The Bad Breath Blog

Well, we weren’t walking the red carpet, but we were lucky enough to take part in Connected’s Celebrity Gifting Suite Celebrating the 2011 Golden Globe Awards. The event was held at Ben Kitay Studios in Hollywood on Saturday, January 14th. Each celeb received a TheraBreath gift bag that included our TheraBreath Oral Rinse, TheraBreath Toothpaste and our Mouth Wetting Lozenges. The lozenges were a big hit and we actually found out that a few of the stars already used our products! Here are some photos, enjoy!

Rico Rodriguez of Modern Family and Raini Rodriguez of Austin & Ally and Mall Cop

Raven Goodwin of Glee and Good Luck Charlie

Morgan Saylor and Jackson Pace of Homeland

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Fluoride refers to a derivative or reduced form of the element fluorine. Fluorine exists in the earth’s crust, rocks, clay and coal. Plants, air, fresh water and ocean water containfluorine. In the United States, bodies of water have fluorine ranges from 0.1 to 12 parts per (ppm). Public health officials have added fluoride to municipal water supplies since the 1940s.

Many researchers promote the benefits of fluoride, especially in children’s formative years, for the development of strong bones and teeth. On the other end of the scale, excessive fluorine intake may cause dental fluorosis, which is pitted teeth and decay. “If it is absorbed too frequently, it can cause tooth decay, osteoporosis, and damage to kidneys, bones, nerves, and muscles (1, 2, 9).”

Many studies point to the effectiveness of fluoride for maintaining healthy bone strength and teeth. Often, water fluoridation receives credit as the single most important factor, accounting for the 40 to 70 percent reduction in tooth decay among Americans (1, 2).

The History of Fluorine

Fluorine in mining. Fluorite or fluorspar contains fluoride in its natural form. Generally, fluoride compounds derive from fluorspar. Structurally, fluorine has the most stable structure of all the chemical compounds. German miners used fluorspar as a flux or solvent in ore smelting mining. The compound enables miners to use less heat to melt the ore.

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The strongest and hardest tissue in the human body is tooth enamel. Two percent of enamel is comprised of organic material—protein, lipids and citrate. The other 98 percent consist of water and the minerals calcium hydroxylapatite and calcium fluorapatite (1). Enamel completely envelops other components of the tooth structure, including the dentin, cementum and dental pulp. Enamel protects teeth against the daily wear of biting and chewing. It enables the teeth to withstand hot and cold temperatures, acid and other chemicals which have an erosive effect on teeth. (1, 2, 3).

Tooth enamel ranges in thickness from 2.5 to 3.0 millimeters. It appears white, but actually has a semi-translucent color. The enamel receives it white appearance from the dentin underneath. Coffee, tea, wine, and cigarette smoking discolors are some of the main reasons for discolored tooth enamel (3).

Causes of Tooth Enamel Erosion

Enamel has a high mineral content, which makes it vulnerable to “demineralization” from ingested foods, which contain starch and sugar.

Sugar

Candy, soft drink, fruit juices, and other sweets leave a large amount of sugar coatings on the oral cavity. Sugar may constitute the single largest contributor to enamel erosion. Bacteria flourish on sugar and generate lactic acid, which eats into the enamel.

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Who says the study of law is boring? If you look through the annals of the U.S. legal system, you’ll find that more than a few jurists have found it necessary to bring up the subject of halitosis.

Here are excerpts from three legal decisions in which bad breath makes an odd but prominent appearance:

- Charles L. Bowman and Co. v. Erwin, 1972. In this case, the Bowman Feed Company appealed the lawsuit of an entrepreneur named C. Ward Erwin, who had sued them for $72,000 in royalties for his specially designed “dog food additive, effective in alleviating halitosis of dogs and other ‘doggy odors.’”

- McGlasson v. United States, 1968. The plaintiff, an Air Force typist, sued for medical disability following (ironically) a typo on a psychological examination form. Consider this passage: “Dr. Masten found nothing wrong with plaintiff except halitosis, but there is a typed statement at the foot of his report alleging that the plaintiff is totally disabled, Finding 21. The parties stipulated that neither Dr. Masten or Dr. Overholt wrote this and there is no evidence who the guilty party was… That is an instance of verbal over-kill. No one out to railroad the plaintiff into involuntary retirement would perpetrate anything so absurd as a claim of total disability on a finding of halitosis. It seems obvious to me that this is an instance of clerical error such as might occur in any large office where statements have to be typed repetitively on numerous documents.”

- Mickey v. Ayers, 2010 (a murder case too intricate and bizarre to even begin to be described here). The relevant snippet: “Around 8 p.m. Tokyo time, after waiting about an hour at the airport, Landry, who suffered from halitosis, offered Mickey a mint for Mickey’s bad breath. The mint came from a bowl in Mickey’s wife’s house, which Landry had visited the prior day to conduct an interview. After Mickey appeared to recognize the mint, Landry asked Mickey if he knew its origin. Mickey said yes and put his head in his hands… At this point, Mickey started crying uncontrollably. He said that nothing would have happened if Hanson had not reacted as he had to the news of Mickey’s theft of Hanson’s marijuana crop.”

The toothbrush is an essential oral hygiene tool used to clean the tongue, gums and teeth.  Studies have shown that brushing one’s teeth on a regular basis, while using proper techniques will help to remove plaque from teeth.  Removing plaque prevents the build-up and calcification, which if left alone will harden into calculus or tartar (1, 4). This is why plaque removal may constitute the single most important oral health activity and prevention method to fight cavities, gingivitis and gum disease.  When used with a bead of toothpaste, the toothbrush is also an effective tool at cleaning hard-to-reach areas and removing food particles from in-between the teeth.

Toothbrush History

The history of the toothbrush goes back to ancient times.  Excavations have put the date on these instruments as far back as 3000 BC. Throughout history the toothbrush has been a variety of different materials and been used in different ways, but at the core it was there to serve one purpose which is to clean the mouth. Ancient Roman and Greek writing discussed the practice of using toothpicks to clean the teeth and mouth.  It was also been documented that ancient Babylonians used chewing sticks to clean their teeth.

Around 1600 BC, the Chinese people chewed on a twig until one end became brush-like. They would then fashion the opposite end of the stick to a point and use it to clean food particles from between teeth. Later on, in 1600 AD, China became the birthplace of the first “true bristle” toothbrush, which is an instrument made of bristle boar hairs attached to a bamboo or bone handle.

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