Health

Caring for Your Dental Implants

Health EducationBeauty, Health
Caring for Your Dental Implants

When you get dental implants from your dentists, you may not think you need to stay on top of your oral care routine as much as you used to. After all, the teeth aren’t real, so surely, they don’t require as much attention? The opposite is true. Your dental implants may not be your natural teeth, but they do need proper attention to keep them in the best condition possible. These tips below may help.

After the Procedure

The immediate aftercare of your dental implants is as crucial as the ongoing care. In the first 24 hours after your procedure, refrain from moving around excessively and keep your head elevated. You may also like to keep an icepack on your face for short periods and eat only soft foods.

Avoid rinsing your mouth, and take any medications prescribed by your doctor for pain and infection control. If you notice bleeding, bite down on the sponges that your dentist would have placed in your mouth to assist.

Use a Different Toothbrush

You may be used to using an ordinary toothbrush with your regular teeth, but that might have to change. Some hard-bristled brushes can scratch your dental implants, which means swapping to a nylon toothbrush can be the best thing you can do for your teeth.

A nylon brush tends to be gentler on your teeth than other models and is less likely to scratch your implants.

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7 Criteria Which Determine If You Are A Candidate For Lasik Eye Surgery

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7 Criteria Which Determine If You Are A Candidate For Lasik Eye Surgery

There is no doubt that the popularity of laser eye treatments such as Lasik eye surgery is increasing as more and more people wish to end the need to wear glasses and contact lenses to correct their vision. It has proved to be a success for millions around the world, and the fact that the recovery time and any discomfort is minimal makes it an ideal choice for everyone.

We say everyone, but we should caveat that by saying everyone who is suitable for Lasik eye surgery. Unfortunately, not every individual will be a suitable candidate, given the number of criteria that have to be met before a surgeon will consider doing the procedure. The experts at insighteye.com.au have let us know some of the criteria – here they are and what they mean.

Healthy Eyes

The first criteria, and probably the most obvious is that your eyes must be in a healthy condition. Incidentally, the fact that your vision needs to be corrected in the first place does not make them unhealthy. What does, are conditions such as dry eye syndrome, conjunctivitis eye injuries, and eye infections, all of which make Lasik eye surgery questionable, and even if it is possible, the recovery time may be longer.

Your General Health

The main concern with regards to your overall health are any conditions or medications that you might be taking that could interfere with or compromise the healing process taking place in your cornea, following Lasik eye treatment. Conditions that can weaken the immune systems include type 1 diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis, although there are many others.

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Choosing the Best Eye Doctor for Your Cataract Surgery

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Best Eye Doctor for Your Cataract Surgery

Cataract surgery is the process by which a cloudy, aged lens is removed from the affected eye by means of an incision. It’s a commonplace surgery that millions of people go through each year.

Still, complications occasionally arise, and even without any trouble the idea of having a lens removed often causes patients understandable discomfort. Therefore, it’s important for you to select a surgeon you can trust to perform your cataract removal surgery. The following list of suggestions should help you choose the right surgeon for your needs.

Consider the Types of Eye Doctors

It’s important to understand the difference between optometrists and ophthalmologists, because depending on your class of eye doctor they may or may not be able to perform your cataract surgery.

Optometrists are qualified to perform eye exams and vision tests, but they are not able to perform surgery. Ophthalmologists have medical degrees and they are certified to perform surgery.

Both classes of eye doctor may serve as your personal eye care physician, but if you are seeing an optometrist, you will have to be referred to an opthamologist for your cataract surgery. If you are seeing an opthamologist, he or she will be able to perform the surgery directly.

Be sure to make note of which type of eye doctor you’re selecting when you make your plans for cataract surgery.

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How to Care for Dental Implants

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Care for Dental Implants

If you are one of three million Australians who is missing teeth, then you may think there isn’t a lot you can do about it. After all, you still have plenty for chewing, and don’t you only get dentures when you’re missing most of them? While you may not need traditional dentures, your dentist is here to let you know that there is much value in dental implants and over-dentures.

Dental implants are single teeth with roots installed in your jaw bone. They look, feel, and function like regular teeth, and no one needs to know they aren’t yours. If you’re considering getting dental implants, then you’ll be pleased to hear the maintenance process is as effortless as for your real teeth. Read on to find out how to care for implants.

For a Single Implant

If you have one implant, then you will be relieved that the process for cleaning it is not all that much different from your other teeth. Use a soft-bristle brush and clean the tooth (and your other teeth) at least twice per day.

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5 Benefits of Invisalign Braces

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Invisalign Braces

Many people with imperfect teeth may feel it’s something they have to be satisfied with for life and decide they might need braces. Fortunately, a visit to your local dentist can see you armed with the knowledge of many different straightening options available. One of those options is Invisalign.

Invisalign is a custom-fit applicator that straightens your teeth over time using the same principles as traditional braces. However, they have many advantages over their metal counterparts. Read on to find out more about Invisalign and why it could be right for you.

Invisibility

One of the more obvious Invisalign benefits, especially when you compare it to traditional braces, is its invisibility. Even while you’re slowly straightening your teeth, no one will be any the wiser. Invisalign is a clear tray that doesn’t detract from your face. There are also no wires or brackets. Therefore, if you don’t have any dramatic straightening to complete, Invisalign may be right for you.

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Why You Should Replace Your Extracted Tooth

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Tooth Extraction

If you’ve seen your dentist for tooth extraction, or you’ve lost a tooth through accident or injury, it’s in your best interests to not have a gap for long. Even though it might not seem like a priority, replacing your extracted tooth is in the best interests of your overall oral health, and here’s why.

It Can Affect Your Chewing Ability

The loss of any tooth can be more than only an aesthetic problem. If you lose a tooth either through a dentist extracting it or an injury or accident, you will find it’s now challenging to chew. In fact, if you lose a molar, you will notice it’s even harder. Your molars are key players in eating, and by removing them, your other teeth have to work far harder.

Malocclusion

When you lose a tooth or teeth, you may find that your other teeth begin filling the gap where they once were. As your teeth shift into the free space, you can then discover that you have trouble chewing and biting and can even develop an under-bite or over-bite. If you decide you would like to see your emergency dentist and replace the tooth, make the decision sooner rather than later as it can be a more complicated procedure once those remaining teeth decide to shift.

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3 Different Kinds of Eating Disorders

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Eating Disorders

According to the National Eating Disorders Association, “eating disorders are serious emotional and physical problems that can have life-threatening consequences for both females and males.” The trouble with getting treatment for sufferers is that they go to a lot of trouble to hide or disguise their symptoms and frequently deny that they have any problem – because that is what they believe.

Here are 3 different types of eating disorders.

  • Bulimia Nervosa – This is characterised by episodes of binge eating in between using various ways and means to control eating or losing weight. The latter may consist of deliberately vomiting, using laxatives, fasting or doing excessive exercise. This becomes a compulsive cycle that makes the person will feel out of control and this can lead to feelings of shame, self-disgust and guilt. They will also have low self-esteem. While a person with BN does not necessarily lose weight, their weight can vary as they gain some and then lose some, depending on what stage the cycle is at and how long it lasts for. While this sounds like BN is not serious, it can indeed cause many serious health problems from chronic sore throat and indigestion through to ulcers, osteoporosis, infertility and risk of heart failure.

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Obesity – How Big an Issue?

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obesity

When I hit menopause, the weight started creeping up. Whereas I was used to being able to lose 3-5 pounds if I didn‘t eat for a few days (as when I had a cold or such), my metabolism seemed to have changed quite drastically. Now if I didn‘t eat for a few days I would put weight on! I found that to be an affront to common sense. It certainly doesn‘t agree with the calories in-calories out concept! What it did seem to do was to establish a new bodyweight for me, whether I liked it or not.

According to Professor Peter Saunders(1), the calorie theory is only partly correct. If things were as simple as that, our weight would fluctuate a lot more than it does. The theory says that if you left out 300 calories at breakfast you would lose ten pounds a year. But that doesn‘t always happen. The body has mechanisms to control both weight gain and weight loss, either by varying the appetite or by adjusting its metabolic rate. It is generally assumed that the obese eat more than those of normal weight. Research has shown that this is not always true; in some cases fat people eat less than those of normal weight(3). In addition, says Prof Saunders, not only does heredity matter but also our entire life experience from the moment we were conceived, and even what our mother ate while pregnant!

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Sickness or Health? Not an easy choice

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Sickness or Health

You probably wonder what on earth I mean by the headline. Who would choose to be sick? Doesn’t everyone want to be healthy? Isn’t that an obvious choice? Well, on first take, yes, but if we look at how society sets things up, we might do a double take.

Let’s start with childhood. You have to go to school, no matter what. If you ever have a day where you just really don’t feel like going, that is not a good enough reason, and you have to go. Except if you’re sick. Ah, then everything changes. You get to stay home in bed, or wherever, and watch TV all day. Your mom or dad might even stay home with you, and bring you books or games or special yummy foods. Your sickness is rewarded, you get extra attention and cuddles, and you don’t have to do what you don’t want to do that day.

When you grow up, it’s not so easy. But you can have a nice job, good pay, and good benefits. Among your benefits are sick days. You get sick, seek medical advice, you get to stay home, and you get paid anyway. What a deal! Who wouldn’t want to get sick once in a while? Fortunately, if you did that every day you’d get bored, so work is then a welcome entertainment. But you’re going to make sure you get to take every single sick day you’re entitled to. Otherwise, you’re losing money, no? So here is another very common way in which sickness is rewarded.

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The Fine Line: (W)holism and Science

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holistic-healing

There are so many interesting things going on in the world today, especially in the fields dedicated to understanding what human beings are like and how to keep them well. In trying to understand ourselves, we have currently two different models: on the one hand, the scientific reductionist model, and on the other hand, complexity theory.

The reductionist model, which is also generally thought of as the “scientific” approach, reduces everything to its constituent parts, and then studies those parts. It studies the trees instead of the forest, the cells instead of the organs, the DNA instead of the whole being. Molecular biology is a perfect example.

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