Teeth And Vomit Equals Erosion
Posted by Ling on March 21, 2006
Yesterday at around 1am, I rushed to the toilet and vomited into the bin. It was so gross.
Vomit is acidic and prolonged bouts of vomiting can cause wear and tear on teeth (=erosion).
Being the dentist I am, I was worried for my teeth.
I went downstairs with the bin and my expelled contents, hoping to get sympathy from my Mum. But she went ballistic at me because I went out for dinner with my friends instead of have a family dinner. She gave me a whole reel of a long lecture whilst I was still holding onto the bin!! Mum and Dad have been involved in the restaurant / takeaway business since they first arrived in the UK, so they know how unclean some food places are. The annoying thing is, none of my friends got food poisoning so her lecture was pointless!!!
The thing is, Mr Geek had contracted food poisoning whilst we were in Dundee visiting Sis 3 on Friday. He had bad diarrhoea and as a result, we had to stay another night in there so he could recover. He spent like 5 hours in the loo!! Sis 3 and I were totally fine…or so I thought…gurr…I blame Mr Geek!!
I trudged upstairs (minus the bin) after the lecture and got back into my bed. 5 minutes later, I jumped out again and the diarrhoea started. Not pleasant at all.
And as soon as I crawled back into bed, I needed to vomit!! But I didn’t have the bin anymore, so I had to vomit into the toilet, where I had just pooped!! EWWWW!!!
So it went on like this for the whole entire night… vomit / diarrhoea / vomit / diarrhoea/etc
At one point, I just lay down on my toilet floor on top of the pile of unwashed dirty clothes, suffering from cold sweats. I felt so weak, tired and lonely…
In the end, vomiting began to reign as the superior!! I lost count after puking for the 9th time…. I was surprised because I thought that there would be nothing else to vomit!! Around 10am, I was vomiting up white foam!
I obviously couldn’t go to work, but I felt so bad when I called in sick because I had just had a week off work, thus I had a huge list of patients to see….
I wanted to be pampered by my loved ones…but they had to work / go to uni / go to school…I wallowed in self-pity for like half an hour but then that became pointless…
Thank God – Yes, I feel better today. Yes, I managed to sleep last night. Yes, I’m no longer vomiting. Yes, I had to take another day off work to recover. Yes, I can go on the internet today.
NO, I HAVE TO GO AND CLEAN MY TOILET NOW!!!!!!! Wanna give me a hand??
So here’s some dental advice on what to do after vomiting :-
Your mouth will taste and smell disgusting.
Some people make the mistake of brushing their teeth immediately. I believe that is a big NO NO! This acidic environment will mean your teeth are at a weakened state and more vulnerable to trauma; thus brushing teeth will cause more tooth wear.
On the other hand, if you do nothing, the acidic taste and smell will fester, which is also not nice.
So here’s my dental tip on what to do to your teeth after vomiting to prevent erosion :-
1. Rinse with water immediately and gargle with water and spit
2. Rinse with mouthwash (if you have any), spit and don’t rinse
3. Put a blob of toothpaste on your finger and run it gently round your teeth -try and coat all surfaces – spit out excess and don’t rinse
4. Use toothbrush (no toothpaste) and brush tongue to remove yukky taste from tongue
Toothpaste is good because most of them contain fluoride – which helps counteract acid.
Any questions, please ask away…
enoch_hlh said,
treasure the time when you’re totally fine…! ^^
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cheesecakelai said,
auwwww glad ur feeling better now!!
just think of it as a extreme detox session
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thepianogenius said,
aww glad to know you’re better now!
u know the funny thing is your blog is so readable… other ppl’s long blogs…can’t b assed!
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Leah_002 said,
awwww..hope ur better, seems like this bug is in scotland too!all my family had it!
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seanafunk said,
faecal oral route anyone?
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nosila_001 said,
yikes, sounds pretty nasty! hope you’re feeling better and that you’ve got rid of the bug! don’t feel guilty about taking time off work – wouldn’t want your patients to get it either would we?
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tungsista4 said,
THAT’S DISGUSTING!!!!!!!!!
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thebiggee said,
Glad you’re feeling better now doc!
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oOo_yuenyuen_oOo said,
eeeeew~ awww!~ hehe hpe ur btr nw la!! tke care of urself ma!!~ i hope i dnt catch that!!!~ =,=” heheheheee~~~
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aaron__2005 said,
aiyoo that sounds bad… wish you a rapid full recovery!
Aaron
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sor_paw_ellen said,
aiyuuuu!! glad that ur feeling better now…
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Angelbluecity said,
Wrap up babe but glad your feeling better, just taken mum to docs today with the same thing, nasty stuff!!! I’ll buy you a air freshener for your toilet
x
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EvaSquirrel said,
Eeeks! Sounds like an awful night!
Yeah, in situations like that, you just can’t be bothered travelling back and forth, and would rather just curl up and sleep (or die) on the bathroom floor…
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youngvan said,
Sorry to hear about this incident.
But wow! A dentist!! My parent’s want me to be one. And I don’t hate the idea too much. Do you have any quick knowledge to pass onto me about the schooling and such. Thanks!
- VaN PhaM
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oxypeon said,
perfect example of Too Much Info!!
Glad yer feeling better dear.
You shoulda called, we woulda listened.
hopefully theirs no next time
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tungsista4 said,
i’m bored……………
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My Smile | Extracts Of Me said,
[...] I have non-carious tooth surface loss - erosion AND attrition – due to my love for sucking on highly-acidic foods (oranges, lemons and [...]
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