Teeth Care : Fight against cavities, tooth decays, dental plaque

Browse through all the pages for tooth decay, and teeth whitening. Your children should be taught quite early for oral hygeine and oral health so that they do not have toothache, dental plaque and bad breath in their later life. Take care of your teeth. Avoid tooth cavities and tooth decay by caring your teeth.

Our teeth are very important to us, as important as our heart. Teeth are meant to last the entire life. To keep them healthy is necessary for us through out our life. Tooth decay, cavities, erosion of tooth enamel, etc are the main problem.

Tooth decay can occur anywhere on the surface of teeth, but is most common on the chewing surfaces of teeth, near the gum and in-between teeth. It is believed that filling of tooth cavities costs more than the costs involved in heart disease.

Carbohydrate foods such as sugars can cause dental decay. Sweets, biscuits, pastries, buns, cakes, sticky breakfast bars, and other similar kinds of food stick in the teeth, providing food for bacteria that live in dental plaque. The bacteria use sugars from residues of carbohydrates to multiply. They also ferment sugary food residues around teeth, producing acids that eats into tooth enamel, causing cavities. The longer the time that residues are in contact with bacteria in teeth, the greater the amount of acid produced.

Saliva has some ability to counteract the effect of the acid produced by bacteria as it contains some minerals that help repair tooth enamel. Foods that do not contain sugar and need to be chewed are useful, stimulating production of saliva. When less saliva is available on very hot days, one should not consume foods containing sugars that stick in the teeth.

The American Academy of Periodontology has identified the most common myths about oral health.

1. When we brush, bleeding is normal. Wrong.
   Bleeding gums are one of the signs of gum disease.

2. We brush teeth to remove food particles. Partly correct.
   Daily brushing and flossing also keep the formation of plaque to a minimum, preventing periodontal disease.

3. Bad breath is caused by a lack of oral hygiene. Partly correct.
   There are some bacteria on the tongue and throat that produce volatile sulfur compounds. Excessive sulfur compounds result in the bad breath.

4. Pregnant women do not need dental checkups. Wrong.
   Periodontal health can affect the health of unborn baby. The periodontal disease during pregnancy may increase the risk of delivering a premature under-weight baby.

5. Our overall health does not depend on our oral health. Wrong.
   When the gums are infected, periodontal bacterial byproducts can enter the blood stream and may result in heart disease, stroke and under-weight baby birth.