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.”

2.     https://www.patientconnect365.com/dentalhealthtopics/article/energy_drinks_and_your_teeth_should_you_worry

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.