Oral Health Issues You May Not Have Heard Of

While gum disease and cavities are common knowledge, not every dental issue is as common and well-known by the average dental patient. Sometimes, you may even experience a dental health problem and hear from your dentist that you're experiencing something, such as abfraction, that you haven't heard discussed very often or at all. Here are some of the less well-known oral health issues that you may be unfamiliar with.
Abfraction Abfraction may sound like it has something to do with fractions, but actually the term describes a type of enamel damage. Unlike overall enamel loss due to wear or acid attacks, abfraction describes enamel loss at the gumline due to repeated stress. Abfraction damage can be identified (by your dentist) by the wedge shape of the missing enamel at the gumline. Since the dentin tissue beneath your enamel is quite susceptible to cavity-causing bacteria, you can imagine how much compounded damage abfraction could allow over time. Abfraction can often be caused by bruxism (grinding your teeth together repeatedly at night), which also stresses your gums and could cause them to recede. Bad bacteria love to grow along the gumline, so if the gums swell up or recede slightly, they could have an even greater time building up plaque and tartar and causing cavities and gum disease.
Tonsil Stones Tonsil stones occur when bacteria and their waste products build up in the crannies of your tonsils. Though they're a common cause of bad breath, tonsil stones are not a popular topic of conversation. Not only are they stinky, but they're also a bit embarrassing. They cause bad breath, and people may feel like having tonsil stones means they aren't great at hygiene. However, your tonsils may be more to blame than your hygiene. Tonsils that have a lot of crevices and that are regularly inflamed are great at fostering bacterial growth until you end up with these small, stinky buildups in your tonsils. The types of bacteria in your mouth may also play a role, since some bacteria are smellier than others. If you're susceptible to tonsil stones, you may have to expend more effort reducing bacterial growth than the average person does to avoid bad breath. For instance, gargling with salt water frequently is one recommendation to reduce tonsil stones.
Dentinal Fluid Flow Problems Although you've probably heard of dentin (the tooth layer beneath enamel) and possibly even dentinal tubules (the microscopic passageways that travel through the dentin), you may not know much about dentinal fluid and what it does. This fluid, in a healthy oral environment, flows slowly outward through the tubules, making invasion by pathogens more difficult. However, if the fluid flow slows or stops, pathogens such as cavity-causing bacteria can more easily colonize the dentin. You don't want this to happen, as it could be a recipe for cavities. Dentinal fluid flow is controlled by the parotid gland, which emits a hormone known as the parotid hormone, so you'll want to keep that gland functioning properly. Although more research is needed on this subject, some of the things that experts say affect the parotid hormone and dentinal fluid negatively include things like eating too much sugar or having mineral deficiencies or imbalances. These are just a few of the oral health problems that you may not be familiar with until they happen to you. With so many things that can go wrong with your mouth, it's critically important to not only keep up with your at-home dental hygiene but also visit your trusted dentist regularly. Contact the office of Jeffrey L. Erwin DDS today to learn more about our services or to schedule your next dental appointment. Whether you need preventive dentistry such as x-rays or restorative or cosmetic dentistry, we're here to help.