12 Signs You Need to See a Dentist

Regular dental visits are vital in maintaining your oral health. The standard recommendation is that you need at least one dental visit per year to know the status of your oral health. But there are still some warning signs signaling you for a quick visit to the dentist. Here are the 12 signs which indicate that  you need to see a dentist.

• Tooth pain

If you have continuous and spontaneous pain in your tooth that indicates you may have cavities that reached till the nerve of your tooth and that’s why it’s paining. This could be the sign of a condition called ‘chronic irreversible pulpitis’. Also other signs could be pain while sleeping, formation of painful swelling, pain on eating, or having cold or hot food. Sometimes pain is not limited to tooth alone, and maybe referred to secondary sites like forehead, ear, neck and even shoulder. Popping pills can only help temporarily, only your dentist can help you with a permanent solution.

• Food lodgment

If you are experiencing food lodgment inside your gums or in tooth continuously, it’s time to ditch the toothpick and pay a visit to your dentist. This could be due to uneven contacts in between your teeth, causing forceful food wedging inside your gums or you could have cavity in your tooth or in between two teeth due to which food is sticking inside it. In this situation, your dentist can suggest you the proper treatment after diagnosing.

• Sensitive teeth

If you are experiencing sharp pain after having cold or hot which last for a few seconds to minutes, that indicates you have sensitive teeth. Your dentist can diagnose and tell you causes of sensitivity. Sensitivity may be due to faulty tooth brushing or habits like teeth grinding during sleep. Remember that sensitivity toothpastes only cause symptomatic relief and are a small part of treatment.  After a thorough checkup, the dentist can suggest proper available treatment options for you.

• Swollen and bleeding gums

Bleeding from gums spontaneous or during brushing is the most common sign of gum infection. In severe periodontitis cases there may be pus discharge from gums. Your dentist diagnose this as the sign of gingivitis or periodontitis and can suggest you the treatment for this situation.

• Bad Breath

If you are experiencing bad breath this could be the sign of gum diseases, improper cleaning, cavities inside tooth or any other medical problems like sinusitis, tonsillitis and even diabetes.a dentist can provide easy solutions to this unpleasant problem.

• Yellowish/ blackish deposits on your teeth

Yellowish / blackish deposits on your teeth indicates that you are not brushing your teeth properly. Dentist can clean them with ultrasonic scalers the procedure called as scaling and suggest you proper brushing technique to follow and oral products for maintenance of results. Regular scaling can also prevent gum and bone diseases.

• Mobile teeth

If you are experiencing mobile teeth in your oral cavity this could be the sign of periodontitis. Not all loose teeth need to be extracted. Consultation with a dentist shouldn’t be delayed in this situation.

• Gaps in your teeth

If you are you are young with gaps in your teeth this may be genetic or due to mal positioning of your teeth. These gaps can be closed at the right time and with various treatments. These treatments are possible during middle age also.

If you are noticing gaps in your teeth which are increasing day by day, this could be due to periodontitis.  A dentist can guide you and help you in this situation.

• Ulcers inside mouth

If you are experiencing painful ulcers inside your mouth frequently, the dentist can diagnose the causes, rule out any diseases and help you out by suggesting proper treatment. Long standing non healing ulcers could be a sign of oral cancer.

• Difficulty in chewing/ burning mouth after chewing.

Chewing and eating food is an everyday process and any difficulty in this can be disturbing. Causes for situation are many and  only a  dentist can rule it out for you.

• Reduced mouth opening

This situation could be combined with many other signs and symptoms. A dentist looks after not only your teeth, but also your TM joint, which controls movement of your jaws. Careful checkup and diagnosis is the key for this.

• Persistent headaches.

People don’t commonly associate headaches with dental problems but persistent headaches (especially in the morning) could actually be the result of teeth grinding in your sleep. If this is the case, your dentist can provide you a mouth guard or other dental splints to help alleviate your headaches and prevent further tooth damage.

           In case of any signs and symptoms mentioned above, do contact and visit your dentist without delay to prevent progression and worsening of your condition. Consultation with dentist is an important step rather than wasting your time in self-curing tricks.