More reasons to floss

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Damn it, I just got done with the thread telling me exposure to bacteria is good for me as it bolsters my immune system now this....
 
cldlhd;n867392 said:
Damn it, I just got done with the thread telling me exposure to bacteria is good for me as it bolsters my immune system now this....
There's bacteria and bacteria ! You can now purchase probiotic bacteria specifically for the mouth so that, just as with probiotics for the gut, you can help set up a good colony in mouth which is also supposed to help protect the teeth and gums - in addition to flossing which removes food particles and plaque. It's also a good idea not to give the 'baddies' the kinds of foods they thrive on which are sugars and starches.
 
Without thorough cleaning you can leave yourself vulnerable to gum disease and tooth decay. The less dental visits, the better - particularly for Warfarin patients ;)

(Can you tell somebody started back at work today? Ha)
 
Mellyouttaphase;n867409 said:
Without thorough cleaning you can leave yourself vulnerable to gum disease and tooth decay. The less dental visits, the better - particularly for Warfarin patients ;)
well if your INR is properly managed it won't make much difference.

My dentist has given up remarking that "I bleed very little for someone on warfarin".

Thing is, I know my INR ... people who test monthly only think they do.
 
Paleogirl;n867404 said:
There's bacteria and bacteria ! You can now purchase probiotic bacteria specifically for the mouth so that, just as with probiotics for the gut, you can help set up a good colony in mouth which is also supposed to help protect the teeth and gums - in addition to flossing which removes food particles and plaque. It's also a good idea not to give the 'baddies' the kinds of foods they thrive on which are sugars and starches.

I know there's good and bad bacteria, well good and bad from our perspective as I'm sure the bacteria aren't troubled by which column they fall in, but I was just referring to the idea that being occasionally exposed to SOME bad bacteria can be considered as a tune up for the immune system for when the bad stuff inevitably comes around.
I floss regularly for a variety of reasons. For the health benefits but also because I can't stand having food stuck in my teeth.
 
You would be a dream patient in our dental practice, pellicle. I live in a regional Queensland God's Waiting Room-type town and half our patients cannot even tell me if they are on "blood thinners" or not. Argh! I bang my head.
 
cldlhd;n867417 said:
I know there's good and bad bacteria, well good and bad from our perspective as I'm sure the bacteria aren't troubled by which column they fall in, but I was just referring to the idea that being occasionally exposed to SOME bad bacteria can be considered as a tune up for the immune system for when the bad stuff inevitably comes around.
I floss regularly for a variety of reasons. For the health benefits but also because I can't stand having food stuck in my teeth.
What I meant though is the issue that sometimes, as we know from illness, ‘bad' bacteria really are bad and don’t help the immune system at all nor our teeth and gums. So those ‘bad’ bacteria that lead to dental caries and gum disease should surely be discouraged while ‘good’ bacteria encouraged:

"Dental caries is caused by the action of acids on the enamel surface. The acid is produced when sugars (mainly sucrose) in foods or drinks react with bacteria present in the dental biofilm (plaque) on the tooth surface. The acid produced leads to a loss of calcium and phosphate from the enamel; this process is called demineralisation". http://www.dentalhealth.ie/dentalhealth/causes/dentalcaries.html

The fossil record shows that people in paleolithic times had very few dental caries whereas when diets changed with advent of agriculture, the neolithic, dental caries began to appear more frequently: http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v.../1601646a.html Here’s a couple of the relevant bits from that Nature article:

"There is a significant change in the archaeological record associated with the introduction of plant domestication (ie the Neolithic period in Europe and the Near East), such as the appearance of pottery, stone tools for plant processing, and the remains of the domesticated plants themselves (Gebauer & Price, 1992).There is, in many areas, an associated general decrease in body stature, dentition size, and an increase in caries rates. The smaller dentition is not due to more meat, but instead to the consumption of easier to chew processed foods like bread and porridges, and the carbohydrate contents of those foods result in the increased caries rates.”

"In the Palaeolithic people have fairly healthy teeth with almost no caries, but in the Neolithic there is an increased use of plant foods which contain carbohydrates, so there is an increased caries rates. Neolithic teeth are also more worn down and pitted owing to hard inclusions from poorly ground-up flour."

"There are increases in caries rates associated with the domestication of rice in South Asia"


Quite fascinating. I had loads of severe dental decay as a child - ate junk, cheap sweets virtually lived on white bread, potatoes, biscuits. So brushing and flossing, a good diet avoiding too many sugars and starches, and good bacteria can all help. And some people are just plain lucky and have very strong teeth - my son has never had any tooth decay at all - he’s in his late twenties now and eats junk foods loads, but his teeth are perfect - I put that down to fluoride when he was little !

I use the floss to get rid of food stuck inbetween my teeth too - and interdental brushes in the bigger gaps !
 

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