Many people fail to treat gum disease, even though it can cause severe damage if left untreated.  This is probably because most people fail to understand how serious gum/periodontal disease can be.   Statistics say that around 75%-80% of people have a for of gum disease, ranging from mild to severe. 

Here are some common MYTHS that you need to discard:

1.  Bleeding gums are not a big deal.  FALSE!  Many gum symptoms (i.e. bleeding/receding/red/swollen gums/bad breath) are all key signs that you might have periodontal disease.  If you notice that certain foods, flossing, and/or brushing can cause your gums to bleed, it’s best that you go to the dentist and get a diagnosis.  Gum disease not only can lead to tooth decay and loss, but it may help instigate disease in the heart, diabetes, and so on.  It may also be a sign of other serious issues in your body!

2.  Flossing every day is not important.  FALSE!  A good oral hygiene regimen requires that you floss on a daily basis as one of the main ways, besides brushing, to prevent gum disease.  Allegedly, only 13.5% of Americans floss that often.  Not a good sign! 

3.  Periodontist visits are intimidating, and they’ll pull your teeth if you go in for treatment.  FALSE!  Experts on gum disease have received specialized training to help with your dental problems– everything from the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of gum disease.  Also, technology and treatments are always improving, so visits are becoming more and more comfortable.  If you avoid gum disease treatment, the gums will continue to recede and you’ll lose your tooth naturally. 

4.  Once a tooth is lost from gum disease, you can’t get it back.  FALSE!  Gum disease may be one of the main causes of tooth loss in people over age 18, but periodontists are extremely knowledgeable in placing dental implants.  These are artificial tooth roots that are inserted into the jaw to hold a replacement tooth.   Dental implants have a 98% success rate, and according to surveys, over 70% of people are extremely satisfied with the results of their dental implants. 

5.  Practicing poor oral care is the only way to get gum problems.  FALSE!  Neglecting your oral hygiene can definitely be a reason for gum disease progression, but other important factors need to be acknowledged.  Tobacco use, stress, a poor diet, and even genetics can alter how your body reacts to bacteria in the oral cavity. 

6.  Gum disease gets better on its own.   FALSE!  With the right care, it may clear up eventually, but it is an infection that needs immediate attention.  Just imagine if you had these open sores on your skin–just because it is in your mouth doesn’t mean you can ignore it.

7.  Bleeding gums are normal.  FALSE!  There is a reason as to why your gums are bleeding.  It does happen to almost everyone, but there has to be an actual injury to the gums causing them to bleed.

So, all in all, these statements are NOT true, and gum disease is something that you need to treat ASAP. 

Source:  The Mouth Doctor, Perio

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Some foods that are notorious for causing halitosis are garlic, onions, curry, fish and cheese.  Therefore, you’re going to want to freshen your mouth after eating these.  You also need to freshen your mouth once every 30-60 minutes until the breath offending-food is out of your bloodstream- sometimes this takes up to 24 hours!  It isn’t a good idea to brush your teeth that often, so trying some foods that banish halitosis may be just what the dentist ordered.

Foods that can fix bad breath:

1) Lemons- These are easy to find in restaurants, bars, etc.  Lemon-flavored candies can work as well as normal lemons, and are more easily portable.

2) Green garnishes (i.e. parsley, basil, and rosemary) - A garnish doesn’t always just serve as a decoration.  The meals that have garnish often have a lot of onions and garlic–thus needing a breath freshener afterward.  If you chew on a parsley’s sprigs, it releases breath-freshening oils. 

3)  Crisp and fresh foods like apples, firm pears, carrots, jicama are all high in fiber, plus chewing bumps up the productive of saliva (functions like a scrubbing rinse inside the oral cavity). 

4) Crunchy spices like anise, coriander, cardamom, and fennel seeds are available in many grocery stores.  Try getting these spices, mixing equal parts together in a covered bowl, and keep them around for mealtime.  If you chew on a few seeds here and there, enough oil should be released to freshen your breath after eating.  They taste good, as well.

5)  Mint sprigs/cinnamon sticks (cinnamon/mint gum, etc.)- These especially help against onion and garlic.  Cinnamon, with its essential oils, also helps kill various types of oral bacteria.  Gum without sugar is less likely to cause cavities and fuel the bad breath-causing bacteria. 

6) Berries/yogurt- Eat these foods to prevent bad breath…if you eat half of one cup of plain and sugarless yogurt twice a day, this can lower the levels of hydrogen sulfide in your mouth.  The same goes with berries, melons, oranges, and other foods high in Vitamin C- they help kill smelly bacteria in the oral cavity.  Try having a cup of fruit with yogurt twice a day, and this should help get rid of the bad breath.

Last but not least, practice good oral care, and this will decrease your “Real Age” as much as 6.4 years!

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According to studies, almost 50% of bosses said they wouldn’t hire someone if the candidate had poor teeth or bad breath.  Many have admitted that they turned down people because of their appearance.

High importance is placed on appearance at a job interview.  It is said that if a person is too lazy to look good and take care of their hygiene, they may be lazy when it comes to doing their actual job. 

Some other things that made employers uninterested in hiring someone were tattoos, facial piercings, bad skin, and even excessive sweating.  Also found in the study, 15% of people seeking employment considered having cosmetic surgery to increase their chances of getting a job, and 3% have already gone through with the surgery.  The most popular types of cosmetic surgery were: cosmetic dentistry, breast implants, and facelifts.

Also, according to some cosmetic surgery specialists, 1/5 workers believe that their appearance has prevented them from going further in their careers.

Source:  Express.co.uk

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According to studies, Quebec inhabitants allegedly have the highest rate of people without teeth!  No one knows exactly why, but it is possible that the high smoking rate and more difficult access to fluoridated water helps cause this.  A Quebec article said that getting dentures was considered a normal thing in the past.  Some people would get their teeth pulled out even if they weren’t that bad.  Throughout the 1970’s, the focus on improved dental health was prominent, and dentists did not simply pull out a tooth because a patient requested the service.

According to a Canadian survey, 6.6% of Canadian residents between ages 20-79 are edentulous (more commonly known as toothless).  This number has decreased over the years. Those who speculated the reasoning for this said that better fluoridation in the water had a positive influence, as well as better oral hygiene awareness and services.  An increased awareness of oral health may have also resulted in a decrease of people having bad breath, also known as halitosis. 

Dentures can never feel as natural as real teeth, and they can also cover some taste buds.  Sometimes wearing dentures can result in sores when a person removes them, especially when someone eats.  Also, some denture-wearers are stuck eating softer foods-eating an apple may not be possible.  Dentures can also make kissing less enjoyable.

It’s important to take care of your teeth, because when a person loses them, the face may appear to be hollower, and there is a higher risk of jaw injuries, especially in females!

Source: Associated Content

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Does your dog have bad breath? Well, maybe you are not employing the use of proper oral hygiene. After all, us humans need to maintain a level of oral care so that we don’t have halitosis. Also, just like people, dogs and cats can get gum disease–and if a dog or cat’s gums are infected and abscessed, bacteria can enter the bloodstream, causing liver, kidney, and even heart malfunctions. So, what’s a good way to brush your best friend’s teeth?

Here are some tips for brushing your pet’s teeth:

#1 Start off slowly. Make sure to use a toothpaste formula that is specifically made for animals, since human toothpaste can give stomach upsets to animals. Have your pet lick the paste off of your finger, and you might need to try a few different flavors to find one that your pet likes.

#2 Once you can get toothpaste into the animal’s mouth, use a slight amount on your finger and run it across the dog or cat’s teeth. This might even take several days to get your pet to do this agreeably. Once your pet is fine with you doing this to its teeth, use a toothbrush (made for pets) and make small circles on the gum line. Don’t brush too hard!

#3 Be sure to cheer on your pet and express approval during this process. Afterward, you could also give your pet a treat, playtime, a walk, etc., so it will think of brushing as a positive moment.

#4 In order to practice proper oral hygiene with your pet, try to brush your pet’s teeth every day.

Here are some warning signs to look for in your pet’s mouth:

1. Yellow or brown tartar, especially where the teeth and gums meet
2. Red, swollen, bleeding, inflamed, tender, and/or receding gums
3. Chronic halitosis
4. Teeth that are chipped/broken
5. Tooth resorption (especially common in cats)- a very painful condition in which the tooth dissolves
6. A change in the animal’s diet, chewing habits and appetite can signify depression (along with pawing at the face/mouth).

Also, don’t forget to try this oral rinse for dogs and cats that helps prevent plaque and tartar buildup.  Be sure to practice good oral hygiene with your pet, so that the both of you can have great smiles!

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As you get older, you’ll realize how important proper oral hygiene is.  There are ways you can keep tabs on your oral health every month or so.  Check your mouth for white and red patches, tongue flakiness, pigmented lesions, and sores with uneven borders.  Oral cancer is rare with non-smokers, but it’s still possible to get it.  In order to check yourself for it, look at your outer and inner lips, and all sides of the tongue.  Look on the outside and inside if you cheers, and if there’s ever abnormalities that last longer than 14 days, ask a dental expert about it. 

Here are some things that you can pay attention to in order to protect your oral health:

Canker sores: these tend to pop up when people are stressed.  You can try a topical pain reliever directly on the spot.  Dentists can also use a soft-tissue laser to get rid of them.

Fix bad breath: If you’re not sure that you have bad breath at any given moment, use a cotton ball or gauze pad on the back of your tongue and smell it.  Whenever you brush your teeth, make sure to also get the back of your tongue, since this is where bacteria really like to proliferate.  Alcohol is found in most mouthwashes, but the problem with that is that alcohol helps dehydrate — thus drying the gums and reducing saliva flow.  After this, the bacteria multiples and causes the halitosis to worsen.  Keep in mind that TheraBreath sells an alcohol-free mouthwash!

Back of the mouth: Make sure to get this area when brushing, especially along the gum lines.  If you have a hard time accessing that area when brushing, slighty open the mouth.

Floss, floss, floss!  This is especially needed to prevent tartar buildup.  Toothbrushes can only get so far between the teeth–only 1 millimeter under the gums.  The problem is that gum pockers are usually 3-4 millimeters, which is deeper.  The bacteria feeds off the particles that get caught in these pockets, and if you don’t take care of the issue, you’ll have tooth decay and in extreme cases, jawbone loss.  Keep in mind that 80% of adults allegedly have a form of gum disease!

By practicing good oral hygiene, you’ll help keep your smile white and clean!

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Those of you who own those adorable bunnies may not realize how vital proper oral care is for them.  Most people do not know how many teeth rabbits actually have.  Besides the four large incisors, they have two tiny incisors, and six upper and five lower cheek teeth on each side.  Rabbits have teeth that are very much like horses’ teeth.  Their teeth are designed for constant wear because they are open-rooted, so the teeth grow nonstop their whole lives.  Because of this, rabbits need a certain amount of fiber in their diets.

A rabbit who only eats pellets will not be able to achieve the constant wear on the teeth that nature intended for it to have.  This can cause abnormal wear to the teeth and possibly sharp edges and points in the teeth, which could in turn cause cuts to the tissues in the oral cavity.  It may cause malocclusion, which is what is caused when the teeth do not meet correctly.   Malocclusion can cause problems like roots that become impacted, elongated, and inflamed, as well as possible bone infections or “jaw abscess”.  Once rabbits have malocclusion, it is very unlikely that the teeth will ever return to normal, and it may require trips to the vet, tooth trims, and surgery. 

As with humans, tooth problems in rabbits cannot be ignored.  Rabbits are prey animals, meaning they are not designed to show signs any illnesses or problems, so a pet rabbit needs to be brought to a vet (experienced in rabbits) regularly to check its health.  A complete exam may require the rabbit to be under anesthesia.  Also, dogs, cats, and birds are not the only animals that can have bad breath–rabbits can have halitosis as well!  If you notice that your rabbit has excessive salivation, tooth grinding, or bad breath, you should definitely take it in to the vet as soon as you can. 

Aside from bringing your rabbit to the vet 1-2 times a year, you can also make sure it has an appropriate diet.  Some things that you can offer your rabbit to provide a fibrous diet are hay, tree branches, leaves and twigs.  It is also important that all of these are gathered from vegetation that is not treated with herbicides, pesticides, fertilizer, etc.   Also, try to place the branches in water or put them in the freezer overnight to kill any insects. 

Rabbit-safe vegetation:

• Orange/lemon trees: rabbits should be fed fresh or dried branches
• Apple trees: fresh or dried branches
• Willow: fresh or dried branches
• Maple/ash/pine trees: dried branches
• Rose canes: remove thorns first, and feed the branches fresh or dried

What are some tips for monitoring the dental health of my rabbit?

• Make sure your rabbit has a good appetite, eats its daily diet of pellets and veggies, and chews his hay often
• Monitor any changes in the rabbit’s eating habits
• In order to check for any abnormalities, feel the left and right sides of the rabbit’s head (meaning in front of the eyes, on the cheekbone below the eyes, under the lower jaw, etc.).  If you notice any lump on one side that is not on the other side, take the rabbit to the vet ASAP.
• Lift up the rabbit’s upper lips to see if the incisors meet evenly– if not, go to the vet!
• Under the chin, look for any excessive salivating/wetness (not including moisture from eating veggies, drinking water, etc.)
• If you can smell rabbit bad breath, go to the vet!
• Eye/nasal discharge can signify that there are teeth problems

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Probiotics have taken an even greater plunge into the mainstream. The mint form of these probiotics are now stocked in over 7,000 stores throughout the US. Allegedly, this probiotic mint is supposed to help encourage good health for the teeth and gums. It is said that this oral probiotic supposedly has teeth whitening qualities, as well as the ability to banish bad breath. Streptococcus mutans is the main bacteria that causes tooth decay, and this bacteria transforms sugars in the mouth (from snacks, meals, etc.) into acids, which in turn attack the enamel of the teeth and possibly cause lesions or caries. This probiotic targets this bacteria and helps prevent the damage it can cause.

Obviously, more research has to be done on these new probiotics before further developments and assumptions can be made.  We are finally seeing the probiotic market expanding throughout the US, after being stuck in a smaller niche for so long. Other companies are doing research in hopes to formulate a type of probiotic that fights against dental caries. Some of these new formulas will likely have the probiotic Lactobillus paracasei, which binds to the bacteria that causes caries and groups them together.

Also, Aktiv-K12 is an excellent probiotic that helps prevent and treat bad breath, so check it out!

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Even though February is National Pet Dental Health Month, proper oral hygiene for pets should be practiced year-round. Bad breath in your pet can be a symptom of an oral health dilemma. Taking your dog or cat to the veterinarian is one of the most important things that you can do to prevent and treat periodontal (gum) disease in your pet. According to sources, an estimated 68% of cats and 78% of dogs that are 3 years of age and older have a form of oral disease.

In recognition of National Pet Dental Health Month, more information is being released for pet owners and vets to help improve or maintain a good level of oral hygiene for their animals. It reminds us of the old saying, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” All breeds of these animals are susceptible to developing periodontal disease. Studies show that the top breeds of dogs that are predisposed to getting gum disease are the Toy Poodle, Yorkshire Terrier, Maltese, Pomeranian, Shetland Sheepdog, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Papillion, Standard Poodle, Dachshund and Havanese. The disease is most prominent in the following types of cats: the Himalayan, Siamese, and Persian.

Each year that your pet is alive, the risks of developing the disease actually increase 20%. Vets everywhere should insist that pet owners should treat the disease if it is diagnosed, so that it does not become serious.  Let’s not forget that TheraBreath has an excellent oral health formula specifically made for dogs and cats. Stop bad breath in dogs and cats today!

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There are many things that people may not realize regarding oral care and its relationship to overall health.  Dental health is a very important thing and should not be neglected.  Here are certain things that you may not have known about dental care and dentists:

Pay More Attention

• Just because your mouth may not hurt, does not mean it is healthy. 
• Your oral health can affect the rest of your body
• People with HEALTHY gums should go to the dentist twice a year.  Most people do not.  If your gums are NOT healthy, you should go even more. 
• People tend to brush their front teeth more, and many people have periodontal disease in their back teeth because of this
• People tend to spend around 2-3 minutes total brushing per day, even though proper oral care requires at least ten minutes of brushing and flossing each day.  Kids tend to spend even less time than adults. 

Bad Breath

• Chewing gum or mints is not going to cover up the smell from smoking cigarettes.  This is because the smell is deeply ingrained in the mouth and gum tissues.
• Most dentists won’t tell you if you have halitosis unless you ask.
• People need to floss since brushing does not go deep into the gums.  If a person brushes and flosses properly, gets regular cleanings, and STILL has bad breath, then he or she should check into diet and health complications.

Children’s Teeth

• Dentists may secretly blame parents when their kids’ teeth go bad.
• Cavity-causing bacteria CAN be spread from person-to-person via saliva.  This includes parents to children– if a parent tastes a baby’s food, and puts the same spoon back into the baby’s mouth, the baby is at risk.
• Children with dental problems, like toothaches, tend to have more problems in school.
• There’s a significant risk of infection with any kind of mouth piercing if it is not performed in a sterile environment.  Also, tongue piercings tend to chip the front teeth.

Patient Concerns

• Having metal fillings removed can release more mercury than leaving them in.  Metal fillings are much more durable than tooth-colored fillings.
• People are exposed to more radiation standing outside for an hour than they are when they have dental X-rays taken.
• People are getting teeth pulled that don’t need to be just because they can’t afford to fix them.
• Very few insurance companies cover dental implants, even though they’re better than dentures
• Teeth that are not aligned correctly can cause migraines. 
• Bleeding gums is one of the first signs of diabetes. 
• Did you know that teeth get whiter when they dry out?  If you go to the dentist to get your teeth whitened, and your mouth is left open for an hour, the teeth could be two shades whiter from dehydration alone. 
• Cosmetic dentistry only works in a healthy mouth.  Always treat your gum disease first.
• When you go to the dentist, check to see if the magazines in the waiting area are up-to-date…this shows if they pay attention to detail.

Here is an interesting quote by dentist Damian Dachowski: “When someone meets you for the first time, the first thing they notice is eyes. Second is teeth, and third is hair. But people spend way more money on their hair than their teeth.”

Source: Reader’s Digest

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