Very good hints seen in today’s paper. Although we do not recommend the hydrogen peroxide we do recommend CloSYS products. Please contact our office if you have any questions or would like to make an appointment. We also carry a few different types of fluoride that are suitable for daily use.

How to protect teeth with braces
By ALISON JOHNSON — Daily Press (Newport News, Va.)
Posted: 4:00am on Apr 13, 2012; Modified: 8:10am on Apr 13, 2012

HOW TO … PROTECT TEETH WITH BRACES

Braces and clear plastic aligners create new pockets that collect food and bacteria, raising the risk of cavities and ugly stains. “The best results occur when patients become active participants during orthodontic treatment,” says Dr. William Harper, a dentist in Poquoson, Va. His tips:

Consider more cleanings. Seeing a dentist every three or four months – compared to the usual six months – helps avoid gum inflammation, bone damage and pricey follow-up treatments.

Supplement regular brushing. At home, follow brushing with an electric water flosser. Also carry small, disposable brushes or picks – Proxabrush or Soft-Picks are popular brands – in your pocket or purse.

Invest in an electric toothbrush. These are better at dislodging food and bacteria from hard-to-reach spots. Whatever type of brush you use, be aware that bristles will wear out more quickly than normal from rubbing against wires.

Add fluoride. Extra bacteria create a more acidic environment in the mouth, a risk factor for cavities and brown, gray or white spots on teeth. Using fluoride toothpaste and rinses after meals will help keep your enamel strong; prescription-strength fluoride toothpastes also are available.

Limit acidic drinks. These include diet sodas, fruit juices and sports or energy drinks.

Try hydrogen peroxide. Pharmacies often carry these mouth rinses, designed to fight bacterial inflammation and prevent stains. Prescription bleaching agents also can help in some cases.

Avoid hard and chewy foods. High on the list of items that can damage braces: nuts, crusty bread, caramel, licorice and gum. Also don’t chew on ice, pencils or your fingernails.

Follow directions. Whether it’s cleaning your teeth or wearing retainers or rubber bands as instructed, remember that your orthodontist isn’t bugging you just trying to spare you future troubles.

Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2012/04/13/3161154/how-to-protect-teeth-with-braces.html#storylink=cpy

Did you know that there are tons of bacteria just trying to bang down the door of your mouth each day? It’s true and one of the biggest culprits of them all is a bacteria known as Fusobacterium nucleatum and he doesn’t like to come alone. He often likes to bring his friends, and lot of them! What happens is that when F. nucleatum crashes down the door, it crashes it down to other harmful bacteria, like E. coli as well. These bacteria then invade your body and make you sick!
As a recent study from the Case Western School of Dental Medicine found, F. nucleatum has a unique ability to adhere to soft tissue cell walls, creating breaks in the interlocking sheath of cells on a blood vessel’s surface, which provides just enough opening to allow other bacteria into the blood.
The good news is that when you brush and rinse with ClōSYS, one of the bacteria you are killing is Fusobacterium nucleatum, providing another example of how a cleaner mouth means a healthier you!

A common oral bacteria, Fusobacterium nucleatum, acts like a key to open a door in human blood vessels and leads the way for it and other bacteria like Escherichia coli to invade the body through the blood and make people sick, according to dental researchers at Case Western Reserve University.

Yiping Han, professor of periodontics at the Case Western Reserve School of Dental Medicine, made the discovery in her continued work with the Fusobacterium nucleatum bacterium, one of the most prevalent of the more than 700 bacteria in the mouth.

She found the gram-negative anaerobe has a novel adhesin or bonding agent she’s named FadA that triggers a cascade of signals that break the junctures in an interlocking sheath of endothelial cells on blood vessel’s surface just enough to allow F. nucleatum and other bacteria into the blood.

A description of bond-breaking process was described in the Molecular Microbiology article, “Fusobacterium nucleatum adhesin FadA binds vascular endothelial cadherin and alters endothelial integrity.”

The microbiologist at the dental school has studied the oral bacteria over the past decade and was the first to find direct evidence that linked it to preterm labor and fetal death. But its presence is found in other infections and abscesses in the brain, lungs, liver, spleen and joints.

After finding and genetically matching the oral bacteria in the fetal death, she began to unravel the mystery of how an oral bacterium can be found throughout the body and jumps the blood-brain and placental barriers that usually block disease-causing agents.

Through years of lab work, her research led to the vascular endothelial (VE)-cadherin, cell-cell junctures that link the endothelial vascular cells together on the blood vessels.

These junctures are like a hook and loop connection, but for some unknown reason when F. nucleatum invades the body through breaks in the mucous membranes of the mouth, due to injuries or periodontal disease, this particular bacterium triggers a cascade of signals that causes the hook to recede back into the endothelial cell. The oral bacterium leads the way with any other harmful invaders following along.

This “deceding” was observed by confocal microscopy when Han used cells from human umbilical cord. The researchers introduced F. nucleatum and demonstrated the VE-cadherins break on bonds on the endothelial cells and creating enough space in the endothelium for the invaders to move in.

Lab tests included introducing F. nucleatum with and without other bacteria. When E. coli alone was introduced, the bond did not break. But when F. nucleatum was introduced first, the bond broke, and the E. coli bacteria were able to move through the otherwise intact cell layers.

“This cascade knocks out the guard on duty and allows the bacteria to enter the blood and travel like a bus loaded with riders throughout the system. Whenever the F. nucleatum wants to get off the bus at the liver, brain, spleen, or another place, it does,” Han said.

When it disembarks from its ride through the blood, it begins to colonize. The colony of bacteria induces an inflammatory reaction that has a range of consequences from necrosis of tissue to fetal death.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-12/cwru-fne121511.php

Welcome to daylight savings time again! Hope everyone is rested after losing an hour of sleep last night. We are getting ready for a brighter, whiter spring at the office. Check in soon for spring specials.

Stayed tuned for more spring time updates in the coming weeks!

Consider this blog your news resource for information about oral health, dental procedures and technology, and what’s happening at your dentist’s office. We believe communication is key to building great doctor-patient relationships, and this dental blog is intended to keep us in touch with you. The best part is, you can simply bookmark this page in your browser, then visit whenever you like! Stay tuned for regular posts that will keep you informed.
If you need to schedule an appointment or are “interviewing” us as your potential new dental provider, call today! 402 558 6220