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Bacteria and Good Health

Many of us have noticed the newest trend in health: Bacteria. I have noticed so many commercials for Activia Yogurt, and in the stores all the containers say that they promote intestinal health. We have good bacteria and bad. Bad bacteria are those that can get out of the control of our immune system. These cause infections and illnesses. Ironically the bacteria that are in the mouth are a double edged sword. The very bacteria that give us cavities are the bacteria that compete with and help prevent the growth of periodontitis. So bacteria in a BALANCE with our bodies are beneficial. Likewise the digestive system is inhabited by bacteria that help us digest certain foods. If through stress, illness, antibiotics these bacteria are killed off or imbalanced our system can suffer. This brings us to the advent of PROBIOTICS. These "Good" bacteria are put into foods, yogurt, pills in order to replace what was lost. This theory has been embraced by the dental community as well and resulted in a new product. This daily mint is filled with "Probiotics that promote oral health". Soon to be available to the professional Butler/Sunstar Periobalance is currently available online to everyone. In cases where I find people have been coming in for their cleanings, they are using a Sonicare toothbrush, they are flossing, but still I find their gums are bleeding I recommend this product. As we have more feedback from the use I will update you again.

As Probiotics and proper nutrition go hand in hand, I have made comments about nutrition prior but a good source of information that I trust can be found:

http://theziedguide.wordpress.com/

Help! My Child's Tooth was Knocked Out!

I have been trying to select topics that one day could be of use to people in different dental situations. I thought what of the person who witnesses a tooth getting knocked out...what would they do? Of course your dentist will know but they probably are not with you at the time.

Firstly don't panic. If you are concerned enough for the tooth then obviously the person connected to that tooth is not so badly injured. Teeth can be replaced. More importantly has this person bumped their head or suffered any other concerning trauma. Should we mention again the untimely death of Natasha Richardson from what should have been very preventable.
Secondly be sure to pick up the tooth and just quickly put it in cold milk. The milk has the proper balance of certain chemicals that help keep the important cells of the tooth alive. Water can work but Milk is FAR better. If all else fails the tooth can be quickly rinsed and kept in the patient's mouth. This depends on the age and awareness of the patient!!!!!!!! ( The saliva will help to keep the tooth cells alive ) We would not want anyone to swallow the tooth! Again Milk is so much better.

Third CALL THE DENTIST. Any dentist with an emergency contact number can walk you through the process. If the tooth is placed back in the socket within one hour the success of replacement is much better.

What to do for Jaw Pain?!

Today I am all full of information. Maybe it is the spirit of St. Patrick's Day...who knows. I had 2 patients come to me in the past few days with Jaw Pain. Interestingly both are right handed and both had right side pain. One patient had an accident many years ago and the Jaw has Locked open at times ever since. This happened while he was in my chair. The thing to do was and is: remain calm, massage the side of the jaw muscles. Right around the area of the bull's eye in the photo above. After a little time of gentle (GENTLE) effort it closed. Another patient had a stressful week at work and it has been hurting. Her entire masseter muscle was tense to the touch and almost rock hard. With a little massaging we broke the spasm it has been fine since. Stress causes tension, tension and constant clenching of the muscle can result in "Little Charlie Horses" in the joint and masseter muscles of the jaw. A warm towel will help to bring blood to the area and warmth to RELAX that muscle. As some of my prior posts have said, rest (in the form of sleep, muscle rest, etc) is so important.
Hopefully everyone will enjoy. The DAY today.

How Long Do I have to Wear My Invisalign?

This morning I met with one of our new Invisalign patients. He said he was comfortable enough but found that he would rather keep them out during work. When I asked how many hours that translated into per day he said "Maybe 12". Ooooh not good. The whole purpose of the Invisalign is to put pressure on the teeth. This pressure is the same as fixed appliances (metal braces) but it needs to be in the mouth and on the teeth to do this. The great thing about Invisalign is it can be removed to clean the teeth properly BUT this is the bad thing as well. The reason we need to keep the aligners in at least 20 hours per day is simple and yet very complex. When pressure is placed onto any living thing it will respond. Put sunlight on our skin after a while it will turn red. Put pressure on muscles they grow. Put pressure on bone and it will change shape. The same applies to the bone around teeth. If you put pressure on the teeth half of the day and release that pressure for the rest of the day there is no NET movement. As the aligner places pressure the body responds in a very complex concert of events. The pressure translates into signals that move from tooth to ligament to bone to the circulation to the brain and back. Many chemicals are released and the bone shape changes. This all allows tooth movements.

It is also important to follow the prescribed time. Each aligner will be changed at a maximum of 2 weeks. There is a maximum speed that the bone can change and the teeth can move.

I find that our patients who are very diligent in wearing their aligners follow the prescribed treatment and time very well. The more patients give "excuses" for themselves (and some may be very necessary) the less the teeth will move and the longer treatment will last.

This is one of the reasons that I meet monthly with my Invisalign patients. It is easy to take for granted how complex the movement of teeth is because Invisalign makes it feel so simple.

And with a bit of commitment it is!

Why do I need a Dental Implant?

This week I saw a few of my patients who have had me surgically replace teeth with dental implants. It made me proud to see my work function well and look like a real tooth. The dental implant is the closest replacement dentists have to a brand new tooth. One day I expect to inject genes below the surface of the gum and generate a new tooth biologically. Until then I must rely on my training as a surgeon....which is along the lines of an orthopedic surgeon actually. When a tooth is lost immediately the gum tissue and bone below start to heal. If nothing is done this will heal completely, however significant changes will occur to the shape of the area. If we were to place bone or some grafting material into the socket and cover it up there is much less change to the site. The body will deposit bone and grow new gum tissue. Minimal changes occur. An implant placed here will do well. If the space is left alone the lack of use (lack of tooth) will allow the bone to deteriorate and shrink. Finally if a tooth is removed and it is possible to place an implant immediately minimal changes occur to the site. In fact one of the patients that I saw this week was such a case. The photos before and after show the gum tissue has really not changed at all. This is ideal when a front tooth and there is little room for change. As for the other patient timely implant placement has allowed little change in the area. In both instances we are very happy with the results. Dental implants have been in dental use for about 25 years. They have a great success rate (98%) when placed and cared for properly. I look forward to the day when we can clone teeth or grow them in the site. Until then, my artistic and surgical skills will be an important thing to maintain.

Preventing Decay: Chew Gum !

Who would have thought that one day the dentist would tell you to eat candy to prevent decay! Well almost. Sugarless chewing gum is actually a benefit to the oral dynamic. In previous posts I have mentioned how eating sugars fuels the bacteria in our mouths to make acid, this in turn dissolves the teeth. That dissolving becomes decay. Sugarless chewing gum has the added benefit of stimulating saliva. Just last post I spoke of the repairing quality of saliva.
When we chew gum sugarless or otherwise it causes saliva to flow. Anytime we eat as a matter of fact saliva will flow. (or should) If we chew sugarless especially Xylitol gum we get saliva flow without the negative effect of sugar. So we can prevent decay with gum right?
There is one caveat: if we chew gum too long we will dry the mouth out of saliva and find that the benefit of having sugarless gum is cancelled out.

SO we should chew a bit of Xylitol or Sugarless gum after meals to clean the teeth and get our saliva flowing again but STOP after about 10-15 minutes.
Yes you can have your gum and eat it too!

PS. I noticed some good information on the science behind xylitol at http://www.healthyfellow.com, I cannot comment on other articles that I did not read but the commentary on Xylitol was quite sound!

OH and PPS
Animal lovers and owners. Do NOT let pets eat anything containing Xylitol. It effects them by releasing their stores of insulin and they can die of hypoglycemia. My thinking is that some cake frosting below the tongue of an ill or unconscious animal could save their life but be sure to check with the veterinarian.