The Soothing Sound of Brushing
Your family dentist in Vancouver, Dr. Dale Nelson, wants every patient to enjoy the very best oral health possible. It’s our goal at Salmon Creek Family Dental to provide patients with the information they need to enjoy a lifetime of healthy teeth and gums. For most patients, enjoying quality oral health requires they brush and floss on a daily basis. Unfortunately, according to studies conducted by the American Dental Association, 40 percent of Americans don’t brush regularly or long enough to adequately prevent the effects of tooth decay and gum disease. Whether people just don’t have the time or they don’t enjoy the brushing process, there are a number of reasons patients give for not practicing the right kind of daily oral hygiene. But now a new study from Japan has shed some light on an unexpected factor that helps determine how well we clean our teeth and how willing we are to brush– the sound of toothbrush bristles rubbing against our teeth. Researchers hope to use this latest revelation to create a new type of toothbrush that will help improve oral hygiene. The Sound of Good Oral Health As part of their study, researchers conducted clinical trials with volunteers who agreed to use modified toothbrushes that contained small microphones. Researchers used these brushes to listen to the sounds made in the mouth during brushing. They then modified the noises and fed the sounds back to the volunteers through headphones to see what effect the sound change had on participant satisfaction and cleaning proficiency. Researchers discovered that by changing the pitch, or loudness and frequency, of the brushing sound, they could alter the participants’ opinions regarding performance and comfort about brushing. Researchers also noted that by progressively increasing the frequency of the sounds as teeth were being brushed, the study participants perceived brushing as a more comfortable and enjoyable experience overall. Researchers also hoped to prevent participants from overbrushing with too much excess force. So participants could better maintain an even amount of pressure while brushing, researchers added a built-in sensor to the toothbrushes that would emit an auditory response when too much pressure was applied. While the toothbrush used in the trial required users to wear headphones while brushing, researchers understand that’s not practical for day-to-day use. However, they hope to utilize a bone conduction speaker system that could create auditory sounds during brushing that would improve brushing performance while also decreasing the risk of overbrushing. Brushing Still the Key to Quality Oral Health Until the day when these types of advanced toothbrushes hit the market, patients will just have to continue making brushing a regular part of their day. The ADA recommends brushing twice a day for at least two minutes at a time, once in the morning and again at night. If you have any questions about the best brushing practices, feel free to ask Dr. Nelson, your family dentist in Vancouver, during your next appointment at Salmon Creek Family Dental.
Smoking and Your Oral Health
At Salmon Creek Family Dental, the best family dentist Vancouver WA has, we want all of our patients to enjoy the very best oral health. That’s why Dr. Nelson, your trusted Vancouver dentist, wants to educate every patient on the dangers of smoking when it comes to your oral health. If you smoke, you probably already know the serious long-term health consequences the habit can have on your heart and lungs. While it’s easy to view these long-term problems as avoidable due to a lack of any outwardly noticeable symptoms, the impact of smoking on your oral health has a more immediate and apparent effect. Smoking, even occasionally, can lead to a variety of dental concerns, including: Frequent bad breath Tooth discoloration Increased buildup of tartar and plaque on your teeth Decay and loss of bone structure within the jaw Increased risk of developing leukoplakia Increased risk of developing periodontitis, a severe form of gum disease that leads to tooth loss Slowed recovery time following dental work such as tooth extraction, oral surgery, or periodontal treatment Decreased success rate following dental implant procedures Increase risk of developing some form or oral cancer While each of these conditions can negatively impact your oral health, the development of gum disease can have the most immediate impact on the health of your teeth and gums. Smoking and Gum Disease Smoking or the use of any other type of tobacco products can directly lead to the development of gum disease by damaging how bone and the soft tissue of your gums attach to your teeth. Research suggests that smoking interferes with how your gum tissue cells normally function. Not only does this interference causes smokers to become more susceptible to periodontal disease, it also limits blood flow to the gums, which causes wounds to heal more slowly. According to the American Dental Association, 75 percent of all cases of periodontal disease relate in some way to smoking. Pipes and Cigars A common misconception exists that since cigarettes generally contain more chemical additives than pipe or cigar tobacco, smoking either of these means fewer potential health concerns. However, just like with cigarettes, smoking cigars or pipes will eventually lead to oral health problems. A study conducted over a 23-year period found that cigar and pipe smokers suffer from tooth loss and jawbone degeneration at the same rate as those who smoke cigarettes. Even though they don’t inhale, pipe and cigar smokers still have an increased risk of developing oral or throat cancer, and suffer from stained teeth, bad breath, and periodontal disease. Smokeless Tobacco When it comes to your oral health, smokeless tobacco can cause even more damage than smoking any type of tobacco. Smokeless tobacco contains a minimum of 28 chemicals that studies have shown directly leads to an increased risk of oral and throat cancer. Most smokeless tobacco also contains more nicotine than either cigarettes or pipe tobacco, making it more difficult to give up. Additionally, because smokeless tobacco comes into direct contact with gum tissue, it causes increased irritation that leads to gum tissue receding away from your teeth. This causes the roots of your teeth to become exposed, which increases the risk of developing tooth decay. Exposed tooth roots also cause tooth sensitivity to hot or cold stimuli, making it more difficult to eat or drink. Smokeless tobacco producers also frequently add sugar to their products to improve flavor, which further increases the risk of tooth decay. In fact, the findings of a recent study published in the Journal of the American Dental Association found that smokeless tobacco users were four times more likely to suffer from tooth decay than non-users. The product also tends to contain grit and sand, which wears away tooth enamel when placed along the gum line. One More Reason to Quit While brushing and flossing daily generally help to ensure the health of your teeth and gums, smoking can dramatically reduce the effectiveness of these two habits. To ensure you enjoy a lifetime of quality oral health, it’s imperative that you quit smoking immediately. While this always remains easier said than done, the affect smoking can have on your smile provides just one more reason why to quit.
Tooth Decay May Limit a Child’s Growth
Tooth decay ranks as the leading chronic disease among school-aged children in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. From a young age, tooth decay can cause serious problems with a child’s long-term oral health. When decay causes teeth to fall out too soon in younger children, the resulting gap in a child’s smile can cause the development of over-crowded and crooked teeth when they reach adolescence. For school-aged children suffering from the affects of decay, the resulting discomfort they experience can cause them problems in school. Studies have found that kids who suffer from untreated decay perform more poorly in school when compared to children with healthy teeth. Researchers attribute this discrepancy to the amount of time a child misses school due to the pain caused by untreated decay and an inability to concentrate when in school due to oral discomfort. Now a new study suggests the affects of tooth decay may be even worse than previously imagined. According to researchers at University College London and the King Fahad Armed Forces in Saudi Arabia, tooth decay may also prohibit growth in children. The study was published online in the children’s health journal Pediatrics. A Troubling Discovery Researchers began their study in an effort to determine the relationship between growth and oral health after previous studies had failed to show any correlation one way or the other. To determine whether a connection did exist, researchers looked at the data of dental decay and the correlation between weight and height in children living in Saudi Arabia between the ages of 6 to 8. The children examined in the study had their oral health graded on the DMFT scale, which determines the level of decayed, missing or filled teeth a child suffers from. Researchers examined the available data and determined that a relationship between low weight/height and an increased number of cavities did indeed exist. Children who suffered from severe cases of decay had a higher chance of being shorter and underweight when compared to kids with little decay. Even when researchers examined secondary factors, such as social values and demographics, that are known to limit growth, the correlation between stunted growth and decay still remained. Based on this research, it’s fair to say that an inverse relationship between tooth decay and growth exists in children. However, further research is needed to confirm these findings. Treating Decay Key Considering the findings of this study, it’s clear that protecting child’s oral health should remain a top priority for parents. Like adults, children need to brush and floss daily to lower their risk of tooth decay and gum disease. Children also need to regularly visit Dr. Nelson to ensure any signs of decay are spotted early on when the condition is the most treatable. If you have any questions about the best oral health practices for kids, feel free to ask Vancouver, WA family dentist Dr. Nelson or any member of our team at Salmon Creek Family Dental during your next appointment.