Tongue posture has emerged as a new frontier in health and well-being, captivating the attention of many. Health professionals have explored the often-overlooked aspect of oral health, tongue posture and placement, for its potential impact on various aspects of human health. From promoting better posture and alleviating discomfort to enhancing appearance and reducing pain, proper tongue posture is gaining recognition.

The article explores the intriguing world of tongue posture and its potential to influence overall health and well-being positively.

1. Enhanced Breathing

Proper tongue posture and placement have profound implications for enhancing breathing and overall health. When you correctly position your tongue against the roof of the mouth, it expands the airway, facilitating improved airflow and reducing the likelihood of breathing issues, including snoring and sleep apnea. Moreover, studies indicate that excess fat in the tongue can narrow the airway and obstruct breathing during sleep, exacerbating sleep apnea symptoms.

Adopting proper tongue posture and losing tongue fat improves sleep apnea. That way, individuals can potentially enhance respiratory function, mitigate sleep apnea episodes, and improve their overall health and well-being. Tongue posture and attaining proper tongue fat are the key to optimising breathing and promoting better health outcomes.

2. Silencing Snoring

The relationship between tongue posture and snoring is crucial to understanding and addressing snoring issues. Proper tongue posture and placement play a significant role in reducing snoring sounds and improving sleep quality. When the tongue rests against the roof of the mouth, it helps create a wider airway passage, allowing for smoother airflow during sleep.

By maintaining correct tongue posture, individuals can minimise airway obstruction and reduce the vibrations that cause snoring, ultimately silencing snoring sounds. However, it’s important to note that its role in snoring is only part of the story. Embracing proper tongue posture can be a crucial step towards a quieter, more restful night’s sleep and preventing associated health issues.

Silencing snoring goes beyond achieving a peaceful night’s sleep. It also holds vital health benefits. Persistent snoring can lead to muscle damage, discomfort, and pain. By addressing snoring through proper tongue posture, individuals can potentially alleviate these symptoms and improve their overall well-being.

3. Oral Health

Proper tongue posture and placement play a crucial role in supporting oral health. The tongue acts as a natural retainer, exerting gentle pressure against the teeth and assisting in proper alignment. Maintaining tongue posture helps prevent tooth decay, gum disease, and malocclusion by promoting good oral hygiene and facilitating proper swallowing and saliva distribution.

By being aware of your tongue’s position throughout the day and ensuring it rests against the roof of your mouth, you can lessen the potential impact of improper tongue placement on your oral health. Additionally, paying attention to symptoms like teeth grinding, which can cause headaches and neck pain, can prompt timely intervention and professional guidance from a trusted dentist.

4. Pain Management

Improper tongue posture can contribute to pain and discomfort, particularly in the jaw, head, and neck regions. Muscular pain in the mouth and neck and tension due to joint dysfunction may result from poor tongue posture. Symptoms like teeth grinding can also lead to headaches and related issues.

Consciously correcting tongue posture, ensuring it rests against the roof of the mouth, may reduce pain associated with conditions such as temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ), tension headaches, and neck pain. The correction, known as mewing, aims to align the jaw and alleviate discomfort.

By addressing tongue posture, individuals may find relief from oral and facial pain, improving their overall well-being, reducing pain-related symptoms, and enhancing overall health.

5. Preventing Tongue Thrust

Orthodontists often encounter a common issue that can lead to dental and jaw complications in patients: tongue thrust. The condition occurs when the tongue pushes forward against the front teeth instead of taking a natural position near the hard roof palate. Over time, tongue thrust can result in tooth and jaw malformations, often requiring orthodontic correction.

Proper tongue posture and placement play a pivotal role in preventing tongue thrust. By maintaining the correct tongue position against the roof of the mouth, individuals can mitigate the risk of tongue thrust and its potential impact on oral health. That supports the proper development of teeth and jaws, reducing the need for orthodontic interventions.

Takeaway

Proper tongue posture and placement have a significant impact on improving overall health. The new understanding highlights the need for guidance from professionals who deeply understand the role of tongue posture and placement in oral health and its connection to well-being.

Dentists appreciate the role of tongue posture and placement in optimising health outcomes, recognising its potential to alleviate pain, improve sleep quality, silence snoring, and promote better posture. As this knowledge continues to evolve, seeking the expertise of a trusted dental professional is crucial for harnessing the benefits of proper tongue posture and placement, ensuring comprehensive care and fostering long-term health

Despite our best efforts, dental emergencies do occasionally occur. If this happens, you may not be sure whether to call a dentist immediately or wait to schedule an appointment. Sadly, some dental emergencies happen during the festive season and can ruin your nice time with friends and loved ones.

Check out some of the emergency dentistry festive season hazards:

1. Severe toothache

Toothaches typically indicate severe issues like infection or deterioration. Rinsing with either cold or warm water can provide temporary relief depending on the type of toothache. It is advised to use over-the-counter medicines until you can make a consultation appointment with your dentist. Besides, severe unexplained may lead to the sudden need for root canal treatment, which is best performed at the dentist’s office.

2. Knocked-out tooth

If trauma or accident leads to a knocked-out tooth, you don’t have much time to spend. If the tooth receives emergency care within two hours of being knocked out, it can get repaired back into its socket.

In this situation, gently rinse the teeth in saline or saltwater to remove any visual material or blood. Set up an appointment with an emergency dentist after placing the tooth in a small container filled with saliva if you don’t have access to saline.

3. Impaired braces

Your tongue, cheeks, or gums could be poked or scraped if a wire in your braces has broken or fallen loose. This necessitates contacting a local dentist for emergency dental care. You might try covering the wire end with gauze or a little cotton ball as a stopgap. Once the wire has been stopped from causing more harm, make an emergency consultation as soon as possible.

4. Tooth injury

A tooth injury is any damage to a tooth or the jaw as a whole. The tooth could become loose or even be knocked out of place due to an injury. Injuries of the oral cavity from Christmas light burns are common during festivities and require immediate attention. If this occurs, get prompt dental care or call an emergency dentist.

5. Abscess

Bacteria in the mouth are dangerous, mainly those close to a tooth’s root or in the gap between a person’s teeth and gums. They can spread to other teeth, nearby gum tissue, and the entire body if left untreated.

Are you unsure whether you have an abscess? Look for a painful, swelling, pimple-like area on your gums. Apply ice to the swollen area and rinse your mouth with a gentle water solution and visit your dentist.

6. Lost filling or crown

Crowns and fillings restore previously harmed teeth to their optimal aesthetics and functionality. Take care of this as soon as they break to stop further damage or reinfection. Fill the fracture with sugar-free gum to prevent further damage to the tooth, but do not try to fix it yourself. While you are waiting for emergency dental care, try this temporary solution.

Final thoughts

Regular dentist visits are the best approach to maintaining oral health. However, knowing which dental crises happen the most frequently and how to handle them is ideal. Above are great examples of emergency dentistry hazards to beware of this festive season.

Your eyes are the windows to your soul, but did you know that they can also be a window into your oral health? Gum disease is an incredibly common condition that affects millions of people worldwide. While it’s well-known that gum disease can lead to tooth loss and other dental problems, many people don’t realize that it can also affect their eyesight. In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at how gum disease can impact your vision and what you can do to prevent it from happening. So sit back, relax and get ready to learn something new about your oral health!

What is Gum Disease & What Is Periodontitis?

Gum disease, also known as periodontal disease, is a bacterial infection that affects the tissues surrounding and supporting your teeth. It’s caused by a buildup of plaque on your teeth that eventually hardens into tartar if not removed through proper oral hygiene practices like brushing and flossing.

There are two main types of gum disease: gingivitis and periodontitis. Gingivitis is the early stage of gum disease and can be reversed with proper treatment, while periodontitis is more severe and can lead to tooth loss if left untreated.

The symptoms of gum disease include redness, swelling, bleeding gums, bad breath or taste in the mouth, loose or shifting teeth or changes in bite pattern. However some people may experience no symptoms at all despite having advanced stages of gum diseases.

While many people assume that only those who don’t practice good oral hygiene are susceptible to gum disease, it’s actually quite common even among those who brush their teeth regularly. That’s why regular dental checkups are important for everyone – they can help catch any signs of gum problems before they become serious issues!

Causes of Gum Disease & Periodontitis

Gum disease is a common dental problem that affects many people worldwide. There are several causes of gum disease, including poor oral hygiene, genetics, smoking, and certain health conditions such as diabetes.

Poor oral hygiene is the most common cause of gum disease. When you don’t brush your teeth regularly or floss properly, plaque builds up on your teeth and gums. This can lead to inflammation and irritation of the gums which eventually leads to periodontal disease.

Genetics also plays a role in gum disease. Research has shown that some people have genes that make them more susceptible to developing periodontitis.

Smoking is another significant contributor to gum disease development as it weakens the immune system’s ability to fight off infections in the mouth.

Medical conditions such as diabetes can increase an individual’s risk for developing gum diseases due to impaired blood flow causing reduced oxygen supply leading towards unhealthy gums.

It’s important always having good oral hygiene practices like brushing twice daily with fluoride toothpaste followed by flossing daily along with having regular check-ups with dentists at least every six months will help maintain healthy teeth and prevent future problems concerning Gum Disease.

Symptoms of Gum Disease & Periodontitis

Symptoms of gum disease can vary depending on the severity and stage of the condition. In the early stages, gums may appear red and swollen, and they may bleed when brushing or flossing. This is called gingivitis.

As gum disease progresses to periodontitis, symptoms become more severe. Gums start to pull away from teeth and pockets form between them that collect bacteria. This can lead to bad breath, tooth sensitivity, receding gums, loose teeth or even tooth loss.

Advanced periodontitis can also cause pain while chewing food and a change in bite alignment due to shifting teeth position. It’s important not to ignore any signs of gum disease as it can lead to further complications if left untreated.

If you notice any symptoms of gum disease mentioned above, schedule an appointment with your dentist as soon as possible for proper diagnosis and treatment options such as deep cleaning procedures like scaling and root planning or antibiotics therapy depending on how advanced the case is.

Do Gum Disease & Periodontitis Affect Your Eyesight?

Gum disease is a condition that affects the tissues surrounding your teeth, causing inflammation and possibly leading to tooth loss if left untreated. While gum disease primarily affects your oral health, recent studies have suggested that it may also be linked to other health issues throughout the body, including eyesight.

Research has shown that there may be a connection between gum disease and age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is a common cause of vision loss in people over 50. This connection likely stems from the inflammatory response caused by gum disease, which can affect blood vessels in the eyes and lead to damage in the retina.

While more research needs to be conducted on this potential link between gum disease and AMD, it’s clear that maintaining good oral health through regular brushing, flossing, and dental check-ups can help prevent not only tooth decay but potentially other health conditions as well. So take care of those pearly whites – your overall wellbeing might just thank you for it!

Can It Lead to Blindness?

Gum disease does not directly cause blindness, but it can certainly contribute to vision problems. When bacteria build up in the gums and teeth, they can enter the bloodstream and travel throughout the body.

Studies have shown that people with gum disease are more likely to develop conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke – all of which can affect eyesight. For example, high blood sugar levels from diabetes can damage blood vessels in the eyes and lead to diabetic retinopathy.

In addition, chronic inflammation caused by gum disease has been linked to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of vision loss in older adults.

While gum disease may not directly result in blindness, it is clear that maintaining good oral health is important for overall health – including eye health. Regular dental check-ups and proper brushing and flossing habits can go a long way towards preventing gum disease and its potential complications.

Treatment for Gum Disease

If you suspect that you have gum disease, it’s important to see a dentist as soon as possible. Treatment for gum disease will depend on the severity of your condition.

For mild cases of gum disease, a professional cleaning and improved oral hygiene may be enough to reverse the problem. This typically involves scaling and root planning, which is a deep cleaning procedure that removes plaque and tartar from above and below the gumline.

More advanced cases of gum disease may require additional treatment methods such as antibiotic therapy or surgery. Antibiotic therapy can help eliminate bacteria causing infection in gums while surgery helps remove damaged tissue in severe stages.

The ultimate goal of treatment for gum disease is to prevent further damage by eliminating infections, reducing inflammation, promoting healing and preventing tooth loss.

After successful treatment for periodontitis, tooth restoration is used to prevent infection and gum diseases.

Dental implants are also an option if there are teeth already lost due to Severe Gum Disease.

While dental implants were once considered only for the wealthy, the cost has come down over time making them more attainable than ever before.

Maintaining good oral hygiene is essential to prevent gum disease and other dental problems. Gum disease not only affects your teeth and gums but can also have an impact on your overall health, including your eyesight. The bacteria from infected gums can enter the bloodstream, leading to inflammation in different parts of the body.

While there is no direct evidence that gum disease causes blindness, studies suggest a correlation between advanced periodontitis and age-related macular degeneration, one of the leading causes of vision loss in adults over 50 years old.

It’s important to address any signs of gum disease immediately with proper treatment such as scaling and root planning or dental implants if needed. Tooth restoration procedures are also effective in preventing further infection and protecting against tooth loss.

Don’t let fear or financial concerns stop you from seeking proper dental care. Dental implants are not only for the wealthy; many affordable options exist today for individuals who need them.

Maintaining optimal oral health through regular brushing, flossing, and professional cleanings is crucial for overall well-being. Don’t overlook any symptoms of gum disease or delay seeking professional help when necessary as it could affect more than just your smile!

Our age of Covid, which threatens to continue for years to come, is one where Covid will continue to hog the headlines. Other even more prevalent diseases such as cardiovascular disease and all the wide variety of cancers get so little publicity during this time. It’s the same for dental diseases – but almost all diseases seem to flourish more where there is poverty. Even obesity!

Periodontal diseases are prevalent both in developed and developing countries and affect about 20-50% of the global population. High prevalence of periodontal disease in adolescents, adults, and older individuals makes it a public health concern. Several risk factors such as smoking, poor oral hygiene, diabetes, medication, age, hereditary, and stress are related to periodontal diseases. Robust evidence shows the association of periodontal diseases with systemic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Periodontal disease is likely to cause 19% increase in the risk of cardiovascular disease, and this increase in relative risk reaches to 44% among individuals aged 65 years and over. Type 2 diabetic individuals with severe form of periodontal disease have 3.2 times greater mortality risk compared with individuals with no or mild periodontitis.

Periodontal therapy has been shown to improve glycemic control in type 2 diabetic subjects. Periodontitis is related to maternal infection, preterm birth, low birth weight, and preeclampsia.

Oral disease prevention strategies should be incorporated in chronic systemic disease preventive initiatives to curtail the burden of disease in populations. The reduction in the incidence and prevalence of periodontal disease can reduce its associated systemic diseases and can also minimise their financial impact on the health-care systems. It is hoped that medical, dental practitioners, and other health-care professionals will get familiar with perio-systemic link and risk factors, and need to refer to the specialised dental or periodontal care.

Increased cancer risk because of periodontal disease has been demonstrated by Michaud and colleagues. The risk of tongue cancer increases 5.23 times with each millimeter loss of alveolar bone. Fitzpatrick and Katz observed that the relationship between periodontitis and oral, esophageal, gastric, and pancreatic cancers have been reported more consistently in literature than with lung and prostate cancers.

The challenge in both poorer and more developed countries is that periodontal and gum disease treatments take time to work and when it comes to medical centres, time is money, and like any business they are time-poor.

The WHO response

Eight years after the United Nations High-Level Meeting on Noncommunicable Diseases recognised that oral diseases pose a major health burden for many countries, 2019 saw the inclusion of oral health in the Political Declaration on Universal Health Coverage. During the same period, Members States, with the support of the WHO, developed and endorsed strong regional strategies and calls for action in favour of oral health in the African, East Mediterranean, South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions.

In such a context, WHO is committed to ensuring promotion of oral health and quality, essential treatment for oral health conditions for all people in all countries without individual financial hardship.

Reducing oral health conditions calls for a reform of oral health systems to shift the focus from invasive dental treatment to prevention and more minor treatment.

WHO has identified key strategies for improving oral health, with a focus on low-income and marginalised populations where access to oral health care is most limited. These include strengthening both cost-effective population-wide prevention and patient-centred primary health care.

This work is being implemented through a three-year roadmap (2019-2021) that comprises a mix of normative work and practical support to countries. A top priority is the development of a global oral health report, which will provide information about the status of oral health globally. The report will serve as the evidence base for the development of a global oral health action plan.

WHO also supports countries in this area by:

supporting interventions to accelerate the phase-down of dental amalgam in the context of the Minamata Convention on Mercury;
building capacity and providing technical assistance to countries to support a life-course approach and population-based strategies to reduce sugar consumption, control tobacco use, and promote fluoride-containing toothpaste and other vehicles of fluoride;
providing assistance to strengthen oral health systems such that they are an integral part of primary health care and do not cause financial hardship; and
reinforcing oral health information systems and integrated surveillance with other noncommunicable diseases to demonstrate the scale and impact of the problem and to monitor progress achieved in countries.

Cultural superiority is a foul-smelling state of mind and yet we still see Westerners who visit Third-World countries and then comment that the locals had bad breath as well as body odour. And it’s true that with periodontal disease, it often begins with foul breath and bleeding gums so foreign snobs are making a semi-valid point. Doesn’t excuse their pomposity though. Blame the British royals, lords and land-owners for their lousy breeding that makes them so selfish.