During a consultation, your doctor will use various techniques in his assesment of the symptom: Loose tooth. These may include a physical examination or other medical tests. Your doctor may ask several questions when assessing your condition. It is important to remember that your consultation is a two-way process and any extra information you can share with your doctor may help them with their diagnosis.
Some of the questions your doctor may ask are listed below:
Why: to determine if acute or chronic.
Why: may suggest traumatic loosening of the tooth.
Why: The first twenty teeth arrive during the first two and a half years of life. The teeth are lost and replaced by thirty two permanent teeth between the ages of six and twenty years of life.
Why: when last saw a dentist?, dental care routine? Known dental caries? - may suggest gingivitis, periodontitis, Vincent's infection, dental abscess.
Why: e.g. leukemia , immunocompromised, malnutrition.
Why: may indicate Scurvy if Vitamin C deficient which may cause gums to become swollen, teeth to become loose, drop out or become misaligned; malnutrition can increase the risk of Acute ulcerative gingivitis (Vincent's infection).
Why: increases risk of gingivitis.
Sometimes, other symptoms may be present and may help your doctor analyse your condition. These may include:
Why: may suggest gum disease such as gingivitis or periodontitis as the cause for loose tooth.
Why: may suggest acute ulcerative gingivitis (Vincent's disease).
Why: e.g. diabetes, certain drugs , Sjogren's syndrome, dehydration, anemia, HIV infection, irradiation - can increase the risk of dental caries and thus gingivitis and bleeding gums.
Why: e.g. tender, red, swollen and bleeding gums - Gingivitis is an inflammatory process caused by failure to remove bacteria in the form of plaque from the tooth-gum junction.
Why: e.g. inflammation of the gum and bone that supports the teeth due to bacterial plaque on the teeth. Features include tender, red swollen gums, loosening of the teeth and breakdown of the teeth.
Why: e.g. weakness, muscle pain, 'corkscrew hair', swollen spongy gums with bleeding and loosening of the teeth, spontaneous skin bruising, poor wound healing.
Why: e.g. tender, red, swollen, bleeding and ulcerated gums - occurs in the malnourished person with poor dentition and also in the immunocompromised person.
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