Your Cold Sores

The mouth can be the site of many bothersome lesions, bumps, and sores, and the cold sore is one of the more irritating. Should you or a member of your household become afflicted with such a sore, our Bellevue dentistry advises that you observe the following precautions in order to hasten recovery, minimize pain, and prevent the virus from spreading:

  • There are drugs you can buy over the counter that can be effective in mitigating the pain, reducing cracking, and speeding up the healing process.
  • Cold sores can become infected, so keep the area clean. You should wash a sore gently with ordinary antibacterial soap and water as needed.
  • Use a sunscreen on your face and lips if you are to be out in the sun for an extended period of time.
  • Don’t let the virus spread! Wash your hands after touching a sore, and don’t share utensils, drinks, or anything else that touches your mouth.
  • You can also spread the virus to other parts of your own body if you are not careful.
  • Vulnerable areas include your eyes and mouth. Wash your hands before touching other parts of your body.
  • Replace your toothbrush, and don’t let your infected brush touch the brushes of others.

Remember that your sores will be contagious until they completely crust over. Cold sores will generally heal by themselves within seven or ten days.

Cloning: the Future of Dentistry?

There are many of options available in the world of modern dentistry for people who lose one of their permanent teeth. Implants, bridgework, and dentures, each of these are great ways to plug the hole in your bite and give you back the aesthetic and functionality you had before. However, in the future, places like our Bellevue dentistry clinic may be able to effectively insert one of your own teeth back into your head.

Though the process is still a little immature, a group in London has reported some success in growing entirely new teeth from human stem cells. Using this science, a dentist may be able to take some of your own stem cells, develop a new tooth in a laboratory, and place it into your mouth. There the tooth can accept blood flow and grow just like one of your original teeth, without any of the problems frequently associated with an artificial tooth. Though further work needs to be done before the technique is ready for use in a dental office, we are all excited to see where this science may take the future of dental care.

Dealing With Fissured Tongue

Do you have grooves or cracks running down the length of your tongue? This is something that our Bellevue dentistry clinic knows as fissured tongue.

Fissured tongue, sometimes known as “plicated tongue” or “scrotal tongue”, is something that between 2% and 5% of the population of the US has. It is characteristic of fissures that run across the top and sides of the tongue, sometimes getting as deep as six millimeters. These fissures occasionally appear during childhood, though they more often show up during adulthood and get deeper with age.

Should you have a fissured tongue, don’t worry. Fissured tongue is generally nothing to worry about. The condition is more or less harmless, simply representing a variation on the more typical tongue. You may need to take extra care in scraping your tongue in order to clear away detritus that gets stuck in the grooves and cause irritation, but you will probably not require any special treatment. If you would like to learn more about fissured tongue, consult your dentist.

The Problems with Mouth-Breathing

Does your child breathe through his or her mouth? This isn’t terribly unusual. Nearly half of all children under the age of eight do some mouth-breathing from time to time. If the habit doesn’t disappear by his or her eighth year, however, it might be a job for our Bellevue dentist.

One of the problems with chronic mouth-breathing is that it dries out your oral cavity. Your mouth needs saliva to help it battle against bacteria and fungal infections, so extended periods of dryness can lead to dental problems. People with dry mouths are more prone to tooth decay, gingivitis, and other diseases.

Chronic mouth-breathing often comes with malocclusion, or an improper alignment of the teeth. Many mouth-breathing children can therefore benefit from orthodontic work. If you think this might be your child’s problem, don’t wait; Overlake Family Dental can help!

The Dental Challenges of Diabetes

Good dental care is important for everyone, but in particular people who struggle against diabetes. Our Bellevue dental clinic cautions such people to be especially careful with their teeth, for their condition puts them at greater risk of periodontal problems.

Diabetes causes poor blood circulation, which hinders your ability to resist infections. It also means that your saliva frequently becomes saturated with glucose, which cultivates the growth of harmful bacteria in your mouth. Therefore, compared to a person with a controlled blood sugar level, diabetics are highly susceptible to tooth decay and gum disease.

To make things worse, gum disease can further aggravate your blood sugar level. Diabetic patients with gum disease need more medication to regulate their condition, and their blood sugar becomes more manageable only after their gum disease is brought under control.

It’s a vicious cycle, and the best way to defend yourself from it is to maintain strict oral hygiene. If you are a diabetic, contact your dentist to learn more about its implications on your oral health.