Your mouth tells you a lot about your overall health. Just one peek can give you insight into many different challenges your body is having. Your mouth is part of the overall body system and can reveal anything from nutrient deficiencies to potential cancerous cells. It’s important to pay attention and work with your dental care provider to find solutions to ensure that you deal with minor issues before they become severe. Here are some of the challenges you can pay attention to and ways to get help.
Tooth Decay
One of the most common challenges in mouth and dental health is tooth decay. Due to poor diets high in sticky carbohydrates, low in vital nutrients, and even issues like mouth breathing, tooth decay is on the rise. People can mitigate these issues with better daily habits. While a lot of emphasis is placed on children and brushing and flossing, grownups need to use adult toothpaste, floss, and good habits for their tooth health to be maintained as well.
Brushing after meals, flossing, and eating a variety of tooth strengthening nutrients are some of the simplest ways to mitigate tooth decay. If the decay gets too bad, you may need to see a dentist to get a filling before infection sets in. Getting regular checkups can help you notice small cavities before they become big issues.
Burning Palate
Have you ever experienced burning in your mouth, especially on your palate? This can be from any number of factors, and while most of them benign, it is important to pay attention if there is persistent pain that doesn’t go away with time. Canker sores, burns, and food irritation from sensitivities and allergies are some of the most common. Be careful eating or drinking hot foods.
Swish salt water in your mouth to help canker sores heal more quickly, and pay attention if a specific food is constantly causing irritation in your mouth. Food allergies can go from mild to severe in only a short amount of time, so it’s best to have a food allergy test to be sure you avoid food your mouth is reacting to.
Other more serious concerns can include fungal infections, sinus infections, and even the start of some mouth cancers. It’s important to get treatment right away if the pain doesn’t go away with at-home remedies. A doctor can prescribe antifungal medications or refer you for testing.
Crowded Teeth and Mouth Breathing
Most people think of crowded and crooked teeth as simply an aesthetic issue. What they don’t realize is that crowded teeth can lead to issues like sleep apnea that impacts long term health. Mouth breathing is a sign of a distressed airway and often occurs alongside crowded teeth.
When you breathe too much through your mouth it can be because of narrow nasal passages, inflammation, allergies, and other issues like swollen adenoids or tonsils. Even adults with these challenges should seek out help from a knowledgeable ENT and even an airway focused dentist. Things like tongue ties and poor tongue function can restrict jaw growth. So, expanding the palate, and training you to breathe through your nose can help fix problems caused by crowded teeth.
Dry Mouth
There are several explanations for dry mouth. Sometimes medications can impact mouth moisture, as well as stress, medical conditions, and even dehydration. Chronic dry mouth creates an imbalance of bacteria and can cause teeth to decay more quickly. Saliva also helps food digest better and dry mouth can make eating more difficult.
It’s important to evaluate your habits first to see if there is something that needs to change. If you are on a medication that causes dry mouth, talk to your doctor about options. Chewing gum can increase saliva production and is a good option for people on certain medicines. It’s important to find professional help if the dry mouth comes with sores or other symptoms as those may indicate a more serious illness.
Trouble Swallowing or Moving Tongue
When you can’t do something as simple as move your tongue or swallow properly, it’s crucial that you get checked out. While getting something stuck in your throat on occasion can happen, if it’s a regular occurrence it can indicate conditions like acid reflux, throat inflammation, and even cysts or tumors. Doctors may want to do upper GI testing to determine what’s going on. For poor tongue function, you may need a tongue tie release or special exercises to get your tongue moving.
