Everyone here at Ross Family Dentistry would like to wish you a happy, stress-free Holiday season! December is one of the busiest times of the year, and being overly-scheduled and overly-busy can bring about a lot of stress. And we all know that “don’t stress” is a common motto that is much easier ‘said than done’! Many of us know that stress can bring about negative effects on our whole body, but did you know that stress can affect dental health, too?
-One in five people develops canker sores. Usually, they develop along the inner lips, under the tongue, and along the cheek walls. Avoiding spicy, acidic, and hot foods can help, and over the counter medicine can help alleviate discomfort as well. If the canker sore does not start healing after several weeks, or if it becomes larger than normal, it’s important to seek a professional Dentist for an evaluation. Dr. Ross is always more than happy to help you with these needs!
-Clenching and Grinding. During times of stress, it is not uncommon to clinch or grind your teeth together. Although most of us have a tendency toward either clinching or grinding, if they are not done too frequently, the habit usually doesn’t cause much harm. Once the clinching and grinding starts to occur on a regular basis, however, we start to see damage to the teeth and jaw joint. If you’re lucky, the clinching and grinding doesn’t cause pain, but oftentimes, in addition to the damaged teeth and joint, people sometimes experience jaw tenderness, and clicking and popping of their jaw joint. If only it were as easy as saying, “I’ll just change my habits.” But since we can’t all control outside influences in our lives, we recommend contacting your local Loveland Dentist, Dr. Ross, to discuss the option of an occlusal guard. The occlusal guard is like a mouth guard that fits over your teeth. It evens your bite and if you are stressed or grinding your teeth in your sleep, you grind on the guard rather than on your teeth. Like Dr. Ross always says, “It’s much easier to replace a piece of plastic than to replace your teeth.”
This what an occlusal guard looks like. It goes over the top teeth and only covers half of the front part of the tooth and all of the chewing surfaces.
This is a picture of extreme wear from clenching and grinding.
Some of our patients have tried some over the counter mouth pieces, like a boil and bite guard. We usually support anything that aids in the preservation of your teeth, however, the boil and bite guard can make the jaw joint more tender. It is not made specifically for your teeth so it might be too big which keeps your jaw joint open wider than it needs to be. This often causes fatigue in the muscle which sometimes leads to pain. If you do have jaw joint pain, it can be difficult to treat the longer the pain is present. We recommend coming into the office for a TMJ evaluation. We can come up with the best option for you!
Since we are in the middle of the busiest time of the year, Dr. Ross always wants you to enjoy those tasty treats and delicious meals that are such a big part of the holiday season. Here are a few tips to make sure you can still enjoy those tasty treats while keeping your teeth and health in check…
Dr. Ross and the whole team here at Ross Family Dentistry, in Loveland, want to wish you a safe, merry, and stress-free holiday season! We can’t wait to see what the New Year brings us, and we wish you all the best in 2015!!