How are your choppers?
I abused my teeth most of my life and have been facing the consequences for the past ten years or so. Right now, with the exception of my front teeth, most of my bite consists of some pretty elaborate bridges and crowns.
Two years ago, when the root of one of my canine teeth fractured, I persuaded my dentist to make me a bridge which consists of three fake teeth. I just couldn’t consider implants, particularly when I have heard nothing but horror stories from family members and friends. It’s still holding up but last week I really got a scare when the gums around the bridge became highly inflamed. I was trying to get away with replacing water flossing with activated charcoal floss. (see www.hello-products.com/...). Just two days after resuming waterpicking, my gums were healed.
Most people would put the importance of brushing teeth above the importance of flossing, and with good reason. But flossing is still a very important job. Which is why it's beneficial to begin with water flossing, as getting it out of the way first will increase the chances that a patient actually does floss. Compliance is improved greatly by beginning with flossing and finishing with brushing teeth.
I have a fabulous dentist who schedules me for cleanings every four months and encourages me to incorporate the following into my daily dental care:
- Replace use of dental floss with a Waterpik
- Clean my teeth with two full canisters of water
- Brush my teeth with an electric tooth brush for a minimum of two minutes
- Dry brush teeth when possible throughout the day
The NYT recently published an article Does Your Toothbrush Have an App Yet? which discussed the “use of digital scanners and 3-D printers to offer same-day crown replacements, smart toothbrushes that talk back to you via a phone app when you’ve missed an area while brushing, lasers that eliminate the need for an anesthetic, and digital tools that detect oral cancer.”
“These days, people want brighter, whiter, straighter teeth,” said Eric Payne, founder and chief executive of TEKagogo, a digital start up that connects dentists with technicians for same-day repairs. And dentists are jumping in, plastering before-and-after photos of their work all over the internet to attract new patients.
Around the same time that social media took off, cardiologists were starting to preach the connection between oral health and heart disease. Conditions like gingivitis and gum disease can raise red flags.
“The heart is pumping that bacteria from the oral cavity throughout your body,” said Mr. Payne. “If you don’t take care of your teeth, all that nastiness in your mouth is going to pump through your body.”
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