6 Ways To Treat Gum Infection

What can be better then having white teeth and pink healthy gums, having the perfect smile that everyone admires... mmm sounds amazing and so far from reality... Stop dreaming you can have it today!

Healthy teeth and gums help people to feel better and have better self esteem, but we can all have it so why don't we just take care of our teeth and gums and worry about other things?

Gum infection is a very common dental problem everyone suffers from at some point in their life. Over the years people get more and more oral infections, after the age of 35 the risk is even greater.

Gum infection is very painful and non attractive disease. If not treated it may result in tooth loss, because the gums and bones surrounding the teeth get destroyed.

What is this infection and how can we avoid it?

An infection is when bacteria or viruses invade and grow within a tissue and usually cause inflammation, which is swelling, redness and blooded gums.

The most common types of gum disease are: Gingivitis and Periodontitis.

To prevent having gum infection we should brush our teeth regularly and clean the teeth at the dentist every 6 month.

If we neglected the teeth and gums and we do suffer from gum infection or other oral disease we can use some medications to relieve the pain and swelling. We can buy the products or make them from our household products. To easily make the home remedies we can use the things we have in our kitchen.

1. Apply Aloe Vera on the infected gums.

2. Mix cinnamon and water and use as a mouth wash.

3. Rinse the mouth with salty water and lemon juice.

4. Wash the mouth often with salvia and chamomile tea.

5. Eat fresh apples daily.

6. Boil some carnations, cool and gurgle

These remedies will sure help your pain but you have to take control and take care of your teeth or you will suffer from more gum infections and may lose a tooth or more. When you feel any pain or see any swelling or redness go to the dentist and check the best treatment for the problem. The sooner you take care of the problem the better you will feel and look.

By Ron Shelf

Natural Remedies for Gum Health

Gum disease and periodontal disease are serious issues especially when it gets to its advanced stages, as it creates inflammation and destruction of the tissues that are responsible for supporting the teeth with the most common symptoms of severe gum disease being pain, infection and loosening of the teeth. If the gum disease is left untreated, it could lead to the loss of the tooth or infections within the tooth and jaw and as gum disease and heart disease, stroke diabetes and even cancer could have related symptoms it makes sense to deal with any potential mouth issues. The effects of the gum disease are long-term and can even spread to different parts of the body through the blood stream.

Dentists are the best people to treat gum disease, but to prevent the problem from happening there are a few things you could do at home, so that the gums are kept healthy and free from infections. Of course these home remedies need to followed along with the general steps of oral hygiene maintenance, but they add more strength to the gums and thus help in longevity of the teeth and gum health.

Healthy Gums can be maintained by many natural ways but if serious problems are seen, it's better to visit the Dentist for the additional treatment and advice.

Maintain Vitamin C Intake

Vitamin C intake is very necessary to maintain the health and integrity of the gums, and there is a strong link between deficiency of Vitamin C and the gum troubles. The recommended amount of Vitamin C for daily intake is 60 mg (which is a maintenance dose for a healthy individual), and this can be increased up to 2000mg for those who are already suffering from gum disease or gum problems. Vitamin C rich foods include citrus fruits, and many fruits and vegetables such as dark leafy greens, broccoli, chili peppers, fresh herbs and strawberries.

When taking vitamin C supplements it is best to take a buffered or ascorbate version rather than ascorbic acid as the high acid content can erode your enamel and cause acid stress to the body.

Toothpastes with CoEnzyme Q10 or A CoQ10 Supplememt

One of the other proven ways to keep the gums healthy and free from infections is the usage of either a supplement or toothpastes which contain the natural CoEnzyme Q10, which allows damaged or diseased gum tissues repair. CoQ10 like vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. CoQ10 is found in meat and fish, fruit and vegetables and some oils.

Natural Cranberry Juice without sugar

This is an easily available product just make sure to purchase one which doesn't have any added sugar. Cranberry juice works by removing bacteria that adhere to the surface of the teeth or gums, and prevents further bacteria to attach and attack your oral tissues.

Tea tree Oil

This is a gel rather than oil, which is available directly in the form of tubes at stores and pharmacies and this is one of the proven ways to reduce the symptoms of gum disease. There have been several tests done with patients with gingivitis/periodontitis who used this gel while toothbrushing, after a number of days people reported that the bleeding of gums while brushing the teeth had reduced and that their symptoms of gum disease lessened. Tea tree oil is a natural antibacterial and works by reducing the amount of bacteria on the gum surfaces.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is one of the ways to reduce the inflammation and the inflammatory effects caused by the bacteria on the gums. Studies and research suggest that there is a link between low Vitamin D and gingivitis, and it was found that people with higher blood levels of Vitamin D were less likely to have problems like bleeding gums.

Sun light during the early mornings or late afternoon during summer and at noon during winter is one of the sources of Vitamin D, as skin exposure triggers the synthesis of Vitamin D in the skin and then the liver.

Lifestyle and overall wellbeing also impact on our oral health so there are other ways to keep the gums healthy and free from infections. One is to keep yourself free from any mental stress and get quality sleep. In times when people are under mental stress the incidence of mouth ulcers and gingival symptoms also increase.

Apart from the above remedies, the maintenance of good oral hygiene through regularly brushing and flossing is a must for healthy gums.

By Dr Rachel Hall

How to Handle Mouth Ulcers

Recurrent mouth ulcers are a source of worry for many people worldwide. It is an apparently simple condition that causes much more pain than is expected. Because of its relative commonness in some societies, it has gotten itself a variety of names such as canker sore, aphthous stomatitis or aphthous ulcer. Commonly, mouth ulcer, canker sore or whatever name you wish to call it, involves painful open sores that will exist in the mouth, believed to be due to the breaking off of the overlying mucous membrane.
In most reported cases, mouth ulcers starts off with a sort of tingling or burning sensation at the spot where the future mouth ulcer will occur. After a few days, a blister forms in the mouth with the top quickly sloughed off resulting in a red spot or a bump, which will then be followed by an open ulcer. The mouth ulcer appears as a white or yellow oval with an inflamed red border. Sometimes a white circle or halo around the lesion can be seen. The grey, white, or yellow colored area within the red boundary is due to the formation of layers of fibrin around the ulcer.
When at this final stage, a mouth ulcer, in common cases can be as wide as 3mm, while in extreme cases it could be as large as 1cm (in extremely rare cases, though). The main ulcer body can be really painful when agitated especially with the presence of food in the mouth. This is perhaps the most unacceptable part of the disease. Also, mouth sores are often accompanied by painful swelling of the lymph nodes below the jaw and this fact tends to make people confuse canker sores for toothache, initially.
Several reasons and factors have been cited as the cause of mouth ulcers, though none seems to be conclusive yet. Some evidence points to the role of infections like herpes, cytomegalovirus and yeast as the cause of mouth ulcers. However, several other viruses that have not even been conclusively identified are also being researched for their role in the cause of mouth ulcers.
Moreover, a person's immune system seems to play an important role in the cause of mouth ulcers, in some people. This process is known as an autoimmune reaction, in which in the response to certain allergies, such as to chemicals in toothpastes and/or mouthwashes, a person's immune system causes the formation of blisters in the mouth which then open up to result in ulcers. Although, no studies have been able to isolate bacteria or viruses enough to establish definite roles in mouth ulcers, some studies have shown a rise in a person's immunity against herpes and cytomegalovirus when that person suffers mouth ulcers.
Mouth ulcers may last a couple of days or in some cases, up to about 4 weeks, with the pain and discomfort persisting throughout. They may disappear without treatment, though this rarely occurs.
There are several ways to prevent and manage mouth ulcers. However, the best prevention of the disease unarguably requires sound dental hygiene which eliminates the presence of harmful microbes in the mouth, and to avoid/reduce spicy, acidic or salty foods and drinks, which tend to predispose to it.
Medically, there are only a few treatment options available to choose from. In most cases, your doctor will have to inject a small amount of a type of cortisone called triamcinolone into each ulcer. This will get rid of the ulcers rather quickly, but it will not prevent them from recurring. However, the best home remedy you can employ is to pour salt on the surface of the main ulcer. This could be really painful though, but it relieves you of the continuous, daily pain that accompanies mouth ulcers.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of an oral paste known as amlexanox (Aphthasol). When applied, this paste reduces the swelling and discomfort of mouth ulcers. Moreover, clinical trials reported in recent journals, have established the efficacy of several treatment options for mouth ulcers. Some of these include the use of prednisone to suppress immunity (reducing autoimmune responses that are believed to cause mouth ulcers in some people), pentoxifylline, a drug that increases blood flow to the mouth, thalidomide to reduce blood flow to the area affected by the ulcer, acyclovir to kill herpes, and colchicine, a gout medication.
As you can see, there are several options available when you really need to battle that troublesome sore in your mouth. You only need to choose the option most suited to you or contact your physician immediately you feel you have a canker sore or mouth ulcer, for advice.

By Michael Russell