Dr. Adel Rossouw

It depends on what the active ingredients in the oral gel is. Most oral gels shouldn't have any side effects if swallowed accidentally, because it is for use in the mouth. If you swallowed accidentally then the amount would not be enough to do any harm. Just be careful, because too much of anything can not be good.

Chewing gum as such is not harmful to your teeth, but the joint of your lower jaw (temporo-mandibular joint) is not made to work the whole day. The cartilage in the joint gets damaged and it can be very difficult to treat if it starts to dislocate and gets painful.

Cleaning your teeth can sometimes be very sensitive. It is possible to numb the teeth before the procedure starts with local anaesthesia. The downside of it is that your whole mouth will feel thick and numb for 2 to 3 hours afterwards.

The pain threshold is different for different people. The dentine of the tooth is the sensitive hard part of your tooth. If the cavity is already in the dentine, then it will become sensitive and painful very quickly. Even more so, the closer your get to the pulp (nerve) of the tooth. If the cavity is small and still in the enamel of the tooth then the filling can be done without anaesthesia.

Dental cleaning is often a procedure that is sensitive when it is done. It also depends on how deep the dentist is cleaning. It sometimes happen that a dentist just clean above the gum line. This is less sensitive, but is also not a proper cleaning. It is important to clean in the sulcus of the gum, because that is where the bacteria accumate that causes the gum infection. This can be very sensitive and the gums can bleed if it is infected.
If receding gums are present sensitivity will also be a problem. This means that where the gum is reciding, the dentine of the root is exposed and will be sensitive to even just cold air.

The bleeding gums show that there is infection in your gums. This gum infection can have a effect on your overall health, because those bacteria that causes the gum infection, spread through your blood to other areas of your body, where it can cause inflammation. The jaw pain can be tooth related or it can be that the gum infection might be going into a periodontitis (where the infection is spreading to the bone around the tooth).

My suggestion would be to consult a dentist as soon as possible.

A tooth infection or abscess is caused by bacteria. If left long enough, it can affect the other teeth. To treat the infection, the cause of the infection needs to be removed. For example: the tooth has a cavity so deep that the bacteria can spread to the nerve of the tooth. Then it spreads all the way down to the apex of the root, where is will start forming an abscess. Antibiotics are normally given first just for the swelling to subside and for the local anesthetic to work. Then, the cause of the infection needs to be removed by either removing the whole tooth or doing a root canal treatment (removing the infected nerve of the tooth).

A root canal treatment is the procedure where the nerve inside the tooth is removed. The nerve usually 'dies' because of bacteria. The purpose of a root canal treatment is to remove the nerve, but also to clean the canal of all bacteria and debris. The tooth's dentine looks like straws under a microscope and the bacteria can hide in those 'straws' as well. That is why it is important to clean that canal properly and why a root canal treatment is a long procedure. If all the bacteria has not been removed then after some time your tooth will start to be painful again as your body try to fight the infection.

Another reason for a root canal treated tooth to be painful is, if the 'bite' is too high. This means that the tooth is taking alot of biting force and the ligament of the tooth gets painful (like a sprain).

First of all, men's canines are more sharper or prominent than ladies'. Secondly, it also depends on your age and your bite. If your bite (or occlusion as us dentists call it) is not correct, your can grind of certain teeth and that is most often the canines or anterior (front) teeth. Then if you are a bruxer, which means you grind and clench your teeth during the night, you will also wear the teeth down quickly. That is why bite plates are made to protect your teeth. Skew teeth will also wear down quicker. Older people's teeth are more 'used' and worn down. That is why age also plays a roll.