Mouths are pretty important. Your smile is key to your physical appearance, you use your mouth to talk, and you chew and swallow your food with your mouth. Sometimes, problems in the mouth are pretty obvious, but sometimes they can be quite subtle. Sometimes you can have a problem in your mouth without realizing just how serious it really is. Here are five things that might be happening in your mouth that you should let your family dentist take a look at.
- You Suffer a Traumatic Mouth Injury – People can suffer traumatic mouth injuries any number of ways: playing sports, slipping and falling or through some other type of accident, to name just a few. If you suffer a mouth injury that results in cracked, chipped or broken teeth, or even the loss of an entire tooth, you should definitely book an appointment with your dentist, and maybe even a trip to the emergency room!
- Serious Cuts Inside Your Mouth – Trauma to the mouth can also cause serious damage to your gums, lips or cheeks, which may also require immediate attention from a dentist. Dentists take care of more than just teeth – they also provide oral surgery services. If you have a deep cut in your mouth it may need to be stitched up, something that your dentist can take care of.
- You’re Experiencing Toothache – Pain in one or more of your teeth might be caused by a cavity or dental abscess. The pain might be dull and continuous, or it could be a severe and stabbing. Either way, it’s something that should be checked out by a dentist as soon as can get an appointment, because if you leave these types of problems longer then they can get worse over time.
- Sore, Swollen or Bleeding Gums – Soreness or bleeding along the gum line can indicate serious problems in your mouth. Sometimes sore, swollen or bleeding gums can be nothing that you need to worry about and will heal up just fine if you brush and floss thoroughly for a few days. But if you have prolonged gum soreness or bleeding, it could be a sign of gingivitis, an infection or a dental abscess and you may need some help from your dentist.
- You’re Feeling General Jaw Pain – As another example of how your dentist can help take care of your mouth beyond just your teeth, you should book an appointment to see your dentist if you’re experiencing jaw pain. Jaw pain can be caused by things like teeth grinding or osteomyelitis, an infection that travels through the blood stream and affects bones and any surrounding tissue. Another common cause of jaw pain is Temporomandibular Disorder – commonly called TMD – a condition in the joint where the jaw hinges to the temporal bones of the skull and can cause ‘popping’ when you open or close your jaw.
Your dentist takes care of more than just your teeth. If you’re having any sort of issues in your mouth, including your teeth, gums, tongue, cheeks or lips, your dentist will probably be able to help! Orion Dental provides a full range of dental services for the whole family, from young children just developing their first teeth to more mature patients desperately hanging onto their last ones! Call our Milton dentist office at (905) 636 – 9770 or our Scarborough dentist office at (416) 291 – 0306 to book a no-obligation consultation or a dentist appointment!
P.S. The end of the year will soon be here! Remember to book an appointment for those treatments that you’ve been thinking about so you have the whitest, brightest smile this holiday season!
