Dental Care : Ask The Smile Expert
Q: I had a tooth extraction a couple of weeks back. Now I am not able to open the mouth fully .Can you suggest a treatment? Why does it happen like that? There is no pain in the wound, as it has healed completely?
A: The extraction of teeth is not the reason for the difficulty in opening. This is due to muscle trismus (stiffness of muscles causing lock jaw) as you might not have given enough exercise to the pain, since it was paining or was tender. Once the trismus develops it may take one or two weeks to correct. Chewing a gum will improve the circulation. Some cases trismus may need to be corrected clinically following physiotherapy to exercise the jaw. Visit an oral surgeon and he may help you in increasing the mouth opening.
Q: I am 26 years old. I had to extract my lower tooth 3 years back. Last week I visited a dentist to do a filling on the upper tooth opposite to it .the dentist has told me that the carries occurred because of my extracted the lower tooth. Is it so? They also advised me to replace the tooth permanently, is it necessary? I don’t have any discomfort the area of the tooth loss.
A: If you have extracted a tooth it is necessary to replace the tooth. Otherwise the opposing tooth will migrate into the space as it has nothing to bite on. Once the upper tooth moves down there will be gaps on the sides of the teeth causing food impaction. This food impaction can cause dental decay and eventually you will lose the opposing tooth. Another problem is that the neighboring teeth also may start shifting or tilting to the vacant area. This also will lead to unclean areas after brushing and later dental decay and gum problems. If the tooth over erupts and makes a lock and key mechanism the chewing will not be proper and will cause joint problems and migraine like headaches after having food or talking for time. So please go according to the advice of your dentist and replace the missing tooth permanently.
Q: I have grooves on teeth near the gums. It causes sensitivity while having cold drinks and while brushing. Why are these grooves caused and how can you avoid sensitivity?
A: The horizontal grooves on teeth near the gums is caused due to vigorous brushing of teeth or by using powders and decalcifying agents like lime juice for cleaning. The force applied for brushing should be reduced and a soft brush may be used to prevent these aberrations on teeth. The larger grooves should be corrected by nano-ceramic fillings and the sensitivity of smaller grooves could be corrected by using desensitizing pastes like Colgate sensitive Pro relief or Vantej. If the larger defects continue to be unattended they may end up as infections and may need root canal therapy and larger restorative procedures.
