Healthy Teeth for Kids

Despite all that is known about keeping teeth healthy, the importance of good dental hygiene, and the importance of early visits to the dentist for toddlers, kids continue to get cavities at increasing rates.

In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that cavities in baby teeth have been increasing in recent years. On the positive side, cavities in permanent teeth of children and teens have been decreasing.

Healthy Teeth Habits

Most parents know the basics of how to keep their kids' teeth healthy, especially the importance of frequent brushing and avoiding junk food. Unfortunately, these basics often just aren't enough. To keep your child's teeth healthy, it's important that you follow specific steps:

• Clean your baby's gums, even before he gets his first baby tooth.
• Brush your child's teeth twice a day with a soft toothbrush and non-fluoride toothpaste, until he is two years old.
• Switch to a fluoride toothpaste once your child is two years old. Only use a pea-sized amount of toothpaste to help prevent fluorosis, or tooth staining, which can be caused by swallowing too much fluoride.
• If your child brushes his own teeth, be sure to brush them again for him -- until he gets very good at doing it himself (usually at age 6) -- to make sure they are adequately clean.
• Be sure to brush at least twice a day, but especially at bedtime -- all sides of each tooth, including the backsides, and the gumline.
• See a dentist for regular checkups six months after your child's first tooth comes in. If your child is at risk for getting cavities (has a close family member with a lot of cavities, drinks milk or juice at night, has an obvious cavity or tooth staining with white spots), that first checkup should take place when he is twelve months old. Pediatricians can monitor children's teeth, but many do not have any special education about healthy teeth or instructing you about good dental hygiene.
• Consider helping your child floss each day once he has teeth that touch each other, since this area between teeth is a common area for cavities to form.
• Consider dental sealants for permanent molars at around age six to reduce the risk of cavities in these teeth.

Hidden Dangers

Parents often believe the myth that baby teeth just aren't that important. After all, who cares if your child gets cavities in his baby teeth since they are just going to fall out and be replaced with permanent teeth later on, right? This is a dangerous misconception.

Poor dental habits that your child learns early in life can last a lifetime. The same things that led to cavities in his baby teeth will likely also cause him to get cavities in his permanent teeth. And if his baby teeth fall out early, it can lead to spacing issues when his permanent teeth do come in. Besides all of that, poor teeth in early childhood can lead to poor self esteem, nutrition and growth problems, pain, and infections.

Other hidden dangers to your child's teeth include:

• Eating or drinking something after your child brushes his teeth at bedtime.
• Drinking too much fruit juice throughout the day.
• Putting your child to sleep with a bottle or cup of milk or juice, or giving him milk or juice in the middle of the night.
• Eating sticky snacks, which includes many fruit snacks, raisins, dried fruit, candies, etc.
• Eating unhealthy snacks frequently throughout the day between meals, including sugary snacks, chewy candy, hard candy, and potato chips.
• Not getting enough fluoride, which is especially a problem for kids who don't drink water or only drink bottled water, which typically doesn't have fluoride in it.
• Getting a lot of added sugar in his diet from sugary cereals, unhealthy snacks, chocolate milk, etc.

To avoid these hidden dangers, be sure to brush your child's teeth at bedtime and avoid giving him anything else to eat or drink after that. Talk to your pediatrician or dentist about a fluoride supplement if your child is drinking fluoridated water, and encourage him to eat healthy snacks, such as fruits and vegetables.

Also, make sure he brushes after eating any sticky snacks, which may otherwise stick to his teeth.

Smoking Teeth Confusion

Dr. Laidler’s criticism, Response to: "Smoking Teeth" - the truth gets "smoked out", reduces to the following propositions. First, he contends that what is actually being seen is water vapor; and second, since mercury is a heavier molecule than the other constituents of air (i.e. oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, etc) the mercury vapor could not rise, but would fall toward the floor. This analysis does is not consistent with the Laws of Physics and Chemistry for the following reasons.

First, atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) is a well substantiated scientific analytical technique used to measure a wide range of elements in various materials such as metals, pottery and glass. It is based on the simple fact that some elements in the Periodic Table absorb specific wavelengths of light. This constitutes that materials fingerprint. In the case of mercury vapor the absorbance wavelength is 253.7nm.

Thus, when a pure material is vaporized by the application of heat, while specific wavelengths are sequentially shone at it, the wavelength absorbed tells one the element making up the sample. In it simplest form, gold miners employ this principle when mining for gold. In the natural state, gold has a very high attraction for mercury; the miner heats his ore sample in a dark container, while shining an ultraviolet light. If a vaporizing shadow is cast, then mercury is present and the sample is likely gold. The amount of light absorbed is proportional to the concentration of the mercury.

The video “Smoking Teeth = Poison Gas” is simply an application of this Miner’s Test, using an amalgam filling, containing approximately 50% mercury, as the sample. Water vapor will not absorb the wavelength from the Miner’s light; and, it will not cast a shadow. Therefore, for Dr. Laidler to suggest it will is unfounded. In the video, the vaporizing shadow is caused by mercury atoms absorbing the spectrum from the Miner’s light. A light, scientifically designed to identify the presence of mercury, not water. Water vapor cannot be visualized with a 254 mm light.

Secondly, Dr. Laidler is correct when he states, “When molecules vaporize, the volume they fill depends on the number of molecules and their temperature”. This is called the partial pressure and the partial pressure for mercury in air is 0.00185 mm at 250 C. However, Dr. Laidler fails to report that the vapor pressure of mercury doubles for every 100 C increase in temperature. Employing dubious calculations, Dr. Laidler concludes that because mercury is heavier than the other components of air, if what we saw was actually mercury vapor coming off those teeth, and not just water vapor, it should have been SINKING rather than rising - even at 370 degrees C.” This of course is false, since the mercury in the amalgam is being is heated, causing the mercury molecules to become more active and vaporize. Thus, the mercury vapor rises from the amalgam and spreads into the environment in accordance with Boyles Law of Gases, the Guy-Lussac Law, and Avogadro’s Law and the Law of Entropy. These laws indicate that gas molecules by natural law move away from each other. Therefore, concentrated mercury atoms near the tooth naturally move to a location where less mercury atoms reside. These laws of the behavior of gas have nothing to do with gravity as Dr. Laidler improperly assumes.

In conclusion, Dr. Laidler reports that “ever since (he) saw the video, (he) felt that there was something wrong with it.” Indeed, he is absolutely correct! It is wrong to place materials containing 50% poisonous elemental mercury into humans, while calling them “silver” fillings. It is wrong to promote such materials as safe, when there is no level of mercury exposure considered to be “safe”.

Dental Care Tips

While the following brushing and flossing tips may contain useful general guidelines, you should see a dental hygienist to ensure that you use a technique that is appropriate for you!

Brushing Tips

• Use a soft bristled brush, preferably one with rounded, synthetic bristles. Look for the American Dental Association seal of approval. Replace your toothbrush approximately every two to three months or as soon as the bristles are worn or bent. A worn-out toothbrush does not clean your teeth properly, and may actually injure your gums. You should also replace your toothbrush after you've had a cold.
• Be sure your brush is the right size (in general, smaller is better than larger).
• Place the bristles at a 45 degree angle to the gum line, and slide the tips of the brush under the gums.
• Gently jiggle the bristles or move it in small circles over the tooth and gums.
• Brush the outside, the inside, and the chewing surfaces of your teeth. For chewing surfaces, use a light back and forth motion.
• For the front teeth, brush the inside surfaces of the upper and lower jaws: Tilt your brush vertically and make several strokes up and down with the front part of the brush over the teeth and gum tissues.
• Brushing your tongue will help freshen your breath. Debris and bacteria can collect on your tongue and cause bad breath.
• Since your toothbrush will only clean one or two teeth at a time, change its position to clean each tooth properly.
• Brush at least once every day, preferably at bedtime. Adding a brush time after breakfast increases your chances of thorough daily plaque removal.
• Take your time: A thorough brushing should take at least 3 minutes.
• Don't brush your teeth too vigorously, and don't use a hard bristled toothbrush, since it causes the gums to recede and exposes root surfaces. It also wears down the tooth structure. Both of these conditions can lead to tooth sensitivity.
• A pea-sized amount of fluoridated toothpaste is sufficient.
• Replace your brush when the bristles begin to spread, as a worn out toothbrush will not properly clean your teeth.

Flossing Tips

• Wrap about 18 inches of floss around the middle fingers of your hands.
• Hold the floss tightly, using your thumbs and forefingers, and gently guide it between your teeth. Don't "snap" the floss as this can cut the gums!
• When the floss reaches the gumline, curve it into a C-shape against one tooth and gently slide it into the space between the gum and the tooth until you feel pressure against the tooth.
• Gently scrape the side of the tooth with the floss.
• Repeat this method on all your teeth.
• Move to a clean area of floss after one or two teeth.