Dental Health
Homecare Tips for Little Ones
- As soon as your child’s first teeth come in, begin brushing them with a small, soft-bristled toothbrush and water. If you are considering using toothpaste before your child’s second birthday, be sure to ask the doctors.
- When your child is old enough, encourage him or her to brush to build self-confidence. Always monitor your child’s brushing technique.
- Monitor excessive sucking of pacifiers, fingers and thumbs to avoid teeth misalignment.
- If you give your child a sippy cup for long periods of time, fill it only with water and don’t allow him or her to take it to bed.
Diet and Nutrition
Cavities are caused by acid that is produced by oral bacteria interacting with food deposits left on your teeth. Certain foods, especially sugary, starchy and sticky snacks, are linked to higher levels of such acid-causing bacteria. Additionally, poor nutrition can weaken your immune system and make you more susceptible to other health problems, including gum disease.
- Your teeth and jaws are made mostly of calcium, which helps protect and rebuild your tooth enamel. Not getting enough calcium puts you at risk for gum disease and tooth decay, so make sure to eat calcium-rich foods such as beans, greens, milk, yogurt and cheese.
- To further protect your enamel, eat foods containing phosphorous (such as meat, poultry, fish, milk and eggs) and vitamin A (such as sweet potatoes, liver and spinach).
- Vitamin C (found in oranges, grapefruit, strawberries, kiwi, and red and green peppers) promotes healthy gums and quick healing of wounds. A severe lack of it could result in bleeding gums or loose teeth.
Tobacco Products
Smoking can impact your overall oral health in a number of ways:
- Reducing blood flow and the supply of vital nutrients to your gums, including vitamin C, which can lead to gum disease, bone loss and tooth loss.
- Decreasing the amount of saliva that flows through your mouth.
- Affecting the appearance of your teeth, making them discolored with the yellow and brown stains that nicotine and tar leave behind.
- Causing inflammation of the roof of your mouth.
- Giving you bad breath.
- Causing you to lose your sense of taste.
Most importantly, smoking causes oral cancer, which is the sixth most common cancer. Additionally, the use of smokeless tobacco (including chew, snuff or “dip” and snus, all of which contain nicotine and are addictive) increases your risk for developing gum disease. Smokeless tobacco use also can lead to gum recession, the pulling away of the gum tissue from the teeth. Smokeless tobacco users also are four to six times more likely to develop oral cancer.
Vaping
While the aerosol produced by e-cigarettes contains fewer toxic chemicals than regular cigarette smoke, it does still contain harmful and potentially harmful substances. Inhaling the heated vapor causes drying of the mouth, which can lead to caries and other bacterial changes. Each variety of e-liquid can contain different products and flavorings, and many e-liquid product labels don’t list all of the substances they contain, making it hard for scientists and consumers alike to know what may or may not be harmful.
- Nicotine is by far the most commonly desired product in e-liquid products. Nicotine can stick to tooth enamel, staining teeth and making it easier for plaque to accumulate.
- Flavorings are a major selling point for individual varieties of e-liquid. It’s important to look at each flavoring and remember that a product may be considered safe to ingest but not safe to inhale. For example, diacetyl — a butter-flavored chemical used in many common foods and found in popular e-liquid flavors such as vanilla, maple and coconut — has been linked to a serious chronic lung disease with symptoms similar to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease when inhaled.
- E-liquid products have also been found to contain heavy metals such as lead, nickel, chromium and manganese at levels that exceed safe limits for inhalation as well as volatile organic compounds such as benzene.
