Since e-cigarettes and vaping are relatively new, long-term research isn’t available, but what we
do know about these devices gives us pause when it comes to your oral health as well as the
health of your entire body. Here’s how vaping impacts your oral health.

Vaping Causes Inflammation of Gum Tissue

Contrary to the belief of some people, e-cigarettes still contain nicotine. When used, they burn
nicotine and other chemicals for you to inhale.

Although extensive data regarding e-cigarettes is lacking, the same is not true for nicotine. We
know that nicotine inhibits blood flow to the soft tissues in the oral cavity, which can not only
mask symptoms of disease, but create a poor immune response to infection.

What this means for you is that you may have severe gum disease and not show many
symptoms. Nicotine can cause your gum tissue to recede and often by the time the user
realizes there’s a problem, periodontal disease is widespread.

Nicotine in E-Cigarettes Leads to Dry Mouth

The nicotine in e-cigarettes can also cause dry mouth. By drying out the mouth, these devices
can increase your risk for both tooth decay and gum disease.

Our saliva is meant to protect our teeth and help balance our oral bacteria. When saliva
production is inhibited by nicotine, the tissues of your mouth aren’t getting the necessary
nutrients to remain healthy. The lack of saliva can cause bacteria to attack your tooth enamel
and cause tooth decay.

If you choose to use e-cigarettes, staying hydrated by sipping water throughout the day is
important to help your smile stay healthy!

You Increase Your Risk of Oral Cancer with Vaping

Published research about e-cigarettes is finding more and more dangerous chemicals in these
products. Toxic chemicals and heavy metals present in e-cigarettes are damaging to the lungs
when inhaled. These chemicals have the potential to be carcinogenic, and since the vapor is
coming into direct contact with the mouth, your risk for oral cancer is increased.

Inhaling these heavy metals and chemicals in the form of vapor can aggravate the lungs and
worsen existing respiratory conditions such as asthma. Other e-cigarette users can develop
severe, life-threatening reactions such as wet lung, where the lungs are in distress and are
unable to get oxygen into the blood due to the presence of chemicals, an injury, or an infection.

Although vaping has been marketed as being “safer” than cigarettes, the jury is still out on this
one. The presence of nicotine and other chemicals make these smoking devices a threat to your
oral health, increasing your risk of gum disease, tooth decay, and oral cancer. If you choose to
use these products, visiting your dentist can help you maintain the health of your teeth and
gums!

The post Can Vaping Impact Your Oral Health? appeared first on Your Dental Health Resource.

Flossing helps reach all the places in your mouth that your toothbrush can’t reach, such as the
sides of two teeth that touch. Your dentist can show you how to correctly floss during your next
checkup, but how can you know if you’re flossing correctly now?

The following pointers can help you determine how well you’re flossing your teeth!

No Bleeding When Flossing

You shouldn’t bleed when you floss unless it’s your first time flossing in a long time. If you
haven’t flossed in a while, a bit of blood during your first couple times is normal.

If you believe you’re flossing correctly but are still bleeding regularly, see your dentist. This isn’t
normal and could mean that there’s another issue with your smile, such as gum disease.

Flossing, like brushing, should happen gently and shouldn’t irritate the gumline. Remember to
move the floss up and down the sides of your tooth—after all, this is what you’re aiming to
clean, not just pulling the floss back and forth and irritating your gumline.

The Amount of Floss You Use

For every flossing session, you should be using about 15-18 inches of floss. The American Dental
Association recommends using 18 inches. This is because you need to use a clean section of
floss after cleaning each side of your tooth. Otherwise, you’re just distributing plaque around
your mouth.

How much floss you’re using can help determine whether or not you’re flossing correctly. If
you’re using only a few inches, chances are you’re not having the positive impact on your oral
health that you want to be having!

Flossing picks or tools are not recommended for daily flossing; this is because they only allow
for about an inch of floss for your entire mouth. These types of flossers should only be used
when necessary out of convenience.

How Long It Takes You to Floss

Another indicator of whether or not you’re flossing correctly is the amount of time it takes you
to floss. It should take a good five minutes to properly floss in-between all your teeth. When

you’re first beginning your flossing routine, it might take longer, but once you become more
experienced, you should be able to do it in close to five minutes.

You Aren’t Flossing First

Ideally, flossing should be done before brushing. This enables you to remove plaque with your
toothbrush after you floss. When you floss after brushing, you allow the plaque to stay put until
your next brushing. Remember that in order to increase the effectiveness of your oral care
routine, floss first!

If you’re flossing correctly, you shouldn’t be seeing blood, it should take you a few minutes, and
you should be using an ample amount of floss. Are you flossing properly? Have your dentist
show you during your next visit!

The post How Can I Know if I’m Flossing Correctly? appeared first on Your Dental Health Resource.

The following are some of the top foods that can make you pull that floss out not just during
your regular routine, but when you need to get these little pieces out of your teeth!

Popcorn

Popcorn is an infamous food for getting stuck in your teeth. Although the softer parts can get
stuck in your teeth, it’s usually pieces of the kernel that can wedge themselves painfully
between your teeth and up against your gums. Be careful when removing pieces of popcorn, as
the kernels could actually cut your gums.

Spinach

Raw or cooked spinach is an excellent food for your teeth. Not only does it contain calcium, but
it also contains protein, iron, and many other vitamins and minerals that are beneficial for your
body. However, spinach can be pesky when it gets stuck in your teeth. Fortunately, spinach is
soft and can almost always be easily flossed out.

Caramel

Caramel and toffee are two of the worst candies for your teeth. They’re sticky and tend to hang
on to your teeth, increasing the chances that you’ll experience enamel damage from these
sugary substances. If caramel or toffee gets stuck between your teeth, be diligent about flossing
it out before brushing your teeth.

Steak

While chewing pieces of steak, it’s all too easy to get this hearty substance in between your
teeth. Although not as damaging as sugar or popcorn, you should still aim to floss these pieces
out gently either before you brush your teeth or if they’re causing you pain.

Pineapple

Fruits such as pineapple and mango can contain stringy pieces that can easily lodge between
your pearly whites and cause irritation. Although raw fruit isn’t generally considered harmful to
teeth, you’ll still want to floss these pieces out. To help minimize pieces from getting stuck, cut
up appropriately before consuming.

Broccoli

Broccoli florets are one of the worst culprits for getting in your teeth. Fortunately, unless you’re
eating raw broccoli, they’re easy enough to remove and shouldn’t cause any damage. Broccoli
is a highly beneficial vegetable for both your body and your smile, so don’t let this little
annoyance about it bother you too much!

Potato Chips

Starchy vegetables such as potatoes and their processed forms including potato chips can get
stuck in your teeth. The same goes for simple starches such as white bread, which tends to be
sticky and can wedge between your teeth. These particles are simple to remove, just be sure
not to eat them too often!

Have you gotten any of these foods stuck between your teeth before? A little bit of floss goes a
long way when it comes to dislodging food and protecting your smile. Although these foods
may require extra flossing, some of them—such as fruit, spinach, and broccoli—are beneficial
to your smile!

The post Which Foods Require Additional Flossing? appeared first on Your Dental Health Resource.

Did you know that certain habits can aggravate your TMJ disorder and make your symptoms
worse? If you have any of the following behaviors, you might be hurting your jaw even more.
Here are the top habits that might cause you undue pain and stress!

Inappropriately Using Your Teeth

Your teeth were meant to chew food, not to open packages, chew on pens, bite your
fingernails, or crunch ice. All of these things not only damage your teeth, but can impact
symptoms of your TMJ disorder as well. These actions put pressure on your TMJ and can cause
muscle tension, which could result in aching or a worsening of your symptoms. Remember that
your teeth are for food and stop using them to accomplish other tasks that could damage your
smile!

Grinding Your Teeth

Bruxism is the condition of grinding your teeth, either during times of stress or even while
asleep. This is an extremely damaging habit that can intensify your TMJ disorder. It puts an
immense amount of pressure on your jaw and cause the joint to become inflamed, resulting in
pressure and tension that will make your TMJ pain worse. If you suffer from bruxism, your
dentist can help you get the treatment you need to stop damaging your teeth and making your
TMJ disorder worse!

Being Stressed Out

Stress impacts our bodies in all types of ways. One of the things chronic stress does is cause
muscle tension in different areas of the body. If you already suffer from TMJ disorder, the
muscles in your jaw could be impacted by your stress and become tense. Not only can this
cause jaw pain, but it can create tension headaches as well, which are another symptom of TMJ
disorder. By better managing your stress, you can avoid making your TMJ disorder worse!

Having Terrible Posture

Sitting up straight isn’t just good for your spine—it could also help alleviate symptoms of your
TMJ disorder as well. Having terrible posture such as hunching over, hanging your head, or not
standing or sitting up straight may impact your jaw. Improper posture can put strain on the
muscles in your head, neck, and jaw, leading to more tension that can make your symptoms
worse. Try to exercise proper posture at all times. If you need to, invest in a better chair for
your desk or take frequent breaks so you can stop hunching over!

Do you suffer from TMJ disorder and have these bad habits? You could be unintentionally
making your TMJ symptoms worse! You can incorporate healthy habits in your lifestyle to help
make your TMJ symptoms just a little easier to manage. By handling your stress, having good
posture, and properly caring for your teeth, TMJ symptoms can be less painful!

The post Are You Unintentionally Making Your TMJ Worse? appeared first on Your Dental Health Resource.

These third molars are well known for causing problems in the mouth. Over time, humans have
had less of a need for wisdom teeth and so our jaws have compensated for this. Unfortunately,
many people still have wisdom teeth even though they’re not needed.

Does everyone need to get their wisdom teeth out eventually? The answer may surprise you!

When Wisdom Teeth Are Impacted

Wisdom teeth will need to come out when they are impacted. Impacted wisdom teeth happen
when there’s no room for the teeth to properly erupt into your mouth. These wisdom teeth
end up pushing on the neighboring teeth, therefore forcing all of the teeth out of position if
they’re left to grow.

Another problem with impacted wisdom teeth is that sometimes due to their skewed position
in the mouth, they can’t erupt through the gumline all the way. They effectively get stuck.
These teeth become almost impossible to brush and can cause pain and infections. When
wisdom teeth are impacted, they’ll most likely need to be removed.

No Problems, No Extraction

Not everyone will need to have their wisdom teeth removed. If your jaw is large enough to
accommodate all of your wisdom teeth and they begin erupting with no problems, there’s
really no reason to remove your wisdom teeth. If you’re not having any symptoms and an x-ray
shows the teeth are in healthy positions, your dentist likely won’t recommend an extraction.

Although the majority of people do end up having their wisdom teeth removed, there is a small
percentage of people who can keep their wisdom teeth without any problems. A professional
and experienced dentist can help you know what your options are when your wisdom teeth
begin to come in.

How to Tell if an Extraction Is Necessary

There are a couple ways to tell if wisdom tooth extraction is necessary. The first is getting
dental x-rays around the time that your wisdom teeth will be coming in. Your dentist can look
at the x-rays and tell whether or not your wisdom teeth are impacted. X-rays can show your
wisdom teeth even when they’re not visible in your mouth.

If you’re having any symptoms of impacted wisdom teeth, it’s time to see your dentist for an
evaluation. Signs and symptoms of wisdom teeth that may need to be removed include jaw
pain or swelling, bleeding or swollen gums around the site, headaches, or a bad taste in your
mouth. All of these could be indicative of an infection or a problem with your wisdom teeth.

Although not everyone will need to have their wisdom teeth out, you should never ignore
wisdom tooth pain. If you haven’t seen the dentist in a while and your wisdom teeth are
coming in, it’s time to get x-rays. Getting your wisdom teeth extracted before they cause
problems with your other teeth is best. If your wisdom teeth are healthy, your dentist can
advise you how to best take care of them for life!

The post Does Everyone Have to Get Their Wisdom Teeth Removed Eventually? appeared first on Your Dental Health Resource.