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Your mouth is a busy place. Bacteria - tiny colonies of living organisms are constantly on the move on your teeth, gums, lips and tongue. Cavity Animation Having bacteria in your mouth is a normal thing. While some of the bacteria can be harmful, most are not and some are even helpful. Certain types of bacteria, however, can attach themselves to hard surfaces like the enamel that covers your teeth. If they’re not removed, they multiply and grow in number until a colony forms. More bacteria of different types attach to the colony already growing on the tooth enamel. Proteins that are present in your saliva (spit) also mix in and the bacteria colony becomes a whitish film on the tooth. This film is called plaque, and it’s what causes cavities.

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A cosmetic treatment that has become increasingly popular in recent times and with the increase of various celebrities with sparkling perfect smiles most of us feel motivated or even compelled to get a similar sparkling pearly white smile. With the demand on the increase for teeth whitening procedures there has also been an additional amount of locations that make available these types of services. Teeth whitening by beauty salons has turned highly popular and teeth whitening by beauty salons has become highly sought after and are being highly publicized as a less costly as well as more effective than going to a visit to your local dentist.

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A root canal is a treatment used to repair and save a tooth that is badly decayed or becomes infected. During a root canal procedure, the nerve and pulp are removed and the inside of the tooth is cleaned and sealed. Without treatment, the tissue surrounding the tooth will become infected and abscesses may form.  “Root canal” is the term used to describe the natural cavity within the center of the tooth. The pulp or pulp chamber is the soft area within the root canal. The tooth’s nerve lies within the root canal.  What Your Dental Health Says About You  It’s easy to ignore the effects of poor oral hygiene because they’re hidden in your mouth. But gum disease may point to problems with diabetes and heart disease and loose teeth could be a sign of osteoporosis. Could it be that a healthy mouth means more than just a sparkling smile? And what could your dentist learn about you the next time you open wide?

* Read more about what your mouth says about you

Additional Links:

* Bad Breath: a Sign of Something More Harmful?
* Diet and Healthy Teeth
* 13 Healthy Habits to Improve Your Life

* Tooth Whitening: What Works and When to Say No

A tooth’s nerve is not vitally important to a tooth’s health and function after the tooth has emerged through the gums. Its only function is sensory – to provide the sensation of hot or cold. The presence or absence of a nerve will not affect the day-to-day functioning of the tooth.

On the long list of cavity culprits, soda pop and sugary fruit juices rank high. Now public health officials are pointing the finger at bottled water.  By itself, water does not cause cavities. But a recent report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says bottled water has become so prevalent in children’s diets it often entirely replaces fluoridated tap water, leaving kids more vulnerable to cavities.  One-fourth of U.S. children between the ages of 2 and 5 have had decay in their baby teeth, and half of kids between 12 and 15 have had cavities, according to the CDC.  “Soda is worse. Let’s be clear about that. It has sugar and is carbonated, which creates acid that wears away the enamel,” says Dr. Jarvis Chan, an adjunct professor at the University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston. “But if you aren’t getting fluoride through water, you are missing out on decay-preventing benefits.”

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ABC’s Good Morning America did a piece last month on dental bleaching at kiosks in malls. They claim that the kiosks are popping-up in malls across the country. I have not been in a mall since probably 1996 but I will assume they are correct and report what they found. ABC News’ Cincinnati affiliate WCPO investigated some mall bleaching kiosks using hidden cameras to uncover what goes on in the booths. The promise? Whiter teeth in just 30 minutes for a fraction of the price a dentist would charge. It’s not a dentist office, it’s a mall. People are getting their teeth whitened in a corridor, wedged between a jewelry story and a makeup shop.

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Bad breath is breath that has an unpleasant odor. It’s also known as halitosis. This odor can strike from time to time, or it can be long-lasting, depending on the cause. Millions of bacteria live in the mouth, particularly on the back of the tongue. In many people, they are the primary causes of bad breath. The mouth’s warm, moist conditions are ideal for the growth of these bacteria. Most bad breath is caused by something in the mouth. Some types of bad breath are considered to be fairly normal. They usually are not health concerns. One example is “morning mouth.” This occurs because of changes in your mouth while you sleep. During the day, saliva washes away decaying food and odors. The body makes less saliva at night. Your mouth becomes dry, and dead cells stick to your tongue and to the inside of your cheeks. When bacteria use these cells for food, they produce a foul odor.

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Don’t let your tongue become a dirty carpet.

Bad breath often strikes when people aren’t properly taking care of their oral health. The odor is usually caused by decaying food particles and bacteria in your mouth. That’s why brushing and flossing your teeth is so important, but don’t forget to gently brush your tongue to get rid of even more bacteria.

Dentist Chicago

How Does What You Eat Affect Breath?

Basically, all the food you eat begins to be broken down in your mouth. As foods are digested and absorbed into your bloodstream, they are eventually carried to your lungs and given off in your breath. If you eat foods with strong odors (such as, garlic or onions), brushing and flossing - even mouthwash - merely covers up the odor temporarily. The odor will not go away completely until the foods have passed through your body.

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Judging a person’s breath by way of organoleptic testing simply means that the researcher performing the breath evaluation has used their sense of smell (their nose) as the means for making the determination. Historically this method of breath testing has been a frequent choice among dental researchers. Noses are readily available, inexpensive to obtain and operate, and to their credit, noses can detect up to 10,000 different smells. One of the problems associated with using organoleptic testing is that this technique is not totally objective. Another is that factors other than just breath odors can and do influence organoleptic evaluations. In fact research has shown that factors such as hunger, menstrual cycle, head position, and the degree of attentiveness and expectation can each influence a judge’s interpretation of what they smell.

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Bad breath doesn’t have to be a condition you live with forever.  There are steps and measures that you can take to help allieviate the problem.  The most significant step that you could take it to see your dentist.  Your dentist will be able to examine your mouth to determine what is causing the bad breath.  There may be food particles trapped between your teeth and gums.  There may be other factors that the dentist will be able to determine.  For additional information about Bad Breath, vistit the popular article at http://www.chicago-dental.com/bad_breath.php.