If You’re Getting Sick A Lot – Visit Your Family Dentist to Determine if You Have an Infection

Oral infections can go undiagnosed, making a trip to the family dentist extremely important.  If you feel as though you are sick all of the time, the best place to start is with a trip to the doctor.  If they can’t figure out what is wrong or you keep feeling sick, come see the dentist.

An oral infection can make you sick just like any other type of infection.  You can run a fever, start to feel achy, get the chills and more.  This typically leads to a trip to the doctor’s office as very few people associate these symptoms with an oral health issue.  If the doctor gives you antibiotics for your sickness and the symptoms keep returning, it could be because you have an oral infection that isn’t going away.  Antibiotics alone can’t solve the problem so this won’t be enough.

As a family dentist, we will look for signs of an infection during every dental exam.  After your teeth have been cleaned, and the bacteria and plaque removed, it is easy to see if the tooth is infected or if you are showing signs of gum disease.  Both can become painful and lead to other feelings of being sick.  Our goal is to identify and treat infections right away so that you don’t have to experience pain or discomfort.

If we identify any signs of gum disease, we will start by removing the bacteria that has built up underneath your gums.  This is the most likely cause of gum disease and once removed; your gums will start to heal themselves naturally.  If the disease has grown and spread, you may have pockets in your gum tissue.  This is particularly dangerous because it exposes your tooth structure and root system, making them more likely to become infected.  Once this point has been reached, a gum graft is necessary for closing the pockets and protecting your tooth.

When your tooth becomes infected, it can also lead to pain and create problems with your overall health.  A simple cavity creates minor discomfort but when the center of your tooth becomes infected, it can be painful and infect your roots.  If this happens, we will likely perform a root canal in order to remove the infected portion of your tooth and roots.  Afterwards, we will clean the area to remove any remaining infection, complete a filling, and place a temporary crown around the tooth.  Your permanent crown will protect the tooth and make it possible to bite down without pain.  Once the infection is removed, you will start to feel better.

The goal is to catch and treat any oral infections before they turn into a dental abscess.  This level of infection is painful, and surgery may be required in order to remove it.  As a family dentist, we want you to stay in excellent health so if your tooth hurts, or you are constantly sick, call us for a dental exam. 

As a General Dentist We Treat Athletes That Have Injured Their Teeth

If you are an athlete, a trip to the general dentist is in order before you start the game.  According to the American Dental Association, the majority of adult tooth injuries are due to playing sports.  Since most adults only play casually with friends, this means that even a pickup game of basketball or tossing a ball with your kids can lead to tooth damage.  In order to protect your teeth, you need to keep them in good health.

We recommend that you have your teeth cleaned twice a year so that we can remove the bacteria and plaque from your teeth that can lead to a tooth infection.  It is important to keep your teeth cavity free and to prevent gum disease because if a random ball hits your face and there is an infection, your tooth will be more likely to break or be knocked out.  Think of it like a pond that becomes frozen in the winter.  A solid sheet of ice can support kids playing on it for hours, but one small crack can cause the entire thing to shatter when someone steps on it.  Teeth that are infected are like a pond with a small crack.  They cannot withstand the impact of something hitting them. 

It is also important to strengthen your teeth by brushing with a soft toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste.  Fluoride is a mineral that when placed onto your teeth will help them to be stronger.  You can further strengthen your teeth by eating a healthy diet that contains lean protein, nuts, cheese, yogurt, and green leafy vegetables.  This, combined with trips to our general dentist office can keep your teeth and gums in excellent health. 

We also recommend that you wear a mouth guard while playing sports.  This prevents hundreds of thousands of injuries on an annual basis.  When considering high school and football players alone, the American Dental Association claims that over 200,000 injuries are prevented every year due to wearing a mouth guard.  When you consider how many different sports and age groups there are, it is clear that this simple device is a fantastic way to protect yourself from injury.  

If you take these precautionary steps and still injure your teeth, we can restore them in our general dentist office.  If a tooth is cracked or chipped, we can use a dental veneer to correct it by placing the veneer onto the surface of the tooth.  It will look completely natural and make it possible to eat and speak like normal.  If the tooth is severely cracked or a lot of enamel is missing, we can use a dental crown to restore the tooth instead.  This provides a greater level of stability because it can surround the tooth entirely.  This is a durable procedure that can help your teeth to function as good as new after a serious injury.  If a tooth has been knocked out, we can replace it as well by using either dental implants or a dental bridge.  

If your tooth has been injured, schedule a dental appointment right away.