The relationship of these teeth to overall health and efficacy was appreciated in an overall long before vitamins or focal infections were heard of. Toothaches used to be inevitable as colds, and slave buyers and horse dealers scrutinized the teeth of their prospective purchases before purchasing. However, just in recent times has attention been given to the preservation and care of the teeth.
Dental Caries
There’s now general agreement that diet likely is the most significant single factor in the maintenance of sound, healthy teeth, which an adequate diet is the most crucial during the period of most rapid growth. McCullum and Simmonds conclude from an experimental study that rats which are kept on a deficient diet during a part of their developing period have inferior teeth and premature decay, although a decent diet is provided later. In the days before viosterol was developed and before cod-liver oil was widely used, McCullum reported that at the time of entering faculty 9 percent of children who had been breastfed for at least 6 weeks had dental caries, 22 percent of children who were fed on cow’s milk or about milk mixtures, and 27 per cent who had been fed on oatmeal water and other prepared foods. This would demonstrate that the foundation of dental health is laid quite early in life, but it now seems that the period can also be of fantastic importance in this regard. As a result, the emphasis is currently being placed upon a proper diet while pregnant.
Important though diet admittedly is, there doesn’t seem to be some single dietary factor that’s responsible for dental caries. Calcium and phosphorus, the two minerals found in teeth and bones, and vitamin D, which regulates the use of those minerals from the body, are obviously crucial. Of these, calcium and Vitamin D have been first thought to be of greatest importance: but the more recent work seems to indicate that phosphorus is of as great if not greater significance than calcium. Vitamin D is quite likely to be deficient in organic foods during the winter months but is readily administered in the kind of cod-liver oil, vitamin D milk, or viosterol. Antigonish Family Dentistry
Kids have been denied candy because of the belief that sugar is connected to dental decay, and certain studies carried out in institutions for orphans where the diet is strictly controlled imply the incidence of dental caries is directly associated with the total amount of carbohydrate from the diet. Cereals from which the hull of this grain was removed appear to have a negative influence upon the evolution of the teeth, and several investigators think that oatmeal contributes directly to the creation of caries.
Divergent opinions regarding the relation of diet to dental health leave one rather perplexed. Apparently, no one dietary factor is responsible for resistance to caries, but various elements are necessary for the proper growth and ongoing soundness of tooth. For practical purposes, a well-rounded diet, containing liberal amounts of milk, orange juice, fresh fruits, vegetables, as well as for children cod-liver oil another form of vitamin D, which might be depended upon to supply the nutritional demands of the teeth.
Cleanliness
It is frequently said that”a sterile tooth never decays.” If cleanliness suggests freedom from bacteria, the statement probably is accurate. However, with bacteria constantly within the mouth and in the food we consume, it’s not possible to get the teeth bacteriologically clean.
The mechanism of decay is via the action of acids made by bacterial decomposition of food, first upon the tooth and then upon the softer dentine of the tooth. The activity of this acid on the tooth arrangement may begin in any crevice, irregularity, or break in tooth. In reality, it is between the teeth, where it’s hard to prevent accumulations of food that rust most often starts. Therefore, although cleanliness of their teeth is alluring the only factor in the prevention of dental decay, as well as the most important one it is not without importance.
Some clarification of the aspect of the issue was given by recent studies of these bacteria within the mouth. If a specific germ known as Lactobacillus acidophilus occurs in quantity caries grow with great rapidity. This is only because those bacteria act upon carbs, particularly sugars, on and about the teeth to produce acids which dissolve the enamel and the dentine. These studies also have shown that if persons have too much of lactobacilli in their mouths, the amount of caries can be reduced from the elimination of sugars and other readily fermentable carbohydrates in the diet.
It now appears that certain chemicals applied to the teeth may neutralize the acids formed by the activity of bacteria upon carbohydrates and so reduce caries. Some of the chemicals are currently being included in so-called”ammoniated” toothpaste.
Throughout the past many years investigations have taken another turn. It was ascertained that the only chemical distinction between carious and non-carious teeth is that carious teeth contain less fluorine, a compound element which is present in minute quantities in the bones and teeth. This was followed by an investigation, of the fluorine content of their drinking water in areas where dental caries are rare and areas in which they’re prevalent. Here again, a difference in fluorine content has been found. From such studies, it’s been concluded that the existence of roughly 1 part of fluorine per 1,000,000 components of drinking water results in a diminished incidence of caries. Incidentally, fluorine inside this amount induces some mottling of the teeth.
Proceeding on the basis of the information, many investigators have experimented with the use of fluorine to the face of the teeth of children. In this analysis, Knutson and Armstrong reported the application of two per cent sodium fluoride solution into the teeth led to 40 percent fewer caries over a span of a year at 289 children than grown in 326 untreated controls. No healing effect was mentioned on teeth in which caries existed. This usage of fluorine for the prevention of dental caries is a promising field of investigation but it’s still in the experimental stage.
Other exceedingly important studies are those where sodium fluoride in minute quantities is being added into the water supplies of several cities which have low fluoride content. If this should prove effective in preventing caries, it’ll be a great forward step in the control of this most widespread of human ailments.
