Taking Mouth Hygiene Into Consideration

  

Date Posted: 3/30/2018 7:40:48 AM

Posted By: ROZA  Membership Level: Silver  Total Points: 961

---

Specialists tell us that the mouth is the mirror to the rest of the body. A mouth is like a gate that one passes through so as to reach a home. When you visit a doctor, part of the examination is done on the mouth. A doctor can examine your mouth and make a diagnosis of other diseases that you may be having on your body. A mouth has several functions namely, digestion, which starts in the mouth, speech as one uses the mouth to speak, and needless to say that a mouth is part of beauty. When we talk of the mouth, we find three parts, the teeth, tongue and the gum.

GUM
The gum is the supportive structure that holds the teeth in place. When you brush your teeth and spit blood, it is not the teeth that bleed but the gum. This is called the gum disease. The gum can be seen as swollen. Swollen gums can be caused by either local factors as well as systematic factors. Local factors can be described as factors within the mouth itself, and systematic factors can be described as those factors that are caused by other diseases in the body.

TONGUE
Every one of us knows how important the tongue is in our lives, it helps in digestion which we mentioned that it starts in the mouth, and also in speech. But most of us do not take care of it as it should be. If a tongue is not cleaned well, a white layer forms, which is an indication that it is dirty. A tongue should be brushed every time that one is brushing teeth as that layer is usually the cause of bad breath.

TEETH
We use teeth to chew as part of digesting food. But the problem comes when there

is tooth decay and these same teeth have to be removed. To avoid this, we need to know how to take care of our teeth by brushing them, brushing our teeth should not be done for the sake of it, instead there is a formulae that has to be followed. It is a technique that makes sure that we do it right.

THE BRUSHING FORMULAE
Firstly we have to make sure that we have the right brush. A brush can be either, hard, medium or soft. The doctor recommends that we use the medium brush because it is neither too hard nor too soft, since a soft one will not clean your teeth well and a hard one can injure your gum. A brush should not exceed 3 months while using it; it should be changed every three months. A tooth paste will also be needed but it can be of any brand. Brushing should start on the outer part of the teeth on all the sides, then open your mouth and brush the top of the teeth that bites. Then move to the inside of the mouth and brush the inside part on all sides. In between the teeth, there is a string that should be used to remove food particles found between teeth which the brush cannot reach. But this is not just a string, it can be found in our super markets. It should be used for about two to three times a week. Tooth picks should be avoided since they are not safe. They cause gaps between teeth and food particles will be going there and cause decay. Tooth picks can also damage the gum. In addition, when brushing there are several things to put into consideration. Firstly, brushing should be done in a circular motion, most of us brush in a sideways motion which can easily hurt the gum, or the root of the teeth will be exposed, this is called the self inflicted injury. And also the cleaning process will not be done well. Secondly, use moderate force to brush your teeth, too much force will injure the gum and too little force will not get the job done. Thirdly, use 2 to 3 minutes of your time brushing so as to get the best results. Lastly, brush twice a day and whatever you do, do not forget to brush before going to bed.

CAVITIES
Cavities are those holes that we find on our teeth. They do not happen overnight but they come about as a process. In our mouths, there are millions and millions of bacteria that are useful to the body, but with the wrong mouth environment, they react and cause an acid which then cause holes on our teeth. We know that a tooth has three parts; the outer part, the inner one and the inner most part. The outer layer does not have any sensation, the inner one is semi sensitive and the inner most one is very sensitive because it has nerves. When one is experiencing tooth ache, it only means that the cavity has reached the innermost part of the tooth. But it does not end there, once the germs have reached the innermost part, they can produce pus around the gum and the bone that supports the teeth and it can further go to the throat, then to the chest which is very dangerous because one cannot be able to breathe well. Cavities are that serious.

BAD BREATH
Bad breath can be caused by several factors. Firstly, it can be caused by not brushing at all, secondly not brushing well, thirdly not brushing the tongue and again it can be caused by tonsillitis, lastly it can be caused by saliva, that is, those people who have thick saliva that make their mouth dry can have bad breath.

CHILDREN
Nowadays children are also getting dental problems. You will find a child who has tooth decay on almost all their teeth. This has been caused by the sugary foods that we give them and them not brushing their teeth well. A child’s mouth should be cleaned by wiping the gums even before teething starts. This is because the mother’s milk usually has a lot of sugar and the baby sleeps a lot and as we know cavities happen when one is sleeping because there is no enough saliva in the mouth. A child should then start brushing their teeth from the age two years. But remember, a child should not brush themselves till they reach the age of 8 years, they will need to be assisted by an adult till they reach that age.

PREGNANT WOMEN
There is a myth that goes around that a pregnant woman should not visit a dentist or even remove their teeth because it is believed that this will trigger the labor pains but this is not true. What should happen is that the pregnant woman can visit the dentist but inform him about her pregnancy. This way the dentist will know what to do since he has been trained to deal with such matters. In any case enduring the pain of a tooth ache is what can trigger labor pains.

In conclusion, we all need to take care of our dental health by eating healthily, cleaning our teeth regularly as well as in the right way, and visiting a dentist for checkups regularly and whenever there is a problem,in addition, visiting a qualified dentist who should not be hasty to remove our teeth but give the necessary treatment is very important.

---

Next: Types of Education Taught in African Countries
Previous: Water Conservation in Kenya