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You might suspect that your wisdom teeth are starting to emerge, but knowing the signs of impacted wisdom teeth can help you be more proactive about your dental care. Impacted wisdom teeth can be extremely painful and can make your life truly miserable until they are removed. Therefore, looking for the early warning signs listed below, and seeing Drs. Rottschalk, Acker, and Froidcoeur if you experience them, can help you conquer the problem before it conquers you.

There are three primary signs of impacted wisdom teeth. While every person may not have all three of these signs, you can usually expect to experience at least one of these if your wisdom teeth are impacted.

Unusual Pain

If you are feeling a type of teeth pain you've never felt before, especially when it is focused in the back area of your jaw, this may be a sign that you have a tooth impaction. You may be fortunate enough to catch it early, before all of your wisdom teeth become impacted, if you see Drs. Rottschalk, Acker, and Froidcoeur as soon as you feel the pain.

Swollen Jaw

If your jaw is suddenly swollen and the area feels tender to the touch, you have a high chance of having an impacted tooth. Since the wisdom teeth are set so far back in your jaw, the swelling tends to show itself low in the jaw, towards the ears, when they are impacted.

Bleeding Gums

If your gums are bleeding, something you may notice when you see a pink or red tinged toothbrush, you may be dealing with a wisdom tooth issue. When the wisdom teeth are impacted, they put a lot of pressure on your back teeth and gums, which often leads to bleeding.

Visit our Fairview Heights, IL office as soon as possible if you have any of the above signs of impacted wisdom teeth. The sooner you get treatment, the sooner the pain will be behind you for good!

Now that you are working hard to improve your dental health and appearance with your braces, it might seem like a logical time to whiten your teeth as well. But should you go ahead with home kits or a professional whitening? The answer might be yes, but not quite yet!

Toothpaste

The easiest way to whiten teeth is regular use of a whitening toothpaste. But these do not make a major difference in tooth color and may also contain abrasives which can damage ceramic brackets and make them more likely to stain. And, whether you have metal or ceramic braces, the brackets used are bonded to your teeth. Any part of your tooth covered by a bracket will not be affected by the whitening paste. Ask our office if you are thinking of using one of these products. We will be happy to recommend the best toothpastes to use while your braces are in place.

Whitening Strips and Trays

Whiteners can be applied at home with strips or tray kits. Strips are coated with a whitening gel and then pressed around your teeth. Tray kits provide a mouthguard-like appliance, which is filled with whitening gel. But neither strips nor tray solutions will whiten any area covered by brackets. When your braces come off, there might be noticeable differences in color on each tooth. Strips are difficult to apply with braces, and trays need to be custom-designed to fit your braces and make sure they don’t disturb your orthodontic work. One size most definitely does not fit all! Finally, these whitening agents can cause tooth and gum sensitivity, especially around the time of adjustments. Many manufacturers do not recommend using their products while you have braces. Please talk to us if you are thinking of using them.

Professional Whitening

A dental professional can whiten your teeth in office for the best possible results. The most effective treatments for your unique teeth are combined with protective care of your gums and mouth. Whether this treatment is appropriate while you have braces is something we are happy to discuss.

The best way to keep your teeth bright is to keep up your regular dental routine! Brushing and flossing are more important than ever now, because plaque builds up around brackets. Avoid foods that stain teeth and rinse or brush after every meal and snack. Drs. Rottschalk, Acker, and Froidcoeur will show you the best way to take care of your teeth while your braces are on—and that includes the best way to keep them white and bright. Talk to us about the perfect time to whiten your beautiful smile during your next visit to our Fairview Heights, IL office. And if you have to wait a few extra days for the smile you’ve been working toward, truly, the wait will be worth it!

It’s done a wonderful job for you, but after three or four months, the time has come to retire your toothbrush. Bristles that once easily removed food particles and plaque have become frayed and just aren’t as effective. But now that you’re regularly changing out your toothbrush, what to do with those retired brushes besides add to the local landfill? Check out some recommendations from Drs. Rottschalk, Acker, and Froidcoeur for some second career options for that old toothbrush.

Make Your Jewelry Shine

A gentle brush with your favorite jewelry cleaner and your old brush will remove dirt from small spaces and filigree that a cloth just can’t reach. Do check that brushing is safe for your jewelry—pearls, for example, are not a good candidate.

Keep Your Woodwork Dust-free

Keep the details on your wood trim dust free with an old toothbrush. Baseboards are some of the hardest places to keep clean—even vacuums have difficulty getting dust and dirt out of trim. But an old toothbrush is perfect for cleaning the top, the grooves, and the inside corners of your baseboards. You can also remove dust from around door trim and inside window tracks.

Polish Sinks and Faucets

Use a repurposed toothbrush to remove build-up where the base of your faucet meets the sink, or around levers and handles. And don’t forget the metal ring around the drain!

Clean Kitchen Gadgets

Those miniature blades in your coffee maker or blender, the tiny holes in your cheese grater, the micro-openings in your microplane—small cleaning jobs need small tools! Try an old brush the next time you have a mini-cleaning problem.

De-grease Appliances

And while we’re in the kitchen, don’t forget your appliances. A toothbrush can clean grease around dials, handles, and knobs where a sponge can’t reach.

Refresh Your Grout

There are special brushes made just for scrubbing grout, but give your old brush a try first. Use your regular cleaning solution or paste for fresh, clean grout lines on your tile floors and counters. 

Keep Your Technology Sleek

Your keyboard has a busy life and it shows! Keep the spaces between your keys dust and crumb free with a clean, dry toothbrush. The next time you’re detailing your car’s interior, try a toothbrush for cleaning around buttons and dials on your dash. And don’t forget your remote controls, or any other place where keys, knobs, and buttons collect dust.

There’s still a lot of life left in that toothbrush! If you choose to reuse, do be sure to thoroughly clean your toothbrush before it transitions to another housekeeping detail. It’s worth the effort—your old brush will prove useful in any number of new ways, and your home—and the environment—will thank you!

Have you been thinking about getting an oral piercing lately? It could seem enticing because they look trendy or cool, but it’s worth know the health risks associated with oral piercing. Even if you already have one, you may learn a few things you didn’t know.

The human mouth contains millions of bacteria. Even without piercings, it’s not uncommon for people to develop an infection every once in a while. By adding an oral piercing, you increase your likelihood of getting an infection.

Many people who have piercings tend to develop the habit of touching them regularly, which is the like opening a door and yelling, “Welcome home, infections!” And because these piercings are in your mouth, particles of all the food that comes through can accumulate and eventually cause a pretty serious health situation.

It’s hard to ignore the presence of an oral piercing, so biting or playing with the site is fairly common. Doing so can lead to teeth fractures, however. While a fracture might be on the enamel of a tooth and require a simple filling, it can also go deeper, which could entail a root canal or even tooth extraction.

Other risks include hindering your ability to talk and eat, nerve damage, gum damage, and even loss of taste.

If you’re still determined to get an oral piercing, at least be aware of the time it will take to heal. It can take anywhere from four to six weeks, and can cause great discomfort during that time. Be willing to give it that time in order to lower your chances of infection.

Make sure you understand that getting an oral piercing will involve adding further responsibility to your daily dental health duties. It’s essential that you commit to regular upkeep on your end, and not just while it’s healing.