Common symptoms after oral piercing include pain, swelling, infection, an increased flow of saliva and injuries to the gums:

• Millions of bacteria live in your mouth, so oral piercings may become infected easily
• Swelling of the tongue is a common side effect but it is possible for the tongue to swell large enough to block your airway and prevent breathing.
• Piercing can cause uncontrollable bleeding and nerve damage.   If a blood vessel was in the path of the needle during the piercing, severe bleeding can result.
• Blood clots or blood poisoning can occur

And the jewelry itself can be hazardous or cause other problems:

• You can choke on the studs, barbells or hoops that become loose in your mouth.
• Teeth can chip or crack from contact with the jewelry.
• Bacteria that breeds around the piercing can cause bad breath.
• The jewelry can prevent you from speaking clearly or cause problems with chewing and swallowing food.
• The metals may cause an allergic reaction.

Since oral health is important for overall health, the effects of an oral piercing may have a greater impact than one may think. Unfortunately, many people with oral piercings don’t realize that these side effects could happen to them.

Thank you for reading.  I encourage you to leave comments or questions below.  For more information on my practice, please visit www.elitesacramentodentist.com

Your friendly dentist,
Dr. Sarah Po
Apr. 29, 2010

Source:  http://www.ada.org/3090.aspx?currentTab=1

Are you using it to mask bad breath?  In that case, yes – mouthwashes like Listerine can mask bad breath temporarily.

Does using mouthwash mean you don’t need to brush and floss?  No.

Some mouthwashes contain anti-bacterial components which help to control bacteria responsible for unpleasant odors and plaque.  However, mouthwashes are not a substitute for mechanical removal of bacteria through brushing and flossing, where is the main way of preventing tooth decay and gum disease.  Also, keep in mind that many mouthwashes contain alcohol.  Mouthwashes that contain alcohol should be kept out of children’s reach.

Some mouth rinses like Act Mouthrinse may contain fluoride to help make teeth more resistant to acids that cause cavities.  Other types like Peridex, which contains Chlorhexidine, can help with gum infections and are recommended for use after a deep cleaning or extraction.  Both of these would be recommended by your dentist as needed.

The bottom line?  Continue to brush, floss and see your dentist regularly for checkups and professional cleanings.  And if you’d like, use mouthwashes to help freshen your breath.

Thank you for reading.  I encourage you to leave comments or questions below.  For more information about my practice, please visit www.elitesacramentodentist.com.

Your friendly dentist,
Dr. Sarah Po
April 15, 2010

Blame stress. High standards and feverish competition make Japan a stressful place at the best of times, which these recessionary times are not. Assuming the diagnosis of recession halitosis holds, our breath should sweeten as the economy recovers—if the economy recovers.

The article opens with a personal anecdote concerning a certain “Mr. A,” a 31-year-old advertising company employee who, always careful about brushing and flossing, was all the more chagrined to note unmistakable signs of repugnance on the face of a female colleague he was chatting up.

How strange. Why should his breath be foul? His health was good, his stomach apparently fine. True, he was in a state of some anxiety over his precarious finances. Also, lately his mouth often felt strangely dry. Could that be significant?

It is indeed, says Ichiro Saito, a dentistry professor at Tsurumi University and author of a book on “dry mouth” syndrome. The number of patients he’s seeing who suffer from it has increased dramatically over the past five years. Based on his own practice and other research, he estimates 30 million Japanese may be afflicted with it.

The usual causes, stress aside, are aging and medicinal side effects. But Saito was noticing a sharp rise in the number of young sufferers, many of them under stress, though not necessarily economy-related. One of his patients, a company man in his 30s, was being persistently harassed by an older subordinate resentful of his relatively lowly status. Another patient, a “desk worker” in his 20s, found his mouth drying as a romantic relationship turned sour.

Why should stress cause bad breath? As a rule, Saito describes in the article, a person secretes 1.5 liters of saliva a day. Salivation is controlled by the autonomic nervous system. Have a relaxing massage and notice the flow increase. Quarrel with your boss and your mouth dries. If you think of saliva as a kind of natural mouthwash, the rest of the explanation is easily inferred—dry equals unclean.

There are those who would say that if bad breath is your biggest worry, your life is on a pretty even keel. But it’s not necessarily so. Surveys consistently show that women are acutely sensitive to a man’s mouth odors. One 20-year-old woman the magazine speaks to sums it up clearly and bluntly: “I don’t care how good-looking a guy is, if his mouth smells like poison gas, I won’t kiss him!”

So chew gum, men, and carry a water bottle with you for emergency sips when you get that dry-mouth feeling. And chew your food thoroughly. That’s something we’re apt to neglect in hurried, stressful times. In doing so, we don’t make our stress any easier to bear.

And perhaps, most important of all, practice meticulous oral hygiene and visit your dentist on a very regular basis!

Thank you for reading. I encourage you to leave comments or questions below. To learn more about my practice, click on the link www.elitesacramentodentist.com

Your friendly dentist,
Dr. Sarah Po
Apr. 1, 2010

Source:  http://www.japantoday.com/category/kuchikomi/view/stress-causes-bad-breath-epidemic

• Eating foods with strong odors.  This is an obvious one, and examples are onions and garlic.  The good news is that bad breath from foods is temporary and should disappear once the food has been passed through your body.
• Poor oral hygiene.  Keep in mind that bacteria lives in your mouth and can be found in plaque or tartar.  When you do not brush or floss regularly, this odor-causing bacteria will continue to grow.  Bacteria also tends to accumulate on the tongue, so clean your tongue with your toothbrush or ask your dentist for a tongue scraper.
• Cavities & Abscesses.  Bacteria will release waste products in the form of sulfur compounds which will cause bad breath.
• Gum Disease.  In this case bad breath comes from having large amounts of bacteria in deep gum pockets in combination with bleeding gums
• Smoking.  Not only does smoking cause bad breath, it also stains your teeth, increases your risk to oral cancer, and irritates your gums.
• Dry mouth (xerostomia).  This could be due to salivary gland problems, certain medications, or chronic mouth-breathing.
• Medical conditions such as sinus infections that cause postnasal drip, diabetes, acid reflux, and liver problems can also cause bad breath.

How To Avoid It?

• Brush and floss regularly, and keep your tongue clean
• See your dentist regularly to ensure healthy gums and teeth
• Do not smoke
• Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water
• Chew sugar free gum to help stimulate saliva flow

Thank you for reading. I encourage you to leave comments or questions below. To learn more about my practice, click on the link www.elitesacramentodentist.com

Your friendly dentist,
Dr. Sarah Po
Mar. 30, 2010

Source:  http://www.ada.org/public/topics/bad_breath.asp

Here are some facts on oral cancer, taken from the American Dental Association’s fact sheet:

• Oral cancer strikes an estimated 34,360 Americans each year.  An estimated 7,550 people (5,180 men and 2,370 women) will die of these cancers in 2007.¹
• More than 25% of the 30,000 Americans who get oral cancer will die of the disease.²
• On average, only half of those diagnosed with the disease will survive more than five years.⁴

What is the number one risk factor for oral cancer?

You got it – Smoking.  This includes all forms of tobacco use including cigars, cigarettes, and chewing tobacco.

Other benefits to quitting smoking are:  decreased risk of lung cancer, heart disease, COPD, improved circulation and breathing, eliminating exposure of tobacco to those around you via second-hand smoking.  From a dental perspective, you will reduce staining of your teeth and bad breath, and the health of your gums will improve.

For the complete ADA articles on oral cancer and smoking, please refer to

http://www.ada.org/public/topics/cancer_oral.asp

http://www.ada.org/public/topics/smoking_tobacco.asp

In future blogs I will cover more on the specifics of oral cancer detection as well as other dental conditions linked with tobacco use.  Until then…

Your friendly dentist,
Dr. Sarah Po