My Ultrasonic Teeth Cleaning

I had my teeth cleaned last Saturday (after six months, which is too long for me) and the hygienist used an ultrasonic cleaning device, or scaler, to clean the plaque. It vibrates quite a bit and makes you think she's using a drill until you see it and realize it's just a vibrating piece of metal.

Anyway, my teeth feel incredibly clean now. She also gave me a fluoride rinse that I have to use every day for a month to strengthen my teeth so they won't be as sensitive to the cleaning. She told me that I should get my teeth cleaned every three months, and I believe her. She says bacteria start to do lots of nasty things once they've had three months to accumulate.

Also, my gums are receding. She thinks I brush too hard. But I use a Sonicare (ultrasonic being the theme here) and I think I just have recessionary gums. Especially in this economy. But the bacteria thing is true. Bacteria multiply exponentially, that is, they are doubling and doubling and doubling. Kind of like that math fact that if you took a penny and doubled it every day for a month you'd have over 5 million dollars (try it!)

In other words, if you don't get your teeth cleaned for a year instead of six months, you don't have twice as much bacteria accumulating, you have ten times or more. (Brushing keeps it from doubling every day, but it still accumulates.)

So that's it for me. Every three months from now on. It also goes a lot easier because she doesn't have to chisel hard plaque out. I'm ready for that. She also did a special test where she takes a sample of the bacteria around my gums and sends it to a lab to determine if I have harmful bacteria that could harm my heart, among other things. More about that in a later blog.

Out of Control Tartar

With all the toothpastes out there claiming to do everything from whitening your teeth to making them harder, we're starting to hear the word "tartar", as in "tartar control", thrown around more. So what exactly is it?

Tartar, or dental calculus (no, not math problems for your teeth) is a hard material that develops between your teeth over time when you don't get your teeth professionally cleaned often enough, and sometimes even when you do. It accumulates faster if you don't brush your teeth regularly or floss.

Basically what it's doing is filling in the areas around and between your teeth. But it's not acting as a protective shield--it's more like the opposite. It's formed by an invisible layer of bacteria on your teeth called plaque, and it develops into a whitish, hard material that has fed on the sugars and starches you've eaten (and not brushed away.) And what it does is create acidic waste that will slowly travel down between your teeth and gums and separate them.

I was talking to a dentist recently who had a patient with so much plaque that as the dentist started to remove it the patient thought the dentist was breaking his teeth apart and got very upset!

A quick test: run your tongue along the back of your lower front teeth. Can you feel the separation between the teeth, or is it smooth from one end to the other? If it's smooth, you probably have filled in the spaces with tartar. Time to see a dentist quick!

While getting a dental cleaning with a lot of tartar can be a bit unpleasant, this just means you should improve your dental hygiene and see the dental hygienist more often. Waiting won't make it better, that's for sure.

Candy: The Halloween Dental Scapegoat

Halloween candy. Those words go together like, well, like tooth and decay. Many parents see the kids' Halloween candy haul and start imagining numbers of cavities. Tis the season...  We also need to be mindful of ways to prevent cavities on all of the non-candy-holiday days of the year as well.  

Sugar gets most of the headlines, but many foods can cause tooth decay.  The bacteria in our mouths enjoy carbohydrates from "healthy" foods as well. How often we eat also plays a role. Constant snacking keeps our teeth in contact with food more often and allows plaque to thrive.

 

It is important to brush after every meal to keep the bacteria colonies at bay. The faster food particles are removed, the better your chances of avoiding decay. Oh, and visiting the dentist regularly can't hurt either.

Go ahead, live in the spirit of the day. Just don't forget sound oral hygiene for the other 364 as well.  Happy Halloween.

Gum Disease and Heart Disease

An employee told me today about his grandmother, who never took care of her teeth and had lost most of them, and because of the disease in her mouth and gums, she developed a heart aneurysm and died. This is one of the reasons he feels so committed to working here, convincing people to go to a dentist and helping them to find one. This is very personal for him.

What people are gradually learning is that gum disease can put bacteria into your bloodstream, and often this bacteria is the same bacteria that causes the buildup of arterial plaque. (Odd that it forms plaque in your mouth and your arteries--or maybe it isn't so odd.) It has now been shown to possibly cause a stroke.

It doesn't seem that neglecting your teeth could be fatal, but it is possible. The gums lead directly to the bloodstream--it's why heart patients put nitroglycerin under their tongue when they feel a heart attack coming on. The body absorbs it very quickly. The same is true when you don't control the bacteria in your mouth.

Crazy stuff, but true. Being afraid of the dentist is potentially life-threatening.