Dramatically Improve Your Eating Ability With Teeth Restoration

The treatments available at our Canterbury dentist can help you eat your food more easily and comfortably.

A lot of focus, these days, is on improving the way that our teeth appear to ourselves and others. Cosmetic dentistry is becoming more popular by the day, and the days of seeing older people with badly stained or missing teeth is gradually becoming a thing of the past. This is all good news. Having an attractive smile brings many benefits; not least to our self esteem.

For today’s blog though, we thought we would look at treatments that are available for the prime purpose of our teeth; that is to bite, chew and digest our food. If our teeth don’t provide this basic, but essential, functionality then it won’t really be of benefit whether they look nice or not.

Problematic teeth

We will take a look in another blog about the cosmetic treatments that we have available at Bradley and Partners Dental & Implant Clinic that can improve the appearance of your teeth. Today though, let us take a look at some common dental issues which can create problems when we try to eat certain foods, along with treatments that can restore your teeth to enable you to eat more comfortably.

Toothache/tooth decay

This is a problem that many people will be familiar with. Anyone who has experienced a toothache, and especially a very painful one, will know that when this happens, you would rather not eat at all as the slightest bit of contact could greatly increase the level of pain you were currently experiencing. Any dental pain should be a cause to contact your dentists straight away, not only to alleviate any pain, but to prevent the problem becoming worse as well.

The restorative treatment used to treat tooth decay will depend on how advanced it is. Some people will be able to have a small filling, perhaps using our natural coloured filling material for less visibility. For those where it is more advanced, a larger filling may be needed or even a crown. We will offer our advice on the best way to treat your tooth, following an examination. In some cases, where the decay is extensive or the prognosis very poor, the tooth might need to be extracted.

Gum disease

Gum disease can produce many symptoms and may even cause tooth loss if not treated quickly enough. The symptom that is likely to make eating more difficult though is when the gums become sore and inflamed, sometimes producing pus around them in some cases. You should never ignore your gum health and prevention is key here. Good quality brushing and flossing, along with dental hygienist appointments should prevent any serious issues from arising.

If gum disease has already occured, it may not be too late to do anything about it. Our Canterbury based hygienist will examine your gums and discuss any improvements that you can make to your diet or cleaning regimen before carrying out a scale and polish procedure. This removes hardened bacteria and minerals which form a crust, known as tartar, on the teeth and gum line. This rough surface then attracts further bacteria. In most cases, this treatment will help to reverse and manage gum disease. Where it is more advanced though, a suitably qualified dentist may have to carry out a deep clean or root planing procedure to save the tooth where possible.

Sensitive teeth

If you have sensitive teeth, biting into anything hot or cold can be very painful indeed. This sensitivity can be caused by a crack in the tooth or perhaps more likely, eroded enamel from the surface of your teeth. You will need to have an examination to determine its cause. Where a tooth is cracked, a filling may be possible. For worn tooth enamel though, the most likely recommended solution would be to have dental veneers fitted. In essence, these replace the eroded tooth enamel and not only prevent the sensitivity but improve the appearance of your teeth as well.

Missing teeth/poor fitting dentures

Missing teeth can cause a lot of problems when eating, and in some cases might mean that you avoid certain foods altogether. While a missing adult tooth is gone forever, there are options available to replace them. Dentures are one of the longest standing methods but these can cause problems of their own which we will look at in a minute. An increasingly popular treatment at Bradley and Partners Dentists is to have dental implants placed. This does require an invasive treatment but not only replaces the crown part of the tooth, but the root section too. It is this that makes them the strongest and most stable tooth replacement option currently available.

For anyone who chooses dentures, one problem that sometimes occurs is that they become loose. This is more likely to be due to minor facial shape changes rather than the dentures themselves, but this can cause the dentures to move around, especially when eating. In order to avoid this, dentures can be stabilised using dental implants or you can have the implants placed instead of them.

If you are finding eating difficult or uncomfortable, this isn’t the way that things are supposed to be and is also unnecessary thanks to modern oral care. If you are having this problem, why not take the first step to enjoying eating your food more comfortably by calling our Canterbury dentist today on 01227 463529.