Best Dentist News

Parents have been telling their children to brush their teeth for at least 6,000 years. Archaeological excavations have uncovered evidence of ancient tooth cleaning implements, including twigs, feathers, bones, and quills. In fact, tooth brushing tools have been found as early as 3500 BCE in the Babylonian and Egyptian cultures, when people used frayed ends of twigs to scrub off bacteria and food particles.

Several early cultures used chewing sticks with aromatic or antiseptic properties, such as neem or miswak. The sticks not only cleaned teeth, but also freshened breath.

In 1498 in China, an enterprising soul plucked stiff hairs from a pig’s neck and attached the bristles to a bone or bamboo handle. When this toothbrush was adopted by the Europeans, they opted for softer bristles—using horsehairs or feathers.

The toothbrush was modernized around 1780 by Englishman William Addis when he tied boar bristles into tufts and glued them into drilled holes of a bone handle. In fact, he’s responsible for the first mass-produced toothbrush. The company that Addis started more than 230 years ago, Wisdom Toothbrushes, still exists today.

In 1857, H.N. Wadsworth was the first American to be granted a toothbrush patent. However, mass production on toothbrushes in the United States didn’t begin until 1885, and animal bristles were still used as the brushing components. Fast forward to 1938 when DuPont created a new material called nylon. These synthetic fibers soon replaced natural bristles in toothbrushes.

These days, you have a variety of toothbrush options, including electric and disposable. If you’re not sure which type of toothbrush is best for your dental care needs, ask your dentist at your next checkup. And skip the twigs.

Many people make losing weight and getting healthy their new year’s resolution. If this is your goal for 2012, you might decide to try vegetarianism. While vegetarianism can help reduce your intake of fat and cholesterol while increasing your intake of those healthy fruits and vegetables, are there any dental care issues associated with becoming a vegetarian?

How Vegetarianism Can Affect Your Oral Health

When designing your vegetarian diet, it’s essential to make sure you’re still getting certain nutrients. Some vegetarians might not get enough calcium, riboflavin, vitamins D or B12, or protein, and this can have a negative effect on the oral health of vegetarians.

A diet low on vitamin D and calcium can increase your risk of periodontal disease (gum disease), a very serious oral health problem. But take heart! You can counteract this problem with dietary supplements. It’s also recommended that you get guidance from a nutritionist before pursuing a vegetarian lifestyle to make sure you’re on the right track.

If giving vegetarianism a go is your new year’s resolution, there’s no need to be afraid for your oral health. Just make sure you’re getting all the important nutrients by eating a balanced diet. And don’t forget to make brushing and flossing a part of your oral health routine, too!

If I Could Only Have My Two Front Teeth…

Around the age of six, a child’s baby teeth begin to fall out to make room for primary teeth. The last of their baby teeth typically fall out by the age of 13. Teeth fall out in the same order they erupted. So, most children lose their bottom two teeth first, and then their two front teeth.

Unfortunately, there are other ways to lose front teeth. Front teeth often take the full impact of a fall. If these teeth are knocked loose or knocked out, it’s important to get to the dentist right away. The dentist will try to reinsert the tooth so that it begins to re-bond with the bone. If it’s too late to save the tooth, then it’s likely the gap can be filled in with a dental prosthesis, such as a crown and bridge, or with dental implants.

Then I Could Wish You Merry Christmas…

In 1944, music teacher Donal Yetter Gardner asked his second grade class what they wanted for Christmas. He noticed nearly all his students had lisps because they were missing at least one front tooth, and he was inspired to pen a holiday song.  After performing “All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth,” at a music teachers’ conference, Gardner gained the notice of a Witmark music company employee.  A few short years later, the song was recorded and released by Spike Jones & His City Slickers, and the catchy tune soared to the top of the 1949 pop charts.

Are you at risk for cavities? That may sound like a trick question—everyone is at risk for cavities! But some people are at a higher risk than others, and knowing the risk factors could help you improve your oral health and avoid the extensive tooth decay that eventually turns in to the dreaded cavities.

So, in the spirit of helping you avoid future cavities by educating you on some of the many risk factors, here’s a list! (more…)

It’s the middle of the day and you’re hungry. You could eat that apple you brought for an afternoon snack, but there’s also that box of cookies in the break room. And not just any cookies—homemade double fudge cookies.

That apple’s lookin’ pretty dinky now, isn’t it?

But before you go hog wild on those cookies, stop and think about all that sugar you’ll be eating. You’ve always heard your dentist say sugar is bad for your teeth, but do you know why? It’s because sugar energizes bacteria and leads to the production of acid, which destroys the enamel protecting your teeth from decay.

Brushing can help protect you, of course, but that happens just twice a day—if that much. So what can you do in the meantime?

How about having a little Xylitol?

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It’s that time of year. Allergens permeate the air we breathe, irritating our sinuses and making us feel all sick in the head. Viral infections, allergies, pollution… all can trigger sinusitis, which often leads to the dreaded sinus infection.

The painful pressure behind your eyes and cheekbones. The constant need to grab for a tissue (or five). The sore throat and irritating cough. The pain in your teeth. Wait… pain in… what? That can’t be right. (more…)

You know that fuzzy feeling on your teeth at the end of the day? Well, it’s not fuzz (phew!), it’s actually plaque (oh no!).  What is plaque? It’s a sticky biofilm attached to your teeth containing hundreds of bacterial species. Before you run for the mouthwash, you should know those bacteria occur naturally. And it’s not just you, everyone has them!

What Causes Plaque?

Those little germs on your teeth use ingredients in saliva to flourish, namely sugar. As the bacteria metabolize tiny sweet particles, they produce acids that erode tooth enamel, cause cavities, and lead to gum disease and tooth loss. A diet full of candy, soft drinks, and carbohydrate-rich foods ups the ante. (more…)