JustCare

Tag: Teeth

  • Do you really need a tooth implant?

    Do you really need a tooth implant?

    If your dentist suggests you replace your teeth rather than fix them, get a second opinion. You should avoid getting tooth implants if you can. Not only are they extremely expensive, they are not likely to be a better alternative than crowns and root canals, reports Brett Kelman and Anna Werner for KFF Health News.

    Prosthetic teeth are not likely to function as well as your own teeth. One patient of ClearChoice, which provides people with dental implants, couldn’t chew for two years because the implants were not aligned properly. She needed corrective surgery.

    If you can save your teeth, do so. As a general rule, you should get implants when you have missing teeth or teeth so damaged that they cannot be replaced. Dentists’ primary goal should be to preserve their patients’ teeth.

    According to experts, implants are very costly and can lead to surgical complications. Moreover, they increase the likelihood of people having few ways to treat new problems with their teeth. Dental experts say that they find in most cases that they are asked to give second opinions about dental implants, teeth can be saved.

    No one should think that dental implants will hold up better or longer than your own teeth. Don’t believe the TV and social media ads that suggest otherwise. You have to take care of implants even more than you have to take care of natural teeth. You can get gum and bone infections or bone loss in the area surrounding implants. That can destroy the implant’s efficacy.

    Moreover, too often the implants do not fit well and need replacing. Dentists often have not been trained in how to provide an implant. Training is not required in any state except Oregon. Without training and experience, you can imagine what the results might be. Oral surgeons, periodontists, or prosthodontists have training but usually are not performing the implants.

    Many lawsuits have been filed against the dental implant chains, alleging negligence and malpractice. Private equity firms own a lot of dental implant chains. Their goal is to make money.

    What exactly happens when you get an implant? The dentist screws a metal post into your jaw and then attaches a fake tooth or a crown to it. For patients who have teeth that cannot be saved, dental implants can be a lifesaver.

    The companies that are pushing dental implants–ClearChoice, Aspen Dental, Affordable Care and Dental Care Alliance–refused to speak to a reporter about their implant services.

    Perhaps thanks to the marketing, in 2022, Americans had more than 3.7 million implants.

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  • How to keep your teeth strong

    How to keep your teeth strong

    Our teeth need our attention, and the mainstream media is letting us know! Knvul Sheikh and Lindsey Bever report for the New York Times and the Washington Post, respectively, on how to brush your teeth and how to strength them. In short, avoid snacking multiple times a day, use toothpaste with fluoride, and don’t rinse after brushing.

    Experts urge you brush your teeth a minimum of two times each day. And, to prevent cavities, use toothpaste with fluoride. If you don’t rinse after brushing, the fluoride remains on your teeth, further protecting them.

    If you can, wait at least 30 minutes after eating to brush your teeth. That allows the saliva in your mouth to remove the acid buildup on your teeth that comes from eating. After brushing, if you must rinse, use as little water as possible and wait as long as possible to do so.  You might also consider using a mouthwash with fluoride.

    Why avoid rinsing? You want the fluoride to strengthen your tooth enamel. Minimizing the rinse after brushing has been found to lower the risk of tooth decay. When you rinse, you wash away a lot of the fluoride. Not rinsing is ideal, particularly for people who eat a lot of sugar or who have a lot of cavities. If there’s little sugar in your diet, rinsing does less harm.

    Why brush your teeth? The reason to brush is to remove dental plaque that contains bacteria that is acidic. When fluoride coats your teeth, it adds minerals to the teeth enamel. But, use fluoride in moderation. Too much fluoride could lead to fluoride toxicity. Especially in children when teeth are growing, too much fluoride can cause white spots.

    How else to protect your teeth? To keep your teeth from weakening and ensure strong teeth, do what you can to protect the enamel on the outside of your teeth. Drinking a lot of water after you eat is helpful, not only in washing away some of the acid buildup but in stimulating the production of saliva in your mouth. Saliva helps keep your teeth strong.

    Why are some people more at risk of tooth decay than others? Some people have genetic predispositions to poor tooth enamel. Others eat foods that eat away at their tooth enamel. Sugary drinks and vinegary foods, as well as fruit juices erode tooth enamel. So, does sparkling water.

    Tip: If you eat sweets, do so in one fell swoop to better protect your teeth. All at once, your teeth have a single exposure to acid. In small bits over time, your teeth have multiple exposures to acid. For the sake of your teeth, it’s best not to snack throughout the day.

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  • Should you brush your teeth before or after breakfast

    Should you brush your teeth before or after breakfast

    Have you ever thought about whether you should brush your teeth before or after breakfast? Lots of us wake up and brush our teeth first thing and others feel that since they brushed their teeth after dinner, they should wait until they’ve eaten breakfast to brush again. Hannah Seo reports for the New York Times that it might not matter, both options have pros and cons.

    There’s not a lot of data to support pre-breakfast brushing or post-breakfast brushing. Experts disagree on the best time to brush your teeth in the morning. Here’s the thinking:

    The value of brushing when you wake up: It wipes out the bacteria in your mouth. If you eat a bunch of sugar at breakfast and don’t brush your teeth beforehand, the bacteria that has accumulated in your mouth while you were sleeping will feed on those carbohydrates. The bacteria will grow. And that bacteria contains acids that erode the enamel protecting your teeth, increasing the likelihood of your getting cavities.

    Brushing also helps you to produce saliva, which protects and strengthens your teeth. While you’re sleeping the bacteria building in your mouth tends to erode the minerals that saliva produces. The bicarbonates in saliva also help reduce acidity in your mouth.

    In addition, brushing with fluorinated toothpaste helps protects your teeth from decaying, keeping acids at bay and strengthening tooth enamel.

    But, you need to do a thorough brush or you will not kill all the bacteria in your mouth.

    The value of brushing after breakfast: Unless you do a thorough brush first thing in the morning and kill all the bacteria that has grown in your mouth overnight, brushing after breakfast will kill all the bacteria in your mouth that comes from eating breakfast. Moreover, the fluoride in your toothpaste is likely to perform better since it will remain on your teeth and not be disturbed from your eating breakfast.

    That said, brushing after you drink juice or coffee could hurt the enamel on your teeth. So, if you are going to brush after breakfast, you are better off waiting a half hour or so. And, then, the question becomes will you remember to brush?

    Bottom line: Brush every morning, whenever makes the most sense for you, and do a thorough brushing!

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