Do I Have a Problem if I Bite My Cheeks?

Biting down on the inside of your cheek is never a pleasant experience. These are very vulnerable tissues, easily prone to aggravation. If you find yourself doing it fairly frequently, it’s not uncommon to start worrying that there may be something wrong with your mouth. So, when should you bring your cheek-biting to the attention of your dentist?

In truth, excessive cheek-biting is probably not the result of any serious problem. Even people with perfectly straight, perfectly healthy teeth are going to have the occasional misstep, and the swelling that results makes it all the more likely that you’re going to do it again in the near future and further aggravate your injury. This results in a vicious cycle that can be difficult to break out of.

When you bite down on your cheek hard enough to damage the tissues, try being mindful of the area for a while. Take care while you chew and allow the area to heal. If your situation is particularly troublesome, an orthodontic wax or similar protective product may be in order. Talk to your dentist to learn more.

What is a Fissured Tongue?

Also known as either plicated tongue or scrotal tongue, fissured tongue is a condition estimated to affect between 2% and 5% of Americans. This condition comes in the form of rose of grooves that run across the top and sides of your tongue, possibly as deep as six millimeters. People with fissured tongue generally develop the condition in adulthood, though the grooves will occasionally appear in childhood and grow deeper with age.

If you experience fissured tongue, don’t worry; it’s a generally harmless genetic trait that does not require treatment. However, it may be wise for you to take particular care in scraping your tongue every day. The deep grooves in your tongue are slightly more likely to trap bits of food and allow harmful oral bacteria to thrive, causing irritation or encouraging tooth decay and gingivitis.

When you think that you may have fissured tongue, it’s best not to diagnose yourself. Whenever you notice any changes or anomalies on your tongue or in your mouth, be sure to consult your dentist to confirm that it’s nothing harmful.

Dental Implants to be Replaced by Stem Cell

Stem cell research has been a buzz worthy topic for many years and the suggested findings have been even more bold. New research prompts insight to dental implants or dentures being replaced with stem cells which may regrow missing teeth. Due to its extraordinary ability to repair, stem cells carry a specialized purpose which may aid in replacement of missing or diseased teeth via cells from existing teeth.

Commonly practiced, dental implants have been sturdy options where metals compatible with the human body are fixated in the upper or lower jaw to optimize its functions. Although seemingly safe and effective, dental implants are still artificial teeth that combine with the bone which can restrict candidates according to medical history and medical evaluation. The forward procedure in its test phase claim, “epithelial cells derived from adult human gum tissue are capable of responding to tooth inducing signals from embryonic tooth mesenchyme in an appropriate way to contribute to tooth crown and root formation and give rise to relevant differentiated cell types, following in-vitro culture.”

Having been successful in test mice, the Professor at King’s College London’s Dental Institute states, “thus a realistic source for consideration in human biotooth formation.” The new movements in science may lead to inventive procedures where dental implants become outdated and defunct.

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