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What Does Your Tongue Tell About Your Oral Health? – Let’s Find Out!

When finding any issue in your health, you all look for differences in your body temperature, skin colour, energy, and blood pressure. Of all the things, you see and check, your tongue is one of the body parts you take for granted. The tongue plays a role in tasting and swallowing food, but you still don’t care about it. And, believe it or not, your dentist can determine the cause of your health issue by simply checking your tongue’s colour and oral health.  In today’s blog, let’s find out what our tongue colour says about your health.

White Layer On Tongue

Your tongue should be pink in colour, it means you are healthy.  However, if you don’t clean your tongue while brushing, the food residue will get settled on the tongue. It might be a yeast overgrowth that happens inside the oral cavity. It happens when you don’t brush your tongue like your teeth.

White Patches

White patches on the tongue indicate that you use excessive tobacco or smoke. It is better to visit a Bundoora dentist to check your health condition and rule out the possibility of oral cancer.

Red Tongue and Bumpy Patches

If your tongue looks red, it might be due to a deficiency such as folic acid or B-12. Just add B-12 vitamins to your diet or syrup to reduce the redness. If the tongue appears bumpy or textured, you might have a severe fever and need to take a pill or visit the doctor immediately.

Tender And Sore Tongue

Sometimes, your throat may feel numb or sore, and it shows up on your tongue. This is when you feel sensitive on one side or all over. You might have to check whether it’s a canker sore or meet a dentist.

Hairy Tongue

It may feel like you are biting a strand of hair on your tongue, and you might want to spit out. It is due to a protein buildup that forms inside. You can gently brush them off or use a scraper to scrap off the white protein layer.

Whether mild fever or serious, your dentist can help figure out the health issue and guide you with the right course of treatment. Follow your oral hygiene and take your oral and dental check-ups only from dentists at Greenwood Plenty Dental Care. For appointments, call (03) 9466 7843 today.

Most Commonly Asked Questions About Teeth Whitening – Check Out!

New Year 2023 has come. Well, there are always a set of resolutions we take every year like staying fit and healthy, changing the way we work, and prepping up diet plans to improve overall health. However, one of the most common concerns people have is teeth discolouration. If this is your concern, you may find yourself not smiling in pictures, not liking your smile in the mirror, or covering your mouth while laughing or talking and it can deeply affect yourself-confidence. If discoloured teeth are something that’s bothering you, visit the dentist in Bundoora to plan your teeth whitening session. In today’s blog, let’s answer the most commonly asked questions about teeth whitening.

teeth whitening

Why Should You Get Your Teeth Whitening Treatment?

If you are concerned about how dull or yellow your teeth look, teeth whitening is the best solution. Teeth whitening is a cosmetic procedure that helps in getting rid of plaque, dirt, and other buildups from the teeth and gives your teeth a polished and bright look.  It’s not only about aesthetics but also helps in maintaining good oral health.

Should I Get Teeth Whitening Strips Instead Of Teeth Whitening?

Teeth whitening strips are available in grocery stores and supermarkets. They are customized to your teeth or they don’t get to meet your desired results. They are affordable and only offer medium results. However, when you meet a Bundoora dentist for teeth whitening, he will listen to your concerns and expectations and accordingly provide effective whitening treatments that give your teeth a sparkling glow.

Is Teeth Whitening Safe For My Sensitive Teeth?

Teeth whitening treatments are safe for people with teeth sensitivity when it is performed by an experienced dentist. However, when you get OTC teeth whitening and polishing supplies, they won’t be as effective as you expect them to be. It might even severely damage your sensitive teeth.  However, your dentist ensures that your teeth whitening session is as comfortable as possible and will use less-concentrated bleaching solutions and even apply desensitizers to minimise any discomfort or side effects.

Now, you have clarity on how teeth whitening treatments work. If you want to whiten and brighten your teeth, get an appointment with our dental clinic in Bundoora – Greenwood Plenty Dental Clinic. To schedule an appointment with us, call (03) 9466 7843

Can Protruding Teeth Cause Dental Issues? – Find Out!

Some people have naturally aligned straight teeth in a curved arch that adds extra beauty to their faces. Many have imperfections like teeth gaps, yellow teeth, crowded teeth, and protruded teeth. That’s why many flocks to dentists in Bundoora to correct their teeth imperfections to achieve a straight smile. However, tooth protrusion can negatively impact their appearance, confidence, and mental health.  Besides that, it can also damage your teeth if not corrected.  In today’s blog, let’s figure out how protruding teeth can impact your overall health.

Mouth Closure

Protruding teeth can make your ability to close your mouth. However, if it prevents you from closing your mouth, it can make your lower jaw recede and continue to misalign. This will also lead to mouth breathing and poor sleep. Sometimes, this may cause migraines, sleeplessness, and an inability to concentrate.

Difficulty In Eating And Speaking

When your teeth protrude, it may be hard to eat efficiently. If you have a hard time, chewing your favourite foods or having a meal with friends or family, you will be more likely to limit certain foods. This can affect your nutrition and impact your health. For adults and kids, protruding teeth can also cause speech problems like lisping, whistling, or mispronunciations of consonants.  It can be a real struggle for daily communication. It’s best to visit the dentist as soon as possible for orthodontic treatments and speech therapies.

Risk Of Teeth Injury

If your teeth stick out, they are more prone to trauma when you fall.  Cracked teeth and uneven teeth wear can also cause teeth biting or biting inside the cheek and cause injury to your mouth.  Patients suffer tooth injury from tooth grinding and clenching. If you experience any of these symptoms, you should check with the Bundoora dentists as soon as possible.

If you have teeth protrusion and want to resolve it, get teeth straightening treatments from Greenwood Plenty Dental Care at (03) 9466 7843 today.

Why Your Teeth Get Crowded? – Find Out The Reasons!

Dental crowding is a common orthodontic concern that can impact your health, smile, and confidence. When your mouth doesn’t have enough space for all your teeth, the new teeth will take a new place rather than their natural position to grow. All this leads to crooked and crowded teeth.  Dental crowding can put you up with discomforts like a cross bite, teeth overlapping, the strain on biting, jaw pain, and bleeding when brushing and flossing, and can be difficult to go through. However, every dental concern has a solution. Your dentist in Bundoora may suggest an Invisalign or braces align the crooked teeth and transform your smile. In today’s blog, let’s discuss why your tooth gets crowded and what can you do about it.

Losing Baby Teeth Early

If a baby tooth is lost early, the adjacent teeth will shift to the space, and when the new teeth emerge, it start to occupy an unnatural position to grow. This results in your teeth getting crowded and crooked. When this is left unchecked, you will start to face cross bite or overbite, pain in the jaw.

Extra Adult Teeth

Sometimes, an extra tooth in your mouth causes pressure on your jaw and gums, making them swollen and painful. These extra teeth grow behind your primary teeth where the teeth attach to your jaw. This is called a dental arch.

Tongue Thrusting

When you develop the habit of placing the tongue in the wrong position during swallowing either too forward or to the sides, the pressure from the tongue causes the teeth to move and leads to crowding.  Stress may also be a contributing factor to tongue thrusting.

Other Causes

Sometimes, factors like abnormal tooth growth or large teeth or reverse swallowing or having a small jaw, and dental crowding can be a common issue.

To ensure you combat the negatives of crowded teeth, visit thedental clinic in Bundoora. For appointments, call Greenwood Plenty Dental Care at (03) 9466 7843 today.

Why Do Teeth Get Discoloured Overtime? – Let’s Find Out!

A healthy white and sparkling tooth is on everyone’s wish list. However, if you have persistent stains causing your teeth to discoloured, you might need to visit your dentist in Bundoora for treatment. Only an experienced and qualified dentist can figure out if the stains are caused by lifestyle changes, poor hygiene, or stain-causing foods.  Many factors cause your teeth to look dark or stained. When you plan your appointment with a Bundoora Dentist, they will diagnose the condition and tell you what type of teeth whitening treatment options are available and what suits you based on your teeth stains. Often, reversing your natural white colour is possible. In today’s blog, let’s discover the agents that stain your teeth.

Lifestyle Habits

High-acidic and stain-causing foods like tea, coffee, and wine, starchy foods like pasta and potatoes, and foods made with food colour can stain your teeth. Bad habits like chewing tobacco, smoking, and alcohol consumption can darken your teeth’s colour.  If you forget to brush and floss your teeth, it can cause food stains and plaque, making your teeth look yellow. Also, skipping professional teeth cleaning sessions will make them even darker.

Medical Treatments

In some extreme cases, like head and neck radiation therapy or chemotherapy, dental materials like amalgam restorations, excessive use of fluoride-based mouthwash, tooth paste can leave a grey cast on your teeth and makes them appear darker.

Aging

Sometimes aging can also cause your tooth enamel to go weak. If the enamel runs out, your teeth’s dentin will be exposed. Dentin is generally yellow, making your teeth look dark and stained. Sometimes, getting your teeth hit by an accident or a severe teeth injury at a very young age can also disturb the enamel formation. When it is disturbed, it will result in teeth discolouration.

Bottom Line

Well, there is a wide range of teeth whitening strips, trays, mouthwashes, and toothpaste available in stores but an appointment with dentists from Greenwood Plenty Dental Care can give you a quick and efficient solution to your teeth whitening woes.  For appointments, call Greenwood Plenty Dental Care on (03) 9466 7843 today.

How Often Should You Take Professional Teeth Cleanings?

Have you had teeth cleaning this year?  Professional teeth cleanings are not only for a bright and sparkling smile. You all might have heard about professional teeth cleanings from reputed dentists helps to reduce the risk of cavities and prevent any serious dental issues. However, how often are professional teeth cleanings recommended?  If you want to have clean and sparkling teeth, you must maintain your oral hygiene and consume teeth-strengthening foods. Dentist Bundoora suggests taking teeth cleanings twice a year. However, if your oral hygiene is poor or has dental issues, your visit to the Bundoora dentists would be more frequent.  In today’s blog, let’s explain professional teeth cleanings.

Dental Hygiene

Plaque And Tartar Build-up

Whether you have stained teeth or bad breath, teeth cleanings should be your utmost priority. It not only gives your teeth a fresh look to your teeth but also improves your overall health. Getting professional teeth cleanings helps to remove plaque-causing bacteria, strengthens the enamel, and reduces bad breath.  After the teeth cleaning, bacteria will start to occupy the teeth within two or three days. However, if you maintain dental care at home regularly, you can consider taking professional teeth cleanings twice a year.  So, you are less likely to have heavy tartar or plaque buildup that affects your dental health.

Identify Dental Issues

Visiting a dentist for professional teeth cleanings helps to identify early signs of dental issues than plaque. During the dental examination, a dentist can spot signs of oral cancer, new cavities, receding gums, protruding teeth, anaemia, and other medical issues. As you know, gum diseases are directly linked to cardiovascular diseases, and detecting them at an early stage will prevent any other serious consequences.

If you haven’t taken professional teeth cleanings, it’s not too late! Our dentists at Greenwood Plenty Dental Care would love to help you. For appointments, call us at (03) 9466 7843 today.

How Often Should You Change Your Toothbrush?

Well, it may appear to be a simple question but it’s crucial to know that your oral hygiene tool has validity.  In some extreme cases, you need to replace the toothbrush sooner than you should. You need to realize that toothbrushes won’t last forever. Like how you change your worn-out shoes, clothes, and other things, you must change your toothbrush when the bristles have become frayed and dry. Though replacing a toothbrush purely depends on your usage and personal preferences, dentists Bundoora recommends having it replaced every three to four months. So before you brush, make sure to check the condition of your toothbrush.

When you don’t change your toothbrush, the cleaning becomes less effective; it may affect your dental health, causing infection.

Change Once In Three Months

Your toothbrush is the best cleaning tool that fights against disease-causing bacteria and prevents tooth decay and other dental issues. If you have been practicing brushing thrice a day, chances are that your toothbrush bristles may go weak soon. You must change the brush once in three months for effective cleaning. If you use an orthodontic toothbrush specified for braces, check with the dentist for replacements.

Sore Throat And Cold

If viral infections, strep throat, and sinuses are a concern to you, you may have to change the toothbrush every two months. No matter what, always clean your toothbrush in lukewarm water and keep the head stand upright in the container. Make sure it gets dried in the air and should not cover it in a plastic case or container as bacteria thrive well in a moist environment.

Don’t Keep Your Brushes In The Bathroom

If your bathroom is prone to water spillage, moisture can cause bacteria and molds to grow and buildup in the brush to avoid contamination.  Instead, you store your toothbrush in the drawer or storage cabinet and let them dry.

Remember, a healthy mouth needs a clean and new toothbrush to clean effectively. You can note down the date of your purchase and keep a reminder. So that you can get rid of the old ones in time to buy a new one and make your daily teeth cleaning effective.

If you have any other concerns like tartar buildup or tooth decay and want a quick solution, get teeth cleaning and whitening treatments from our expert dentists at Greenwood Plenty Dental Care.  For appointments, call (03) 9466 7843 today.

Should You Brush After Eating Or Before? – Find Out!

Ask any dentist, they will tell you that brushing and flossing twice is imperative for your oral health.  Brushing before bed and after getting to bed is the regular oral hygiene norm that everyone follows. However, brushing in the morning aids in many health benefits that you may not be aware of. When you don’t brush or floss or visit the dentist in Bundoora, the food residue will turn into tartar and weaken the teeth’s enamel. This leads to the cavity, plaque formation – a hardened layer, that slowly turns into tartar (Heavy buildup), and other serious dental problems. So if you are concerned about your oral health, make sure to keep up the oral hygiene and regular dental visits.

Dentists in Bundoora recommend that when you maintain healthy dental practices like brushing and flossing twice, visiting the dental clinic near you for teeth cleaning and whitening, and eating enamel-strengthening foods, your teeth will remain in good shape and look and will have a radiant smile.

Teeth Whitening

 

Why is brushing before your breakfast good?

  • Brushing before you eat your morning breakfast is highly recommended. When you are sleeping the food remains, and the germs and bacteria in your mouth start to damage the teeth and fill the air that surrounds your teeth. This smell affects your morning breath. And, when you wake up, you will have an unpleasant and mossy food smell emanating from your mouth. This is removed by brushing and flossing with fluoride-based toothpaste and mouthwash.
  • Also, brushing preps up your teeth and increases saliva production. Saliva helps digest foods easily. Moreover, saliva production will be high in the morning; it’s good to brush your teeth before you eat anything.
  • If you are planning to eat anything acidic, like citrus-based juice or coffee, or tea, make sure to eat after 30 minutes.
  • After you eat, make sure to rinse your mouth with water and use sugar-free and enamel-friendly chewing gum to chew to protect your teeth.

If you need further assistance or info about oral health practices, consult with our dentists from Greenwood Plenty Dental Care. To schedule an appointment, call (03) 9466 7843 today.

Is Your Tooth Feeling Itchy?

Does an itchy tooth mean gum disease? Is your tooth itching way too often? Have you ever run to the dentist in Bundoora for help? If not, there maybe similar sensations like mild pain associated with gums that people perceive as itchiness or tissues adjacent to your teeth itch. Itchy teeth can be dreadful and you might feel anxious about your teeth.However, this is an unusual dental condition and you must check immediately with a dentist in Bundoora.

orthodontist

Causes Of Itchy Teeth

Teeth itching can be annoying; various reasons make your teeth feel itchy. Sometimes, itchy gums can also be the reason for your itching sensation.

Plaque Build-up

When the tartar (hardened yellow dirt buildup) crosses your gum line, your gums start to feel itchy and you will feel that your teeth are itchy and painful.

Gingivitis

Gum diseases like gingivitis and periodontal disease can also be the reason for your teeth’ itching sensation. When the bacteria inside your mouth develop, it leads to inflammation and pain and sometimes bleeding as well.

Allergies

When the tissue inside your mouth becomes sensitive or swollen, your teeth become itchy. For instance, oral allergy syndrome or pollen food allergy syndrome can create an unpleasant situation when you eat something and start feeling a tickling sensation or itchiness.

Side effects

If you had gone through dental procedures’ like a root canal treatment or cavity filling can also lead to temporary itching of the teeth or gums as a side effect.  So make sure to check with your dentist if the itching or pain persists.

Tooth damage

Teeth itchy sensation can also result from an injury. No matter how the trauma to teeth is caused, if the tooth structure is damaged, there are more possibilities to have an itchy sensation.

Teeth grinding

Sometimes teeth clenching or grinding can cause an itchy sensation to teeth or gums. So, you might have to get treatment for Bruxism as soon as possible. When a foreign object like a small piece of food is trapped beneath the gum line or you have accidentally poked your teeth with a toothpick, it could cause itchy teeth. This would last for a day or so if you brush your teeth correctly.

If you are experiencing itchy gums, consistent pain or inflammation, talk to our dentists from Greenwood Plenty Dental Care at (03) 9466 7843 today.

All About Traditional Metal Braces – Things You Should Know

Braces are orthodontic tools responsible for correcting your dental problems. They are recommended by dentist Bundoora for people with teeth crowding, teeth protrusion, gapped teeth, teeth that are out of alignment, cross bite, overbite, and under bite issues. Based on the severity of the problem, the dentist may suggest braces for your teeth to align perfectly in time. Braces can help get your desired result and help you eat, chew, smile, and laugh confidently.  Most people get their braces in their teenage and some during their adulthood. So how do these braces work? Let’s tell you in detail.

Dentist Rosanna

To know how they work, you must know the parts of the braces and their functionality. Let’s go one by one.

Bracket

It is a small thin attachment that is glued to the patient teeth. Its job is to help the wire settle in place in all the slots.

Arch wire

An arch wire is the connecting wire that helps connect all the brackets and decides in which direction the teeth should move.

Elastics

These are rubber bands that put pressure on the jaw so that it helps in aligning the teeth quickly.

Molar band

The molar band is a thin metal ring with hooks that are usually attached behind the teeth to hold the elastics. This helps to join multiple teeth and pull them together in the right direction.

Headgear Tube

It’s the tube that’s placed on top of the molars and a flatter tube is placed on the bottom.

Power Chain

It’s the chain that helps to find the length of the elastics. So, the dentist uses the required elastics to join your teeth.

Elastic Tie

These tiny flower-like tiny ligatures help to hold the wire into the slots of the brackets. This comes in colours as well.

Springs

These are placed between two teeth to create additional space between them.

All these small components in a traditional metal brace work together to correct the teeth to their original position.  Whatever your teeth concerns are, work it out with our professional dentists from Greenwood Plenty Dental Care on (03) 9466 7843 today.