This blog features a candid interview with Dr. Pulkit Trikha, a dentist with 10 years of experience in this field. He has his certification in dental implants and root canals.
Currently, he is practising in Mohali at Trikha Dental Clinic.
Dr. Pulkit feels it is essential for people to take their oral health seriously. It doesn't only mean to have white teeth, but healthy and strong teeth, gums, and a disease-free mouth.
Let's dive into the interview and explore why dental health is important and how one can start taking care of their oral hygiene.
Interviewer: In India, dental health is not taken that seriously. What is your opinion about that? Also, share how important you think dental health is?
Dr. Pulkit: Well, I think one reason for dental health not being taken seriously is the fact that it is considered to be an expensive treatment.
Dentistry is not a consultation-based profession, unlike a general practitioner whom you consult. They either prescribe you some medications or some tests to find out what the problem is and then go for medication. So, the majority of cases are "healing without an operation". But dental health is different. It is treatment-oriented. Medications can only provide symptomatic relief but for complete relief, one might have to go through treatment, which is performed with specific and costly instruments and hence is expensive.
The second reason could be a lack of awareness. The majority population, especially those living in villages, are unaware of the importance of dental health.
Interviewer: What are some of the most common dental health concerns that you see on an everyday basis as you deal with your patients?
Dr. Pulkit: The most common dental health issue that is prevalent amongst people these days is periodontal disease"gum problem" second is "cavity" and the third one is malocclusions, which is also known as braces for frightening the misaligned teeth.
Where it all starts is ignorance. We think if it's not painful, then it's not an issue at all. We keep avoiding things to a point where a smaller cavity turns into a bigger one and patients have to undergo a root canal. If only the patient sees a dentist in the early stage, just the cavity can be treated by filling only.
Interviewer: What are some of the early signs of having dental trouble?
Dr. Pulkit: One beautiful thing about our bodies is that they are precise machines and the moment something is wrong with them, we start feeling discomfort.
Where we go wrong is WE IGNORE THE SIGNS.
Some of the early signs of dental trouble include swollen gums, blood on your brush gums bleeding while brushing your teeth, or starting to feel sensitivity in a particular region. These can be very mild, but yes enough reasons or early signs to see a dentist. The earlier you visit the dentist, the easier it is to treat the issue.
The second very common yet ignored sign is food lodging. If food gets stuck in a particular region in your mouth (between two teeth for example), it could be because of a cavity, a space, or even gum swelling. Never use a toothpick to pull it out. It is an unhealthy practice that can hurt the gums and cause problems.
Interviewer: Woah, the last bit was indeed a very interesting fact and something to be noted!
Since we are talking about food, do our diet and lifestyle play a role in our dental health?
Dr. Pulkit: Yes. Your diet could be a reason your dental health is suffering. Cavity, for example, is one such concern, the cause of which is your diet. Back in the day, when our ancestors ate raw food, there was functional cleaning happening while biting and chewing the food. Now we have shifted to a refined diet like processed sugars etc, which instead of cleaning rather get stuck in those places of our mouth which are hard to reach.
Besides this, soft drinks in specific are high in sugar content, a breeding space for bacteria in our mouths, and hence very harmful to our dental health.
So, the diet has a big role to play in determining your oral and dental health.
Interviewer: What can one do at home differently to ensure good oral and dental health? Or in other words what are some of the best practices for good oral and dental health?
Dr. Pulkit: If you want to take care of your teeth, start with brushing your teeth twice, every day and not consuming anything after brushing at night. Another good practice is to brush at night, followed by just a rinse in the morning and brushing after having your breakfast. This will ensure your mouth is clean after the major meal of the day, reducing the possibility of bacterial growth.
This might sound bizarre, but it works very well. There's no leftover food in the mouth and hence no bacteria feeding on it!
Another very important thing is the technique of brushing. We usually brush sideways, as shown in most advertisements. But guess what? We've been this wrong all our lives.
The right way and rather the healthy way of doing this is by brushing up and down without applying a lot of pressure. You don't want to fight with your teeth. Applying a lot of pressure wears out the enamel and makes your teeth weak.
Again, the bristles of your brush are very important. This is one very wrong proactive followed across India. Your friend might be having sensitive teeth and their doctor recommended them a "soft-bristle" brush but that might not be the case with you. If you have strong teeth, a soft-bristle brush will be inefficient for cleaning your teeth. The brush will get worn out early and will flare up and become flaccid as you apply pressure and hence will not do its job of cleaning your teeth. So, you need to understand what works for one person might not necessarily work for you and it's according to your dental and oral health, your dentist can recommend oral healthcare products and treatment. Ideally, you should use either a medium or hard bristle toothbrush, and only if your dentists recommend you to use a soft bristle toothbrush, you should go for it!
A regular visit to the dentist (preferably every 6 months) is very important to get timely notice if there's any concern.
Interviewer: What dental health tools and products you're using, and what is better, organic or the other?
Dr. Pulkit: Organic products will have an edge because they are good for both the environment and your health. After a certain age, as we become adults, toothpaste is what just Helps in polishing your teeth and giving you a fresh breath. It's your toothbrush and the motion/ style of brushing that determines how healthy your mouth will be.
Certain ingredients like fluoride are very important for dental health. It not only helps in the building of enamel but also makes the enamel strong, protecting our teeth from damage.
Interviewer: What advice would you like to give everyone so they can be saved from bigger dental health troubles?
Dr. Pukit: I'll just put everything into bullet points
Your aesthetics matter
If you don't have a good smile, you might lose confidence and that can trouble you for a lifetime. Because once you lose, it is very hard to regain it, it harms the self-image and might eventually give rise to a mental health situation.
You will miss out on a lot of fun in life
If you don't have a good (and healthy) set of teeth, you will miss out on eating raw and hard food items like nuts, some types of fruits, etc. This will eventually lead you to poor physical health.
Just eating food that is easy to chew is not healthy and can have a serious impact on overall health in the long run.
Incomplete digestion
Did you know? Certain digestive enzymes are responsible for digestion in the mouth itself. If you don't have healthy and strong teeth to chew food, you will get tired easily and instead swallow it. We have an enzyme called "ptyalin", which is also known as "salivary amylase" present in the saliva of humans. Ptyalin gets activated by chloride ions present in saliva and is responsible for the conversion of starch into maltose.
If we don't chew our food enough and swallow it directly, it will lead to incomplete digestion and burden the digestive system.
Eating from one side
If your teeth are misaligned or you have a cavity or dental health issue on one side of the mouth, you will tend to eat only from the other side. This can cause muscular imbalance (also called deviation) and severe pains in the joints along with the mouth and jaw area.
Now this works exactly like your gym workouts, if you only work out with one side of the body, the other side will become weak, wrecking your abilities.
With this, we come to an end to this very informative and interesting interview with Dr. Pukit. If you have any doubts or want to share some input, feel free to write to us. You can also reach out to Dr. Pulkit in case you need expert advice for your dental healthcare.
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Until the next blog,
We wish you a beautiful smile and strong teeth!
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