Is The Smile The Most Cosmetically Important Part Of The Face?

A recent survey conducted by the ADA, Crest, and Oral B found that the smile outranks eye, hair, and the body as the most attractive physical feature. When one’s smile is in dazzling and orthodontically-great shape, it is said to be the most eye-catching, fascinating, and engaging physical feature to other people. Smiling is the most recognized body language signal in the world. And smiling is an endorphin-releasing action when it's a genuine smile, as opposed to a forced smile. A great-looking smile can make an otherwise homely-looking person appear more confident, even emboldened, by increasing one's face value. But the teeth must be in proper order. The models, moguls, and movie stars that we see in all of the ads on TV, on billboards, and in magazines all show phenomenal sets of “ivories.” And the better one looks, the greater are the chances that he or she can become more successful in life.

Maintaining a brilliant smile takes work: floss, brush, and rinse (in that order!) daily, periodically visit with your dentist, limit sugary-foods snacking, drink plenty of water to stay hydrated, minimize drinking colored beverages and acidic liquids, get adequate sleep, don't smoke, and practice a healthy lifestyle.

A person with visibly decayed, missing, discolored, and unattractive teeth may find people trying to avoid them to a degree, and he or she might have anxiety about it. Some may think that people with unsightly teeth have a financial, mental, medical, and/or a social problem and are to be given as much separation space as possible.

In the animal kingdom, predators, including humans, may dangerously brandish their teeth to get an aggressive, survival-of-the-fittest point across. Teeth are needed to fight, to kill, and to eat. Do teeth-rich sharks look "sexy" to sharks of the opposite gender? I don't know. But human teeth have evolved and our modern dentitions seem to have a more esthetic, golden-proportioned value to other humans when in an orthodontically harmonious form. The muscles involved in smiling include the levator anguli oris, triangularis, obicularis oris, and the zygomaticus.

Martin Charnin said, "You're never fully dressed without a smile!" And Phyllis Diller quipped, "A smile is a curve that sets everything straight!"  I have heard that it takes more muscles to frown than to smile. So, go ahead…relax… and show us your “Duchenne” smile!

May you have many…I’ll take that first, cosmetically-great, center of attention… smiles!

Fun Floss Facts, Part 2.

Mass- produced silk floss, first available in 1882, was made by the Randolf, Massachusetts-based Codman and Shurleft Company.

When used properly, floss breaks up and removes plaque masses so they can't grow, organize, and mature into more efficient, self-perpetuating, microbiological colonies that can cause dental problems like dental caries, gingivitis, and bone loss, and may contribute to systemic problems like diabetes, heart disease, and premature birth because excessive amounts of bacteria can enter into the bloodstream through ulcerated gum tissues.

Wash the hands well, maybe even twice, before flossing to reduce the amount of germs introduced by otherwise dirty fingers. If the hands can't be washed, use gloves to floss hygienically.

A New Orleans dentist, Levi Spear Parmly, is credited with inventing the original form of floss in silk form  in 1815. He was born on August 29, 1790 in Braintree, Vermont.

Some floss manufacturers include sodium fluoride or other antimicrobial ingredients into the coatings of their products for additional therapeutic benefits.

The WaterPik Power Flosser FLA-220 uses a mint-coated tip that is of adequate length, to  place between teeth, and oscillates about 10,000 times per minute to clean and whiten areas between the teeth and gums.

The Bryton Pick, available at brytonpick.com, is a small, super thin, flexible, germ-resistant, stainless steel plate that is vertically placed between the teeth to remove dental plaque. It can be reused for up to thirty days.

Floss threaders are large, soft plastic needles through which floss can be strung and then used to clean under fixed bridges, fixed retainers, and between braces and teeth.

Dessert Essence coats its floss with extracts from the same tree, the Melaleuca alternifolia tree (over 200 species), that some Australian Aborigines used for medicinal purposes. It contains dozens of beneficial compounds, and is the source of tea tree oil, which is revered by many people around the world for its anti-fungal, antibacterial, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties.

In 1994, enough floss, almost three million miles of it, was purchased by the public, which is more than enough to encircle the Earth at the equator more than one hundred times!

Your Dentist and Hygienist can help choose the right floss for you. See both of them often.

May you have many…silly string, floss is the boss… smiles

Don't Use These Home Remedies To Whiten Your Teeth!

It's understandable that people want to put their best foot and smile forward to make the best social impression. And in this current economy, saving money while getting a brighter smile may lead some to try folk remedies not done in the dental office. Some people have misplaced motivations and leave the concoctions on the teeth too long and/or use them too often, thinking that more is better. The enamel of the teeth and the soft gum tissues can be harmed with these chemicals. Instead of trying potions you might find or prepare at home, use modern, proven methods from your store or pharmacy, or under the controlled conditions at your dental home, which are evidence-based, safe, and actually work.

I have come across several home remedies, which I feel shouldn't be used, that purport to whiten the teeth:

Baking Soda- As an abrasive, it won't brighten the teeth, but it will remove surface stains, so that the natural whiteness of the teeth will show. With overuse, it may remove too much enamel which is only replaceable with a filling. Add a strong acid like lemon juice, and you will remove your precious enamel at a much faster rate.

Strawberries- Malic acid in strawberries can remove stains from enamel caused by, say, dark wines and dark sodas, but it also removes surface minerals. Some people have a tendency to leave the crushed up strawberry paste on too long. When mixed with baking soda and brushed on the teeth, too much enamel can be removed.

Lemon Juice or Grapefruit Juice- Both contain strong citric acid (lemon pH is about 2, grapefruit pH is about 3) that can decalcify teeth surfaces and make the enamel softer, and prone to loss. They do have beneficial effects inside the body, though. People who suck lemons a lot will destroy their enamel and need dental work.

Apples- From the plant Malus domestica, apples contains mineral-removing malic acid which is present in apples, in foods, and in some teeth whitening products, to dissolve stains.

Sea Salt and Cider Vinegar- Rubbing a paste solution made from these items, which is acidic, will whiten the teeth by removing stains, but removes needed enamel minerals.

The aforementioned substances will not whiten your teeth much at all, only a shade or two, and then, only temporarily. Any additional whiteness that you achieve is the result of stripping the salivary and surface minerals away, leaving a decalcified, bleached look. In this state, the microsurface of the enamel is at its most fragile state. Nature has given us all a certain thickness of enamel to last a lifetime. Don't wear yours away too quickly. Your teeth can stay their whitest by regularly flossing, brushing and rinsing with remineralizing, commercially-available toothpastes and mouth rinses, and seeing your dentist and hygienist at least every six months to use their whitening powers.

                 

May you have many…nonacidified, luminous, enamelly-rich… smiles!

Smile Quotations, Part 2.

It ain't over till the fat lady...smiles!-Ralph Winge, D.D.S.

A smile is a powerful weapon; you can even break ice with it.-Author Unknown

Children smile on the average 400 times a day; Adults: 15 times a day. Ever wonder why?-Author Unknown

The first one to smile...wins!-Ralph Winge, D.D.S.
    

If you whistle while you work, a smile isn’t far behind!-Ralph Winge, D.D.S.

Don't cry for a man who has left you, the next one may fall for your smile.-Mae West

A smile is the universal welcome.-Max Eastman

People who keep stiff upper lips find that it's damn hard to smile.-Judith Guest

Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have wrinkles.-George Eliot

If a man smiles all the time, he's probably selling something that doesn't work.-George Carlin

People seldom notice old clothes if you wear a big smile.-Lee Mildon

A smile is like tight underwear - it makes your cheeks go up.-Author Unknown

If you're reading this...Congratulations, you're alive. If that's not something to smile about,then I don't know what is.-Chad Sugg

Peace begins with a smile. -Mother Teresa

Thinking a smile all the time will keep your face youthful.-Frank Burgess

Everyone smiles in the same language.-Author Unknown

Courage, not compromise, brings the smile of God's approval.-Thomas S. Monson

May you have many…deep thinking, quotably-cute… smiles!

A Clean Tongue Is A Happy Tongue!

The tongue is one of the most multifunctional parts of the body. It helps us to speak our languages, to lubricate and break up our food before swallowing, to taste our food, to block food, liquid, or other things from accidentally going down our throats, and to warm the air when we mouth breathe, among other things.

So it is a great idea to keep your lingua clean and in working order. Since ancient times, people have used different items to clean the tongue. Today, there are products ergonomically engineered to effectively clean the tongue, including a tongue brush, and a plastic or metal tongue scraper. Alternatively, a spoon, dental floss, finger nails (not recommended), and even the old standby, the toothbrush, can be used. KForce Tongue Gel is an anti-bacterial paste specifically designed to be used dry with a brush to refresh and clean the tongue. It can be used on the teeth, too. Probably the most popular method of cleaning the tongue effectively employs the use of regular toothpaste, a toothbrush, and water.

Clean the tongue until it is thoroughly pink, with no residual white areas. If there are patches of different colors on the tongue, or unusual bumps, or most anything out of the ordinary, see a dentist pronto to see what’s going on.

Gagging is a common reaction when cleaning the tongue especially the back parts, but it still needs to be accomplished.  To suppress the gagging reflex, try relaxing more (easier said than done). Slowly exhaling while brushing the tongue may help. The back area of the tongue shelters a lot of bacteria and other microbes, food, older salivary mucous and exfoliated tongue cells. Volatile sulfur compounds are produced by the bacteria there. These compounds account for up to 95 percent of all cases involving bad breath (halitosis).

Other causes of bad breath may include unbrushed teeth, decaying food between teeth, tooth decay, gum disease, problem tonsils, or strong food smells coming from the stomach.

It has been said that we are what we think, speak, eat, and more. And if we want the best results for ourselves, we must act, for those best results to come to fruition. Maintaining a healthy tongue and oral cavity helps to keep you on your best track.

May you have many…tongue stuck out, pretty in pink, great tasting… smiles!

Fun Floss Facts, Part 1.

Floss first, then brush, then rinse!

Dental floss, the most popular interdental cleaning aide, is an engineered thin filament made from plastic (nylon, polyethylene, or Teflon) or silk.

Many dentists feel that as a patient approaches the age of thirty, regular, effective flossing becomes more important than brushing in preventing tooth loss from gum disease, or periodontitis.

Young teenagers who have lost all of their primary teeth and have grown in their permanent dentitions need to start conscientiously flossing and using a fluoride mouth rinse so they won't develop interproximal dental caries between teeth and end up needing a "mouthful of fillings."

Flavored, unflavored, spongy, silk, waxed, unwaxed, dental tape, and mixed-construction varieties of floss are available.

Most floss is used manually, but there are electric flossers on the market.

The ancient Chinese were the first to learn how to make silk thread from the silkworm’s cocoon. The government threatened to kill any worker who gave the secrets of the process to outsiders.

Dental floss is frequently co-packed with toothpaste and a toothbrush by sellers to build their brands and give the consumer purchasing convenience. This also saves on packaging materials.

One manufacturer packages a single strand of floss in a pack with the floss measuring 18-inches in length.

Teflon floss is made from one filament of floss.

The Leaping Bunny Logo and the Certified Vegan Logo are awarded to companies whose products are demonstrated to be made from animal-free ingredients, and do not use animal testing to validate the effectiveness of their products.

Phillip’s Sonicare AirFloss uses pressurized bursts air and water mist to go between teeth and clean there.

Almost everyone in the U.S. brushes their teeth, but just an average of 25% of people floss on a daily basis.

Beeswax is used as a natural coating on some flosses. It comes from beehives.

A decitex, measured in grams, is the weight produced by 10,000 meters of unwaxed floss or other thread. A tex is the weight, in grams, of 1,000 meters of thread. A denier, also expressed in grams, is the weight of 9,000 meters of thread or floss. Simple math is used to convert between decitexes and deniers.

Floss toothpicks are a popular interdental cleaning aide that can disturb plaque residing between the teeth and gums.

Daily flossing prevents food from stagnating between the teeth and under the gums to prevent and control "fetor oris," popularly known as bad breath, or "The Dragon!"

May you have many…miles-long, thread power, pop that whip!… smiles!

Saliva Is More Than Just Spit! It’s…

...a great diagnostic tool to screen for many things that have a presence in the body. It is a known fact that people see their dentists more frequently than they see their physicians. So, in the future, dentists, who may see people more often than a physician, can test a patient’s saliva and screen it for toxins and drugs in the body, some cancer biomarkers, diabetic problems, and many other disease conditions, including the presence of certain bacteria that can cause gum disease and MRSA. 

This burgeoning field is called salivaomics. A person’s approximate age can be ascertained by studying the amount of molecular methylation (which increases with age) in a saliva sample. Smokers, alcoholics, and other substance abusers can see evidence of how their lifestyle choices actually make negative changes in their genetic health with the help of information gleaned from this testing.

AIDS antibody and nutritional deficiency testings can be done using salivary secretions.

Saliva is one of the most important fluids of the body. It helps to maintain the oral cavity by lubricating our total mouth, from the teeth and gums to the cheeks and tongue, with a protective, moistening film. It starts the physical digestive process by helping to break up the food with the action of chewing, and starts the chemical digestive processes by coating the food with enzymes.

Saliva also wets the bolus of food being masticated so it can be swallowed easier, thereby preventing choking. Its presence in adequate amounts helps us to speak clearly with the proper enunciation. Saliva is made up of about 99% water, but what a difference that one percent makes!

There are five major salivary glands in the mouth, one in both of the cheeks (the parotids), one on both sides of the back of the tongue (the submandibulars), and one under the front portion of the tongue (the sublingual).

Minor salivary glands are seen in many areas of the mouth. People, on average make about one liter of saliva a day, more or less.

There are hand-held devices in the market today that can reliably and quickly analyze saliva samples for various bacteria and drugs, and some of their metabolites. One such smart-phone-sized screening device, which goes by the name Vantix, gives off a signal when certain substances are detected by an antibody-coated electrode. It can even test for multiple things at once.

There may be some shortcomings, however, with some of these emerging technologies. If there is too much blood or other contaminants in the saliva samples, false negative and false positive results can become problematic.

There are definite advantages to collecting and testing saliva. It takes less time to analyze a sample. Obtaining a saliva sample is easier and less painful than giving blood, and it’s more difficult to contaminate the person handling it.

A Salivaomics Knowledge Base (SKB) is being constructed to manage data and help coordinate saliva research progression.

May you have many …moist, glossy, teeth-licking…smiles!

Do I Really Need My Wisdom Teeth Out?

The 3 billion dollar third molar extraction market in the U.S. is supported by about 5 million surgeries on young adults each year to extract 10 million wisdom teeth, performed mostly by oral surgeons.

There are a number of legitimate reasons to have wisdom teeth removed, including, if there is pulpal infection, cellulitis, abscesses, difficult-to-treat dental caries, recurring pericoronitis, and damage to the surrounding bone. The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons recommends removal of them from high-school and college-aged kids, even if they are asymptomatic, before their wisdom teeth root tips finish growing and approximate themselves too close to the mandibular nerve (neurovascular bundle) in question. Young people can predictably recover quickly post-surgically. Preventing future “reasonably potential problems" is the objective.

Our modern jaws are smaller than those of our evolutionary ancestors, but we have the same number of teeth. So many third molars in people just don’t grow in easily for the lack of space.  The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons supportively states that "if there is insufficient anatomical space to accommodate normal eruption. . . removal of such teeth at an early age is a valid and scientifically sound treatment rationale based on medical necessity.” In support, this author needs to tesgreat tify that all of the people who have had their asymptomatic wisdom teeth removed…don’t have wisdom teeth problems (chuckle)!

But not all dentists agree that wisdom teeth should be prophylactically removed to prevent problems. There are real risks inherent to their surgical removal. Paresthesia of the lips, tongue, and cheek, along with altered speech enunciation and sense of taste, post-operative discomfort, TMJ problems, and deaths have been reported (google Jenny Olenick and Marek Lapinski). Also, much depends on the skill and control exhibited by the surgeon. 

Scientists and oral surgeons at the American Public Health Association (APHA) critically say that the routine practice of removing trouble-free wisdom teeth "subjects individuals and society to unnecessary costs, avoidable morbidity and the risks of permanent injury." And the National Institutes of Health only supports the removal of third molars when there is unrestorable caries, infection, cavities, tumors, cysts, or adjacent teeth and bone damage.

According to the APHA, two-thirds of all asymptomatic wisdom teeth are unnecessarily removed. Instead of scurrying to take the back-most teeth out on sight, the third molars in question may, as an option, be monitored with periodic x-rays, and if they remain problem-free, in the name of maintained anatomical integrity, serious consideration should be given to the idea of leaving them in the mouth as is (in situ).

If your wisdom teeth, or the gums over them, hurt some, bu are in otherwise good health, see a dentist and find out if better oral hygiene care and a course of antibiotics might make things better, before jumping to have them taken out. If you are an adult and your wisdom teeth are not causing any problems, and are in good health, my initial advice to you is to think twice about removing them, then possibly get a second opinion from another doctor, and then think again! That old adage--"let a sleeping dog lie"--wasn't made up for nothing!

May you have many…teeth waaaay back… smiles!