Alcohol and Dental Hygiene

After talking with the local liquor store owner this weekend I realised that there may be a much larger issue coming for the dental world.  The liquor store owner stated that Memorial Day was the largest sales weekend in the entire year.  This means that more people are drinking alcohol over this weekend and most likely eating unhealthy foods at the same time.  I will admit I did this myself.  I went to multiple Barbecues and at each one drinks with alcohol were served and lots of other unhealthy foods.  So what are the effects of extra alcohol due to your normal daily dental routine. Should extra drinking require extra care to be taken?

One of the major things that alcohol can due during this weekend of heavy drinking is dry out your mouth.  That can cause lots of extra issues that your mouth. Saliva is what helps clean your teeth and wash away all the extra plaque.  So if your mouth is simply dry and not able to produce enough saliva the plaque buildup will be greatly increased.  

This is also a bad thing if you are eating more unhealthy foods during the highest weekend of drinking for the year.  So if you are going to be consuming lots of alcohol during this weekend please try to add additional water to your diet.  If the average idea is to drink one glass of water for each alcoholic beverage you consume, maybe think about adding a little more water or at least sticking with water ballance.  Many individuals spend lots of time extra outdoors during this weekend so make sure to account for the dehydration effects that the sun can have on you as well. 

Another area that excessive alcohol can effect your dental hygiene is the area of Staining. The beverages you drink derive their color from Chromogens.  These Chromogens attach to the tooth enamel that has been warn away by the acids that come from alcoholic beverages. So if you are also mixing alcohol with dark sodas, you can really kiss your pearly white smile away.  So think of brushing your teeth with a nice protective toothpaste and possible staying away from artificially colored drinks during this weekend. Your teeth and your smile with thank you.  It is also likely that your bank account will thank you later for not causing so much damage to your teeth and forcing you to see a dentist to take care of it!

How to Strengthen Your Teeth with Common Foods

Our teeth are one of the most important tools we have as humans. They are responsible for a number of things, but one of the biggest things they help us do is EAT. And we love to eat. But, with all that we put into our mouths to be broken down by our teeth so that we can swallow, have you ever thought about what foods may actually strengthen our teeth? If you’re like me, you’re constantly searching for the best work out plan to build a bigger bicep or chest. Or you’re researching different foods that help maximize the muscle growth process. But what about our teeth? Our teeth are important too, and it’s just as important to help strengthen them as well. And although brushing and flossing is a good start to great oral hygiene, complete oral hygiene extends far beyond the two.

Can foods actually strengthen your teeth?

Yes, various foods contain compounds that help build the enamel on our teeth which ultimately helps prevent tooth decay.

What are these strengthening agent foods?
Glad you asked. Although there are many different foods that strengthen overall tooth and gum health, I’ll leave the list to seven, for now… Seven different foods that aid in the process of healthier and stronger gums and teeth are cheese, fish, oranges, fruits and veggies, green and black tea, chocolate, and water.

Why is cheese on the list?

Cheese acts as a superfood for our teeth because of its ability to fight acid erosion that many other foods can cause our teeth to succumb to. Various breads, sweets, and sodas make our teeth susceptible to acid erosion. Therefore, eating cheese after meals can be a great way to combat the effects of the aforementioned foods.

Seriously, chocolate is good for your overall tooth and gum health?

Congratulations! You can read! Yes, chocolate is actually good for your enamel. As long as that chocolate is of the dark kind. You see, it’s not the actual chocolate that helps your teeth, it’s what is in the cocoa bean, CBH. In fact, because of the compound CBH, there are many health professionals that say dark chocolate is more effective in building your enamel than fluoride. Now, that’s some kind of crazy! Nonetheless, dark chocolate is only good for your teeth if it is eaten in moderation. Eating a mess of dark chocolate will do no more for your teeth than burning down a pack of marlboro reds.

Visualizing Healthcare Costs in a New Way

Did you know the average cost of a dental cleaning (with no insurance) is between $75-200 depending on the area of the country in which this cleaning is done? Did you also know that it is recommended to get your teeth cleaned by a dental professional twice per year? How about this… Did you know that if by the age of 65 you still have all of your permanent teeth, your chances of living into your 90’s are increased greatly?

So, if we take the median price of the aforementioned range, for $275 per year you can help increase the number of years you’ll have on this earth. Now, I can think of a number of things that we blow $275 per year on. And most of these things definitely don’t promote health and wellness in our lives. If anything, they add to the long term deterioration of our bodies and livelihood. Yet, I so often hear how the dentist is “too expensive” or “I don’t have dental insurance”. We dish out so many excuses for why we don’t have regular dental visits. Quite frankly, they hold zero weight when you actually look at the numbers and see how inexpensive high quality dental care really is (especially in regards to the added long term health of our lives).

Did you know the average price of a cup of coffee is $2.99? And if you bought this cup of coffee for 13 full weeks out of the entire year, you’d have spent $275 on cups of coffee? And yet, I’ve never heard anyone say how expensive coffee is. You see, when something is “cheap” it gets bought over and over and over and over again. And before you know it, you’ve spent an ungodly amount of money on the very thing you thought was “cheap”. Instead, you could have spent that same money on something that is proven to extend life as we know it.

My argument is to stop making excuses regarding dental hygiene. Brushing and flossing twice per day is not enough to prevent gum disease, cavities, extractions, etc. This is a great start to having great hygiene, but in order to put yourself in the best position possible to have long term high quality oral hygiene, you need to have your teeth cleaned by a professional twice per year. And considering how much Americans spend on coffee each year, the cost to get that coffee stain off your teeth is inexpensive.

Who Else Is Afraid Of Going To The Dentist?

There is always this weird stigma about going to the dentist. I have heard from so many different people that are genuinely worried that something bad will happen to them when they sit down in that dentist chair. And for what? Honestly, is there any reason to be that scared of the dentist? I don’t think so. Sure it can be uncomfortable to have to drive all the way, and it is definitely annoying to have to sit in the waiting room at the dentist. I remember back to when I was young, I would have to wait for almost 30 minutes in this stuffy waiting room in order to get into my dentist appointment every 6 months. Apparently that is the timeframe my mom decided I needed to get a check up at the dentist, so I would go every 6 months. I am proud to say in all my time being alive, I have only had one cavity! As a kid who loved sugar and often neglected brushing my teeth correctly, I’d say that is a pretty good number!

Overall, I really do not understand what people are so afraid of at the dentist. I became so curious that I started to research some of the psychological factors that may go into being scared of the dentist. In fact, it was interesting to read about how serious this fear has become for some people, even up to levels that match any other known phobias that a person may have. I think one of the biggest things people fear at the dentist is being in pain. I can understand this in some ways, because most people don’t really like to feel pain, including me. However, this fear is a bit irrational considering my past experiences with the dentist. Either I have had an amazing dentist all my life who decided not to hurt me, or dentists don’t really cause all that much pain. Even in bigger operations like a tooth pulling or a root canal, it is really common for dentists to simply numb someone’s mouth in order for them to feel more comfortable. I think this is really considerate for the dentist to do and is often overlooked by people who just have a general fear of dentists without a reason based in reality. 

Another reason that people tend to fear the dentist is because there is a perceived loss of control. While this fear also makes sense, as losing control can be scary, I do not think that it necessarily applies to dentistry. In fact, most dentists are super chill and will not do anything to your mouth that they wouldn’t do on their own. You are also in control of the situation the entire time, unless of course they put you to sleep. But in that case, you do not have anything to worry about because you will be asleep anyways! When I got put to sleep to get my wisdom teeth pulled, it was overall a great experience because I don’t remember a single thing that happened. I was completely unconscious and dead to the world for like an hour, and that was just perfect with me. I hope you can get over your fear of the dentist because there really is no reason for you to be so scared, come on man.