Understanding Root Canal Procedures

The Danger Of Dental Home Remedies

15 July 2018

Diane Mason

Everyone wants a beautiful smile and a set of healthy teeth and gums. Not only is a dazzling smile important to confidence and self-esteem, it's is also important to your overall health and nutrition. Unfortunately, not everyone is blessed with great teeth. Whether it's not being as vigilant with one's dental hygiene as they perhaps should have been, genetics, aging, tobacco usage, dental anxiety, an injury, disease or something else, dental issues are common. Some people try to first remedy the situation with home remedies. This isn't uncommon in those with dental anxiety or the uninsured. Unfortunately, turning to home remedies can cause further damage to your teeth and gums or even cause life-threatening reactions. Here is what you need to know.

Teeth Whitening

Perhaps no home remedy is more prevalent than the various methods said to purportedly whiten the teeth. Tobacco users or former users are often desperate to whiten their teeth. Some people advocate for brushing stained teeth with lemon juice, salt, hydrogen peroxide, or even a diluted bleach solution. None of these methods with brighten and whiten your smile. What they will do, however, is damage your enamel, weakening it, and potentially eroding it to the point where the yellow-colored dentin beneath the enamel shows through. These methods can also severely damage your gums and the other mucous membranes of your mouth. Lemon juice is very acidic. In fact, lemon juice is slightly more acidic than cola, which, of course, no one would ever consider brushing their teeth with. Obviously, drinking soda causes plenty of dental issues.

Toothaches

Rubbing whiskey or vanilla extract on a sore tooth has long been an advocated remedy for tooth pain. Alcohol can be dangerous, especially if used on a child. For an adult, a bit of whiskey may temporarily dull the incessant throbbing pain of a toothache, but it isn't a longterm solution or even always appropriate. Alcohol is also not a dependable way to kill an infection.

Abscessed Tooth

With the growing popularity of essential oils, there is no shortage of websites proclaiming the power of various tinctures and concoctions using them. Some even recommend using the oil undiluted. These oils are treated by natural health proponents as a virtual panacea, able to cure everything from athlete's foot to infected boils to autoimmune diseases, like lupus. Fenugreek oil, thyme oil, and oregano oil are frequently recommended for "curing" an abscessed tooth. They are also often peddled by uneducated sales representatives involved in multi-level marketing companies who are more interested in making a commission than your health. An abscessed tooth cannot be cured by applying an oil; it is a serious infection inside the tooth's pulp chamber. A very real danger with using a home or herbal remedy is while they are not working, the bacteria in your body are busy multiplying. This can lead to sepsis—blood poisoning—which is a medical emergency that can result in death. Medicinal plants can be very powerful, with many of their compounds used to create pharmaceuticals. But a distilled essential oil can also be extremely potent, damaging your gums, or worse, causing a serious reaction, such as anaphylaxis or interfering with a prescription drug you take. For example, oregano oil can cause a severe chemical burn.

Whether you are afraid to go to the dentist or are worried about how much it is going to cost, dying from an infected tooth is not worth it. Don't risk your health wasting time with home remedies that don't work and could do more harm than good. Look for a dentist who does sedation dentistry or research the different options available in your community for reduced-cost dental care. For more help, have a peek at this web-site.

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