True Or False Quiz: Do Your Children Have Good Oral Health?

Ensuring that your children have good oral health is (or should be) the goal of every parent or caregiver. But how confident are you about this topic? The following true/false quiz will help you evaluate your expertise while learning more about keeping your child's teeth healthy.

Questions
1. All children older than 6 months should receive a fluoride supplement every day. True/false?


2. Parents should start cleaning their child's teeth as soon as the first tooth appears. True/false?


3. Parents should start brushing a child's teeth with toothpaste that contains fluoride at  3. True/false?


4. Children under 6 years should use enough floride toothpaste to cover the toothbrush. True/false?


5. Parents should brush a child's teeth twice a day until the child can brush alone. True/false?


6. Young children should always use fluoride mouthrinses after brushing.  True/false?

Answers
1. False. Check with your child's physician or dentist about your children's specific fluoride needs. If your drinking water does not have enough fluoride to help prevent cavities, parents of a child older than 6 months should discuss the need for a fluoride supplement with a physician or our office.

2. True. Start cleaning as soon as the first tooth appears by wiping the tooth every day with a clean, damp cloth. Once more teeth erupt, switch to a small, soft-bristled toothbrush.

3. False. Parents should start using toothpaste with fluoride to brush their children’s teeth at age 2. Only use toothpaste with fluoride earlier than age 2 if the child's doctor or our office recommends it.

4. False. Young children should use only a pea-sized amount of fluoride toothpaste. Fluoride is important for fighting cavities, but if children younger than 6 years swallow too much fluoride, their permanent teeth may develop white spots. Using no more than a pea-sized amount of toothpaste with fluoride can help prevent this from happening.

5. True. Because children usually do not have the skill to brush their teeth well until around age 4 or 5, parents should brush their young children's teeth thoroughly twice a day. You should continue doing this until the child can demonstrate a proper brushing technique.

6. False. Fluoride mouthrinses have a higher concentration of fluoride than toothpaste containing fluoride. Children younger than 6 years of age should not use fluoride mouthrinses unless your child's doctor or our office recommends it. Young children tend to swallow rather than spit it out, and swallowing too much fluoride before age 6 may cause the permanent teeth to have white spots.

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Keep Your Teeth Healthy for Life: Ten Tips!

Dr. Jay Jorgensen D.D.S.

1. Brush regularly and as soon after eating as possible - even after snacking. Brushing keeps small food particles from becoming giant feasts for unwanted bacteria. If possible, brush a full two minutes. Divide the teeth into quadrants and spend at least 30 seconds on each quadrant. Use the sulcus technique, angling the bristles and gently inserting and cleaning underneath the gum line while you brush. If you are not sure how to do this, ask your hygienist.


2. Select a good dentifrice and stick with it. You don’t need much and when the mouth fills with foam, many people will spit it out and consider themselves finished brushing. There are many, many toothpastes and powders on the market all touting claims from being the best whitener to being the most natural. Try a powder with a good mixture of baking soda and flavoring - you’ll never go back to pastes! Fluoride? You won’t need it if you keep to a strict hygiene routine. Hydrogen peroxide? Good old baking soda is proven to be a better anti-microbial without the risk. You will be surprised how clean your teeth feel after using a baking soda-based powder. Just can’t deal with the powder? Keep your eye on a new paste called TheraSol being developed. This may be one of the most effective toothpastes to hit the market, but may only be available through dental offices.


3. Brush your tongue or use a tongue scraper. Why do a great job on your teeth only to have them come in immediate contact with the microbes living on the surface of your tongue? As an added benefit, your breath will be MUCH better!


4. Floss at least once a day. Flossing further cleans and removes calculus where your toothbrush cannot reach.


5. Learn how to irrigate the teeth and gums and do it daily. Oral Irrigation serves several purposes; it helps to remove food particles trapped below the gum line, using the right antimicrobial fluid in your irrigator can help remove the ‘biofilm’ which harbors bacteria dangerous to your oral health and irrigating massages the gums resulting in increased circulation. Short on time? New irrigators can now be attached right to your faucet or shower outlet allowing you to clean your teeth while you do the rest of your body. ShowerPik and QuickPik II are two such appliances new on the market.


6. Irrigate deep pockets with a cannula tip and good antimicrobial solution. This measure is one of the best things an individual can do, on his or her own, to assist in stopping decay where pockets have formed between the tooth and gum. Before you buy an oral irrigator, make sure you select an irrigator such as the Via Jet, which can accommodate the tiny cannula tips. Not all do. When irrigating a deep pocket, the cannula tip is small enough to deliver the antimicrobial solution deep, where the regular irrigator tip cannot reach. Ask your dentist for help in this. If you have the right dentist, he’ll be supportive and informative in your personal hygiene efforts.


7. See your dental professionals regularly, but choose them wisely. There are good offices and bad ones and you need to seek a good hygienist as well as a D.D.S. Make sure your hygienist is allowed a good 45 minutes to an hour - enough time to properly work on your teeth. Listen to your hygienist when she tells you about a problem area and don’t be afraid to ask questions.  Talk to your dentist about ‘periodontal anti-infective therapy’ involving home irrigation and antimicrobial solutions. This is cutting edge science and a little effort on your part might keep you away from the ‘specialist.’ Don’t be afraid to ask questions. If your professional won’t take the time to answer you in a way you can understand or gets offended by your questions, it may be time to move on. Our office takes the time to explain an oral treatment plan for each and every one of our patients and answer all questions presented.


8. White teeth do not necessarily mean healthy teeth. While your biggest concern right now may be your smile, make sure that smile will be there, in good shape, years from now. Tooth whitening is tremendously popular today and many companies are catering to the market. While tooth whiteners remove staining, to some degree, they do not necessarily do the cleaning job required by your other efforts.


9. Nutrition is half the battle. A demineralization and remineralization process is taking place constantly as the teeth are being bathed in healthy saliva. The body is equipped to care for itself as long as conditions are right, and as everything else in the body requires good nutrition, the teeth and gums are no exception. Staying away from sugar is fine, but don’t forget carbohydrates; cakes, breads, chips… Vitamin C has long been known as important for healthy gums and a good colloidal mineral supplement will provide the calcium and phosphorus your teeth need. Your strong autoimmune system is one of your best defenses against poor oral health and GOOD food is your best source of essential vitamins & minerals.


10. Finally, allow the time, use the time, and be on time. These are YOUR teeth. How you care for them will determine how they will care for you down the road. Your attention to your good oral health could even save your life.

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Do I Really Have To Go To The Dentist That Often?

Dr. Jay Jorgensen D.D.S.

The answer is YES! You might just think that trips to the dentist are a great way to keep your teeth white and bright, but the fact of the matter is that trips to the dentist serve more than mere vanity. In fact, taking a trip to the dentist at regular intervals can go a long way not only in preserving your beauty, but also you physical well being. The reason for this is that so much is going on in our mouths that we may not even be aware of, and the consequences of not taking care of our smiles can have negative consequences far beyond what we might expect.

Poor oral hygiene can lead to a whole host of problems, some even spreading beyond the mouth itself. So what can we do to keep our mouths, and ourselves, healthy? The first line of defense is to make sure that you brush and floss your teeth regularly. It might seem like common knowledge, but sometimes we need to be reminded to do things that we might otherwise take for granted. Brushing and flossing will help to remove bacteria from your teeth and gums that might otherwise cause you problems down the line. It is especially important to brush and floss before and after bed as your mouth is then often dry and unused for a long period of time. Bacteria can form overnight so you want to get rid of it in the morning and do what you can to keep it from growing before you hit the hay at night.

The next thing that you can do to help keep your mouth healthy is to plan frequent trips to the dentist for cleanings. Having a cleaning done by your dentist is a great way to assure oral hygiene. A dentist is a trained professional who is best able to assess the health of your mouth. If your dentist sees that something is amiss he or she will be able to put you on the right path towards oral hygiene. A cleaning also gives you such a feeling of freshness in your mouth that you might want to go just to feel the sensation of a truly clean smile!

All in all it is important to keep your mouth clean and fresh, not only for reasons of vanity but for health concerns as well. Maintenance is always the best solution as they say, so the same is true with your oral health. If you take care of your teeth today you will have them tomorrow, and not only that, they will be healthy, clean, white, and fresh. Ultimately is that what we all want: A beautiful set of teeth and a healthy physical state. We can work to achieve this by brushing and flossing as well as making frequent trips to our dentist for cleanings and checkups. You don’t often realize the importance of something until it is too late, so do yourself a favor and keep on top of your oral health now before it is too late. It is better to maintain now then to be forced to deal with major problems at some point in the future. 

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8 Reasons To Smile More

Dr. Jay Jorgensen D.D.S.

Smiling plays a very important role in maintaining and improving your health, both physically and emotionally. As Phyllis Diller once said: A smile is a curve that sets everything straight, and the smile can help you to stand out, improve people's perception of your attractiveness and relieve any stress you might be experiencing. And if you're still not convinced, there is evidence that those who smile often live an average of seven years longer than those who rarely conjure a regular smile.

A fun way to improve your physical and mental well-being, the smile is free of charge and always available by choice and this blog explores the ways you can smile to be healthy.

1. Smile to relieve stress. Stress is easily shown in our faces. Smiling prevents people from looking too tired or overwhelmed. When you're stressed, try to put on a smile, as it will make you feel happy, and you will appear happy. Your feelings on stress will be reduced as the endorphins associated with the smile are released, and the infectiousness of your smile will help to make others happy. When others are happy, you will feel even happier knowing you're helping others to feel better. You may even start laughing, and if so, others might join in. That shows you that from being sad, you can start laughing with the help of a smile.


2. Smile to help your immune system work better. Smiling brings about a sense of relaxation, and it is relaxation that helps your immune system to work more efficiently. You can reduce the risk of sicknesses such as the cold and the flu by smiling, in addition to getting a seasonal flu vaccine, exercising, eating right, and living a healthy lifestyle.


3. Understand that smiling helps you to stay positive. A simple test to show you how smiling keeps you positive is to smile. Then you need to try to think of something negative, but keep the smile, otherwise the test won't work. You will soon see that it is hard to combine the negative thought with the smile! When we smile, our body and mind are sending us a message that everything is okay, and that life is great. Smiling will help to lift depression and sadness, and with frequent use, works better than any type of medication to relieve you of stress. Dozens of studies show that if you are positive, you are more likely to live longer, a state of being that also helps to ward off sickness.


4. Smile to look younger. The muscles used to smile lift your face up, which makes people appear much younger. Don't go for an unnatural and dramatic smile, just try to smile throughout the day naturally.


5. Use your smiles to increase your chances of living longer. Those who smile are thought to live an average of 79.9 years, while partial smilers live an average of 75 years, and non-smilers live an average of 72.9 years. The only conclusion to be reached from this is to smile every day. Even if it doesn't guarantee that you'll live longer, you'll feel a whole lot better for it throughout your life! Obviously as well as smiling, also pay attention to appropriate exercising, eating right, and living a healthy lifestyle.


6. Smile to relieve pain. When you're in pain, physically or mentally, smile. Smiling releases endorphins and serotonin – endorphins are natural painkillers. Together, these two chemicals make people feel more able to cope when they're in pain. When someone is sad, and their friend comes over and makes the person laugh to cheer the person up, the resulting smiling and laughter relieve pain.


7. Smile to help reduce your blood pressure. If you're a person suffering from high blood pressure (hypertension), then it's recommended that you smile a lot more. When you smile, you should see a marked reduction in your blood pressure: If you have a blood pressure monitor, then you can prove this response. Sit for a little while, and read. Smile for a few minutes, and then read while still smiling. Then measure your blood pressure with your blood pressure monitor. You should notice that your blood pressure has gone down measurably.


8. Smile to make yourself seem more successful. People who smile appear more confident, are more likely to be promoted, because they will put their boss into a happy mood, and are more likely to be approached by many people, as well as making more friends. Smile at meetings, and you will see that people will react to you differently. Smile to help put people at their ease and you'll feel a lot more at ease too. Ultimately, the smile is an easy way to improve your mental well-being through increased confidence and better relationships with other people.

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Scientists Say Dried Licorice Root Fights The Bacteria That Cause Tooth Decay And Gum Disease

Dr. Jay Jorgensen D.D.S.

Scientists are reporting identification of two substances in licorice - used extensively in Chinese traditional medicine - that kill the major bacteria responsible for tooth decay and gum disease, the leading causes of tooth loss in children and adults. In a study in ACS' Journal of Natural Products, they say that these substances could have a role in treating and preventing tooth decay and gum disease.


Stefan Gafner and colleagues explain that the dried root of the licorice plant is a common treatment in Chinese traditional medicine, especially as a way to enhance the activity of other herbal ingredients or as a flavoring. Despite the popularity of licorice candy in the U.S., licorice root has been replaced in domestic candy with anise oil, which has a similar flavor. Traditional medical practitioners use dried licorice root to treat various ailments, such as respiratory and digestive problems, but few modern scientific studies address whether licorice really works. (Consumers should check with their health care provider before taking licorice root because it can have undesirable effects and interactions with prescription drugs.) To test whether the sweet root could combat the bacteria that cause gum disease and cavities, the researchers took a closer look at various substances in licorice.


They found that two of the licorice compounds, licoricidin and licorisoflavan A, were the most effective antibacterial substances. These substances killed two of the major bacteria responsible for dental cavities and two of the bacteria that promote gum disease. One of the compounds - licoricidin - also killed a third gum disease bacterium. The researchers say that these substances could treat or even prevent oral infections.


The American Chemical Society is a non-profit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 163,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.


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Brushing & Flossing Tips For Your Children's Teeth

Dr. Jay Jorgensen D.D.S.

In children, teeth should be cleaned as soon as they emerge. By starting early, your baby gets used to the daily routine. A soft washcloth wrapped around your finger can substitute for a brush when teeth first appear. Ask our office when you should switch to a toothbrush.

Here are some tips for taking care of your child’s teeth:

1. Choose a small, child-sized, soft-bristled toothbrush. Soaking the brush in warm water for a few minutes before brushing can soften the bristles even more.

2. We generally recommend using only plain water for brushing up to the age of two. This is because young children swallow toothpaste and swallowing too much fluoride can lead to tooth discoloration in permanent teeth. Ask us if toothpaste should be used. Also, check the manufacturer's label; some toothpastes are not recommended in children under age six. If a toothpaste is to be used, squeeze out about a green pea-size amount of fluoride toothpaste onto the toothbrush.

3. Brush your child's teeth twice a day – in the morning and just before bed. Spend two minutes brushing, concentrating a good portion of this time on the back molars. This is an area where cavities often first develop.

4. Replace the toothbrush every two or four months, or sooner if it shows signs of wear. Never share a toothbrush with others.

5. Start flossing your child's teeth once a day as soon as two teeth emerge that touch.


When Should Children Brush and Floss on Their Own?

Most children lack the coordination to brush or floss their teeth on their own until about the age of six or seven. Up until this time, remember that the best way to teach a child how to brush their teeth is to lead by example. Allowing your child to watch you brush your teeth teaches the importance of good oral hygiene.

How Safe Is Fluoride for My Child?

Fluoride is safe for children. Fluoride is a natural mineral that protects and strengthens the teeth against the formation of cavities. Using it early in your child's life will provide extra protection for developing teeth. Find out if your tap water contains fluoride by calling your local water authority. If your tap water does not contain fluoride, ask us if you should give your child a fluoride supplement.

Do Home Faucet Filters Remove Fluoride?

There is a wide variation in water filters. Some do filter out fluoride; others do not. Check with the manufacturer of the filter you have purchased or have the water tested by a laboratory that does this type of testing.

Does It Matter What Toothpaste My Child Uses?

Many children's toothpastes are flavored with child-pleasing tastes to further encourage brushing. Select your child's favorite. Also, look for toothpastes that carry the American Dental Association's (ADA) Seal of Acceptance. This indicates that the toothpaste has met ADA criteria for safety and effectiveness. Finally, read the manufacturer's label. Some toothpastes are not recommended for children under a certain age.

Can My Child Use a Mouthwash?

Generally, mouthwashes are not recommended in children who are incapable of spitting and rinsing – skills that occur around the age of six. It's important to note that mouthwash is not a substitute for brushing, although rinsing after a meal with water will help remove some larger particles of food left on or between the teeth.

When Should My Child Start Seeing a Dentist?

It is generally recommended that an infant be seen by a dentist by the age of one or within six months after his or her first tooth comes in. This allows our office to inspect the teeth for any irregularities and counsel the parents on correct brushing methods and appropriate diet.

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Dental Tips For A Fantastic Mouth In 2012

Dr. Jay Jorgensen D.D.S.

The start of the new year is a great point to drop the bad habits and improve your lifestyle, so our dentists got together to give you tips on how to keep your mouth healthy in 2012!


Minimize soda pop drinking
No surprise there, right? High consumption of soda or other acidic beverages can lead to enamel loss, which you can’t replace.


Use an electric toothbrush
Remember when electric toothbrushes were expensive? Not anymore. There are several options of electric toothbrushes that are affordable and work great. Using an electric toothbrush causes less damage to your gums, requires you to use less force when brushing, and some even come with a timer so you meet the recommended brushing time.

Avoid chewing ice
Some people make a habit of chewing on ice, but biting on hard substances, such as ice cubes, may cause fractures to the teeth or damage fillings.

Mouth guards for active people
If you’re into active sports such as hockey, then cover those pearly whites. Mouth guards not only protect your teeth, but also other important parts of the mouth: cheeks, gums, and lips.

Protect yourself at night with a Bruxism guard
These are recommended for patients who grind or clench their teeth at night due to stress.

Refrain from using your teeth as tools
Who’s guilty of using their teeth to open a water bottle? No worries, in some way we’re all guilty of thinking our teeth are invincible; however, don’t forget your teeth are important and get a lot action as it is, so avoid using them as a tool. Grab someone with a stronger hand or an actual tool.


We hope these tips were helpful and will be useful in making sure your mouth is healthy in 2012! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at 760-323-2771.