Cheese May Prevent Dental Caries, New Study Suggests

According to new research led by Dr Ravishankar Telgi from the Kothiwal Dental College and Research Center, India, consuming cheese and other dairy products may help protect teeth against cavities.


The new study suggests that cheese has the highest anticariogenic property among the dairy products. The image shows cheddar cheese cubes (Guillaume Paumier / CC BY-SA 3.0)


In the study, reported in the journal General Dentistry (paper in .pdf), Dr Telgi’s team sampled 68 participants ranging in age from 12 to 15. The scientists looked at the dental plaque pH in the subjects’ mouths before and after they consumed cheese, milk, or sugar-free yogurt.



A pH level lower than 5.5 puts a person at risk for tooth erosion, which is a process that wears away the enamel of teeth.



“The higher the pH level is above 5.5, the lower the chance of developing cavities,” said co-author Dr Vipul Yadav.



The participants were assigned into groups randomly. Dr Telgi and his colleagues instructed the first group to eat cheddar cheese, the second group to drink milk, and the third group to eat sugar-free yogurt. Each group consumed their product for three minutes and then swished with water. The scientists measured the pH level of each subject’s mouth at 10, 20, and 30 minutes after consumption.



The groups who consumed milk and sugar-free yogurt experienced no changes in the pH levels in their mouths. Subjects who ate cheese, however, showed a rapid increase in pH levels at each time interval, suggesting that cheese has anti-cavity properties.



The findings indicate that the rising pH levels from eating cheese may have occurred due to increased saliva production, which could be caused by the action of chewing.



Additionally, various compounds found in cheese may adhere to tooth enamel and help further protect teeth from acid.



“It looks like dairy does the mouth good. Not only are dairy products a healthy alternative to carb- or sugar-filled snacks, they also may be considered as a preventive measure against cavities,” said Dr Seung-Hee Rhee, spokesperson of the Academy of General Dentistry, who was not involved in the study.



Source: http://www.sci-news.com/medicine/article01165-cheese-dental-caries.html



Visit us: http://affinitydentalfresno.net/



from Affinity Dental Fresno http://affinitydental.livejournal.com/32025.html

Our mouth naturally fights dental cavities

Salivary mucins - key components of mucus found in mouth - actively protect our teeth from the cavity-causing bacterium, a new study has found.



Bolstering native defences might be a better way to fight dental caries than relying on exogenous materials, such as sealants and fluoride treatment, said first author Erica Shapiro Frenkel, of Harvard University.



The bacteria Streptococcus mutans attaches to teeth using sticky polymers that it produces, eventually forming a bio-film, a protected surface-associated bacterial community that is encased in secreted materials, said Frenkel.




As S mutans grows in the biofilm, it produces organic acids as metabolic byproducts that dissolve tooth enamel, which is the direct cause of cavities.



"We focused on the effect of the salivary mucin, MUC5B on S mutans attachment and biofilm formation because these are two key steps necessary for cavities to form," said Frenkel.



"We found that salivary mucins don't alter S mutans' growth or lead to bacterial killing over 24 hours," said Frenkel.



"Instead, they limit biofilm formation by keeping S mutans suspended in the liquid medium. This is particularly significant for S mutans because it only causes cavities when it is attached, or in a biofilm on the tooth's surface," she said.



She adds that the oral microbiome is better preserved when naturally occurring species aren't killed.



"The ideal situation is to simply attenuate bacterial virulence," she said.



"Defects in mucin production have been linked to common diseases such as asthma, cystic fibrosis, and ulcerative colitis," said Frenkel.



"There is increasing evidence that mucins aren't just part of the mucus for structure or physical protection, but that they play an active role in protecting the host from pathogens and maintaining a healthy microbial environment," Frenkel added.



The research was published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.



Source: http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/our-mouth-naturally-fights-dental-cavities-114111200599_1.html



Visit us: http://affinitydentalfresno.net/



from Affinity Dental Fresno http://affinitydental.livejournal.com/31872.html

Improving oral health for ageing populations

Millions of elderly people across the globe are not getting oral health care they need. Poor oral health amongst older people has been particularly evident in high levels of tooth loss, dental caries and the prevalence rates of other dental disease and oral cancer.



Many elderly people worldwide do not have a full set of teeth. Poor oral health negatively impact on the quality of life of older adults and is an important public health issue which must be addressed by policy-makers. Experts warned that failure to address oral health needs today could develop into a costly problem tomorrow.



Advancing age puts elderly at risk of a number of health problems. As the number of aging population increasing worldwide, it will be a big problem in near future. The burden of oral disease is likely to grow in many developing countries like Bangladesh because of unhealthy diets rich in sugars and high consumption of tobacco.



In many developing countries, the only treatment is tooth extraction in case of pain and problems with teeth. Thus, millions of older people suffer tooth loss. Eventually they live without natural teeth.



As with other health issues, older people have very different oral health needs to children and younger adults. They are more likely to take medication that causes dry mouth, leading to tooth decay and infections of the mouth. More than 400 commonly used medications — many of them for chronic conditions to which the elderly are susceptible — can dry out the mouth.



Oral cancer is another danger that can strike after years of over-consumption of tobacco and alcohol. The incidence of this cancer is rising in places with growing or high tobacco use. In many cases, ill-fitting dentures can reduce a person’s quality of life, for example by impeding their ability to chew.



An unfounded belief by families and healthcare practitioners that tooth loss is inevitable during ageing, lack of education on the importance of oral health and components of dental care, poor access to services and a low dentist-to-population ratio complete the picture.



The World Health Organisation recommends that countries adopt certain strategies for improving the oral health of the elderly. National health authorities should develop policies and measurable goals and targets for oral health. National public health programmes should incorporate oral health promotion and disease prevention based on the common risk factors approach.



Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/improving-oral-health-for-ageing-populations-48420



Visit us: http://affinitydentalfresno.net/



from Affinity Dental Fresno http://affinitydental.livejournal.com/31498.html

Consider your family’s oral health

On Nov. 15, the open enrollment period will begin under the Affordable Care Act, giving Illinois residents an opportunity to shop for health care coverage that could have a major impact on their physical and financial health in 2015. Whether you are already covered or are looking for the first time, it is important to evaluate the available options and remember not to overlook dental coverage for your family’s oral health.



Although dental disease is largely preventable, it still finds its way into the mouths of our state’s residents and is actually the most common chronic childhood disease today. In fact, by third grade, more than 50 percent of Illinois children have cavities. Alarmingly, many are left untreated, which can affect a child’s ability to learn, speak and eat.



Fortunately, dental coverage for children is an essential health benefit under the Affordable Care Act. This means that if you have a child under 19 and purchase a health care plan, pediatric dental coverage will be included.



However, health plans are not required to offer adult dental coverage, but you should strongly consider its importance. Nearly one in four Illinois adults has unresolved oral health issues, and nearly three in five say the biggest reason for not addressing a problem is the ability to pay for care, according to a survey by Delta Dental of Illinois.



Serious oral health problems can be expensive and time-consuming to treat. But the fact is that dental coverage is relatively low cost, and because it is prevention-based, it actually encourages regular dental checkups that can save money in the long run. Nearly eight of 10 Illinoisans with dental coverage visit the dentist at least once a year versus a little more than half who don’t have coverage.



Seeking preventive oral health care, like checkups and cleanings, can be far less expensive than receiving costly treatments down the road. Plus, oral health is linked to your overall health and a dental exam can help you protect your overall health. During a checkup, your dentist can detect as many as 120 different diseases in their earliest stages, when they are most effectively and cost-efficiently treated.



Studies also suggest that the state of your oral health can affect other health conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease. The mouth is a key part of the body, and good dental habits such as brushing, flossing and visiting the dentist contribute to better oral and overall health.



These are just some of the reasons why it is important for you and your entire family to have dental coverage that encourages regular dental visits.



On the Illinois Health Insurance Marketplace, it is possible to purchase pediatric and adult dental benefits through a medical carrier or from a stand-alone dental benefits carrier. Many Illinois residents choose stand-alone dental benefit plans because of the likelihood their dentist is in-network and the overall value they provide. For example, since many medical plans may require the policy’s annual deductible and out-of-pocket maximums be met before paying dental benefits, a stand-alone dental policy may expand benefits and reduce overall expenses.



Along with dental coverage for individuals and families, most dental benefit carriers also now offer dental plans for small businesses off-exchange that are compliant with new Affordable Care Act guidelines.



Choosing health care coverage is one of the most important decisions you will make this year. Therefore, it is essential that you fully understand your options during open enrollment so you can choose benefits that are best for you and your family. For more information or to select a dental plan that helps your entire family maintain great oral health, visit GetCoveredIllinois.gov or DeltaDentalIL.me.



Source: http://illinoistimes.com/article-14671-consider-your-family%E2%80%99s-oral-health.html



Visit us: http://www.michelsfamilydental.com/



from Affinity Dental Fresno http://affinitydental.livejournal.com/31445.html

Building a Story on Autism’s Impact on Dental Care

Sometimes reporters hear about important stories by chance. In this case, a friend who is the mother of a 9-year-old son with autism had recently moved to New Jersey and had finally found a dentist willing to work with him after years of struggle.



She said their first dentist had given up on her son. Cleanings were possible only if he sat on her lap in the chair and she wrapped her arms and legs around him to keep him still. “It is awful,” she said.



Another dentist suggested general anesthesia to facilitate a simple cleaning, which I later found is not uncommon, but ill-advised for routine preventive care because of anesthesia’s risks.



The situation changed only when she happened to find a dentist who specialized in using behavior modification techniques. Her son had been “terrified,” she said, but with accommodations, he could finally tolerate cleanings and sit on his own. (X-rays are still but a dream, alas.)



Her odyssey surprised me and jump-started my own. Some stories hinge on convenient statistics demonstrating a change and thus can be swiftly assembled. Instead, this piece was built brick-by-brick this past summer.



One parent’s story is just one story, so the tip might have ended there. But it turned out that her plight to find a dentist was not uncommon among parents of children with autism, nor was her distress. In interviews, parents told me again and again that dentist visits were terribly stressful for a host of reasons: Children with sensory issues can get overwhelmed by gritty paste, odd noises or simply the new environment. Some kids can’t talk about their fear, so they squirmed, kicked or clamped their mouths shut. Some dental offices didn’t let parents accompany their nonverbal children for cleanings, even to act as translators. Meltdowns ensued.



It felt as if I had my first brick in the wall.



I called around to dentists nationwide to ask what barriers historically have existed for children on the spectrum and what, if anything, had changed of late.



One issue was that dentists — especially general practitioners who haven’t done a pediatric residency — might not have been taught to provide care for people with autism spectrum disorders. Only relatively recently, in 2006, did the Commission on Dental Accreditation implement a standard requiring graduating dental students to be competent in assessing the treatment for patients with special needs.



A little digging unearthed a wealth of continuing education courses that dentists and hygienists were taking to better accommodate children on the spectrum. In the last year, more than 14,000 dental professionals completed one online offering.



Some sources played down continuing education’s ability to spur dentists who had been on the sidelines to start treating children with autism spectrum disorders. But not Dr. Richard Valachovic, the executive director of the American Dental Education Association. In addition to dental schooling, continuing education “increases the level of patients that dentists are comfortable treating and not having to refer out to somebody else,” he said.



As I deepened my reporting, an unforeseen thread emerged: Some parents took their child with autism for a first cleaning only at age 8 or later, and others only went once there was an emergency. The children never got preventive care, though dentists recommend a visit by the eruption of the first tooth or by the first birthday.



It was odd because the importance of early intervention is drilled into the heads of parents in the autism community when it comes to talking, walking or social interactions. But somehow oral health was not part of that broader message.



“Parents basically avoid dental visits for fear of their child’s behavior,” said Dr. Cavan Brunsden, a pediatric dentist in Old Bridge, N.J. Yet, he said, if patients on the spectrum could come to see him before age 5, dental cleanings could become nonthreatening with repetition.



Getting that public-health message to parents seemed important to me and my editor, Mike Mason, who, by then, was pushing to get the story into the Science section.



I was thrilled that the video department decided to send a photographer and video journalist named Katie Hayes Luke with me to visit Dr. Amy Luedemann-Lazar, a pediatric dentist in Katy, Tex. She captured what my words couldn’t: how tricky even sitting in the dental chair can be for a child with autism. Equally important, the video captured the emotion in the voices of grateful parents.



This month, the final brick in the wall came when I met Nicole Brown and her 13-year-old daughter, Camryn Cunningham, at Dr. Luedemann-Lazar’s office. Ms. Brown’s odyssey to find dental care had been a long one, and even included a frustrated dentist screaming at her daughter.



Yet, Ms. Brown’s story, too, had a hopeful ending, because step by step, a hygienist and an assistant taught Camryn what was expected of her, starting with how to sit in the dental chair.



We watched as Camryn sat — hands on her stomach, legs out straight — through a full cleaning, only her second ever. “I was thinking this is unbelievable. I didn’t know it would be that good of an appointment,” Ms. Brown said, adding, “It’s embarrassing to say that at one point I was afraid to take her to the dentist because I didn’t know where to start.”



Since the story ran last week, I’ve heard from dentists who champion improving access to routine care for children with autism who hoped my article would spur more dentists to educate themselves to be able to treat children on the spectrum. The story has been shared more than 10,000 times on Facebook. Parents desperate to find a dentist willing to treat their child emailed. And on the New York Times Facebook page, some parents asked for pointers on how to find a dentist, so I joined the conversation and tried to help. One mother in Miami wrote about struggling to find a dentist who is “autistic friendly” and mentioned that she had been told her child needs to be treated under general anesthesia, to the tune of $2,800.



Source: http://www.nytimes.com/times-insider/2014/10/28/building-a-story-on-autisms-impact-on-dental-care/



Visit us: http://affinitydentalfresno.net/



from Affinity Dental Fresno http://affinitydental.livejournal.com/31127.html

Dental treatment for kids should be priority

Dental treatment for children aged six and under should be prioritised, a new report has stated.



According to the first National Oral Health Forum Report, A Vision for Improved Oral Health in Ireland, the Government's decision to provide universal healthcare for all children aged under six provides the perfect opportunity to extend dental cover to this age group.



This would result in children becoming engaged with dental services at a younger age, which would lead to more disease prevention.



The report also highlighted the impact of the recession on dental services in Ireland. The PRSI scheme used to allow taxpayers to receive subsidies towards certain dental work, such as fillings. However, spending on this scheme has fallen from over €70 million per year to just €10 million per year and taxpayers now only receive one dental check-up per year.



Meanwhile services for mental card holders have also been severely cut, leading to poorer dental health for many.



In response to this, the report recommends that the use of patient co-payments should be assessed as a potential method of payment for medical card patients. This would see the patient and the State both making a contribution, not unlike the old PRSI model, to ensure that patients receive the appropriate treatment when they need it.



The report also said that the roles of the HSE and the Department of Health need to be clearly defined in this area.



"Delivery decisions in the HSE need to be matched to clinical needs and prioritised in line with the available resources. At the moment the delivery of services is considered to be patchy, with no uniform patterns of delivery decision or priority setting," the Forum said.



The report added that when it comes to dentistry, the main interests seem to relate to fluoridation and orthodontics and there is little or no political representation about important issues such as the provision of dental services to people with disabilities, and the prevalence and suffering caused by cavities during childhood.



The report is an initiative promoted mainly by the Irish Dental Association, the Dublin Dental School, the Cork Dental School and the RCSI Faculty of Dentistry.



Source: http://www.irishhealth.com/article.html?id=24172



Visit us: http://affinitydentalfresno.net/



from Affinity Dental Fresno http://affinitydental.livejournal.com/30857.html

Tips for fresh breath and oral health

Halloween kicks off a series of holidays celebrated with delicious treats, from yummy chocolate candies to gut-busting dinners to seasonal alcoholic beverages. While most parents will make sure their kids brush after eating their treats, National Dental Hygiene Month in October encourages a fuller approach to oral health.



“Teeth and gums are obviously key components of oral health care, but they’re just part of the whole environment inside one’s mouth,” says Dr. Bob Kross, a biochemist who’s been researching and developing oral health-care products since the 1980s.



“The nooks and crannies in our mouths and gums are not the only places crammed with organic debris, which feed the bacteria that create biofilm, such as plaque, to protect themselves from oxygen. There are also cracks on the tongue’s surface and in the other soft tissues in the mouth and pharynx where bacteria collect, further compromising dental health and creating bad breath.”



Normal oral bacteria are fine, actually even necessary, when present in proper balance with each other, but it’s a problem when putrefying and pathogenic bacteria start to take over, he says.



Kross offers this tip for preventing bad breath:



Add tongue scraping and an oxidizing daily rinse to your oral hygiene. Brushing and flossing reach about 25 percent of your mouth, and that’s why you should add tongue scraping and rinsing to your daily routine. That white stuff you might see on your tongue is a collection of food particles and other organic matter, which can putrefy and create oral malodorants. Oxygen inhibits the growth of the responsible anaerobic bacteria, so scraping off the film and using an oxidizing mouthwash will counter that problem.



Source: http://www.ardmoreite.com/article/20141028/Lifestyle/141029743



Visit us: http://affinitydentalfresno.net/



from Affinity Dental Fresno http://affinitydental.livejournal.com/30703.html

Diabetes and Dental Health

Good dental care is a key component in the health of you and your family.


TORONTO – HEALTH - “Diabetes can be associated with an increased prevalence and severity of periodontal diseases, and as an infectious and inflammatory disease, periodontitis can affect the control of blood sugar,” says Dr. Gerald Smith, President of the ODA. “When blood sugars remain high over time it can put people with diabetes at risk for further complications.”



Did you know there is a connection between diabetes and oral health? Research shows that poorly managed blood glucose (sugar) levels put you at greater risk for developing oral health problems such as gum disease, fungal infections, tooth decay, taste impairment, dry mouth and delayed healing. Conversely, having periodontal (gum) disease can intensify the complications associated with diabetes.



November is Diabetes Awareness Month and the Ontario Dental Association (ODA) and dentists across the province will be supporting the Canadian Diabetes Association’s “Don’t Be Risky” campaign which urges Canadians to identify the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and prediabetes.



The Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA), estimates that today more than 1.4 million people in Ontario are living with diabetes, representing 9.8 percent of the population. By 2024, that number is estimated to rise to 2.2 million. “Knowing the risk factors for diabetes and its complications will provide Canadians with information to act and potentially lower their risk, in consultation with their health-care teams, including their dentist,” says Rick Blickstead, President and CEO of the CDA.



Dentists have the training and expertise to help prevent and treat any oral health problems associated with this serious disease. Through oral examinations, dentists can also detect certain oral-health conditions that could signal a need for you to be tested for diabetes. If you are experiencing any problems with your oral health, such as bleeding gums, impaired taste or dry mouth, see your dentist immediately. To help prevent gum disease and tooth decay, the ODA recommends following a routine which includes brushing your teeth, flossing, using a toothpaste containing fluoride, consuming sugar in moderation and having regular dental exams.



“Diabetes is one of many medical conditions that prove the connection between your oral health and your overall health,” says Dr. Smith. “Your dentist can be a vital part of your health-care team by helping you manage the oral complications that may come with having diabetes.”



Your oral health is related to your overall health. Stay in touch with your dentist to assist you with your oral health needs. For information on your oral health and diabetes, go to youroralhealth.ca. For more information on diabetes, visit diabetes.ca or alternatively you can visit DontBeRisky.ca and fill out a CANRISK questionnaire to find out what your risk is of developing prediabetes or type 2 diabetes.



Source: http://www.netnewsledger.com/2014/11/04/diabetes-and-dental-health/



Visit us: http://affinitydentalfresno.net/



from Affinity Dental Fresno http://affinitydental.livejournal.com/30210.html