Dental sealant - A Caries Fighter

Dental caries should be managed as an infectious disease by assessing risk factors; avoiding operative intervention as far as possible. 

The chewing surfaces of the teeth have tiny grooves, known as fissures where food can get stuck and where it is hard to clean. Thorough brushing and flossing helps remove food particles and plaque from the smooth surfaces of teeth, but toothbrushes can't reach all the way into the depressions and grooves to extract all food and plaque. While fluoride helps prevent decay and helps protect all the surfaces of the teeth, dental sealants add extra protection for the grooved and pitted areas. 

Sealants act like raincoats for your teeth. When the cavity-causing bacteria that live in everyone’s mouth meet leftover food particles, they produce acids that can create holes in teeth. These holes are cavities. After sealant has been applied it keeps those bits of food out and stops bacteria and acid from settling on your teeth—just like a raincoat keeps you clean and dry during a storm. The decay will not spread, because it is sealed off from its food and germ supply.

 

There are several benefits to using sealants, including that they:

·         take a few minutes to apply

·         do not cause pain

·         do not need injections

·         do not need to be drilled

·         do not dissolve in saliva and are safe.

Having sealants put on teeth before they decay will also save time and money in the long run by avoiding fillings, crowns, or caps used to fix decayed teeth.

Dental sealants are a quick, easy, and relatively cheap (as opposed to the dentist bills you’ll accumulate for root canals) solution for preventing cavities.  Kids are notoriously bad brushers and tend to ignore the problem areas in the back of the mouth that lead to cavities and decay, making them ideal recipient for sealants. Dental sealants can be clear, white or have a slight tint depending upon the dental sealant used. Dental sealants can last many years. If necessary, it is also possible to place a new dental sealant on the tooth. Dental sealants only protect the surface area that they are placed on. Sealants can also be used over areas of early decay to prevent further damage to your tooth.

Tooth jewels ……..a Smile Designer

Body art has become a part of fashion industry, where tattooing, oral jewelry and body piercing.

 

Piercing as accepted fact that it carries risk of infection, especially when this is done in oral cavity, hence it’s strongly discouraged.

A new craze "Tooth Jewelry" has swept in the world that will make you shine and add sparkle to your smile…….. to really be glamorous, unique, fashionable, tantalize your teeth without any risk of pain, infection, drill or injury to tooth, and moreover we can get it replaced whenever we wish to.

Tooth jewelry originated in America and was popularized by Pink. It can be seen as another form of self expression which can add another dimension to your smile. Tooth jewels really sparkle and draw attention when you smile.

Simple facts about jewellery

•                 They are small in diameter (1.5-1.8 mm) so in interference
•                 Non-invasive and painless
•                 No drilling or tooth damaging
•                 Requires short chair time approx 10 min
•                 Requires no special care
•                 Stain resistant
•                 Do not interfere with regular brushing
•                 Can be removed/ replaced without any effect on tooth enamel

Tooth jewellery are glass crystals, real 18k white gold and 24k yellow gold jewels designed specifically for dental use. These are available in various shapes and color:

                Round crystals

                Shaped crystals

                White and yellow gold tooth jewels

    Gold facing

                Gold letter and numbers

They have no sharp edges and basically come out the natural way without if accidentally swallowed. Risk factors are almost negligible but it is not a regular treatment rather it’s a cosmetic treatment.

**Care should be taken to get it done by a qualified dental practitioner. 

Stepping stone to "FRESH" dental practice by becoming "GREEN" - A Eco-friendly initiative.

Green Dentistry or Eco-friendly dentistry is an approach to dentistry that combines dental practices and environmental conservation. “Eco-dentistry” or “Green dentistry” refers to the delivery of oral healthcare and dental treatments using technologies, procedures and materials that promote environmental health. The key concepts of a green dental practice include conservation of water and energy, use of non-toxic products, reduction of waste, and elimination of hazardous toxins that negatively affect patients and the environment.

Pollution contributing factors needs to be re-considered with reforms where ever possible:

1. X‑rays: Traditional radiography uses various chemicals and generates waste. Fixer containing silver that must be managed as hazardous waste or the silver be reclaimed and recycled properly. Traditional x-ray fixers contain chemicals such as Ammonium Thiocyanate and Boric anhydride. These chemicals are known to be skin, eye and respiratory tract irritants, and hazardous if ingested or inhaled. They also are toxic to blood, thyroid, kidneys and liver and repeated or prolonged exposure can produce target organ damage. Waste developer contains toxic chromium salts hence should be flushed down the drain or sent for recycle, but it should not be mixed with fixer.

The lead foil contained in each film packet may be hazardous unless it is recycled for its scrap metal content. The lead foil inside each X‑ray packet is a leachable toxin and can contaminate the soil and groundwater in landfill sites. Lead foil packets should never be thrown in the regular garbage, rather sent for recycling of lead content.

Curtail radiation - Usage of digital X-rays rather than conventional X-rays scales down the amount of radiations and the quality of the images will also be more improvised.

Applying technology - Use of computers for the storage of data in relation to patient records will not only eliminate the paper usage but will be more accurate

2. Silver amalgam: Amalgams used to fill dental cavities contain typically 50% mercury with silver, tin, and other metals. The detrimental effects of mercury are widely known; therefore, it is crucial to prevent the release of mercury to the environment. Mercury in amalgam is converted to the more toxic “organic methyl mercury” by bacteria which is a neurotoxin. Vulnerable populations such as children, the foetuses of pregnant women, hypersensitive individuals, and people with kidney impairments are known to be particularly susceptible to the neurotoxic effects of dental mercury.

Alternatively more natural looking restorations generating  less heavy metal waste, currently metal-free and more natural looking eco-friendly adhesive restorations like direct binding composite  or ceramic crowns are available, they not only improves the esthetics but saves environment from heavy metals.

3. Mix only as much amalgam as is immediately required by using amalgam capsules. The left out unused amalgam should be recycled.  Amalgam shavings and bits of amalgam from the drilling or restoration shaping operations should be intercepted by drain traps or screens for recycling.

4. Toxic chemicals: Most of the chemicals used in dentistry are hazardous, hence utmost care should be taken according to guidelines for their disposal. 

5. Usage of disposables items: Different kinds of disposables used in dentistry are latex gloves, disposable patient bibs, head rest covers, syringes, plastic pouches, plastic suction tips. Office waste is usually non‑hazardous waste e.g., paper, cardboard, aluminum, plastics etc., The use of these should be minimized. Office paper material may be recycled.

6. Prevention of disease is extension towards green dentistry- professional prevention from invasive treatment restrains us from exposure to all different treatment thus it’s also a contribution towards Eco-friendly dentistry.

Green dentistry reduces supply costs by integrating dental innovations, and increases productivity by efficient use time, reducing wastage and preventing pollution. Ultimately patients get benefited by quality treatment with reduction in treatment costs. To conclude we quote Ray Kroc “As long you are green, you are growing. As soon you are ripe, you start to rot.” So let us go green today and save Mother Earth from bio-hazards for a better tomorrow.

Common myth “Scaling/cleaning of teeth causes negative impact on teeth”…..????

Fact- Your mouth is a jungle-home to myriads of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa. It has been established that the environment present in the human mouth allows the growth of characteristic mouth microorganisms. It provides water and nutrients, as well as a moderate temperature which are conducive for microbial growth. Resident microbes of the mouth adhere to the teeth and gums to resist mechanical flushing from the mouth to stomach. Scaling helps in maintaining oral hygiene, by removal of tartar and deposits on the base of teeth, there by health of gums is also restored, scaling also enhances tooth color by removal of extrinsic stains.

Above graph depicts changes in the quantity of microbes in oral cavity within 24 hours followed by brushing, Hence, its clearly evident that scaling/professional cleaning has for more reaching affect on reduction of microbes and attaining the health of not only oral tissues but the general body too.

The problems that are answered by scaling are:

Bleeding gums

Bad breath

Ugly looking deposits on teeth

Thick inflamed gums

Increase in firmness of gums on teeth

Prevention of bone resorption, thereby better support hence prolonging life of healthy teeth
Reduction of oral bacteria thus less germs to the stomach so healthy body too
With the reduction of microbes, the rate of progression dental caries/cavity is also delayed a lot

Healthy Fruit Juice......Advertising Gimmick

One of the most commonly used organs in the body is teeth next to heart, yet dental issues are not given due care and importance. Urbanization and economic development has resulted in more refined diet with increased access to readymade drinks. Dietary habits, readily available fruit juices/drinks , soft and sweet foods are the principal reason for deterioration of Dental health. A well known and established fact being association of tooth rotting/decay with sticky diet/sweet the liquid diet/adjunct commonly consumed in the form of soft/hard beverages, fruit juices, fizzy drinks and the most unknown fact RO water (pH 5-7, slightly acidic). All these drinks being acidic in nature cause the dissolution of calcium/mineral content this is referred as dental erosion.  

The soft drinks are known to cause damage to the teeth because of two properties – first, the low pH can cause erosion on the enamel/tooth surfaces and secondly the fermentable carbohydrate in drinks is metabolized by plaque micro-organisms to generate organic acids in the dental plaque and saliva, resulting in demineralization and leading to dental caries. Packaged fruit juices are sweeter having higher sugar content to enhance their taste and carbonated beverages have higher acidic content which causes demineralization of enamel tooth surface.

Deciduous teeth are smaller, with thinner enamel than permanent teeth. Hence, erosive processes progress rapidly, leading to advanced lesions after shorter exposures to acids, as compared to permanent teeth. More than 42% of the total fruit juice consumers are the children and hence, they have a significantly higher prevalence of tooth erosion.

Ideally children should not include any fruit juices or other sweet drinks to have a healthy diet. Intake of sweet drinks reduces the quality of your child’s diet, has links to weight gain and poor oral health, and also exposes them to the ‘habit’ of drinking sweet drinks.

Fruit and vegetable juices contain sugars that are found naturally in fresh fruits and vegetables, but become very concentrated when made into juice. ideally, children do not need any fruit or vegetable juice to have a balanced diet. Encouraging children to eat the whole fruit or vegetable, and drink plain tap water or milk rather than juice is the best way to establish good eating habits early. 

Nutrient Boost- On the flip side “Juices are an easy way to have a quick vitamin and nutrient boost since they are readily available in liquid form.” “However, they should be used as a supplement and not as a substitute for a balanced diet.”

Fresh fruit and vegetables are best because they

·         Supply fiber to their diet and help prevent constipation

·         Help with skills such as chewing

·         Teach about different textures, colors and tastes

·         Provide a convenient, healthy and nourishing option for snacks

·         Establish healthier eating and drinking habits.

Some of the problems with sweet drinks

·         Excess weight gain

·         Tooth erosion and decay

·         Reduced appetite

·         Picky eating

·         Change in bowel habits.

Here are the 13 most acidic fruits and their pH value as observed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA):

·         Lemon Juice (2.00 – 2.60)

·         Limes (2.00 - 2.80)

·         Cranberry Juice (2.30 – 2.52)

·         Blue Plums (2.80 – 3.40)

·         Grapes (2.90 – 3.82)

·         Pomegranates (2.93 – 3.20)

·         Grapefruits (3.00 – 3.75)

·         Blueberries (3.12 – 3.33)

·         Pineapples (3.20 – 4.00)

·         Apples (3.33 – 4.00)

·         Peaches (3.30 – 4.05)

·         Mangos (3.40 – 4.80)

·         Oranges (3.69 – 4.34)

Basic tips to avoid tooth erosion

Drink the acidic beverage at once, instead of sipping it all day

Use a straw to avoid the teeth from being immersed in liquid

Substitute acidic beverages with water

Rinse mouth with water after drinking acidic beverage instead of brushing. The bristles of the toothbrush may damage the enamel

Tooth brushing and oral health

It is widely accepted that toothbrushing plays an important role in the prevention of tooth decay, a significant goal to ensure the overall quality of health for all. Toothbrushing is considered fundamental self-care behavior for maintenance of oral health. Even though we’ve been brushing and flossing our teeth for years and years, many of us are surprised to learn that we’re not doing it properly.   When you brush your teeth, you help remove food and plaque — a sticky white film that forms on your teeth and contains bacteria. Brushing before bedtime is especially important, in order to prevent plaque and food particles remaining in contact with the teeth throughout the night.

More brushing makes teeth healthier.

Areas where cervical abrasion is appreciated

Excessive brushing causes tooth wear due to the abrasive in toothpaste, specially at the neck of tooth, there by inviting dental issues. Between twice a day brushing, rinse is the safe alternative; adding sugar free chewing gum also enhances the saliva secretion after meals thus helps in attaining the pH of oral cavity towards neutrality in less span of time, but not a substitute.

Should brushing and flossing should be avoided in bleeding gums?

 

    

No, rather bleeding is an indicative and protective sign thus appraising that disease has moved to advanced stage where professional help is required. Professional treatment rendered is "SCALING" (deep cleaning in gums), followed by polishing (makes tooth surface smooth shiny, by removing stains and scratch line, thus reduces the area for bacterial attachment) and fluoride treatment (makes tooth more resistant to decay and kills the remaining microbes) as and where required.