The Secret Way to a Healthier Mouth

There is an ingredient you need to understand if you want to prevent cavities in your mouth.  That ingredient is xylitol.  Found in some sugarless gums, it is a naturally occurring artificial sweetener.  Did you know that it also prevents cavities?  So, here it is, the info on xylitol:  what it is, what it does, and why you shouldn't ingest too much of it!

What is Xylitol?

It is an artificial sweetener, one that our bodies and some plants make in small amounts naturally.  Xylitol, the product, comes in many forms, even in granulated form to replace table sugar.  It is usually made by chemically removing it from plants, either corn or birch.  There is controversy over whether it is a natural product since it is subjected to processing, but hey, other things are processed without controversy, like vinegar or...vodka.  As far as teeth go, there is xylitol in some toothpastes, and in chewing gum, yet beware claims that all of the products are useful.

What Does It Do?

Xylitol sweetens, yes, but it also does something to bacteria.  The bacteria that use sugars to grow into fuzzy blankets over your teeth are unable to use the xylitol.  In fact, in a large enough amount, xylitol can actually kill the bacteria.  Ultimately, should you decide to use xylitol to kill bacteria, you will change the types of bacterial flora in your mouth, which will prevent cavities.

Why Not EAT It?

Because the xylitol only needs to be ingested by bacteria to help you orally, you don't need to eat it.  Eating artificial sweeteners can give you some interesting intestinal experiences.  Here are two examples of stories (here and here), both of which bring smiles to our faces, but only because we are not going through the apocalypse described.  Just know that there is nothing wrong with spitting out the xylitol, you still get the antibacterial benefit without the side effects!  Want to know more?  As much fun as internet searches can be, the recommended course is to discuss xylitol with your physician or dentist, who will give you information based on research and experience.

"Strong Enough for a Man, pH Balanced for a Woman"

Anyone who grew up when I did will remember this line from a deoderant commercial.  Without digressing too much into the politically incorrectness of it, let's just say this was my first exposure to "pH".  Do you know what pH means?

The symbol "pH" is used to identify the acidity or alkalinity of something.  The "p" is from the German "Potenz", meaning power, and the "H" stands for hydrogen.  The level of hydrogen in something generally relates to its acidity.  The scale of pH is a logarithmic scale, and trust me, its complicated.  Simply put, pH scale is the "hydrogen power" scale!

Here is an example of the pH scale.

Notice that pH 7 is neutral.  The lower the number on the scale, the more acidic you get.  The higher the number, the more alkaline, or basic.  And now you love chemistry, right?  Well, whether you do or not, pH is important when it comes to your oral health.  Our mouths like a neutral pH, or close to it.

The more acidic your mouth gets, the more sour it tastes, but it doesn't stop there.  Acids are what cause cavities.  So if you can keep your mouth as neutral as possible, you will combat the acids and prevent any cavities!  We have talked about saliva before, and saliva is what buffers the acids, keeping your mouth as neutral as possible.

Other things can help, like baking soda if you don't mind tasting chalk all the time.  There are mouth rinses and toothpastes that can help keep your mouth closer to neutral.  Every time you eat, the pH in your mouth drops to a lower number than 7.  You just need to get the pH back up to the middle of the scale.  Come see us and we can discuss what simple things you can do to keep from getting any cavities.

Your Body Can Change Your Mind

As a follow up to last week's video, we will talk about how you can begin to shape your mind by taking action.  How profound!  Basically, "fake it 'til you make it" isn't just a cliché:  it works!

Amy Cuddy discusses what to do about boosting your confidence by controlling your posture.  Plus, she has the research to back it up.  Just watch the video if you haven't seen it yet.  Prior to really improving your confidence with her techniques, we must discuss "the beginning".  There is a first, necessary step that we can't take for granted in improving ourselves:  responsibility.

Before you can ever begin, you need the power that comes from taking responsibility for you.  Not just what you do and say, but what you think and feel.  Nobody can make you feel anything.  So if you're a nurse with an unruly patient who is purposely trying to get on your nerves, realize that how you feel is completely up to you.  You don't have to turn over control of your emotions to anyone or anything.

We can decide how to react, how to feel, how to think, about any circumstance.  There are many great books written on this subject, not the least of which is by Viktor Frankl, who was a Holocaust survivor and writes beautifully about self-responsibility.  The essential point of all the wisdom you can find on the subject is that you decide how you think and feel.  You can control yourself, making every situation, especially the negative ones, into building blocks for your spirit.  Of course, you don't get there in a day.  It takes practice, but practice is something we are all doing.  Success simply comes from going in the right direction consistently.

Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are

The #1 Way to More Fun

My wife and I have been married for eleven years!   Yesterday, a patient told me that eleven years is a good start, having just celebrated her 57th anniversary with her husband.  The day of our marriage, the officiator sat us down to give us some advice.  I remember expecting to hear "love each other", duh, or "the secret is to play together."  You know, all the cliche stuff.  Instead, he said that we would have real joy together if we worked hard.  What a jip, right?

Kind of like this post...didn't the title say "fun"?  So here it is!  The number one way to have more fun is to work. What?!  But it's true.  The happiest people work hard, from Hollywood to Harrisburg, actors to landscapers, from children to retirees.  All work and no play makes us dull, but have you ever stopped to think what does all play and no work make you?

Public examples of partying hard with no meaning or purpose end up yearning for something more. In other words, if we play long enough, the play becomes...less fun!  This wisdom was once considered common sense, and taken completely for granted.  Now, it's a life hack!

Any time we have fun, the enjoyment is more profound if we have worked hard first.  Finding purpose and dedicating our time and energy, our sweat and tears, makes the down time that much more appreciated.  This spells out the difference between leisure, which can recharge our batteries and create energy, and idleness, which drains energy and infects us with laziness.

So, work hard and have fun, and you'll get more out of both of these complimentary actions!

Spit is Your Natural Protector

But spit is so gross, right?  We get asked countless times how we can work in mouths, where there is all of that spit.  Did you know that spit is essential to a healthy mouth?  Without spit, you have xerostomia, or dry mouth, which is worse than you think.

Dry mouth is a side effect of certain medications, diseases, and medical treatments.  The symptoms are: a dry or sticky feeling in the mouth and throat, sores, recurrent thirst, bad breath, or a raw tongue.



photo credit goes to milan6

There are some over-the-counter oral aids out there to help with dry mouth, such as Biotene products and Oramoist patches, but something as small as sipping water and keeping your mouth moist throughout the day will help a lot.  Dry mouth can increase your chance of getting gum disease, cavities and certain conditions in the mouth like thrush.  In fact, those that have dry mouth can get cavities even if they brush their teeth three times per day!

Spit is your natural protector and helps keep bacteria at bay.  Saliva buffers acids in the mouth, so it removes the cause of cavities:  acid.  Even if you don't drink much soda, which is acidic, any breads or fruits or vegetables you eat give certain types of bacteria their food, and they produce acid.  Without saliva, you can't protect yourself against the acid, and your mouth stays tasting sour for hours on end.  We have seen patients who have no cavities at all, and they return in six months only to have a mouth full of cavities because of beginning a medication that has dry mouth as a side effect.  Don't wait!  If you think you have a dry mouth, call us and we can help get you protected from the consequences.

2 Great Steps to Accomplishing More...and Being Happy About It!

Recently, I watched an interview explaining the concept of managing energy instead of time with James Clear.  Time management is a favorite topic of efficiency consultants, but when the consultants leave, often employees and employers revert back to old habits of managing energy, usually not very efficiently.  We all tend to manage our energy:  we do what we think we have energy for, and sometimes that means sitting on the couch, watching a show, mowing down on potato chips.  Picture a Friday night and a heart-broken single woman eating ice cream while watching "Breakfast at Tiffany's".  She's managing energy!

We can be more efficient at managing our energy, which is always better in the long run than managing time.  If our time is very efficient and our energy is not, we will burn out at some point.  Of course, if we only manage energy, we may end up wasting time!  We need to be realistic about what we can accomplish with our time and our energy.  There are two essential parts to managing energy:  First, we must be aware of our energy expenditures; Second, we should plan for recharging energy.

Energy Expenditures

For example, I know that scheduling difficult tasks in the morning is great for me:  that's when I perform the best and the fastest.  Later in the day, I take longer to produce the same quality.  The further we get into a project without a break, the more apt we are to lowering quality.  Short-term projects for which we must devote intense energy and undivided attention may be best accomplished when we know we are at our best.


Just taking the time to be aware of our energy levels and how we are spending them is a big step in the right direction.  You have probably heard of getting enough sleep and eating a good breakfast on the day of a big test in school.  This is being aware of energy expenditures, and taking time to prepare, which leads us to how to prepare...

Recharging Energy

Also, I have to take time to process events every day, which is why I like hiking.  It recharges the batteries.  Because I enjoy talking to people and helping them, it recharges my energy.  Practically, if my schedule is so full that I don't have time to connect with people, I burn out quickly.  Plus my patients feel like cattle, and I feel like I am treating them like cattle.

Finding your recharge time isn't just like me playing the guitar at the end of the day:  I have to wait all day to do that.  There are things that give you energy that can be done during the day to give you a pick-up.  You will see your productivity go up as you take time to recharge throughout the day.

Be aware of your energy expenditures and take control of your energy and time management by recharging throughout the day or during a project.  You will see yourself getting more finished, at higher quality, and you'll be happier!

The Most Important Health Decision of Your Life

No, it isn't Cheerios or Life cereal in the morning!  It is definitely not whether to eat protein or carbohydrates.  The most important health decision of your life is one you make every single day, mostly without thinking much about it.  And although I care about oral health, we're not talking about whether to floss!

This essential of all decisions is...drum roll...how much sleep you will get.  Yes, very few things have as much impact on your life as your sleep.  Our bodies need down time, and so do our minds.  How we go about planning and preparing for this essential of all times means the difference between health and illness for most people.

Sufficient sleep has been linked to weight loss, lowering stress, reducing inflammation, increasing memory and attention, and many more things that are easy to miss when we are burning the candle at both ends.  Yes, if we find ourselves lacking energy or motivation or even if we seem to get sick easily, we should plan and prepare for better sleep.

Plan (Quantity)

There are people who can't plan their sleep, like those with narcolepsy or any other sleep disorder.  Yet if you have one of these disorders, you may be all to familiar with how much sleep is a necessary part of life on Earth!  Your doctor can help you control what seems uncontrollable.

For the rest of us, planning for at least seven hours of sleep is vital to staying healthy, but this doesn't mean they have to be seven consecutive hours.  There is evidence that in the past, it was common to sleep four hours, wake in the middle of the night to snack or write letters or for romance, and then sleep three to fours hours before getting up.

But getting hours of sleep at night, and power naps if needed during the day can help you reach the seven hours.  A quick Google search can show you how much study has been done on sleep and how much benefit there is from making sure you get enough.  If you really have no control over your schedule, then you can at least prepare to get a better night's sleep.

Prepare (Quality)

Sleep is important enough to prepare for!  Cramming in another episode of Walking Dead while munching Chex Mix is only great preparation if you want a long wakeful night of zombies and eating brains!  One thing that may be ruining your sleep quality is using technology within an hour before bed.  The screen from your phone or iPad may be preventing your brain from preparing for sleep, lowering your sleep quality.  Taking time to plan the next day, thinking about the day we just had, stretching and breathing exercises all can help us get better sleep.  And don't forget to brush your teeth before bed, the most important time to do it!

What is "Whole Body Health"?

 

During my time at dental school, I was involved with some of the medical school's professors and leadership.  One of my mentors from the medical side was a pediatrician.  He told me a story that at the time opened my mind to how medicine doesn't always get things right.  He related the tale of a group of small children who were diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, ADD, that were given medications and treatment, only to later discover that they had mouths full of cavities.  Obviously in so much oral pain, the poor children couldn't pay attention!  Once the correct diagnosis was made, the oral health restored, the children were cured of their ADD.

We've all heard a horror story like this before where the doctors messed up.  Maybe they couldn't figure out what was wrong until their patient spent a ton of money and time.  As angry as this makes us, it's just not true that all doctors are idiots or are just in it for the money.  Maybe this is just the reason they call it "practice".  Despite the hopeful world we live in where nothing like this will ever happen to us, it is possible to get a sickness that is just new to medicine, or at least new to our physician.

The solution for us is the same as the solution that occurred for the school-children:  the body should be thought of as a whole, with many systems that are intertwined.  The best person to juggle all of this knowledge about your body is you, basing your wise choices on recommendations from health professionals.

Here are three suggestions for treating your body as a whole. 

First, search out professionals that will empower you to make wise decisions regarding your health care.  Believe it or not, the internet is great for information, but a professional diagnosis can be trusted.

Second, give your doctor time to explain the reasoning behind the diagnosis and recommended treatment.

Third, ask a lot of questions!  Seek understanding about your body, mind, and spirit.

We can help you seek whole person healthcare.  Contact us today!

3 Ways to Nuke Bad Breath

Bad breath hits everyone sometime.  And the bad part is that we don't normally smell our own bad breath:  someone needs to tell us, and you know that doesn't happen very often!  Understanding why we get bad breath can help us know how to beat it.  There are three common causes of bad breath:  bacteria, dry mouth, and our tonsils.  Each cause has something you can do to get rid of it.


1.  Bacteria

We all have bacteria in our mouths, and if you keep your mouth sufficiently clean, you shouldn't have a problem with stinky bacteria.  And how do you beat bacteria?  Start with regular professional cleanings.  At a professional cleaning, the deeper bacteria is cleaned out.  If you have bad breath and haven't had a professional cleaning in a while, set up an appointment soon, and you'll see how much it improves your breath.

2.  Dry Mouth

We all have a dry mouth at night or whenever we sleep, so we wake up to the dreaded "morning breath".  Other things cause our mouths to be dry, like certain medications and dehydration.  If you feel that you don't have enough saliva, then you should see your dentist about solving that problem because you could be at extreme risk of cavities and gum disease.  If you have normal saliva during the day, but wake up to morning breath, then make sure you brush, floss, and use mouthwash at night.  This can mean a lot less smelly breath in the morning.

3.  Our Tonsils

Every time we eat anything, small amounts of it get trapped in our tonsils, where our bodies test out the food for bacteria and viruses.  Our immune system gets ready to fight anything we unknowingly eat or drink.  Unfortunately, this also means that smellier foods like garlic, onions, and some cheeses are sitting in the crypts of our tonsils for long periods of time, giving us bad breath.  Of course you could completely avoid these foods, but that's a bummer.  Gargling some mouthrinse can help dislodge the food particles giving you bad breath.  Do this especially before bed because if the food particles are allowed to sit overnight in your tonsils, the smell is harder to remove.  Other things can help, like staying hydrated with lots of water.

Knowing these three most common causes, you can prevent bad breath, also called halitosis.  If you have any questions about how these things can help you, or if you've tried them and they didn't work, contact your dentist and see if you have a more rare cause of halitosis.  We can help you get rid of your bad breath.  Call or email us today!

4 Easy Ways to Build Your Emotional Strength

Emotional strength can be developed and improved upon, and there are many techniques that help produce success.  Some of them require a lot of practice at controlling your mind, and well, who has the time to become a monk just to be emotionally stronger?  Here are four easy things you can do to build your emotional strength.

1.  Know that your potential is limitless.  Like we said in our last post, you have inherent worth, and it's great.  That worth comes in part from the truth that anybody can improve.  You have potential to change yourself and change your circumstances, even if only indirectly.  I like the saying on a poster I saw recently:  "Every EXPERT in anything was once a beginner" with a picture of a young boy with a baseball bat standing small on a large baseball diamond.  Sure, others may seem to have natural talent that you don't have, but it's absolutely true that with enough work and practice, you can become the expert.  So, go to it!

2.  Take responsibility for yourself.  Nobody can make you feel:  you are in charge of that.  You have the power to respond however you choose, so don't give that power to another person or to a painful circumstance.  This involves being aware of your feelings and thoughts, which is the beginning of controlling them.  Just starting this step will make you feel powerful.

3.  Be a best friend to someone.  You're probably saying "these were supposed to be easy!", and this one is easy, too.  We all know that a true friendship takes a long time to build.  But being a best friend is nothing more than being focused on another person, not ourselves or what we'll get out of the friendship.  This step involves nothing more than doing something meaningful for someone.  From their perspective you will have been a great friend.  With daily practice, this step has the ability to transform your life.

4.  Accomplish small things.  Any politician knows that sometimes you just need an easy win, that everyone can see.  Getting something small done lets us focus on the positive easier because at least momentarily we aren't thinking about the problems.  Especially during a stressful time in your life, if you focus on what you can do, you will feel powerful.  A wise man once said:  starve the problems and feed the possibilities.  It seems counterintuitive, but it works.  Here is the link to his book.


These four steps will give you more emotional strength.  They each take practice, but when rough times hit, you will find the emotional strength to handle things better.

Emotional Strength

When I was in my third year of dental school, my family and I went through some difficult times.  My wife lost her dad to cancer within six months of his diagnosis.  We also had two late miscarriages.  On top of this, I began the clinical practice of dentistry at school.  Besides the heartache of the death of loved ones, we were travelling with our three other children between Arizona and Wyoming multiple times for a last visit with Grandpa Opie and for the funeral since we couldn't afford to buy five round-trip plane tickets each time.

Looking back, it's obvious I could have handled the stress better.  Food became my comfort, I put on extra weight, lost a LOT of sleep, and although I tried to keep a smile on my face at school, I felt myself wearing thin.  Since I had shared news of the first lost pregnancy with classmates, there was a constant reminder of the pain of lost hopes.  I don't recount all of this looking for sympathy, especially because there are plenty of people who have suffered more, but the short version is that both my wife and I were under a lot of emotional stress.  We used up our emotional strength to just survive the negative life events.

Emotional strength is what makes it possible to survive such things.  Wouldn't it be nice if nothing like death or disappointment ever happened to any of us, but these things come to all of us.  And we all know people who seem to handle such pain and stress with grace and strength.  It's their emotional strength!  So where does it come from?  It comes from knowledge of the truth about our own self-worth.  Not self-esteem, that's something else.

Have you ever had the courage to ask yourself "what am I worth?".  The answer isn't about money or the number of friends you have, and definitely not about how many likes you get on your Facebook posts.  Your true worth as a person is priceless, and there is a connection between this worth and your emotional strength.  I may be worth a lot, but if I don't believe it, what is the use?  I believe my worth is great when I do certain things, especially one thing in particular.  The most important thing to do to recognize my self-worth and build emotional strength is to love.  Not faked or selfish "love", but real sharing of myself with others, with all the vulnerability that goes along with it.  The love I express through small kindnesses and effort to give emotional strength to others, even if it isn't very successful, brings emotional strength and a true belief in my self-worth.  That knowledge is what carries us through difficulty.

Remember, you have a lot of worth.  Go share yourself, and your unique influence with others:  you will see what I mean.  Stay tuned for more ways to build your emotional strength.

Why Dental Bonding?

We use dental bonding at our office.  Have you heard of it?  Bonding is essentially getting fillings glued to our front teeth, kind of like acrylic nails.  They can change the shade of our teeth, and they can even change the shape somewhat.  Because they are less expensive than other methods, they are a popular option for changing front teeth.  One of the best parts of dental bonding is that as time goes on, it can be easily repaired in the same visit.  This means no multiple visits for initially placing them, and short visits to change them or repair them.  Crowns and veneers take multiple visits.  If the porcelain chips or breaks on a crown or veneer, it must be replaced.

Composite bonding is also easily changed.  If you don't like the shape or the color, it is easy to replace or slightly modify the end product to your satisfaction.  Sometimes dental bonding can even be used in place of orthodontic appliances for those who don't want to wear braces.  Have you always wanted a different smile?  Dental bonding may be for you.  Check with Dr. Bradshaw to see if dental bonding can be used to make your front teeth into your dream smile!

Quality

Quality is the New Luxury

This was an ad that I saw in a magazine recently.  My first reaction was:  how sad!  So, essentially they are saying that you have to have the money to get the quality.  It used to be that quality was the standard, what was to be expected.

Have you ever been surprised out how good a quality you were getting?  Once I bought a piece of furniture, and I shopped for months to get something that would hold up to four children.  I got good quality, and the table and chairs are still in one piece, though a little worse for the wear.  But I'm talking about something unexpected.  Like, buying a TV that has lasted us eight years, still has crisp picture, and was purchased at Wal-mart when they first started to carry flat-screens.

What it Really Means...

Now, we are bound to get some 'duds', items that cause more trouble than they are worth.  Doesn't it feel great when you realize you are getting a lot of value for your money?  Kind of like a vending machine that gives you two artery-clogging danishes instead of just the one you paid for!

Doesn't it stress you out when you realize you are going to have to demand quality?  Most of us avoid the confrontation and just disappear, vowing never to use that company again.  Well, maybe the ad is right:  maybe today we should treat quality like a luxury.  Then, why not be luxurious?!  We should demand a high standard of ourselves first.

How to Begin: On Purpose

In the movie "Hitch", Hitch's first piece of advice for the men he helps is to "begin each day as if it were on purpose."  If you do that, you are setting up for a quality day.  Now imagine what would change if we gave quality time to our loved ones?  Giving quality is the first step to demanding quality.  This might seem counter-intuitive because we've all seen a 'diva', or a self-centered person who is definitely demanding.  But they can't demand quality and never give it without it becoming really obvious they are phonies.  It's not about how much money we have, it's about the quality of our lives.  We should demand quality of ourselves and those around us.

The Best Way to Lift Your Spirit!

Whole body health includes mind, body, and spirit.  A healthy spirit can bring a vitality to our minds and bodies that we cannot get any other way.  On the other hand, an unhealthy spirit is associated with poor mental and physical health.

You Are Not an Island

Behind the scenes is a fascinating place!  Have you ever considered all of the unseen people that make life pleasant for you?  There are garbage collectors, maintenance workers, cleaners, landscapers, the list goes on and on.  Like the saying goes, "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone"...and it's true that many times we learn to appreciate some people only once they are gone.

After letting your garbage pile up for a month, a person learns to appreciate the weekly collector.  In medicine, all of the cleanliness, disinfection, and sterilization goes unappreciated until someone doesn't do their job, and people get infected wrongfully.

Creating Something Lifts You

We find that what we really want is for the unseen people who keep us safe and clean to do their jobs with passion, not just the bare minimum, right?  If you see your landscaper trimming a bush too fast, just to get it done, without care to make it look pleasing, it's tempting to just say "what an idiot!" and complain or get a new landscaper.

But, what makes him or her want to do their job well, above and beyond the expected?  It could be fear of losing their job, but nobody stays in a job long if they are afraid all the time.  There are many reasons people do a good job, however we are talking about someone who strives for excellence in their job, someone who is generous, giving more than expected.

It All Begins with You

Striving for excellence begins with yourself, with myself.  Two things happen once we begin:  first, we see how hard it is; and second, we begin to see that the reward for excellence comes from within.  Our confidence and self-esteem grow as we practice reaching for excellence.

This isn't to say that we will always be successful, on the contrary!  Producing excellent work is a great way to learn how to fail well.  To fail well, a person just needs to learn from the failure and not feel sorry for themselves.  Once we learn to fail and get back up, we discover the key to successful people everywhere.  Then we can lift and inspire other people to reach for excellence, because we are familiar with the process.  We will be able to encourage others to produce quality work, whatever it is, and to continue to reach despite any failure.

Drum Roll: What Our Logo Means!

(Obviously NOT our logo)
http://machsabre.deviantart.com/art/Batman-Logo-264015635

A logo is a symbol of something greater.  Although, we would love to tell you that our email has been overwhelmed with requests for the meaning behind our mysterious logo, that we've had to establish a P.O. box just to handle the mountains of snail mail we've received...

...alas, no, but it is important to explain what the logo for Bradshaw Dental means.  It is a tree, for those of you who think it's an abstract.  But 'why a tree?' you ask?  Because our core philosophy is to help families get better oral health.  Kind of like a family tree.

Much of the bad stuff that happens in our mouths is from bacteria:  bacteria that we inherited from whoever raised us.  So oral health is a family affair!  Even if you have pristine pearly whites, you will want to understand how stuff like cavities and gum disease happen.  Then, with this understanding, you help not only yourself, but your family.

Be an Expert on You!

Too bad we don't have a manual for our bodies like we do for our cars! Especially when we hear conflicting messages like "don't eat fat" and "don't eat sugar". And you know these experts aren't talking to each other: nobody is saying "become a meat eater" because they know that really means "become gassy and ruin your skin". On the other hand, anybody that jumps into eating carrots and celery immediately notices that drastically increasing your fiber has consequences involving being close to a 'jon'.

It's kind of like your car. Now, I know enough to change my own oil and tires and recognize whether the alternator has a problem. I also know that I can learn more, and that I can find an expert when I need one.

Our bodies seem more complicated, especially when we are taught that it's too complex and you have to pay a lot of money to go to school to learn the mysteries of the body. We can just go to the doctor and let them 'fix' us, like we go to the mechanic and let them fix our car: mysteriously. Good mechanics that I've known explain how things were fixed, and you can tell they would teach you everything if you let them. Doctors are no different.

What to do about all of this? I believe the key is to follow what I was told by a doctor of mine: you are the expert of your own body. Be an expert about you. What you will discover is that experts depend on other experts to help t
hem understand. As a professional, I rely on the expert diagnoses of specialists in my field of medicine. When I can't make sense of the data, I refer my patients to a specialist to aid in the diagnosis. Experts ask questions of other experts!

One thing is certain: if you are an expert who tries to cram yourself into the latest new thing, you may find yourself overwhelmed by the mystery of your own body and at least less happy. You need to practice stepping back and asking yourself, "Does this help me long-term? Is this a temporary fix? What can I expect if I follow this medical advice?". Unfortunately, the goal of being healthy overall is sometimes lost in the fixes, the medicines, the diets.

Therefore! Be an expert on your own body! You can learn to manage your own health, relying on other experts like your physician, your dentist, your chiropractor, etc., to help you. Ask lots of questions, put the pieces together, and you will become the expert you were meant to be.

Lasers in Dentistry?!

Technology today is constantly changing and improving. When you go to get your teeth cleaned, many dentists now offer a laser treatment. I know what you are thinking:  lasers in your mouth sounds scary, but it's not. It is very beneficial.

After the hygienist is done cleaning your teeth, there is a soupy mix of bacteria left in the pockets of gum around each tooth. The laser has a tiny little tip that shines like a flashlight down in the pockets, heating that bacteria up just enough to kill it without hurting you. The majority of patients that have this treatment see improvements in their oral health.

Reverse the Stink!

My youngest daughter, Natalie
by Richard Bradshaw

Now that the bacteria have been killed, and you have washed out your mouth, let's discuss the final way to tip the scales in your favor!
Let's talk about spit!  Ewwww!

Saliva is your natural protector.  When you have enough saliva, it works to prevent cavities and gum disease.  You should know that every time you eat, your saliva takes about 30 minutes to return your mouth to neutral.  Things like soda don't help, especially if you sip it all day, because soda is acidic.  Our mouths like to be neutral.  So just quit all soda, right?  Maybe that's a bit extreme, but if you understand what is happening in your mouth, you can do other things to combat it, tipping the scales to good oral health even though you like soda!

Saliva isn't water!  It has lots of chemicals and enzymes and buffers.  You can imagine what would happen if you don't have all of this salivary goodness!  The bacteria, especially the bad kinds, can etch into your teeth and grow rapidly in your gums.  Then, how can you boost your saliva?  Two easy ways:  drink enough water or water-based liquid (that doesn't include soda!), and stimulate your saliva with sugarless mints or gum.

Plus, at night our saliva shuts down, which means the most important time to clean and prevent is before we sleep.  And then, we wake up to all of that stink of morning breath, ugh!  Another wrench thrown into the mix is medication:  many medications dry out our mouths as a side effect.  Your dentist or physician can let you know if dry mouth, or xerostomia, is a side effect of any of your medications.

So get your spit flowing and make sure when it doesn't flow, you have a clean mouth!

Wipe Out the Bad Bugs!

Now that we've discussed some mechanical cleaning done at home and at the dental office, let's talk about chemicals!

 

We've known for many years that chemicals affect our mouths and our oral health.  While there isn't a magical medicine that can cure cavities or gum disease, there are a couple of things that bring our mouths into balance:

lasers and chlorhexidine.

 

Lasers have been in dentistry for decades, but only recently have they been used to kill bacteria.  They are used in laser bacterial reduction therapy, to kill some of the soupy mix left over from your professional cleaning.  Lasers kill bacteria!

 

The mouth rinse called chlorhexidine gluconate is used to kill bacteria chemically over a long period of time.  Chlorhexidine has been around for many years also, and it helps our bodies to heal by cleaning out wounds.  It kills bacteria, but it can also stain our teeth if used too much.  So how to use it long-term?  Using small amounts for one week out of a month still gives us the benefit of killing more bacteria, but doesn't have the level of side effects from more frequent use.

 

Talk to your dentist about prevention by killing the bacteria, and you will be so glad you did!

Wash Your Mouth!

So we are talking about three things you can do to 'tip the scales' in your favor as far as beating the bad bacteria in your mouth.  First, cleaning the bacteria out is crucial, for obvious reasons.

You know how to do it!  Brush your teeth!  Go to the dentist to have professional cleanings as often as recommended!  So, but you might say you do these things already and you still get cavities.  Well, there are some of us who have to work harder to clean than others.  It isn't fair, but it's reality.  Don't worry, though, there are also other things you can do to change the results you're getting which we'll talk about in the next two posts.

Back to washing your mouth:  there are two good analogies to help you know if you're doing a good job brushing.  Your dentist can help you know if there is anything you can do to improve, but here are two things to keep in mind.

First, it's not about pressure, it's about time.  Brush for a couple of minutes at least, brushing lightly so the tips of the bristles do the work, not your forearm!

Second, don't rinse off the toothpaste!  That's right, rinsing with water after brushing removes much of the benefit of the toothpaste.  So, find a toothpaste you like the flavor of, then brush, spit, and walk away!  The toothpaste will continue to work for about 30-60 minutes.  Don't worry about swallowing it, such small amounts won't hurt you.

The 3 Ways to Prevent Bad Oral Health

Remember old-time scales?  I worked in a feed store during high school, and I became familiar with scales, digital ones.  We have an old-fashioned scale at our office similar to the one in this photo.  A counter-weight was added and then something was weighed in comparison with the counter-weight.  So you could tip the scales in your favor by adding more stuff to the feed side, if we're weighing grain.

This type of balance is something our bodies do all the time.  In fact, there are many systems that have a built-in balancing with hormones.  There are also a couple of balanced systems in our digestive system:  one in our intestines and one in our mouths.  They are very similar in some ways, but obviously, we are going to focus on the one in the mouth.

There are bacteria that live in our mouths!  Lots of different kinds, and yet a relatively few types of bacteria are responsible for cavities and gum disease.  The bacteria, if not cleaned off properly, will continue to grow until we feel fuzziness on our teeth.  They don't stop there, but continue to grow until they harden on the teeth like barnacles.  At this point, your breath probably stinks, even if you don't notice it!  The gums get swollen and bleed easily.  It becomes pretty easy to get an infection that hurts when things get this bad.

Back to the scales:  we need to tip the scales in our favor, if the bacteria are on one side, and health is on the other side.  There are a few things we can do to tip the scales:  clean the bacteria off and out of our teeth and gums, kill them with chemicals, and reverse what they are doing.  The next three blog posts will be about each of these:  Wash Your Mouth, Wipe Out the Bad Bugs, and Reversing the Stink!