{"id":952,"date":"2019-05-13T15:44:53","date_gmt":"2019-05-13T15:44:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/?p=952"},"modified":"2019-05-13T15:44:53","modified_gmt":"2019-05-13T15:44:53","slug":"bad-info","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/bad-info\/","title":{"rendered":"BAD INFO"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In an online\nreport I recently read by Men\u2019s Health Magazine, they listed 9 \u201chealthy\u201d habits\nthat they claim are a waste of time. Three of them had to do with oral health.\nLet\u2019s take a look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first on the\nwaste of time list was to see your dentist twice per year. I have seen this\nreported somewhere else in the media recently. According to Men\u2019s Health, close\nto 30 studies have apparently found no conclusive evidence supporting a need to\nsee a dentist every 6 months. They went on to say, \u201cIf your teeth and gums are\nhealthy, once per year is enough to catch developing problems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I absolutely\nagree. There are definitely people who only need to see a dentist\/hygienist\nonce per year. Most dentists use a classification system to rate a patient\u2019s\nperiodontal (gum) health. Type I patients are the ones that only need to see a\ndentist once per year. They are healthy, they have good homecare habits and are\nlow risk for disease. In the average dental practice, I would say this is about\n10-15% of the population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Type II\npatients are those with gingivitis and should be seen twice per year. This\ngroup makes up about 50% of the typical dental patient population. Many of\nthese patients could move into the Type I group if they had better homecare\nhabits and technique. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Type III &\nIV patients are the remaining 30-35% of the population who should be seen every\n3 or 4 months, and in some cases even more frequently. Because of genetics\nand\/or bad habits, this group has active disease and is at high-risk for\nproblems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s also not\nforget the other 50% of the population who don\u2019t even visit a dentist once per\nyear. While I think there are people who can be healthy and see a dentist once\nper year, it is irresponsible to make it seem that it pertains to everyone. The\nonly one who can determine how healthy you are is your dentist. It should be up\nto you and the dentist you trust. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The #7 waste\nof time reported was to use a hard toothbrush. According to the report, a soft\none cleans your teeth just as well and is less damaging to your teeth and gums.\nThis is old news and is true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next one\nshocked me. The #8 waste of time \u2013 brushing and flossing twice per day. According\nto Men\u2019s Health, everyone only needs to visit the dentist once per year and\nbrush and floss one time per day. They recommend brushing for at least 2\nminutes before you go to bed and flossing one time per day. They also mentioned\nthat people who did not floss frequently (whatever that means) are 3 times more\nlikely to develop stomach cancer. I am assuming the author is relating lack of\nflossing to getting periodontal (gum) disease. More recent research is showing\nthat, \u201cRisk factors for precancerous lesions and gastric cancer are being\nidentified, one of which may be periodontal disease\u201d. Although lack of flossing\ndoes not automatically cause gum disease, poor oral health is clearly a risk\nfactor for other health problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s the\nbottom line:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Establish a relationship with a dentist you are\n comfortable with and trust. Determine with that person how frequently you\n should be seen.<\/li>
  2. Use a good quality soft electric toothbrush.\n Get instructions on proper use from your hygienist.<\/li>
  3. Brush at least twice per day, preferably at\n least 30 minutes after meals. Floss at night before you brush.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    It is as\nsimple as that.<\/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":"

    In an online report I recently read by Men\u2019s Health Magazine, they listed 9 \u201chealthy\u201d habits that they claim are a waste of time. Three of them had to do with oral health. Let\u2019s take a look. The first on the waste of time list was to see your dentist twice per year. I have seen this reported somewhere else in the media recently. According to Men\u2019s Health, close to 30 studies have apparently found […]<\/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-952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952","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=952"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":957,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952\/revisions\/957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}