YOUR HEALTH
How things
have changed
For decades -- from the 60s onward -- we have been told to brush our teeth after every meal = 3
times) and after snacks such as chocolate and chips. And of course people
brushed when waking up -- to eliminate that great ad term "jungle mouth" -- and again before bed -- in case kissing and more might ensue.
So brushing 5
to 7 times a day was the goal.
Now, if you
read the toothpaste boxes, 2 times a day is recommended. Yes, just twice
a day.
Why?
Because new research has found any brushing is the equivalent of
sandpapering your teeth and weakens your tooth enamel.
So the new
mantra is less brushing, soft or extra soft brush heads, and using enamel
restoring toothpaste such as Pronamel.
Secondly,
acidic drinks are now be also targeted as they weaken enamel: be it orange juice
or apple juice or soft drinks1 (remember how a penny dissolved in a
glass of cola) or sport drinks 2 or energy drinks 2 or wine
3 or beer 4.
They all
weaken enamel and therefore the new advice is to drink water or drink milk and
eat dairy products such as cheese and yogurt -- because they neutralize the
acid from the other drinks mentioned above.
So milk and
dairy are 'good' again and the old adage of having a glass of warm milk (not chocolate) before bed may soon be the new mantra of the 21st century.
Yes, we need
to brush somewhat to prevent food based cavities and gum damaging plaque, but less rubbing is
better. Frequent rinsing and dental floss are always good, and don't
forget to include milk and dairy products in most of your meals.
And if you
haven't asked yourself yet about whitening toothpastes and strips and dentist
applications of hydrogen peroxide or bleach and how they affect enamel, the
answer is simple: their bad, bad, bad!!!
And not only
for your enamel but also your gums!!!
1.
See “Drinks That Eat Teeth” at http://www.21stcenturydental.com/ph_drinks.html. Water has a neutral pH of 7.0 and drinks with
pH lower than 5.5 are considered highly acidic.
“Because the pH scale is logarithmic, a one unit
change in pH is associated with a 10 fold change in the acidity. For example,
lemon juice has a pH of 2.0, while grapefruit juice has a pH of 3.0. Lemon
juice would therefore be 10x as acidic as grapefruit juice. Even more
enlightening, Coke Classic is roughly 100 times as acidic as Barq's root beer.”
3. Most
wines having a pH between 2.9 and 3.9. (See Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acids_in_wine)
4. According to http://allaboutbeer.com/article/wine-vs-beer-the-head-to-head-comparison/ beers usually
have pH of 4.0 -4.5.