Prioritizing Oral Health During Addiction Recovery
Substance abuse and addiction can take a big toll on your oral health, causing problems such as acid reflux, teeth grinding, loss of blood flow to the gums and roots, sores, and neglected oral hygiene. Drugs can also lead to sooth sensitivity, since they can cause dry mouth—which increase acid levels and destroy the tooth’s protective enamel layer. If you are in recovery from substance abuse, you may be working on various ways to improve your health. These can include enjoying healthy meals, exercising regularly, and seeing your dentist. If you are ready to exercise good oral hygiene and opt for necessary treatments, what are the main strategies you should adopt?
Visiting the Dentist
Your dentist should first give your mouth a check-up to identify issues and come up with a strategic plan for better oral health. If you have missing teeth, for instance, you may be keen on having an implant placed as soon as possible. Implants can enhance oral health in many ways. They can boost your enjoyment of food and prevent the loss of bone in the areas surrounding your lost teeth. However, your dentist will first need to ensure that you don’t have problems such as gingivitis or periodontal disease. If these problems exist, your dentist will probably suggest restoring your oral health prior to performing surgeries such as the placement of dental implants. In other cases, a simple professional clean or root scaling may be enough to restore good gum health, and you can opt for implants or other aesthetic procedures soon after.
Fixing Broken Orthodontics
If you are wearing braces and you haven’t kept up to date with your appointments with the orthodontist, seeing the latter for a check-up, tightening, and/or fixing broken brackets is vital. Bear in mind that brackets can easily break—for instance, if you chew hard foods such as gummy lollies and apples. If you are worried about not being able to clean your teeth, ask your orthodontist about clear orthodontics like Invisalign. These are a set of trays that you change every few weeks until your teeth are completely straight. They can be removed while you eat, so you don’t have to worry about breakages.
Embracing a Healthy Routine
After you have a professional clean and have any oral health issues you may have fixed, you can feel more motivated to keep your mouth clean and fresh-smelling. Aim to brush and floss your teeth at least twice a day. In addition to dental floss, you can use tools like interdental brushes to clean the space between teeth. To find out which parts of your teeth or gums you may be neglecting to clean well, use plaque disclosing tablets. These contain a harmless dye that reacts with any plaque that may remain on your teeth after cleaning. You don’t need to use these every day, but using them a couple of times will reveal areas you need to pay more attention to.
Substance abuse can lead to many oral health problems, including dry mouth and eroded enamel. See your dentist so they can identify any issues you may have and suggest an effective treatment. Don’t feel like you have to do everything at once. Before opting for aesthetic treatments like veneers or implants, for instance, your dentist will have to ensure that your gums are in a healthy state so that implants last a lifetime (or close to it).