Does Brushing After Sweets Help Prevent Cavities?

Surprisingly, the answer to that is no! To have a cavity one requires a tooth, some of the right kind of bacteria concentrated in an area where they can create and harbor acid on the tooth, sugar that the bacteria will eat and convert to acid, and some time for the acids to dissolve calcium out of the tooth enamel to make a hole.

So you see, if sometime during the day you cleaned all the bacteria off your teeth so they are not there to create any acid, then the sugar has no affect on the teeth. Also note: If bacteria have been successfully cleaned off the teeth, then it will take 24 hours for those bacteria to multiply and aggregate adequately to create and concentrate acid in a sheltered place on the tooth. In other words, your teeth are safe for 24 hours.

So THE TRICK here is to know how to effectively clean your teeth once each day to make them safe. Check our web site regarding disclosing solution as a tool to teach yourself effective tooth cleaning, and as a tool to monitor yourself periodically to verify you are still keeping your teeth safe.

Now here is an interesting taboo. DO NOT brush your teeth immediately after drinking any beverages (other than water or milk). Check in with us next week to learn why brushing your teeth immediately after drinking nearly all prepared beverages can do serious harm to your teeth.

In the mean time teach yourself to be a superb once a day effective tooth cleaner. And it makes absolutely no difference when during the day you do this cleaning.

Photo credit: Wikipedia Commons

Potato Chips for Dessert?

My curiosity couldn't resist and I bought the package of Cappuccino Potato Chips. What are we doing with coffee flavored potato chips? So when I got home, I discovered the cappuccino was more about the cinnamon and sugar than it was the coffee. They have taken that sugary cappuccino powder drink mix and used it to "season" the chips.

Sugar is being added to everything, it is true. As a dentist I clearly see the ravages it takes on teeth. My medical colleagues see it in the melange of diabetes, obesity, cardiac disease, liver damage that results. My friends in the insurance industry point out to me the necessity of increasing life insurance premiums because this new generation of youth is going to live a shorter life span than us and will therefore be paying into the system few years. Alas. When will you take charge of your eating habits?

So back to potato chips. We all know that a good southern barbeque sauce has sugar in it, so sugar in potato chip ingredients is not a new thing. But this is the first time a potato chip tasted sweet enough to qualify for dessert. Please read labels and be aware how much sugar is being added to your diet and be aware of the multitude of long term debilitating illnesses it is responsible for in our culture. It is not just about teeth.

Photo: Free image from Pixabay

Chocolate for Teeth?!?!?

Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons

Chocolate to the rescue! Eh? … It turns out theobromine, a natural alkaloid found in cocoa works perhaps as well as fluoride to remineralize teeth that have begun to decay. A preliminary laboratory study of the alkaloid comparing it with fluoride to reverse the demineralizing process in tooth decay found them statistically equal.
Can you imagine it now? Brush your teeth clean and then smear a bit of chocolate on them before bed. For those of you on the cutting edge, there is already an “up-scale” chocolate toothpaste emphasizing the theobromine.

Don't jump to conclusions just yet. There is more research going on to verify these preliminary results.

Join us at PIONEER DAY for some fun wall climbing, bounce housing, sack racing and other fun stuff.

Your Teeth Can Last Forever!!!

Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons

Sure!!  No way! Really?  So just think about it. We have jaws full of teeth from Neanderthal Man, and from Cro-Magnon Man, and countless other pre-historic cultures. Perfect teeth with no cavities that are thousands of years old. So ... Why does modern man suffer cavities that destroy teeth in a matter of a few years?  Why, as a children's dentist, do I see teeth totally destroyed, disintegrated, in as little as 2 years?


Are you aware that cavities were not an issue for the average man until about 250 to 300 years ago? Towns and villages didn't need a dentist because average folks didn't get cavities. Interesting?
But wait. There are archeological findings of jewels being used to fill cavities in king's and pharaoh's teeth. Indeed. Pharaohs had cavities and they had a dentist in the royal court. And why?  Because they also had the money to import sugar with their spice. So pharaohs and kings paid the price for their indulgences, both financially and in the discomfort of dental disease and the rudimentary level of dental science. Ouch!

Contagious Cavities?

Most people recognize that cavity problems seem to run in families. Most people also shrug and say "I have soft teeth, it runs in the family," as if they cannot do anything about it. That is wrong. Research has never demonstrated soft teeth. Research has definitely demonstrated the bacteria that cause cavities are contagious and we usually get ours from our caretakers when we are infants and first growing teeth.

If a family has aggressive cavity causing bacteria, they are typically traded to the infant at those cuddly slobbery spoon sharing times. But, please do not stop being cuddling nurturing parents. There is another way! The contagious disease is dose dependent. Research has shown that cleaning up mom and dad's oral health before baby is born, or at least before infant teeth show up, is an excellent way to reduce bacterial count and improve outcomes for baby. By the way, this includes improving odds for full-term pregnancy.
A good way to start would be a dental checkup. However, by "cleaning up oral health" I don't mean necessarily getting those expensive cavities filled, though that obviously helps too. Immediate and inexpensive, or even free things people can do are:

1. Become a truly effective tooth brusher. 

Use disclosing tools (tablets, solutions, or kitchen food color) to show you the bacteria. Then teach yourself how to thoroughly clean your teeth. Check yourself every couple weeks until you are confident you have figured it out. Most people find they can thoroughly clean their teeth in about half the time they used to.

Dental Health & School Performance Linked

A recent nationwide study published in Pediatrics demonstrated a significant correlation
with reductions in school performance and psychosocial well-being. Children with dental problems were more likely to have problems at school and to miss school, and were less likely to do all required homework. Dental problems were associated with shyness, unhappiness, feeling of worthlessness, and reduced friendliness. The effects of dental problems on unhappiness and feeling of worthlessness were largest for adolescents between 15 and 17 years.

Conclusion

Preventing and treating dental problems and improving dental health may benefit child academic achievement and cognitive and psychosocial development.

A reminder to start early.  The first tooth deserves a dental home.  If you are going to prevent tooth decay, you have to start before the decay starts.

Teeth and Quality of Life

It doesn't take rocket science or super intelligence to figure out that teeth are important to quality of life. Eating some delicious bar-b-cue or a sumptuous crisp mixed green salad requires some stable teeth.  When residents of elder care facilities are polled to rate the value of having back something they have lost since their younger years, having their teeth back invariably is at the top of the list.

Are you aware that 28% of those over 50 years old have no teeth?  Of those who still have teeth, The average number left is 19; that is 11 less than when they were in high school!  Imagine eating with 11 gaps for missing teeth.

Yet Americans continue to make life style choices that put their health at risk. Diabetes rates are skyrocketing in our youth. Diabetes, which was primarily associated with the elderly, accounts for 18% of the tooth loss problem in those over 50. Why is it that people continue to eat simple carbohydrates (sugars) even when they know it is bad for them?

Smoking, can you hear me?

One more reason. We already know that smoking is a primary causative agent in inflammatory disease in the mouth, including periodontal disease, oral cancer and tooth loss. Secondary smoke exposure for young children, what your kids get when you smoke, has now been correlated with hearing loss.

By the way, tooth loss is also correlated with hearing loss. Our teeth are an integral part of our hearing. Take good care of them and they will help your hearing for a lifetime!

If you smoke, don't.  You are handicapping your children.  

How often should you go to the dentist?

Most dentists are reluctant to stray from recommending a six-month checkup schedule. There is good reason for this, for example: In pediatrics I have witnessed in a child an undetectable cavity progress to a cavity large enough to nearly expose the nerve of the tooth in just six months. Had they elected to return on a one-year checkup schedule the child would have had an abscess and an emergency before the check up was accomplished. Pre-cancerous lesions can show up at a six-month checkup and be treated appropriately. If the check up interval is 12 months, that lesion can be frank cancer with a very different treatment outlook.

The dentist looks at a large number of factors for a patient when determining his approach for care. This includes: history of cavities. Risk level of new cavities. Diet patterns that will affect teeth and other mouth tissues. Existing diseases like diabetes, hypertension and obesity. Current medications which will affect oral conditions. Existing history of typical changes that occur at current check up intervals. Habits and lifestyle patterns like smoking, Drinking, coffee, etc.

Soda and Aggressive Behavior

Soda – not just about bad teeth.

Five-year-olds who drank at least four servings of soda daily had double the risk of aggressive behaviors compared with children who did not drink any soda, according to a study on the website of the Journal of Pediatrics. Researchers noted that regular soda intake also was associated with social withdrawal and attention problems.

Now think about the energy drinks with their high levels of caffeine! In addition to the sugar.

Photo credit: Wikipedia Commons

Dental Health affects School Performance and Self-esteem

A recent nationwide study published in Pediatrics demonstrated a significant correlation
with reductions in school performance and psychosocial well-being. Children with dental problems were more likely to have problems at school and to miss school, and were less likely to do all required homework. Dental problems were associated with shyness, unhappiness, feeling of worthlessness, and reduced friendliness. The effects of dental problems on unhappiness and feeling of worthlessness were largest for adolescents between 15 and 17 years.

Conclusion
Preventing and treating dental problems and improving dental health may benefit child academic achievement and cognitive and psychosocial development.

A reminder to start early.  The first tooth deserves a dental home.  If you are going to prevent tooth decay, you have to start before the decay starts.

Winning With Smiles Children's Dentistry

Don't Toss Toothbrush after Strep Throat

It is commonly recommended that you toss out your toothbrush if you have strep throat and are being treated with antibiotics. The idea was that you don't want to re-infect yourself with the strep after your antibiotics are finished. It turns out the strep is pretty fragile outside the body and dies quickly as the toothbrush dries.

This brings me to what I routinely recommend.  Have as many, or more, toothbrushes as the number of times you brush your teeth daily. Shake out the water after rinsing them and give them a full 24 hours to dry. Rotate through a sequence of your brushes. There are lots of bacteria in your mouth and they thrive in moisture. Allowing your toothbrush to dry will kill most of them.  Though there are not a lot of studies on this subject, it was nice to see this study presented at the Pediatric Academic Society's annual meeting regarding a very important pathological bacteria that dies quickly on a dry toothbrush.

Photo Credit: wikipedia commons

Fluoride -- Count the Ways

Something new!  The American Chemical Society recently published the results of a study showing that fluoride in the environment, like in your saliva because you drink fluoridated water, reduces the stickiness of streptococcus mutans.  Strep mutans is one of the major cavity causing bacteria in our mouths. It's stickiness allows it to stick to teeth and allow other cavity causing bugs to stick to it.  This conglomeration of bacteria, a bio-film, creates and concentrates the acids that dissolve holes in our teeth, cavities. This stickiness reduction becomes one more way fluoride resists cavity formation.

Other ways include reducing the bacteria's ability to create the acids that dissolve teeth. Also as a salt (sodium-fluoride or calcium-fluoride) in solution in your saliva, the fluoride will exchange with the hydroxide in the tooth enamel crystal (hydroxyapatite to fluorapatite) making it about 100x more difficult to dissolve with acid.

Fluoride is ubiquitous in nature, 2 parts per million in sea water and naturally occurring in fresh water in widely varying levels. At 1 part per million in drinking water it is an excellent preventer of cavities. If you live in a non-fluoridated area, the simplest way to maximize your fluoride benefit, without risking too much fluoride is to simply 'spit your toothpaste after brushing and don't rinse afterward.' The lingering bit on your teeth will have a longer time to interact with the enamel of your teeth as well as the germs themselves.

Photo Credit: wikipedia commons

Arsenic in Apple Juice: What is the risk?

Apple Juice Safe ... but ...

Arsenic in Apple Juice

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed a new "action level" for inorganic arsenic in apple juice of 10 parts per billion, the same level set by the Environmental Protection Agency for drinking water. The FDA tested hundreds of samples of apple juice for arsenic and found the overall level of arsenic is low. Because a small proportion of samples had higher levels of arsenic, the FDA is proposing the new action level. The FDA is not recommending any change in juice consumption and has emphasized that the data show it is safe for children and adults to drink apple juice.

The AAP is reminding parents that it is not necessary to offer children any juice to have a well-balanced, healthy diet. For years, the AAP has recommended limited intake of all sweet beverages, including juice, to reduce the risk of poor nutrition, obesity and childhood cavities. If parents want to include juice in their children’s diet, juice should be limited to 4 to 6 ounces a day for children ages 1 to 6 years, and 8 to 12 ounces a day for children age 7 and older. Children should be encouraged to eat whole fruits to meet their recommended daily fruit intake. 

Photo credit: FDA.gov

Deteriorating Oral Health Over Generations

Think about this. During the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s dentistry witnessed a steady decrease in cavities and improvement in oral health. It is not surprising then that studies done by the CDC every 10 years have shown improved oral health each decade since then for all segments of the population in all specialty areas of dentistry ....... except:

EXCEPT children age 1 to 5. Cavities in children have increased by 30% every 10 years for 30 years now. It started in the 80s. Cavities in children are worse than ever, with 60% of 1st graders already having cavities. Since oral health patterns are established by age 3, it is not hard to realize today's young population will have immense oral health problems in their retirement years including loss of teeth (like my grandfather's generation) and eating lots of over-prepared soft foods (baby food). Hmmmmm. Baby food for retirement....

Help your children have a healthy, disease free and comfortable mouth by establishing good oral health early. Good oral health is immensely less expensive and more comfortable than cavities and gum disease. The first tooth deserves a dental home. Learn from your dentist what it takes and the easy way to create excellent oral health for your children.

P.S.  Are you aware that today's generation of young people will live significantly shorter lives than us due to increasing chronic disease brought on by current lifestyle choices? Those elderly years will also be much less comfortable than ours due to the chronic diseases they will be dealing with!

How Valuable - Your Teeth?

A sad statistic that 25% of those over 60 have no teeth. Those who still have teeth have an average of 19 teeth; fewer than when they were a toddler. This leads to a significant decrease in eating fruits, vegetables and other nutritious fiber foods. It also leads to increased consumption of high carbohydrate and high fat soft foods. It is not surprising to discover there is a clear independent correlation between tooth loss and chronic heart disease, hypertension, stroke, cancer and other systemic diseases.

The sad reality for me is that the biological foundation for oral health establishes itself by age 3, before most people even consider taking their children to the dentist. One of our bylines in our practice is "The first tooth deserves a dental home." We recommend the first dental visit for a child as soon as the first tooth appears. The primary focus of that visit is a consultation with parents about how to create a healthy mouth free of cavities and gum disease. Creating good oral health is easier, takes less time and is immensely less expensive than fixing the ravages of cavities and gum disease.
And, obviously, from the statistics above it is easy to see it leads to vastly improved quality of life. Even if we ignore the countless uncomfortable and expensive visits to the dentist for treatment of oral disease and just think of over age 60. Are you planning on 20 to 30 years of "baby food" in those glorious retirement years?

Doing the right things for your children early will make huge differences for their long term health and enjoyment of life. The first tooth deserves a dental home.

Ask Your Children's Dentist

When you take your children to the dentist, are you getting what you want? These days the parents are usually thrilled there is sooo much entertainment and distraction for the children to make their dentist visit pleasant. Most parents do not have those pleasant memories. All that is great. I want also to ask you what is your true objective for bringing your child to the dentist? Is that being accomplished too?

In my office for instance: My number one objective is teaching each child how to have a lifetime of cavity free, healthy, beautiful smiles. That starts by teaching the parents how to simply, quickly and effectively prevent cavities before they get started. How to stop them if they have started. How to transition from baby teeth with cavities to adult teeth without cavities (difficult, not impossible). To do this, does your dentist:

1) Start with the parent child team as soon as the child has her/his first tooth? By age 3 the bacterial environment (for high or low risk for cavities) around the teeth has established itself for a lifetime. What parents do those 3 years will influence that environment and the dental health of their children for a lifetime.
2) Teach the parents effective and quick (20 seconds) ways to clean their children's teeth? I find I must include parents with me at chair side for all visits to successfully demonstrate this. What to do and how to coach the team changes as the child grows?
3) Teach how to evaluate your own effectiveness at home so you can verify you are getting the job done well without waiting for that 6 month check-up?
4) Teach how to evaluate how well your child is cleaning her/his mouth so you know when you can allow them to "do the job" and you know how to evaluate periodically to assure they are actually getting the job done?
5) Communicate well with your child so when she/he isn't listening to you, she/he may actually be listening to the dental team?
6) Include educating the parents early and the children later about the outside influences that will damage oral health and how to handle them in the family?

Dentistry for children has certainly become more entertaining than it used to be. That doesn't change the FACT that children's cavity experience is worse than it has ever been and is getting worse by 30% every 10 years for the last 30 years. Start your child on a healthy path early.

Oral Health begins before birth. Oral disease establishes before age 3. For the elderly who have lost their teeth, there is NOTHING in their "I Wish List" that rates higher than having their teeth back. Set the right standard with the first tooth.

The Dentist's New Car! [Teens & Flossing]

The reality is that a vast majority of the cavities I fill, like 90%, started between the patient's teeth.

I talk with my patients a lot about their particular cavity patterns so they can develop efficient ways of stopping those patterns with the least time and effort.

Young teenagers in my office are often thinking about driving, getting their license, what car they are driving, and what care they would like one day to be driving.  So I point out to them that most dentists appreciate nice cars and drive the one they like.  And the patients who don't floss get to make the car payments for the dentist's car.

So I offer the patient some options regarding this.  If they would like to stop getting cavities they can pay me to come to their house every day and floss their teeth for them.  If they do that, I can use the money to buy a really nice car to drive to their house each day. J The second option is to continue only brushing their teeth and I will have the honor of doing their fillings for them and I will enjoy the new car again.  Or ...

The patient could decide to do the daily flossing.  Then they will save the money and one day they will be driving their new car. J

Oh so often, what we have in life revolves around the simple decisions we make each day!

Smoking Reduces Healthy Bacteria & Increases Dental Diseases

Here's yet another reason not to smoke...

We all have large amounts of bacteria in our saliva, most of them good and helpful.  They help to begin the digestion of our food.  Some are helpful in warding off infection by viruses and other bacteria.  Others are not so desirable, like the ones that produce cavities and gum disease.

Studies demonstrate that smokers have fewer of the helpful bacteria, allowing the damaging bacteria to grow in larger numbers.  This increases the disease potential in the mouths of smokers.

Also remember, second hand smoke is just as bad as primary smoking.  Don’t smoke indoors where other non-smokers (like your children) will be forced to breath the second hand smoke.

Cigarettes by Anna Langova

How Long should you brush your teeth?

How Long Should You Brush?


Brush until they are clean. Most people try to brush for 2 minutes twice a day. Time is not the answer.

People who have taught themselves to be effective tooth brushers can get the job done in one minute. If you are brushing the way you have always brushed since a child, some places get clean and some don’t.

More times per day and more minutes per brushing just gets the clean spots cleaner and the not clean spots are still not clean!

Teach yourself to be an effective brusher (see "disclosing bacteria) and get the job done in one minute per day!

 Be sure to ask us to evaluate your effectiveness when you are in the office. Call us at 1-530-878-2357 or visit our web page. www.winningwithsmiles.com


Scott Thompson, DDS