Diet and Oral Health

Cut the sugar, grab the milk!

Each time you eat a snack containing sugar or starch (carbohydrates), the resulting acid attack on your teeth can last up to 20 minutes, and a lot of snacks and drinks contain sugar. How much sugar? A single can of pop contains up to 10 teaspoons of sugar, and if you think that natural sugar (like the sugar in raisins or other fruit) is better for your teeth it’s not. Sugar is sugar, and the average Canadian consumes over 40 kilograms of sugar each year! Click here for a list of how much sugar your favorite snack might contain.

How can you defeat the sugar bug?


Beat the Clock - foods that are eaten during a meal usually pose less of a threat to teeth because of the additional saliva produced during mealtime eating. Saliva helps to wash food particles from your mouth and lessen the damage from acid.

Brush & floss those teeth - toothbrushing is important, and you should brush twice a day. Did you know that if you don’t floss, you miss cleaning up to 35% of each tooth? If you’re not sure how to floss, just ask your dentist.

Stock up on Dairy Products - yogurt and cheese, milk and milk products contain things that are good for your teeth. Everything that’s made from milk is a good source of calcium - an essential nutrient for the development of bones and teeth. Some scientific studies have shown that eating cheese might actually help to protect your teeth from cavities by preventing something called demineralization (the loss of important calcium in your teeth).


Above article from HealthTeeth.org

Edward Filangeri - Excellence in Dentistry

516 Hawkins Avenue
Lake Ronkonkoma, NY 11779
Telephone: (631) 588-9041

Learn more about toothpaste

What is toothpaste

• Abrasives Detergent (1-2 per cent)
• Binding agents (1 per cent)
• Humectants (10-30 per cent)
• Flavouring, sweetening and colouring agents (1-5 per cent)
• Preservatives (0.05-0.5 per cent)
• Water

Toothpastes are the most widely used oral health care product and there is considerable choice available to the consumer. Toothpaste types range from family anti-decay/anti-plaque types to the specific formulations for smokers, for sensitive teeth, special children's formulations and the recently introduced tooth whitening pastes which are the fastest growing sector of the toothpaste market.

Toothpaste ingredients are usually shown on packs w/w' - that is weight for weight, or grams per 100 grams. Under new European cosmetics legislation, toothpastes are required to list all ingredients. In addition to water and therapeutic agents such as fluoride, antibacterial, desensitising and anti-tartar agents, toothpaste will normally contain the following basic ingredients:

• Abrasives
  These cleaning and polishing agents account for about a third of toothpaste by weight. Most of the abrasives used are chalk or silica based. Examples are dicalcium phosphate, sodium metaphosphate, calcium carbonate, silica, zirconium silicate or calcium pyrophosphate. Abrasives differ; an international standard defines a test paste against which toothpaste abrasivity can be assessed, but there is no system for ensuring that all toothpastes sold in the Republic of Ireland are at or below this abrasivity level.
• Detergent (1-2 per cent)
  This makes toothpaste foam, as well as helping to distribute it round the mouth to lower surface tension and loosen plaque and other debris from the tooth surface. Examples are Sodium Lauryl Sulphate and Sodium M Lauryl Sarcosinate
• Binding agents (1 per cent)
  These agents prevent separation of solid and liquid ingredients during storage. These are usually derived from cellulose, sodium carboxy-methyl cellulose being the most commonly used. Carrageenans (seaweed derived), xantham gums and alginates are also used.
• Humectants (10-30 per cent)
  These agents retain moisture and prevent the toothpaste hardening on exposure to air. Glycerol, sorbitol and propylene glycol are commonly used, glycerol and sorbitol also sweeten the toothpaste, though this is not their main function.
• Flavouring, sweetening and colouring agents (1-5 per cent)
  Peppermint, spearmint, cinnamon, wintergreen and menthol are among many, flavourings used. Mucosal irritations from toothpaste are rare and are usually linked to flavourings or preservatives. They can take the form of ulceration, gingivitis, angular cheilitis or perioral dermatitis. Flavourless toothpastes are not available commercially so the only solution is to change brand. For people who react to mint, some children's formulations are mint free - for example homeopathic toothpastes tend to avoid mint because of interactions with other homeopathic remedies, but they may also leave out fluoride.
• Preservatives (0.05-0.5 per cent)
  Alcohols, benzoates, formaldehyde and dichlorinated phenols are added to prevent bacterial growth on the organic binders and humectants.

Above article from DentalHealth.ie

Edward Filangeri - Excellence in Dentistry

516 Hawkins Avenue
Lake Ronkonkoma, NY 11779
Telephone: (631) 588-9041

Learn more about ‘bad breath’

Halitosis

Halitosis or bad breath or oral malodour is socially unacceptable but self-diagnosis is difficult, as it is not possible to easily detect an odour from ones' own breath. Those who have halitosis are often unaware of it and often may be informed by friends or relatives. Yet those people who have been told that they suffer from bad breath can continuously worry if an offensive smell can be detected from their breath.

Halitosis is mainly caused by excessive amount of volatile sulphur compounds being produced by bacteria in the mouth. Studies have shown that up to 50 per cent of adults suffer from objectionable mouth odour in early morning before breakfast or toothbrushing. The reason for this is that saliva incubates bacteria in the mouth during sleep (reduced saliva flow). People with periodontal disease exhibit raised odour intensity due to incubation of saliva and micro-organisms in periodontal pockets.

Prevention

The plaque control and oral hygiene products aimed at controlling dental caries and periodontal disease will also help prevent halitosis. Also, treatment of periodontal disease in which periodontal pocketing is reduced will minimize halitosis. A number of systemic diseases and conditions such as diabetes mellitus, chronic renal failure and cirrhosis of the liver can give rise to particular bad odours.

There is increasing interest in the development of a reliable system that will measure the level of volatile sulphur compounds in one's breath. This technology is making rapid progress though the cost of a reliable system remains problematical.

Reduction of halitosis is achieved in several ways. The amount of volatile sulphur compounds in the breath can vary greatly during the day in a single subject and is influenced by factors such as eating, drinking, oral hygiene and sleep and the effect these activities have on saliva flow and the washing of the oral cavity. The majority of studies done on volatile sulphur compounds concentrate on the effects which commercially available mouthwashes have on the reduction of halitosis. The reduction in mouth odour is caused by the anti-microbial influence of the mouthwash.

Some products however, mask halitosis rather than dealing with the cause of the problem. Toothbrushing, eating, chewing gum and tongue brushing usually reduce the levels of oral halitosis to acceptable levels as well but the effect is not as long lasting as antimicrobial mouthwashes. There are now tongue cleaning devices which can be effective in controlling halitosis.

Above article from DentalHealth.ie

Edward Filangeri - Excellence in Dentistry

516 Hawkins Avenue
Lake Ronkonkoma, NY 11779
Telephone: (631) 588-9041