A survey by the ADA, Crest, and Oral B– just in time for Valentine’s Day – tells us that a person’s smile is the most appealing feature over eyes, hair, and body. You may recall a similar  that showed a great smile makes a person seem more intelligent and attractive. The recent survey provides some additional information that you could share with your loved ones…

The survey says…

• 86% of women and only 66% of men brush their teeth twice daily
• Women change toothbrushes every 3 to 4 months; men wait 5 months
• 49% of people floss daily
• 33% think bleeding while flossing is normal

Brushing twice daily and flossing once is important – you know this, but do your loved ones?  Do they know that  bleeding while flossing can be a sign that they need to floss more often AND it can indicate gingivitis?  The ADA recommends replacing a toothbrush every 3 to 4 months for effective brushing. Consider surveying your family to determine how they measure up against the statistics.

Be a true Valentine and make your loved one an appointment to get their teeth cleaned TODAY!

231-

What is pH anyway and what

does it mean for your oral health?

A normal mouth has a pH of 6.3 to 7, which is close to neutral with no damage done to teeth.  Tooth enamel begins to de-mineralize (dissolve) at pH levels below 5.5.  Soda has an average pH of 2.5, which is far below this point and very acidic.  Enamel is the hardest substance in the body, but it becomes porous and soft when exposed to acid.  Tooth enamel erosion is extremely harmful because it weakens the tooth and makes it prone to decay and breakage.  Tooth enamel wears out faster when it’s been weakened.  Just think: You only have one set of teeth meant to last you a lifetime.  Take care of them!

Check the label

Always read the label!  Regular soft drinks contain acid and sugar that can lead to tooth decay.  You may see it listed as phosphoric acid and or citric acid.  Diet or “sugar free” drinks may not have sugar, but most always contain acid.  Even many flavored milks have loads of extra sugar.

Would you sit down and eat that much sugar?

Spoon out 10 level teaspoons of sugar (in soda, it’s called high fructose corn syrup) to see about how much is in a 12-ounce can of regular soda.  Now spoon out 17 teaspoons for a 20-ounce bottle.  Can you imagine eating that much sugar at one time?!  Remember diet soda may not have the sugar but still contains acid that can harm tooth enamel, which can lead to decay!

How tooth decay starts

More On Stop The Pop….

• Soda and other soft drinks have lots of refined sugar, such as high fructose corn syrup. Bacteria in the mouth process the sugar and produce acid.
• This acid, plus the extra already present in the drink, demineralizes your tooth enamel, the outer coating of the teeth that guards against decay.
• Tooth decay (cavities) begins when enamel is weakened.
• Each acid attack lasts about 20 minutes, and each sip you take resets the clock.
• Remember! Diet or “sugar-free” drinks may not have sugar, but usually contain harmful acid.

How to reduce decay

• Choose water; it’s best for your hydration and health. 
• Don’t sip soda all day, drink a serving all at once. Consistent “sipping” exposes teeth to prolonged sugar and acid attacks. 
• If you do drink soda, sports drinks or fruit juices, do so in moderation not more than a 12-ounce serving (1 can) per day. It’s also best to drink it with a meal.
• After having a soft drink, brush your teeth. If you can’t brush, rinse your mouth with water to dilute the sugar and acid, or chew gum which contains Xylitol, a sugar substance shown to discourage tooth decay.
• Brush at least twice daily with fluoride toothpaste and floss daily to remove plaque buildup between teeth and along gums. 

The look of decay

Have you ever wondered what tooth decay looks like? It’s nasty, isn’t it? The left picture is more shocking and shows a severe case of decay, but the right picture also shows tooth decay—in a more subtle way that may go unnoticed by most people. Do you see the white, chalky lines along the gums in the right picture? It may seem like no big deal, but in dental terms, it’s called “decalcification” which translates into tooth decay. The person in this picture wore braces to straighten teeth, but didn’t practice good oral hygiene, causing tooth enamel to decalcify. This is what tooth decay caused by soft drinks looks like when it starts. If you don’t brush and floss daily, eat and drink healthy and see a dentist regularly, this could be your teeth…on the way to decay.

    

More on Stop the Pop…

did you know?

 

money down the drain » In 2004, Americans spent $66 billion on carbonated drinks—and billions more on non-carbonated soft drinks…$850 per household— enough to buy a computer and a year’s worth of Internet access.

 

starting young » One-fifth of 1- and 2-year-old children consume soft drinks. Those toddlers drink an average of seven ounces—about 1 cup—each day. Almost half of all children between ages 6 and 11 drink soda, with the average child drinking 15 ounces a day.

 

what’s being learned at school » The Alliance for a Healthier Generation has worked with leading beverage companies to create guidelines which allow only lower calorie and nutritious beverages to be sold at schools. Be a part of this important movement and a voice for our youth. Ask your school to offer healthier options like reduced-fat milk and water.

 

empty calories, excess weight » In 2004, the average American drank 37 gallons—60,000 calories—of non- diet soft drinks; adding in another 16 gallons of fruit and sport drinks brings the total to about 85,000 calories. All those calories can contribute to excessive weight gain and related health problems.

 

sizes are growing » In the 1950s, a bottle of soda was 6.5 ounces. Today, a 12-ounce can is standard and a 20-ounce bottle is common. Larger container sizes mean more calories, more sugar and more acid from a single container of soda.

 

caffeine in a can » The amounts of caffeine in one or two cans of caffeinated soft drinks can affect performance and mood, increase anxiety in children and reduce the ability to sleep.

 

better keep exercising » To burn off the calories in a 20-ounce bottle of non-diet soda, a 135-pound person would have to walk three miles in 45 minutes, play vigorous basketball for 40 minutes or bike vigorously for 22 minutes!

Each day, soda consumption alone provides the average teenage boy about 15 teaspoons of refined sugars, the average girl about 10 teaspoons. These amounts roughly equal the recommended daily limits for teens’ sugar consumption from all foods.

Stop The Pop

Soft drinks, juices and sports drinks provide huge amounts of sugars to many diets, and drinking too much can cause tooth decay and harm your health. Learn how these beverages can cause tooth decay and what you can do to prevent it and improve your health.

Sugar and acid in soft drinks, juices and sports drinks can set up the perfect environment for tooth decay. Drinking too much of these beverage can contribute to other health problems, such as osteoporosis, kidney stones, and especially overweight and obesity, which are prime risk factors for type 2 diabetes in teens and adults.

Soft drinks are a problem not only for what they contain, but for what they push out of the diet, including vitamins, minerals and fiber. Less than 50% of adolescent girls consume enough calcium daily, which can lead to early development of osteoporosis. Girls who drink carbonated beverages are 5 times more likely to have bone fractures than those who don’t drink soda.

** Stay Tuned While We Launch More Info From The Stop The Pop Campaign!

Periodontal disease is difficult to successfully treat in any dental patient.

One patient type that can be especially challenging is smokers. Smokers are up to 6X more likely to experience periodontal destruction compared to non- smokers. And it’s been long recognized that smoking impaires healing following non- surgical periodontal treatment.

A new study has found that smoking may pose yet another hurdle.

In patient with moderate- to- severe chronic periodontitis, researchers found that smokers consistently demonstrated lower levels of health protective bacteria and significantly higher levels of disease- related bacteria below their gumlines. These icluded higher levels of the red complex Treponema and Tannerella species, which have been linked to more severe and refractory periodontitis.

This may help to explain why smokers are less responsive to scaling and root planning (SRP) alone, exhibiting smaller pocket depth reductions and few clinical gains resulting in deeper periodontal pockets.

How ARESTIN can help

Improves healing in patients who smoke:

• A study demonstrated that at 9 months, patients experienced 32% greater reduction in pocket depths with ARESTIN + SRP vs SRP alone.
• A study demonstrated that ARESTIN + SRP was nearly 4X more likely to reduce pockets to < 5mm that SRP alone.

In all periodontal patients:

• ARESTIN + SRP provides nearly 2X greater reduction of red complex bacteria ( including P gingivalis, T denticola, and T forsythia) than SRP alone. Note that an unhealthy balance to these bacteria is directly associated with increased pocket depth, clinical attachment loss, and bleeding on probing.

• ARESTIN contains minocycline, a tetracycline derivative, and therefore should not be use in children and in pregnant or nursing women.

At Beacon Dental Center our patients have had great success in the reduction of their periodontal disease with the placement of ARESTIN. We provide full periodontal maintenance right here at our office so there is no need for 2 types of Dentists. Here We Do It ALL!

Dry mouth, also known as xerostomia, results from the inadequate flow of saliva.  It is a common side effect of many prescription drugs but it also be a sign of a separate, more serious, medical condition.  Besides being just plain uncomfortable and irritating to have no saliva, over time, dry mouth can have many negative effects…including increased tooth decay, difficulty swallowing, irritation and a painful tongue, and infections on your teeth called ‘cavities.’  It’s important to see your dentist if you think you have dry mouth.  In my practice here in Charlevoix, we have several special measures we take to help our patients overcome dry mouth.  Certain conditions and habits may increase the risk of dry mouth….including diabetes, smoking, and taking either prescription or over the counter medications.  Of course, all of the treatments for dry mouth have the goal of increasing salivary flow, and…actually, the best thing you can do on your own is to CHEW SUGARFREE GUM!

Did you know chewing gum is actually good for your oral health? It’s true!  Chewing gum is good for lots of reasons.  OF COURSE, only chem SUGARFREE gum!  Gum that has sugar in it is like super feeding the bacteria in your mouth that eat holes in your teeth, that most people call ‘cavities.’  I have my patients that have dry mouth, chew with sugarless gum to increase salivary flow.  And, believe it or not, saliva is a MAJOR protection your body has to keeping your oral health at its best.  The American Dental Association recommends Trident and Orbit as good choices for sugarless gum.  Chewing sugarfree gum causes your mouth to increase the production of saliva by  10 times the normal rate! And even better than that, research shows that chewing sugarfree gum for 20 minutes after eating or drinking can help reduce tooth decay by up to 40%!!!…which, along with regular dental visits, can promote a healthier and happier mouth!  The goal for my practice, Beacon Dental Center, in Charlevoix, is optimum and excellent oral health for every one of our patients.

“The mouth is a mirror, it reflects general health or disease.

Periodontal Disease

The Correlation Between Misaligned Teeth and Periodontal Disease
If you have been diagnosed with periodontal (gum) disease, you’re not alone. An estimated 80 percent of American adults currently have some form of gum disease, ranging from simple gum inflammation to serious disease which results in major damage to the soft tissue and bone supporting the teeth. Not only is gum disease a threat to your oral health that can lead to tooth loss, but research also points to health effects of periodontal disease that go well beyond your mouth.

Did you know that a major cause of periodontal disease is poorly-aligned teeth? This is because the bacteria living in the gums around crowded teeth are much more toxic and destructive than the normal bacteria found in healthy mouths! In fact, the misalignment that leads to periodontal disease continues to remain one of the most overlooked risk factors by the General Practitioner’s office.