What should you do when you encounter this pair of brothers in distress?

This is the 4204th article of Da Yi Xiao Hu

As we all know, things have a relationship of mutual promotion or mutual restraint. Oral diseases are no exception, some promote each other, and some restrict each other.

Take periodontitis as an example. It and tooth decay often have a mutually restrictive relationship; while it and bad breath are more like a pair of brothers in distress, often traveling together.

Common causes of periodontitis and bad breath

Periodontitis is essentially an infectious disease. Its pathogens are periodontal pathogens. These bacteria are proteinophilic, that is, they prefer to use amino acids, peptides, proteins and other protein substances as "food". When protein substances are metabolized by periodontal pathogens, volatile sulfides (VSC) will be produced, which will cause (oral) bad breath.

Therefore, periodontal pathogens are often the common source of periodontitis and bad breath. Patients with periodontitis usually have bad breath, and people with severe bad breath often have periodontitis.

Controlling periodontal pathogens kills two birds with one stone

Based on the above facts, controlling periodontal pathogens has become the top priority in preventing and controlling periodontitis and halitosis.

The methods to control periodontal pathogens are nothing more than the following two categories: one is mechanical methods, such as brushing teeth, using dental floss, water flosser, teeth washing, etc.; the other is chemical methods, such as using mouthwash and applying antibiotics (against anaerobic bacteria).

These two methods are mainly mechanical methods and supplemented by chemical methods.

Among mechanical methods, brushing teeth is both a self-care method and a basic treatment measure. It is worth noting that although periodontal pathogens mainly invade periodontal tissues, the back of the tongue is also an important habitat for periodontal pathogens and an important source of bad breath. Therefore, patients with periodontitis or severe bad breath usually not only need to brush their teeth, but also clean the back of the tongue well. The back of the tongue can be cleaned with either an ordinary toothbrush or a special tongue scraper.

Tongue scraper

To prevent and treat periodontitis and bad breath, it is also important to maintain "immunity"

Although the culprits of periodontitis and bad breath are very clear, and the direction of preventing and treating periodontitis and bad breath is also very clear, it cannot be ignored that maintaining our own "immunity" is also very important.

There is a magical substance in our mouth that has a very powerful function, that is saliva. One of its functions is to kill bacteria and resist bacteria, thus maintaining oral health.

Many people may have noticed that they have a stronger bad breath in the morning, which is because the amount of saliva secretion decreases at night; people with dry mouth also have a reduced amount of saliva secretion, so they also have bad breath; older people also have a stronger bad breath because the composition of saliva changes. It can be seen that the normal secretion of saliva is crucial to oral health.

In order to better prevent and control periodontitis and halitosis, if abnormal saliva secretion occurs, it should be corrected through treatment as soon as possible.

Author: Shanghai Health and Health Development Research Center

rich