Why Are You Flossing?

Why Are You Flossing?

The answer is kind of simple. For age 3 and older, 95% of the fillings I do are because of cavities between teeth.

Why? Because the bacteria hide between the teeth where the toothbrush cannot get them and they make their holes in the teeth there.

Most people don’t floss so I have cavities to fill. If people would listen and do, I could make my living doing teaching and check-ups for patients rather than fillings.

For adults, my periodontist friends who take care of all the gum problems tell me 100% of the periodontitis (gum problems) begins between teeth.

So… Are you flossing daily?

Scott Thompson, DDS

530-878-2357

Photo credit: wikipedia commons

How Long Should You Brush?

How Long to 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.

Scott Thompson, DDS

530-878-2357

What is a Cavity?

A cavity is a hole in the tooth. It is the end result of a contagious disease caused by bacteria. If these bacteria are allowed to live on the teeth (inadequate brushing and flossing) and we feed these bacteria sugars (juice, sodas, sweet teas, sweet coffees, pastries, candies, etc.) the acids they "poop" from their metabolism will dissolve holes in the teeth.

A filling or crown cleans the hole and fills it to support the damaged tooth, but DOES NOTHING TO STOP THE DISEASE.

If home care and diet is not resisting and removing the bacteria, the disease continues and new holes develop. They destroy that expensive dental work, make holes in new areas, and eventually destroy the teeth.

Learn how to "see" those bacteria and teach yourself to be an effective tooth brusher (see "Finding Hidden  Bacteria in Your Mouth" in these note files).

Scott Thompson,DDS

530-878-2357

Finding Hidden Bacteria in Your Mouth

Disclosing Bacteria

The bacteria that “hide” on our teeth and dissolve holes in them (cavities) are the same color as our teeth.  Like the grasshopper hiding in the grass from the bird is green and hard to find.  To find them we have in the office “disclosing solution” which colors the bacteria red and makes them easy to see.

If you can see the bacteria, it is easy to teach yourself  how to be an effective tooth brusher. 

If you “know your enemy” you will find getting teeth clean takes less time than most people normally use for brushing.

AT HOME you can use the vegetable food coloring you have in your kitchen cabinet.  The same stuff you use to color Easter Eggs and make blue cake with green frosting (yikes!). 

After you have done a normal brushing, just put 2 drops on your tongue and lick it all over your teeth.  Rinse real well with some water and then look.  The bacteria will be colored.  You will see the places your “normal brushing” is good and the places you are missing.

 Now teach yourself how to get all those places clean.  Someone who knows how to get her/his teeth clean will be able to do an excellent brushing in one minute.  WOW!

The benefits of excellent brushing are:
1) Whiter teeth!
2) No more bleeding gums!
3) Stop cavities.
4) What a smile!!

Scott Thompson, DDS
530-878-2357

Oral Health - It is Not Just About Cavities

Oral Health.  It is not just about cavities.  Here are two significant briefs from the literature highlighting that oral health has wide reaching implications for your total health.   

Risk for Two Birth Defects Affected by Overall Quality of Pregnant Woman's Diet.  Medical News Today – October 4. The overall quality of a pregnant woman's diet is linked with risk for 2 types of serious birth defects, according to a new study in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. In the study, women who ate better before and during pregnancy gave birth to fewer infants with malformations of the brain and spinal cord, or orofacial clefts, such as cleft lip and cleft palate. “Our study showed for the first time that the overall quality of the diet, and not just a single nutrient, matters in terms of reducing the risk of birth defects," say researchers. The study is also the first to connect diet quality with reduced risk for cleft lip or cleft palate.  

Oral Health of Diabetes Patients Closely Linked to Heart Disease and Cancer Risk.  Medical News Today – October 3.  A new report in the British Dental Journal reveals that many individuals who suffer with diabetes are not aware that their oral health is closely connected to their risk of developing complications. According to the authors, inflammation from gums that are swollen can increase the severity of diabetes, increase deaths from oral cancer, and make cardiovascular disease worse. In addition, diabetes that is longstanding and poorly controlled seems to speed up the development of gum disease. However, a survey of 229 adults visiting a diabetes clinic discovered that the majority were unaware of any connection between dental health and their condition. Only 13% of participants were aware that swollen or tender gums could be affected by the disease, and only 12% knew there might be a connection between the disease and loose teeth.

Good oral health habits as well as good eating habits are just the beginning of living healthy productive lives.  What you put in your mouth and how you care for your teeth will have a definite impact on the quality of your life forever.  It is not just about cavities.

ScottThompson, DDS
Meadow Vista, CA 95722

Sugar Blues: It's Not Just About Cavities

A book I read in the 1970s entitled “Sugar Blues” made a clear connection of sugar with disease (high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and heart attack, and diabetes) as well as demonstrating the addictive quality of sugar.  Since then I have been dismayed by the huge attention given to fat in the diet.  Though excess fat in the diet is not good, it is not nearly the bad culprit it has been made out to be.  Meanwhile, a far bigger player in the chronic disease patterns in our culture has gotten very little attention; namely sugar, and specifically fructose (which is half the sugar molecule in your table sugar).  You have all seen fructose advertised a great deal in recent years, but have you noticed?  There is very little mention of fructose in food advertising lately.

I recently had the distinct pleasure of hearing a seminar discussion conducted by 3 leading pediatricians who are all metabolic specialists in teaching hospitals in the USA.  They discussed metabolic syndrome (high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and dislipidemia), and its cause (fatty liver degeneration and liver failure) which in children is caused primarily by excess fructose intake.  In adults it is also caused by sugar, but is more commonly thought of as caused by alcoholism.  It turns out the liver is the only tissue in the body that can break down (digest) a fructose molecule (there seems to be no system in the body that has a use fructose).  The liver has a limit how much fructose it can metabolize in a day.  When it gets too much fructose, it’s attempts to metabolize the fructose results in half digested “byproducts” which are toxic, which the body needs to deal with and which ultimately get stored as “excess fat,” not healthy fat.

The average American surpassed eating the liver’s daily maximum amount of sugar in about 1977.  The rise in excess weight gain and increase in the presence of metabolic syndrome started about the same time.  As a matter of fact, the average sugar consumption in this country in the 1960s (30 grams) has increased to an average today of 200 grams.  The liver’s capacity maxes out at about 50 grams of fructose.  Today, metabolic syndrome does not affect just elderly adults.  It affects everybody eating excess sugar, including our children. There are documented cases of liver transplants for fatty liver degeneration in obese teenagers.
And about addiction.  The biochemistry research documents that sugar delights the pleasure centers of the brain exactly the same as alcohol, addictive drugs, nicotine and other substances.  I won’t belabor that; just know sugar is just as addictive as those other substances.  Notice how your craving increases during these sugar laden holidays?

Please, Please.  Don’t start your children, toddlers and infants on sweet beverages (liquid candy), sweet pastries, candies and sweet cookie/cracker snacks.  It is not just about the cavities.

Scott Thompson, DDS
Meadow Vista, California

Will a Clean Tooth Decay?

A Clean Tooth Will Not Decay.

The reality that a clean tooth will not decay was demonstrated in multiple experiments in the 1950s and 60s. Since then scientific research has not only re-demonstrated it countless times, we have advanced the science to allowing patients to stop decay after is has started ... and ... if the decay has not progressed too far the patient can reverse the decay (that would be heal the cavity).

And yet! ... People clean their teeth daily, they visit their dentist regularly, and they still get cavities. Why? The answer lies in the reality that most people's attempts to clean their teeth are not effective. The teeth don't get clean. And so they get cavities in those places, ... repeatedly.

When was the last time your dentist and/or hygienist helped you learn how to effectively (the key is effectively) clean your teeth ... AND ... showed you how to evaluate your own effectiveness at home? In other words, be able to check any day, in your own home, whether you actually get your teeth clean. A CLEAN TOOTH WILL NOT DECAY!

And those of you who have cavities already that need filling, how about creating an environment in your mouth that will prevent new decay from destroying that rather expensive investment called "dental restorations."

For more information or just to discuss your child's oral health, feel free to give me a call -

Dr. Scott Thompson - Pediatric Dentistry