WHAT IS BEST FOR MY DENTAL HEALTH? – BLOG #59
BLOG #57 FROM ULCERS TO A CANCER, WHAT YOUR MOUTH REVEALS ABOUT YOU
Dr. Spiker Davis D.D.S. 713-781-2800 Dr. Matt Guerre D.D.S. 713-781-2800
In collaboration with Dr. John Seger M.D. Cardiologist 713-791-9444
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I believe the mouth is the WINDOW TO YOUR HEALTH. I also believe that as individuals we need to take care of our health-nobody else is going to do it for us. So, when it comes to taking care of my oral health, what should I do that is best for me? So, there are two main areas of what to do and they are “ORAL HYGIENE” and “DIET”!
ORAL HYGIENE refers to what do I need to do to keep the mouth clean and healthy and how do I do it? There are several areas of oral hygiene,
- Brushing-We have all been told to brush our teeth after every meal. The main reason for this is that 68%of the foods we eat have sugar in them. Sugar is responsible for feeding the bad bacteria in your mouth which can lead to cavities and gum disease. So, either don’t eat any sugar or brush/floss after every meal. I prefer them all. We have all been told how to brush. Sometimes it was by your dentist/hygienist and sometimes parents etc. There were two methods taught when I was in school. One was an up and down motion with the bristles of your brush at a 45-degree angle to the gums. The other was around and round motion. Both of these work fairly well but most of my patients just brush back and forth which is not near as good. The main thing is to use a soft bristle toothbrush. All of that being said, things have changed a lot lately with the manufacture of Sonic toothbrushes such as Oral B, Sonicare, and WaterPik. On several occasions, I have timed myself with a manual toothbrush and I can get about 100 strokes per minute going back and forth. You should time yourself and see what you get. With the new Sonic toothbrushes, you get up and down or round and round strokes of about 31,000 to 51,000 strokes per minute. The better brushes have a timer so that you should spend two minutes brushing (one minute on the upper arch and one minute on the lower arch) so that is about 60,000 to 100,000 strokes per minute brushing or the equivalent of 5 years of brushing in two minutes. As you can imagine, that is far superior to the manual toothbrush!! We highly recommend getting one of these brushes.
- Flossing-All dentists highly recommend that you floss your teeth at least once (Preferably twice) daily and preferably at night after you have finished eating. The main reason that you need to floss is that the toothbrush will NOT remove the food that gets in between your teeth and under the gum. Floss will also remove the plaque that starts to build up on teeth and also the biofilm which contains millions of bacteria. In an ideal world, we should floss after every meal. The main technique is to go in between the teeth and go UNDER the gums on both sides. You will be shocked at the amount of debris that will come out. If your gums bleed while brushing or flossing it usually indicates that you have some form of gum disease and you need to contact your dentist. Because there is major evidence of a link between gum disease and systemic diseases (Cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, pneumonia, obesity, and even premature birth, etc.) the message is very clear-“FLOSS OR DIE”!! Make sure to go under the gum when you floss. That is where all the bacteria and plaque are hiding.
- Scraping your tongue-There are 5 reasons to scrape your tongue.
a. It will improve your sense of taste by removing film and plaque from the surface and grooves.
b. It helps to remove the bacteria from the tongue which tends to cut down on cavities, gum disease, and
bad breath.
c. It tends to improve oral health and helps to build the immune system.
d. It helps to reduce bad breath.
e. It will give your tongue a normal healthy pink color. Without scraping sometimes your tongue will be
white or brown in color. - HOW DO I SCRAPE MY TONGUE? You should stand in front of your mirror and stick out your tongue.= You can buy a tongue scraper or use a spoon and start at the back of your tongue. Gently pull the scraper forward until you reach the tip of the tongue. Use a tissue to remove the debris from the scraper. Repeat the process until there is no debris coming forward and then rinse your mouth and your scraper. In a pinch, you can use your toothbrush as a scraper although it is not as effective.
- Mouthwash-Most of us has grown up using mouthwash for bad breath. Most of the mouthwashes today contain alcohol (ethanol). Alcohol is known for killing bacteria and it can also kill Viruses. In fact, I read a German study that showed using Listerine reduced your chances of getting Covid by about 50%. This is because as you breathe in the virus can lodge or hide in your mouth and the alcohol in Listerine can kill the virus before you become infected. Alcohol mouthwash is well known for killing the bacteria that can cause tooth decay and gum disease. There are two problems that I see with using mouthwash containing alcohol. First, alcohol can dry out your mouth if used too often. A dry mouth can lead to more decay and gum disease. Second, in addition to killing the bad bacteria that cause decay and gum disease, alcohol also kills the good bacteria that are part of your immune system. Nonalcoholic mouthwash tends to kill more of the bad bacteria. So, for my own mouth and my patients, I recommend an alcohol mouthwash if there is an infection or if someone has been exposed to a virus. Remember, it works best if you are also brushing and flossing. If you just want to improve your breath, then I tend to lean towards the non-alcohol mouthwash.
DIET-As far as a diet for oral health it is pretty simple. No sugar and low carbohydrates and you won’t have very many problems. That is easier said than done because 68% of everything in a package, jar, or can has sugar in it. It is usually hidden with fancy terms like dextrose, corn syrup, or fructose. Anything that ends in an ose is sugar. The other day I was reading on the label of Morton’s salt and it had Dextrose (sugar) in it!! Read the labels and avoid sugar. Did you know that Neanderthal cavemen basically had no decay and no gum disease and they didn’t even have a toothbrush? That is why I follow the paleo diet-NO SUGAR!
SUMMARY-It is obvious that your mouth is the window to your health. Abnormal conditions in the mouth can be very indicative of other systemic health conditions. In many cases, if your mouth is unhealthy there is a good probability that something somewhere else in your body also needs attention. Start the year off right- Practice good oral hygiene, avoid sugar and Go see your dentist and get back on track with regular cleanings. Follow that up by seeing your physician for a physical.
RANT AND RAVE-I AM SICK AND TIRED OF COVID. This past week about 75% of my patients said that they or all their relatives got sick over the holidays with COVID. Fortunately, nothing was too serious. One patient told me that this Omicron variant was an answer to his prayers. He got sick, no big deal and now he is immune for a long time and he was thanking GOD for sending Omicron. Sounds good to me. Any help is greatly appreciated.
“THE MOUTH IS THE WINDOW TO YOUR HEALTH”. BRUSH AND FLOSS TWICE DAILY, AVOID SUGAR FOR 2022 AND SEE YOUR DENTIST AND PHYSICIAN ON A REGULAR BASIS.
Spiker Davis D.D.S. spiker@thepaleodentist.com John Seger M.D. Matt Guerre D.D.S.
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