Myths vs Reality

 Hi !!

This is my first blog and let me start by introducing myself. I am a budding dentist and I am in my internship year. I work in a dental hospital that has the maximum inflow of rural patients. I would like to share my experiences while working among them . Also I would be sharing important information regarding dental and medical issues.

Let us start by discussing some dental myths that I come across very often .

Myth 1.

Brushing hard leads to clean teeth

It is a common thing that I hear during my interaction with patients that we brush hard for more than 20 minutes and then also I have yellow teeth .

That exactly is what the problem is ...

Brushing hard for a long period of time causes wear of the outer white covering of tooth that is called as the enamel and exposes the yellow colored dentin that lies below the enamel. Thus brushing should always be done with light to medium force for around 5 to 7 minutes with a soft or a medium bristle brush. The brush should always be placed in a clean and dry place . The brush should be replaced in every 3 months or if the bristle are frayed which ever is earlier .

The most accepted brushing technique is known as the modified Bass method. I would try my best to explain this method in the easiest manner so that it can be applied . In my next blog I will describe this method and also give a short description about some other methods that are beneficial in cases of gum diseases(gingivitis).

Myth 2.

Oral hygiene is not important

We all have heard that a healthy mind resides in a healthy body .But also our body can only be healthy when the window to it is clean .Oral hygiene is very important as any intake is passing through our mouth and thus if the mouth has a lot of disease causing pathogens due to lack of hygiene they will be passed on into the body. One of such phenomenon is transient bacteremia that is caused during chewing .

So is the bacterial load is high it causes many diseases .

Myth 3.

An extraction of the teeth of upper jaw leads to blindness

It is common myth among the rural people that an upper teeth extraction leads to blindness.

But this is not true

The nerves associated with eye are the optic , the oculomotor, the trochlear and the abducent nerve .While those associated with the upper jaw are the posterior superior alveolar, the greater palatine , the nasopalatine and the infra orbital nerve .

Hence the extraction of none of the upper teeth will affect the eye sight ..

stay tuned for more blogs.