tooth decay

Good oral hygiene means much more than bright white teeth. The condition of your teeth and gums is associated with a growing list of diseases that affect your overall health. Here are 9 ways to keep a healthy smile for a lifetime.

1) Quit Smoking
Everyone has heard about the cardiovascular and cancer risks associated with tobacco use and smoking. Smokers are also two to three times more likely to get periodontal disease and do not heal as well after periodontal treatment for gum infections.

2) Eat for a Healthy Body and Healthy Teeth
Eat a balanced variety of healthy foods from the five major food groups. Recent dental research indicates that a diet high in fruits and vegetables may help prevent oral cancer. A healthy diet with enough calcium and vitamin D will help you maintain strong teeth and bones. If you have osteoporosis or periodontal disease, you are at higher risk of losing teeth. If you do lose a tooth, get a dental implant to prevent resorption and shrinking of your jaw bone.

Limit sugary snacks and decrease soft drink consumption – even diet soda! Tooth decay and dental cavities are caused by bacteria that are normally present in your mouth. Every time you eat, bits of food become lodged in and around your teeth. This food provides fuel for the bacteria in plaque. Oral bacteria produce acid. Each time you consume food or beverages containing sugars your teeth are exposed to these acids for 20 minutes or more. Even diet-sodas are very acidic and increase risk of tooth decay and cavities. Brush your teeth after eating. Careful brushing and flossing help keep normal bacteria under control.

3) Brush and Floss Properly
Bleeding gums can be serious. Seventy five percent of Americans over the age of 35 have some form of gingivitis or gum disease. Gum disease and gingivitis are associated with heart disease, diabetes, stroke, arthritis, and pregnancy complications.

Brush your teeth at least twice daily and floss daily. Use a soft brush in gentle circular motions at a 45-degree angle to your gum line. You may also use an electric toothbrush to help with areas that are difficult to reach. Electric toothbrushes are automatically set for two minutes which is the recommended brushing time. Floss gently but firmly, hugging the side of each tooth and make sure to floss gently into the gum line along the tooth to remove any plaque or food that has lodged between your teeth or between a tooth and your gum.  We recommend a professional dental hygiene visit at least twice a year.

4) Use Fluoride Products
Fluoride helps prevent tooth decay and strengthen tooth enamel in children and adults. In addition to the fluoride treatment that you receive after your teeth are cleaned by a dental hygienist during a routine dental exam, toothpastes and fluoride rinses are good sources of fluoride. Your dentist may recommend a stronger concentration of fluoride in a gel, toothpaste or rinse.

5) Know the Warning Signs of Oral Cancer
Have you ever noticed a small white or red patch in your mouth or a sore that takes longer than two weeks to heal? These symptoms could potentially be a sign of oral cancer. Other potential signs of oral cancer include: a sore that doesn’t heal or bleeds easily; a lump, thickening, ulceration, or color change of the gums and tissue in the mouth; chronic sore throats and a change in tonsil size. Dental journals are filled with articles about human papillomavirus (HPV) and an associated increase in oral cancer, with reports that 30 to 50 percent of head and neck cancer diagnoses are HPV related. Other risk factors include alcohol and tobacco use, sun exposure (lip cancer), and age.

6) Keep Your Dental Work Current
Old fillings can wear out or chip around the edges creating an opportunity for bacteria to enter the tooth and cause decay. Your dentist will evaluate the seal of all dental work during routine exams. You should visit your dentist if you are experiencing tooth sensitivity or discomfort.  Also, don’t use your teeth as tools.

7) Reduce Stress
Grinding or clenching your teeth can cause excessive wear on the chewing surfaces of teeth and can even lead to cracked and chipped teeth. Our teeth normally wear down with age – clenching and grinding accelerates the process. Dental mouth guards, NTI appliances and stress-management techniques can also help reduce clenching.

Pregnant? See your OB … AND DDS
Pregnancy hormones can increase propensity toward swollen and bleeding gums that are more vulnerable to bacterial infection.  Inflammation of the gums during pregnancy is called “pregnancy gingivitis.” Flossing is especially important because it reduces the risk of gingivitis and periodontitis, a serious gum infection that can travel from your mouth to your body. Periodontal disease has been associated with preterm and low-birth-weight babies.

You may have heard the old wives’ tale about pregnancy,” Gain a child, lose a tooth.” The origin of this phrase is that pregnancy interferes with calcium absorption and increases hormones that affect oral health. Studies have indeed found a link between pregnancy and dental problems. It is important to have excellent oral hygiene during pregnancy and continue with routine dental exams and hygiene visits for teeth cleaning.

9) Prevention is the best strategy for keeping our teeth and bodies healthy!

It is not uncommon to see a dramatic increase in dental cavities during college years. A diet high in sugar coupled with changes in personal hygiene are often to blame for the increase in tooth decay.

Tooth decay and dental cavities are caused by bacteria that are normally present in and around the teeth. These bacteria feed off the food you put in your mouth and love sugar. Today’s fast-paced college lifestyle is filled with fast food, sugar-packed coffees and sugary soft drinks. Even diet-sodas are very acidic and increase the predisposition toward cavities because bacteria thrive in an acidic environment. Byproducts of the bacteria in your mouth cause a breakdown of the adjacent enamel, starting a “cavity.”  Another risk factor for cavities are the changes in personal hygiene that often occur during college years.

Symptoms of cavities and tooth decay vary depending on the location and depth of the cavity. When a cavity is in its early stages, there may not be any symptoms. As tooth decay increases, it may cause tooth sensitivity or a toothache, varying degrees of pain when you bite down or when eating or drinking something sweet, hot or cold, visible holes or pits in your teeth, or generalized discomfort or pain in the mouth or jaw. A dental cavity will not get better on its own. If you’re experiencing one or more cavity symptoms, it’s time to see a dentist. At McCarl Dental Group we offer our new dental patients a discount of more than two hundred dollars for their initial dental cleaning , dental exam and necessary x-rays.

“Pit and fissure” cavities are the most common type of cavities. Back teeth or molars have natural grooves, fissures and “pits” on their chewing surface. Pronounced pits, grooves, or fissures retain plaque. Toothbrush bristles cannot reach inside to clean these deep pits and fissures further allowing plaque and tartar to accumulate. During college years, in young adults who do not floss their teeth regularly, we see an increase in interproximal tooth decay causing cavities in-between the teeth. Because of their location, most of the time interproximal cavities can only be seen with an x-ray.
Once a dental cavity is detected, the dentist removes bacteria and decay and fills the cavity to restore strength to the tooth.  In deep cavities, the nerve of the tooth may be affected by the bacteria, requiring additional cleaning of the infected nerve called a “root canal”.  Luckily, this occurs only in the deepest of cavities. Usually there are warning signs, such as a sensitivity to extreme temperatures or to sweet foods.

Preventing Dental Cavities
The first step in preventing cavities is to maintain good oral hygiene to minimize bacterial colonization. It is important to brush twice a day with fluoride toothpaste and floss daily. The use of a fluoride rinse also helps by strengthening tooth enamel. You can also help prevent cavities by eating well-balanced, nutritious meals and limiting snacking. Maintaining your regularly scheduled dental visits for teeth cleaning and fluoride treatment by a dental hygienist not only helps prevent tooth decay, but the dental exam improves the likelihood of early detection of cavities and treatment with a small rather than large filling.

At McCarl Dental Group we recommend college students have dental exams with teeth cleaning by a professional hygienist every six months. We also recommend that young adults use a prescription strength flouride toothpaste. McCarl dentists recommend Colgate PreviDent 5000 Plus prescription-strength fluoride toothpaste.

Dr. Oz, health expert for the Oprah Winfrey Show and your McCarl dentists believe that health and beauty start with your teeth.

In the book, You: Being Beautiful: The Owner’s Manual to Inner and Outer Beauty, Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen write “Beauty reflects inner health – and teeth do it better than anything else.”

When interviewed on Dr. Oz on ABC News, Dr. Oz said, “The health of your gums is a more important predictor of whether you are going to have a heart attack than your cholesterol level.”

If your gums are inflamed, your teeth are falling out, or your teeth are getting ground down from wear and tear it will affect and reflect the health and beauty of your entire body.

Gum disease also called gingivitis is a much more common cause of tooth loss than tooth decay or cavities. The tooth is anchored in place by the gums which act like a suction cup. When the gum gets inflamed and swollen by gingivitis, the muscle and tissue in the gums and the bone beneath it pull away from the tooth.  The suction loosens and you are at risk of losing teeth. Cavities are a problem too. Bacteria eats its way through the tooth and gets into the pulp which has nerves that carry the pain all the way down into the jaw bone. Your jawbone supports your teeth. If you loose your teeth whether through trauma or decay, your jaw bone will eventually erode.

To keep your teeth healthy and prevent both gum infections and cavities, follow Dr. Oz’s Rule of Two’s: Brush your teeth for two minutes with a soft brush, change your toothbrush after two months. Flossing is critical – flossing cleans 40 percent more of the tooth than brushing alone.  You should also eat foods that are healthy for your teeth and make sure you follow your dentist’s recommendations for routine dental cleanings and exams.

McCarl Dental Group offers a New Patient Discount. Teeth cleaning, dental exam and necessary x-rays are only $45.  Click here to see other special discounts for dental care at McCarl Dental Group.

See Dr. Oz on ABC