Heart Health: Don't Neglect Dental Care

For most people, cavities are something that they dealt with as a child and many can vividly remember their mom or dad dragging them to the dentist to get them fixed. Unfortunately, age does not prevent cavities from becoming an issue once again, but a lot of adults simply don't recognize the signs of this condition. Getting your cavities taken care of as soon as they arise is vital to ensuring your oral health and preventing any infections or something worse from happening. Here are three signs that you might have cavities as an adult and should schedule a visit to your dentist.

Temperature Sensitivity

Cavities are, as the name suggests, holes and pits in the outer layer of your teeth which means that the pulp of your tooth is exposed. This pulp is far more reactive to temperature than the enamel is, which means that any kind of hot or cold food or drink will cause a more obvious reaction than normal. If you try to protect your teeth by not drinking ice-cold water or avoiding hot coffee, then you probably subconsciously know there is an issue with your pearly whites and you should go and do something about it before it gets worse.

Consistent Tooth Aches

Toothaches can sometimes be misidentified as headaches or pains in your jaw and bones, but if they happen often enough it won't be too long before you realize their origin. Sometimes people purposefully write them off as headaches because they know that a trip to the dentist will follow if they admit the real issue. However, cavities can be solved without too much work, and these toothaches can go away if you only let a professional deal with them, so don't suffer in silence when there is an easy and obvious alternative.

Biting Force

Humans actually have a pretty good biting force that you use every day from tough bits of meat to a nice juicy fruit. Biting down on all of these things can be very satisfying, but cavities can prevent you from enjoying this. Just like how they can make your teeth sensitive to temperatures, cavities can also make you far less willing to use your full biting force when eating. That can make a lot of different foods unpalatable to you or simply take you a lot longer to eat them. The next time you eat a chewy steak, remember that it could be so much simpler if you get your cavities sorted out properly. 

For more information, contact a dentist near you.