Every once in\na while someone will say, \u201cThere must be a lot less cavities today than there\nwere years ago because of improved home care, fluoride, etc., right?\u201d The\nanswer is, yes there are, but there is still way too much decay. Poor diet and\nhome care are the two most common culprits leading to decay. When and what you eat and drink is important.\nImprovement in home care means changing what is being done now, and requires\ndiscipline. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yesterday, I\nwent into one of my hygienist\u2019s rooms to check her patient, a 13-year-old boy,\nand asked the hygienist how his home care was, because his gums were bright\nred. She said to me, \u201cJack, why don\u2019t you tell the doctor how often you told me\nyou brush your teeth.\u201d The boy answered, \u201cAbout once a week.\u201d ONCE A WEEK?!?! Add\nto the that he is in braces too, which makes it even more important to keep the\nteeth clean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s important\nsometimes to step back and review the basics, so here they are. At a minimum,\nyou should brush with a fluoride toothpaste at least twice a day for two\nminutes. A good electric toothbrush is preferable to a manual toothbrush. When\nI say \u201cgood\u201d, I mean one that sits on charger, and not one that takes AA\nbatteries. There are two major brands out there. I prefer the one that starts\nwith an \u201cO\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It amazes me\nhow many people don\u2019t floss their teeth. I have heard every excuse in the book;\n\u201cMy fingers are too big\u201d, \u201cI don\u2019t have the time\u201d, \u201cIt\u2019s too hard\u201d, \u201cMy dog ate\nthe floss\u201d. Just like anything else, it is always hard to start a new ritual.\nThere are so many different kinds of floss and gadgets to help floss that there\nis something out there for everyone. And if you can\u2019t seem to make it work, use\na water pik. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bacteria,\nwhich accumulates on and between the teeth, forms that white film called\nplaque. Plaque contains billions of colonized bacteria. The right kind of\nbacteria, along with the wrong king of diet and the wrong genetics can produce\ncavities. Plaque that is not removed with thorough daily brushing and flossing\ncan harden and turn into calculus (tartar). These colonized bacteria can then\nlead to tissue inflammation (gingivitis), the early stage of periodontal (gum)\ndisease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brushing your\nteeth helps get rid of most of the plaque, except for the stuff that\naccumulates between the teeth. That is what floss is for. I know it sounds\ngross but if you want to know what your breath smells like, floss a few teeth\nand then smell the floss. That should turn you into an avid flosser. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The routine should\nbe, floss, brush, rinse. The whole event should be around five minutes. Believe\nme, you have five minutes. Flossing first allows the fluoride from the\ntoothpaste to contact a cleaner tooth surface between the teeth. I prefer a\nnon-alcohol based rinse as alcohol is drying and creates a better environment\nfor bacteria to thrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One important\nthing about flossing; proper flossing is not popping the floss between the\nteeth and shooting it right back up. The proper way to floss is to get the\nfloss between the contact of the teeth, slide the floss gently under the gum\ntissue around one tooth, \u201cshoe-shine\u201d the side of the tooth, gently move the\nfloss over the papilla (the little piece of gum between the teeth),\n\u201cshoe-shine\u201c the side of the other tooth and then bring the floss up. At your\nnext dental visit, ask your hygienist to evaluate your flossing skills to make\nsure you are doing it correctly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You have the 5\nminutes twice a day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. St. Clair\nmaintains a private dental practice in Rowley and Newburyport dedicated to\nhealth-centered family dentistry. If there are certain topics you would like to\nsee written about or questions you have please email them to him at jpstclair@stclairdmd.com<\/a>.\nYou can view all previously written columns at www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Every once in a while someone will say, \u201cThere must be a lot less cavities today than there were years ago because of improved home care, fluoride, etc., right?\u201d The answer is, yes there are, but there is still way too much decay. Poor diet and home care are the two most common culprits leading to decay. When and what you eat and drink is important. Improvement in home care means changing what is being […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=948"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":953,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948\/revisions\/953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}