11–20 of 42 posts
Random observation -- my family seems to have a gene that makes us basically immune from cavities. My father has, to my knowledge, never had a cavity, despite being born in the 1930's, when health care, hygiene and regular dentist check-ups were not what they are today. I've gone months without brushing my teeth. Been to the dentist twice in the last 10 years - no cavities. (Of course, starting in college I realized…
Why?
Random observation -- my family seems to have a gene that makes us basically immune from cavities. My father has, to my knowledge, never had a cavity, despite being born in the 1930's, when health care, hygiene and regular dentist check-ups were not what they are today. I've gone months without brushing my teeth. Been to the dentist twice in the last 10 years - no cavities. (Of course, starting in college I realized…
> I've gone months without brushing my teeth Why?
The primary reasons to brush your teeth are to prevent cavities, plaque buildup, and smell. If you don't get the first problem, the others are easy to ignore. Pleasant smelling breath is a modern ascetic, so it's easy to imagine a scenario where a young man that hasn't had regular intimate contact yet ignores the bad breath. It's only afterword that the positive social benefits become understood.
So we're gonna add this to our drinking water now?
Random observation -- my family seems to have a gene that makes us basically immune from cavities. My father has, to my knowledge, never had a cavity, despite being born in the 1930's, when health care, hygiene and regular dentist check-ups were not what they are today. I've gone months without brushing my teeth. Been to the dentist twice in the last 10 years - no cavities. (Of course, starting in college I realized…
Of course, depends on your diet, but for anything resembling modern diet...
Oral health is not about only teeth, you know
Random observation -- my family seems to have a gene that makes us basically immune from cavities. My father has, to my knowledge, never had a cavity, despite being born in the 1930's, when health care, hygiene and regular dentist check-ups were not what they are today. I've gone months without brushing my teeth. Been to the dentist twice in the last 10 years - no cavities. (Of course, starting in college I realized…
> I've gone months without brushing my teeth Why?
If everybody starts using this molecule, isn't the bacterium going to adapt, like with antibiotics?
There is a little bit of hope that it could last for a reasonable amount of time, if properly handled. The issue is that organisms can't adapt if the dosage is too high. Usually adapting to a new threat requires, say, a dozen little changes which each improve survival by 5-10%, rather than one monolithic change which improves survival to 100%. Those combinatorics can only work out if most of the bacteria are being destroyed, not if all of them are.
Antibiotics are used this way today. Many people cancel an antibiotic regimen when they feel better, and it's a medical disaster when they do: the antibiotics need to be continued to the point of Total Destruction of all bacteria in your body, which will make you feel weaker, simply so that none of them are naturally selected to have one or two of these 5%-resistance genes.
The same thing happened with DDT and insects. There was a use of DDT -- spraying inside your house -- which had low environmental impact and which insects could not develop resistance to, because the concentrations stay high. This made it amazing as an antimalarial: mosquitoes just always perch on walls and wait until the night comes before they attack, and we could use this to always give them a lethal dosage.
Unfortunately, someone gave DDT to the farmers and then two things happened: (1) DDT got into the food supply for birds, posing serious environmental risks; and (2) insects could now receive a "partial dose" of DDT and develop those sorts of immunities, so now there are DDT-resistant insect populations.
Random observation -- my family seems to have a gene that makes us basically immune from cavities. My father has, to my knowledge, never had a cavity, despite being born in the 1930's, when health care, hygiene and regular dentist check-ups were not what they are today. I've gone months without brushing my teeth. Been to the dentist twice in the last 10 years - no cavities. (Of course, starting in college I realized…
I do think that obsessive brushing 3x / day which people do (after every meal besides breakfast and every morning when getting up) is crazy; I have seem more people ruin their teeth with that than forgetting to brush once in a while.
Random observation -- my family seems to have a gene that makes us basically immune from cavities. My father has, to my knowledge, never had a cavity, despite being born in the 1930's, when health care, hygiene and regular dentist check-ups were not what they are today. I've gone months without brushing my teeth. Been to the dentist twice in the last 10 years - no cavities. (Of course, starting in college I realized…
Random observation -- my family seems to have a gene that makes us basically immune from cavities. My father has, to my knowledge, never had a cavity, despite being born in the 1930's, when health care, hygiene and regular dentist check-ups were not what they are today. I've gone months without brushing my teeth. Been to the dentist twice in the last 10 years - no cavities. (Of course, starting in college I realized…
it's diet too; how much refined sugar do you eat?