein gut friendly food) etc. Some are available as chewable tablets/supplements or lozenges. These allow the beneficial bacteria to be delivered directly to the mouth’s surfaces to boost oral health. Some oral health products contain probiotics like mouthwash and toothpaste. Probiotic mouthwash has been shown to be effective in preventing plaque build-up. Some companies have even introduced probiotic toothpaste to rid your mouth of bad bacteria while preserving good bacteria.  Are There Side Effects from Probiotics? Good bacteria are generally considered safe because it’s already present in the human body. For most people, this is true and ingesting probiotics will have little to no effect. However, there can be some side effects to taking probiotics. For the first few days after starting probiotics, you may have a stomach upset, diarrhoea, gas, or bloating. Some people can have an allergic reaction showing up as severe digestive responses to the probiotics. How Should I Use Probiotics for Oral Health? Beneficial effects of probiotics can be found only if individuals adopt adequate oral hygiene measures. – Lozenges should be used once daily for at least 28 consecutive days. To get the greatest result from these lozenges, they should dissolve in the mouth over a 10-minute period immediately following the patients’ oral hygiene regimen. – There are powder forms, which can be sprinkled on tongue & after 2 minutes, it can be swished in the mouth & swallowed. – Yakult milk is available to be consumed for few weeks to restore good bacteria, but not continued for long as it has high sugar content, the homogenisation destroys milk molecules & has artificial sweeteners too. Hence, it is a good practice to resort to natural resources, which are mentioned above. Nothing else should be consumed by mouth for at least 30 minutes after taking the probiotics. How do I know, if I need them? Though Probiotics show promise in their ability to reduce the severity of tooth decay, gum diseases and bad breath, it might not be needed as supplements for all those people, whose oral health is fine or can be controlled with regular professional &/or home care measures. There are few patients whose tooth decay & gum disease are not coming under control or keep progressing & it is a good approach to try probiotics as a part of their professional treatment. So, use it only on the suggestion of a dentist. However, you may introduce naturally available products (the details are mentioned in Natural Sources of Oral Probiotics section of this article) into your daily diet with some discipline & regularity. This is a better approach, instead of buying artificially prepared ones, which have few negative sides to them, which also serves as a very good preventive measure for dental & gut issues.

A. Soft toothbrushes wear out too quickly. Harder brushes last longer. They don’t wear out too quickly because, the softer the brush, the less you have to push down on the teeth surfaces, which is a simple logic. You should keep telling your patients that less pressure is better for their teeth and gums. Besides this – gentle brushing helps to keep even the softest toothbrush in its perfect form for longer. Very rarely the correct life of a brush is said or printed anywhere. A good brush can last as long as 12-18 months. B. I can brush my teeth quickly if the brush is hard. If I brush my teeth for too long, my gums start bleeding. Bleeding only occurs when gums are inflamed. It has nothing to do with how long you brush. When gum bleeding occurs, a proper brush is important – your regular toothbrush has to be as soft and dense as possible and your interdental brush should be perfectly suited in size for each of your in between teeth spaces. In fact brushing with hard brushes can cause bleeding in healthy gums too. C. A harder toothbrush is better because it massages the gums better. There is no need to brush your gums, let alone massage them. Bacteria does not stick to gums surfaces, but can get accumulated in the space between teeth & gums. So, it is important to brush this area & not over the gums. Any injury inflicted onto the gums with a hard toothbrush can lead to irreversible receding of the gums and the entire oral structures that support your teeth. Any damage to the supporting structures of the teeth can loosen the teeth.  Use a soft & dense tooth brush, which lasts long & protects your teeth & gums.

Our role as dentists is not only to treat various diseases of mouth in the clinic, but also involves educating patients about the right oral care procedures & negating their myths, which might actually harm them. One such myth is that most people believe that only hard brushes clean their teeth better & soft brushes can’t clean them. If we know the facts we will start laughing at such myths. A. The 1st fact is that bristles are available as soft, medium or hard based on bristle diameter. Fatter the diameter, harder the brush, which means to say that larger diameter bristles can’t reach all areas in between teeth, nor reach grooves, crevices & uneven areas. B. The 2nd fact is that a soft & dense toothbrush will clean your teeth more effectively as the bristles are more flexible & are smaller to reach most areas. More importantly, this type of brush won’t damage your teeth or gums. C. The 3rd fact is that there is no need to push down too hard on the brush & using a lighter pressure would not harm the teeth or gums. This also means that the brush would not get damaged & lasts longer. Most people don’t mention this fact – That a good brush can last as long as 12-18 months.

In the previous article we have seen that interdental brushes are efficient & better than dental floss in cleaning spaces between teeth. However, consultation with a dentist is needed to select the right size and type of interdental brush that’s right for each person. This is the way spaces between teeth are measured by a dentist. Advice about the right brush is given only after this step. Small to larger spaces between teeth: the interdental brushes of varying thickness are color coded. The right sized brush fits between the teeth correctly & cleans efficiently. If the brush is too small, it passes very easily in the spaces between teeth without cleaning them. If the brushes are bigger than the spaces, the bristles would get compressed between the teeth & the metal part of the brush will rub against the teeth surfaces. When the bristles get compressed & the metal touches the teeth, the brush will not be able to clean the spaces in between teeth adequately. So, the most important thing is not just to use any available interdental brushes, but to select the right size. Most patients & even dentists think that any available interdental brush in the market is good, which is actually not true & might be completely useless actually.

Dental floss has been used since ages, but it is surprising & strange that very few people know the facts that dental floss is inefficient in cleaning all surfaces in between the teeth. This point will be proven with some easily understandable facts in this article. It is for this reason interdental brushing is getting more popular nowadays, yet we’ve been advocating it since long years. How can this be justified? A. Everyone has spaces in between their teeth If you have two teeth next to one another, you will always have space in between teeth. That’s where bacteria build their colonies, release harmful substances causing tooth decay & gum disease.                                 Plaque between your teeth is hard to clean with regular brushes B. Regular brushes will not reach in between teeth spaces This leaves the bacterial accumulations between your teeth untouched & undisturbed. So they can breed and produce bacterial waste & harmful chemicals. These harmful substances cause teeth decay, gum disease / inflammation and bad breath.     Space in between teeth are prone for tooth decay & gum disease C. Dental floss doesn’t reach all areas between teeth The uneven spaces in between teeth can never be reached by the floss & hence will do nothing to the bacteria inside such spaces. This will help the bacteria to continue breeding. Only an interdental brush can reach these areas & clean them well. This will help you have healthy teeth, healthy gums & fresh breath odor. Floss barely reaches bacteria inside spaces in between teeth & it might even hurt the gums. Interdental brush cleans everything out from in between teeth thanks to the bristles, which fit well between teeth. Consider using interdental brushes: they are a safer and more effective way to clean your teeth from dental plaque. Hence, they protect our mouth from tooth decay, gum disease & bad breath.

We nearly took few months to name our clinic, as no name was helping us describe what we are up to, once we start the clinic. One fine day my very close friend who is also a dentist, a Professor (Dr Siddeshwaran V) & a heartfulness meditation trainer suggested the name, Care ‘n’ Concern & I immediately liked it (actually I loved it). I immediately felt that I had found the name to which I just added ‘Family’ to make it – Care ‘n’ Concern Family Dental Clinic. He immediately gave a reason for suggesting this name by relating to an incident with his heartfulness meditation guide who had said that – Only when Love is there for a fellow human being there will be ‘Care’ as well as ‘Concern’ for them. So, we understood that if Care is the CAKE, Concern is the ICING on the CAKE. From the beginning we have followed this & it is not just the name but the attitude that we inculcate in our day to day service delivery. We give utmost importance to the patient satisfaction, difficulties & concerns right from their entry into our clinic. For us patient experience is the priority & we want to make it memorable for them. So, I want to share with you all, some of the measures that we take, to show our ‘Care & Concern’ towards our patients – 1. As soon as they enter – Our receptionist will greet them with Namasthe & a smile & make them comfortable by offering them a place to sit (offer them water if needed). Their necessary details will be collected & information regarding their consultation with the doctor will be conveyed to them. 2.  We see that the clinic doesn’t smell like a hospital by using pleasant fragrances. 3. We maintain the clinic, clean & hygienic, which is always pleasing to their sight. 4. We have some hand-picked magazines & really transformative books in the waiting area (This can change the course of their lives if they implement these things). 5. We play instrumental music of selective frequencies, which will help in the healing of mouth or body. We also play some music that will be soothing or relaxing when they are at our place. 6. We try to keep ‘zero waiting’ policy as far as possible. 7. We use a software to record their details, schedule appointments, to record their dental issues, treatment planning, generate invoice etc. The software sends reminder messages about the appointments & we too call them to remind them about the appointments. 8. We do not keep distracting TVs, dental treatment pictures, which can cause anxiety or disturb our patients. 9. During the 1st appointment, we always use an intra-oral camera to project their dental issues on a big screen to give them clarity about their teeth. We believe in ‘SEEING IS BELIEVING’. We do this to create seriousness about their teeth, to educate them to maintain good oral hygiene & take appropriate preventive measures. Whenever needed we suggest some life-style changes also, as many dental diseases are related to the present day life-style. 10. We listen to our patients with patients, explain them about the various treatments needed, various treatment options available & let them choose what is comfortable for them. We acknowledge their fears, concerns, difficulties to the extent possible & try to address them with enough care. 11. During treatment – we do not hurry up with our procedures, but go slow, give them rest in between, keep checking for their comfort & keep the procedure as painless as possible. We try to avoid bad taste of the dental materials by giving a good tasting mouthwash too. Even the process of anaesthesia is made painless by using needle-less anaesthesia from Germany. 12. While using x-rays, we use minimize the radiation by using digital x-rays & hand held devices, which emit comparatively lesser radiation. 13. We are good with diagnosis of the dental problems & when required arrive at the right diagnosis after consultation with the specialist, promoting a multi-specialty approach. 14. All our doctors are well experienced, qualified & we offer multi-specialty care at most reasonable prices. The durability of our treatments will result in much lesser burden on the patients’ pockets in the long run too. Our contention is to provide advanced & high quality care for most reasonable prices, which will be 20 to 30 % lesser to the same quality care elsewhere. 15. We give multiple payment options like cash, Phonepe, G-pay, Paytm & credit or debit card payments too. We also give EMI & other convenient payment options to make it comfortable for our patients. 16. For those who cannot afford we have discount days every month or get them treated in various dental colleges, which offers the treatments for lesser prices. 17. After some of the treatments like root canal treatments, implants or teeth removal we call the patients (the following day) to check for their wellbeing, to see if they are taking the medication properly & following our instructions. 18. We believe in maintaining a long term relationship, keep in mind the overall wellbeing of our patients whenever possible. While doing this, we like to bring back the age old culture, of serving our patients as their ‘Family (Doctor) Dentist’. 19. We keep ourselves updated to serve our patients with the latest dental treatments that is possible. We also update our clinic with new & latest equipment to give the best for our patients. 20. We also offer them stress relief with free heartfulness meditation sessions if they are interested. 21. We provide Honest Dental Care, which is the core value for which we stand for & represent. This honest dental treatment culture is called as Hontistry by us (Please check www.hontistry.com for more details). These are the few ways in which we care for our patients, by showing our concern for their wellbeing & we want to tell them that –...