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Dentists reveal new tooth decay treatment

theguardian.com

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Re: Dentists reveal new tooth decay treatment

#141

Post by GigabyteCoin »

vox_mollis wrote: post #95
transfire wrote: post #86

Not to worry, our duty-bound ADA/FDA cronies will make sure this never sees the light of day. P.S. There is something you can already do btw. If your teeth are still good then go get them sealed . Most dentists won't do it, and will give you some lame excuse. Just go find another dentist. There are a few out there that aren't full of sh*t and they will do it and it will save you thousands of dollars over the course o…

Um, isn't getting one's teeth sealed a typical procedure done for all children once their permanent teeth are in? This was SOP for me and my siblings, I assume for everyone else, no?

You're thinking of fluoride applications.

Re: Dentists reveal new tooth decay treatment

#142

Post by prawn »

devbug wrote: post #135
e40 wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Care to elaborate what the techniques your current dentist taught you?

Off the top of my head: * Modified Stillman's * Floss properly; "scrape" gently with the floss. * Water rinse after acidic drinks (like red wine). Brush a half hour after that.

For anyone else confused, Modified Stillmans is a brushing technique. Demo video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zEDhurn7zY

Re: Dentists reveal new tooth decay treatment

#143

Post by logfromblammo »

jensen123 wrote: post #62
lps41 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm really confused by your comment - isn't it general knowledge that poor diet causes cavities? I remember being taught this in public school as early as kindergarten, and having my dentists reinforce it my entire life. However, I do believe that genetics also plays a large role in predisposition to cavities, with or without a healthy diet.

Ok, it's probably general knowledge that soda, candy etc. can cause cavities. What obviously is not common knowledge is that, with a good diet, it's possible to go through your whole life without getting a single cavity. Weston A. Price travelled around the world and looked at the teeth of many primitive tribes (still quite a few of them back in his days) and they had perfect teeth.

Streptococcus mutans + sugar = biofilm (plaque) + lactic acid

Lactic acid + tooth + time = cavity

Sufficient mineral content in saliva and replacement of hydroxide by fluoride in the bioapatite tooth matrix affects the time factor.

So there are four ways to completely avoid cavities.

  - Annihilate the mutans-type bacteria in your mouth, and prevent recolonization.
  - Do not eat sugars.
  - Remove all your teeth.
  - Die.
Obviously, the latter two solutions can have significant negative side effects on your lifestyle. The mutans biofilm plaque makes it difficult to eradicate the bacteria.

If your saliva is well buffered and mineralized, it would be very rare for pH to dip below 5.5 and have minerals leach out of the teeth. Diet would certainly also help in this respect, especially with regard to calcium, phosphate, fluoride, vitamin D, and vitamin K.

Re: Dentists reveal new tooth decay treatment

#144

Post by tezzer »

GigabyteCoin wrote: post #141
vox_mollis wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Um, isn't getting one's teeth sealed a typical procedure done for all children once their permanent teeth are in? This was SOP for me and my siblings, I assume for everyone else, no?

You're thinking of fluoride applications.

No, he's actually thinking of sealants. My sister and I both had it done when we got all our permanent teeth, it was SOP among military dentists in the 80s. The sealants wear off eventually, but it offers some protection for some time.

http://www.knowyourteeth.com/infobites/abc/article/?abc=C&ii...

Re: Dentists reveal new tooth decay treatment

#145

Post by tezzer »

vox_mollis wrote: post #95
transfire wrote: post #86

Not to worry, our duty-bound ADA/FDA cronies will make sure this never sees the light of day. P.S. There is something you can already do btw. If your teeth are still good then go get them sealed . Most dentists won't do it, and will give you some lame excuse. Just go find another dentist. There are a few out there that aren't full of sh*t and they will do it and it will save you thousands of dollars over the course o…

Um, isn't getting one's teeth sealed a typical procedure done for all children once their permanent teeth are in? This was SOP for me and my siblings, I assume for everyone else, no?

Were your folks in the military? Everybody of my generation who grew up on military bases overseas had sealants applied when all their permanent teeth came in.

Re: Dentists reveal new tooth decay treatment

#146

Post by yogipatel »

lukeschlather wrote: post #137
devbug wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Off the top of my head: * Modified Stillman's * Floss properly; "scrape" gently with the floss. * Water rinse after acidic drinks (like red wine). Brush a half hour after that.

One thing that has done a lot for me is I've been doing more brushing without toothpaste. I do use toothpaste, but when I do it I treat it more as a fluoride treatment than as a tool to get off plaque. When I'm trying to get off plaque I use a dry brush.

I'm not sure I understand, are you basically brushing twice? Once w/o toothpaste and once with?

Re: Dentists reveal new tooth decay treatment

#147

Post by amelius »

devbug wrote: post #135
e40 wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Care to elaborate what the techniques your current dentist taught you?

Off the top of my head: * Modified Stillman's * Floss properly; "scrape" gently with the floss. * Water rinse after acidic drinks (like red wine). Brush a half hour after that.

I usually do a "milk-rinse", because I have the feeling it brings the pH back to neutral a lot quicker than water. But milk contains sugar, so perhaps a water-rinse after that is a good idea.

Re: Dentists reveal new tooth decay treatment

#148

Post by yogipatel »

EGreg wrote: post #134

I am 32 and have never had to havea filling or root canal. I do not brush my teeth very often or do anything special, except possibly limiting sugar intake somewhat, and maybe rinsing once in a while. I went to a dentist a year ago and they said I am developing a cavity inside one of my upper treth, and should get it treated. Since then it's been a year and I feel no pain there and nothing is visible on the outside.…

I wouldn't call it typical, but I didn't have any fillings until I was 33. Everyone's biology is a bit different — salivary flow, composition, etc. Probably the most important thing that you mentioned is the limited sugar intake. Carbs => acid => cavities.

Keep in mind that these things tend to deteriorate as we age, so you might not be able to get away with rarely brushing forever.

Re: Dentists reveal new tooth decay treatment

#149

Post by saidajigumi »

e40 wrote: post #130
saidajigumi wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The current conservative treatment for white spot lesions is to be judicious with cleaning And I'll point out that my current dentist is the only one I've ever had (or known of) who actually bothers to rigorously teach his patients how to clean their teeth well. Most apparently don't believe this is possible or worth their time. Obviously that's not going to take with every patient, but it's really quite amazing th…

Care to elaborate what the techniques your current dentist taught you?

Sorry, should have included that in my original post. The basic protocol is here: http://www.7dentalsteps.com/7steps.htm

The key premise is roughly: disrupt the plaque biofilm every 24 hours. The rest of the protocol is a method for doing that. The change in my gum health was profound after only about three days. Working with Dr. Nigrelle, you get a "process checkup" via plaque staining dye every time you go in. So you get feedback as to where you need to improve technique. I also got some extra dye swabs so I could do self-checks more frequently. The visual feedback is super-useful for dialing in technique, but not critical for that initial baseline boost in dental health.

A big tip for the stim-u-dents or similar cleaning aids. Don't think of them as "toothpicks". Think of them and use them like tiny tootbrushes that can work around the teeth near the gumline and in-between the teeth. It's the lateral faces of the picks that act as scrubbing tools. Also, the parts about lathering with toothpaste are important. The dye tells the story, and Dr. Nigrelle does this comparison with his patients: you learn that you can spend a long, long time scrubbing with a stim-u-dent or toothbrush without toothpaste and kinda sorta get the plaque, or you can lather up some toothpaste and obliterate it in short order.

Re: Dentists reveal new tooth decay treatment

#150

Post by amelius »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #31
benjaminwootton wrote: post #14

In a few years I think we will look back on how today's dentists look after teeth with shock, similar to how we do now knowing that they used to treat depression with a frontal lobotomy. "They used to DRILL your teeth? And if that didn't work they yanked them out of your jaw?" It all seems so low tech.

No need to wait. A few decades ago in Russia, anesthesia wasn't used during dentistry. That was a fun time period to grow up in.

At least there was vodka :)
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