The Unexpected Way Running Affects Your Teeth

We all know that exercising is great for your health. One of the primary reasons for running is that it helps lose weight, fight heart disease, and relieve stress. However, running can also have hidden negative effects on one of the most important parts of your body; Teeth.

When you add all the carbs, sports drinks, and protein bars that are likely consumed during or after a workout, your mouth has the perfect environment for cavities. Sugar feeds decay-causing bacteria and our defenses against these bad bacteria that live in our saliva.

While most runners breathe through their mouth, the mouth is usually dry during the entire run which slows saliva rates and makes it harder for the mouth to clean itself. Therefore, when the mouth is dry, your teeth are at risk.

Here are a few things you can do to save your teeth during a workout!

1. Stay hydrated
2. Pop a sugar-free mint or a piece of gum after a workout (helps your saliva glands to start working again)
3. Brush and floss regularly

Remember oral hygiene is very important!!

You Can Clean Your Dentures at Home!

 Many products made for cleaning dentures can be expensive and harsh.  If your dentures have metal parts, some commercial denture cleaners can cause them to corrode over time.  Here is a short list of inexpensive, reliable (old time, tried and true) products that you can use to clean, disinfect and even help remove tartar from your false teeth! (Yes, even false teeth can get a buildup of tartar over time, cultivating an unhealthy array of germs and bacteria.)

Here goes!:

1. BAKING SODA.  Make a paste with a little bit of the soda and water and use your denture brush to clean your dentures.  It will freshen, too.

2. VINEGAR.  Use equal parts of vinegar and water and soak your dentures for 20-30 minutes. This will also help to remove tartar buildup.

3. HYDROGEN PEROXIDE.  This is especially useful for disinfecting.  Soak in a 3% or 6% solution (the usual strength sold in stores) for approximately 30 minutes. Rinse thoroughly with water.

Now, there were a couple of other suggestions that I found online that I didn't think were particularly useful; that is, they were not things that I would personally try for cleaning something that you would put in your mouth! Someone on another website suggested a bleach/water solution for disinfecting and a teaspoon of Calgon water softener added for removing tartar. Of course you would need to rinse your dentures especially well so as not to get the bleach solution in your mouth. Hmmm...I don't know...  To me, that falls into the same catagory as fixing your dentures with super glue.  What do you think?

Smoking And Drinking Can Cause Fillings To Fail

Yes, this is true. The Pittsburgh Dental School did some research and found that people who drink and/or smoke have a greater number of filling that fail.

It turns out that the chemicals in alcohol and a cigarette can actually degrade the bond used by dentists to put a filling in. It will actually cause the bond between the filling and the tooth's surface to fail and cause the filling to fall out.

The interesting thing is that a filling failure could also be a genetic condition in most people. A difference in the gene for matrix metalloproteinase (MMP2), an enzyme found in teeth, was linked to increased filling failure. Those that have that difference could be at higher risk for filling failure and drinking and smoking can amplify it in them quicker than a person without it who smokes and drinks.

Original post from February 29th, 2017

Dental Technology Detects Patient Anxiety Levels

 I don't really think I need to talk to much about the stress of going to the dentist. Hence the reason most people do not go unless they have to. Long waits in the waiting room, long waits in the opertory and just the stress of not know what is going to be need and if it will hurt or not.

Well, researchers at Columbia University are using new technology to help with that. They are designing a new dental center that is built to monitor and reduce patient stress as well as speed up the process of a dental visit.

It is designed around a bracelet that the patient is given when they check in. This bracelet is equipped with RFID (radio frequency identification) technology. Once activated, the center will be able to tell where in the office the patient is located, what procedure they are getting, any dental information on file, how long they have been waiting and measure the patients stress level by measuring heart rate and respirations. They will also be able to tell the real time stress level of the patient while the procedure is being performed.

This is one piece of technology that I personally am very interested in and, if proven to work, would love to see in every dental center across the nation. Especially if it speeds up the visit like they suggest.

Games and Activities for Kids

It's time for Spring break! I'm sure all you parents will be struggling to find fun activities for your children to do after a few days, Right? Well...You're in luck! I have a few activities that are not just fun but also serve as a learning experience!

Oral health is an important part of our overall health, so here are a few fun activities to do with your children to teach them the importance of taking care of their teeth:

• Eat this, not that!:
• Cut out pictures of food from magazines. Ask the children to find pictures of healthy foods and pictures of unhealthy foods. Put all the pictures into a large pile. Take two small brown paper bags and draw a "happy tooth" and a "sad tooth". Together, sort out the pictures and place them into the correct bag.
• Apple Activity:
• Show the child an apple and have them pretend that it's a tooth. Using a stick, poke a hole into the apple. Explain to the child that the hole is like a cavity, a small hole that forms if they don't brush, floss, or eat healthy foods. Place the apple where the child can see it every day. After a few days, ask the child to explain what the apple looks like. Proceed to explain why it's important to take good care of our teeth and why we need to see the dentist regularly.
• Egg Activity:
• Show your child a hard-boiled egg and explain that the eggshell is like your teeth. Place the hard-boiled egg into a jar of vinegar. Ask your child what they think will happen to the egg. In a few days remove the egg and have the child examine the eggshell. Explain that the same thing will happen to their teeth if they don't properly take care of their teeth. 

All of these activities were found on different websites. All you have to do is search for dental activities if you would like more fun ideas for your child!

Why We Should Never, Ever, Ever Use Our Teeth As Utensils!

 From the time we are babies, we put objects in our mouths.  Toys, rocks, keys, marbles, the dogs ear, the cats tail, however, we learn as we get older that the dog and the cat are off limits...(snicker)   Some of us never learn though, that our teeth were not meant to be used as tools! We open bottles, can tabs, plastic containers and bags that should be cut with scissors...we have oral jewelry implanted on our lips or tongue and fiddle with them all the time. We hold our keys in our mouths, our pens and pencils, sun glasses, hair clips and other things and never even think about the damage we could be causing to our teeth! Misusing our teeth in this way can cause serious chipping, cracking and misalignment, whether by accidental occurrence or over time. This adds up to $$$ spent for tooth repairs and it all could have been prevented if we had just used our common sense in the first place and avoided the impulse to chew on something that wasn't food!

The bottom line is this: Objects that are not meant for human consumption should never be put in our mouths!
Keep that in mind, and Keep Smiling!

Did You Know...

• If you don't floss you miss cleaning 40% of the tooth surface.
• Dentists recommend keeping your toothbrush at least six feet away from the toilet to avoid airborne particles.
• If you are right-handed, you tend to chew food on the right side of your mouth. If you are left-handed you tend to chew on the left side of your mouth.
• The greater the amount of time food remains in the mouth, the greater chance of decay.
• In 200 AD, the Romans used a mixture of bones, eggshells, oyster shells, and honey to clean their teeth. 
• You are supposed to replace your toothbrush after getting sick.
• Your teeth are unique, just like your fingerprints. This is why dental records sometimes are used to identify human remains. 
• Your tooth enamel is the hardest part of your body.
• You make 10,000 gallons of spit in a lifetime.

Natural Treatments For Adults With Thrush

Adults and children of any age can be afflicted with thrush.  

Oral thrush is a yeast infection of the tongue, gums, inner cheeks or lips.  It looks like a white pasty coating on the tongue or patchy white sores on the inner cheeks or roof of the mouth.  
Babies, people with compromised immune systems and diabetic people are commonly prone to this type of infection.  It can be difficult to treat, but there are some things you can do at home to help.

1. Check your diet! Avoid sugar and starchy foods. Large amounts of sugar and white carbohydrates can bring on or worsen a bout of candida (Thrush).  Eat fresh raw vegetables and lean proteins or yogurt, or you can eat foods that contain vinegar, such as sauerkraut or pickles to actually ward off the infection.!
   
2. Try a natural remedy such as grapefruit seed extract (a few drops diluted in water,just wish a few times a day) coconut oil ( excellent to cook with in place of vegetable oils), plain, sugar free yogurt (yogurt contains healthy bacteria that helps to balance the ph in the body).  Adults with the infection can also take acidophilous capsules or liquid to help reduce the growth of bacteria.

3. Remember to clean your toothbrush and your tongue scraper with a bleach/water solution after each use to avoid reinfecting yourself when you brush your teeth. 

4.  For babies, always see your healthcare professional.  Their sensitive little mouths require a doctor's care.   

These are some of the ideas I came up with from around the web.

Enjoy, & keep smiling!

Prevention Of Yellow Stains On Teeth After Braces!

If you have braces or are getting them put on soon, I'm sure you are looking forward to the day you can get them removed, right? I know I did when I had mine put on years ago!

I didn't have my braces until I was an adult, so I was very conscious of keeping my teeth clean at home and I had professional cleanings every four months to prevent white spots on my teeth. That was my main concern with braces because I remember back in high school seeing my friends coming back to school with their braces removed but they had white spots on their teeth from where the brackets were placed and had "yellowish" looking teeth.

I came across an article that discusses how researchers from Valencia (Spain), London (England), and Sul (Brazil) are trying to develop an adhesive material that will prevent white spots from appearing on the teeth of people who wear braces.

This is copied from the article: 

The study compares three experimental dental adhesives which contain a bioactive nano-mineral called halloysite and whose nanotubes have been loaded with triclosan, a strong antibacterial and fungicidal agent in different concentrations: 5, 10, and 20 percent. The research compares the three new, experimental biomaterials’ polymerisation properties, their antibacterial strength, and bioactive properties, which not only prevent demineralization of the teeth but also promote remineralization.

The three experimental materials tested in the laboratory have demonstrated an ability to stop bacterial proliferation in the 24 hours following their use, but only the one with the highest concentration of triclosan, at 20 percent, has maintained this property after 72 hours. As far as the remineralizing effect, all three tested materials have proven to be effective two weeks after their use in dental enamel samples submerged in experimental saliva.

These results are a promising step forward in the development of new adhesives that are capable of preventing the appearance of the bacteria that demineralize the enamel surrounding the brackets and, at the same time, remineralize the area and thus prevent the appearance of white stains on the teeth.

 Luckily I didn't have any white spots or staining after my braces but this may be helpful for young children who are wearing braces!

The article was found here!