What’s Wrong with Sugary Sweets?

Sugary snacks are a good motivational tool. If you want kids to study their lessons, use sugary snacks to motivate them to open their books. If you want them to help with the chores at home and offer sugary sweets as reward, they’ll get the job done. Truly, sugary snacks are excellent leverage devices in dealing with kids.

However, sugary snacks can have a bad effect on their health. Sweets like candies, cookies and others can cause a variety of adverse effects; tooth decay and cavities are just two of them.
So how do these snacks attack the teeth and cause tooth decay and cavities? Well, these sweets contain sugar that germs and bacteria in the mouth love to eat. Yes, germs feed on the sweets. And some of these germs form a sticky substance called plaque, which in turn causes tooth decay and cavities.

The worse kinds of snacks include those sticky sweets that your kids love to chew. Since they stay longer in the mouth, the sticky, chewy or gooey stuff gives their teeth a sugary bath; perfect for those cavity-causing germs.

If you want to give sweets to your child, it’s best to limit them to dessert after a meal. Limit the number of times during the day that your child consumes any sweet and sugary foods. As much as possible, load meals with healthy items like fruits and veggies, which help build strong teeth.

Eating Healthy to Build Strong Teeth

Many mothers express their concerns regarding their kids’ eating habits. Naturally they want their kids to eat lunches that are healthful and good for them. However, making them eat healthfully is hard to do.  A mom of two boys, Geraldine Gennari expressed her sentiments on the matter. “Most days, my sons will eat the apples or other fruit I pack for lunch, but what they really want is what the other kids are eating.”

Experts agree that sensible and healthy eating habits contribute to the well-being of the child. In particular, a child’s diet will also significantly affect his dental health. Dr. Courtney Chinn, DDS, MPH, of Columbia University’s College of Dental Medicine affirms this. “What parents allow their children to eat and drink seriously affects their overall health, including their teeth and gums.”
Dr. Chinn recommends the following sensible eating habits:

Limit high-sugar foods. Sweet and sugary items like candies and cookies can cause tooth decay. The more sweets like these, the more cavity-causing bacteria will attack your child’s teeth. However, you can let him or her indulge from time to time, but set these sweets as part of a meal, perhaps as dessert. Sugary drinks like sodas, sports drink and artificially sweetened fruit juices are highly discouraged. Dr. Chinn recommends milk or water instead.

Stash away these sweets. Serve them infrequently. Instead, offer healthy choices during snacks or meals. For instance, an apple is a good substitute for sugary junk food. Encourage your child to eat healthfully by setting a good example.

Sensible Healthy Eating Habits: Keys to Strong and Healthy Teeth

One of the common misconceptions about dental health is that it can only be obtained through brushing and flossing. But those habits alone won’t suffice. In addition, your teeth, bones and gums still need proper nutrition to become strong and healthy. Ideally, you should eat balanced and healthy meals.

Columbia University College of Dental Medicine’s Dr. Courtney Chin, DDS, MPH, affirms that what we “eat or drink seriously affect overall health, including teeth and gums.” Accordingly, we need to eat a balanced diet, consisting of protein and carbohydrates (i.e., fruits, vegetables, fish and meat). Snacks and small meals should also consist of healthy food choices.

However, there are certain kinds of carbohydrate-filled foods that we need to avoid to minimize the risk of tooth decay. Sugary and starchy foods may be delicious, but eating too much of it can cause cavities. Most processed foods that contain sugar, especially the gooey and sticky stuff, promotes tooth decay.

So should we give up sugary and starchy foods? Not necessarily. However, we should practice moderation when eating these items, serving them only at certain times to minimize consumption on these cavity-causing foods. For instance, you can indulge in chocolates as after-meal desserts.
It is wise to consult your dentist regarding your food choices. Ask for help in formulating your meal and snack plan. At most, he or she will likely tell you to put a lid on the sugary and starchy foods and make healthy choices instead.

Impact of an Impacted Tooth

An impacted wisdom tooth can trap food particles and debris. Bacteria feed on these food particles, which may cause infection of the surrounding tissue. This is called pericoronitis.
Pericoronitis may include any of the following symptoms: pain, swollen gum tissue in the area of the affected tooth, difficulty in biting or opening of the mouth, swelling of the cervical (neck) lymph nodes, foul smell or taste in the mouth, pus from the gum tissue near the tooth or swelling on the affected side of the face.

Patients with pericoronitis are given antibiotics to combat the infection. Additionally, warm saltwater rinses will help with healing. If treated, the infection should resolve within one week. Your dentist may advise you to have the impacted tooth removed. However, the offending tooth can only be removed once the infection is under control.

Taking Care of Your Gums Takes Care of Your Teeth, Too.

Periodontal disease is an infection of the gums, thus aptly called gum disease. Bacteria are the primary culprit in periodontal disease. A bacterium produces sticky, colorless plaque on the teeth. Brushing and flossing will help eliminate plaque. However, plaque that is not removed will form tartar, a harder substance to clean. Tartar harbors bacteria that make it easier to invade your gums, causing gum disease.

Initially, bacteria from tartar will cause inflammation of the gums, or gingivitis. Gingivitis is seen as swelling and reddening of the gums. Gums bleed easily even during brushing the teeth. Gingivitis is easily treated with improving dental hygiene and regular cleaning by a dentist. If left untreated, gingivitis will develop into periodontitis, a more serious type of infection. Gums pull back from the teeth and form shallow pockets of infection.

To protect yourself from gum disease it is important to practice good oral hygiene. This includes brushing your teeth diligently twice daily, avoiding cigarettes and tobacco products, eating a balanced diet and making regular visits to your dentist.

Flossing prevents tooth decay and gum diseases

Cleaning in between tooth spaces is widely accepted as an important part of oral healthiness. Flossing removes plaques and food debris in hard-to-reach areas of the mouth.

However, studies that show the benefits of flossing are sparse. Together with tooth and tongue brushing, dental flossing significantly reduces the number of microbes that cause tooth decay and gum diseases.

A two-week study in the US investigated the abundance of microbial species among 51 pairs of twins between 12 and 21 years old. Since twins have many common genetic and environmental similarities, the only significant difference was the use of dental floss in the study.

One of the twins performed manual tooth and tongue brushing with toothpaste (control). The other twin performed manual tooth and tongue brushing with toothpaste plus flossing (treatment).
After two weeks, it was found that disease-causing germs were abundant in the control group. On the other hand, harmless bacteria proliferate in the treatment group.

The findings suggest that daily use of dental floss should be part of the armamentarium to maintain oral hygiene and to prevent dental caries and gum diseases.

Bruxism: Teeth-Grinding While You Sleep

People’s teeth tell what happens when they sleep. Dentists know if they grind their teeth while sleeping - scientifically known as bruxism - by looking for "abfractions" in the teeth. Abfractions are wear patterns in the teeth near the gumline. These are caused by clenching, gnashing and grinding the teeth during sleep.

The hard outer protective layer of the teeth is called enamel. The enamel is thinnest in the "neck" portion of the tooth where the crown meets the root. In sleep bruxism, the tooth becomes flexed and the hard enamel is sloughed off. With time, it creates a wedge shaped into the tooth. This makes the tooth more sensitive to pain and vulnerable to decay.

Sleep bruxism is not a disease but a sleep disorder, the third-most common behind snooring and sleep talking. The underlying causes are unknown, but physical and psychological causes could range from anxiety, stress, malocclusion and growth and development of kids’ jaws and teeth. Bruxism can cause damage to the teeth and surrounding tissue, and bruxers may wake up with headache and jaw pain.

To prevent further tooth damage, mouth guards can be made by dentists to fit in the mouth.