Coverage and Avulsed Teeth
You dribble the ball up the court, spin around a defender, set for a shot and then ¡ªWHAM! You find yourself on the ground with your lucky front tooth lying next to you.
Don¡¯t panic; teeth that are knocked out of your mouth, or avulsed, but are otherwise healthy can be replaced by emergency dental care. Rinse your missing incisor ¡ª but do not scrub it ¡ª and try to put it back into its vacant socket. If the tooth will not go back into the socket, place it in milk, water, or even in your cheek, and seek immediate dental care.
According to the Center for Disease Control, roughly one third of all dental injuries are sports related, but many athletes do not have dental insurance. Unfortunately, the costs for improperly treated dental injuries associated with the underinsured can be high, complications can occur and the patient may receive poor cosmetic results. If you or any member of your family is an active athlete, consider purchasing some affordable dental insurance so that you will have more emergency dental options available in your time of need.
Homemade Mouthwash
Having trouble stomaching the cost of mouth rinses? Most individual dental plans won¡¯t cover such routine daily treatments but, with a little ingenuity, you won¡¯t have to pad the wallets of Listerine¡¯s stock holders either.
Two common recipes for homemade mouthwash are:
1. ? teaspoon salt in 8 ounces of water (or 4 ounces for a stronger solution)
2. ? teaspoon baking soda in 8 ounces of water
Vitamins and Oral Health
Do certain vitamins help me maintain good dental health?
Yes, but most of those on the list are vitamins that you would need for good health in general. Vitamins B, B-9, C, D, and E are all important for good dental health, as well as Coenzyme Q 10 and flavanoids, which give color to fruits and vegetables and to herbs as well. Sufficient quantities of these vitamins will help your teeth stay healthy but, if you have a balanced diet, you¡¯ll probably not be lacking in any of them.
Certain foods types, such as foods high in sugar, starch or acidic drinks, can have a much greater negative impact on your teeth than extra vitamins alone can protect them from. Furthermore, despite the positive impact that these vitamins and minerals can have on your dental health, your dental insurance will definitely not cover vitamin supplements, but rather only the fillings you¡¯ll need from eating unhealthily.
So even though vitamins can have a positive impact on your dental health, if you¡¯re looking to change your diet to help out your teeth, you should focus on cutting out negatives before putting the icing on your oral health cake with expensive vitamin supplements.
Baby Bottle Tooth Decay
Think that just by having your infant avoid sweets and by making sure they¡¯re adequately covered by your family dental plan that their teeth are in the clear? Not so!
Baby bottle tooth decay is the only severe dental disease common in children less than three years of age. It is caused by leaving a milk or juice bottle in your baby¡¯s mouth after they have gone to sleep. Tooth decay is caused by the interaction of bacteria and carbohydrates to produce acid, which breaks down tooth enamel. Normally, saliva helps digest sugars and other carbohydrates before the bacteria can get to much of it, but saliva production decreases significantly after sleeping, leaving your baby¡¯s teeth more vulnerable to a few drips of milk or juice sitting in their mouth.
By removing the bottle from your baby¡¯s mouth after nap time has started or, even better, by finishing a bottle before nap time, you can significantly reduce the risk of baby bottle tooth decay for your infant.
Smoking Destroys Teeth
Smoking can do more to your mouth than turn your teeth nasty colors and give you bad breath. Studies show that it also puts you at a greater risk of getting tooth decay, gum disease, bone loss, and eventually tooth loss, not to mention cancer of the mouth.
Even if you¡¯re really confident that your dental insurance will cover any eventual damage to your teeth that your smoking might cause, keep in mind that studies also show that those living with a smoker, including kids, are also more likely to suffer from tooth decay and other dental ailments.
The dental health of yourself and of your loved ones is just another reason to stop smoking.