How Flossing Can Whiten Your Teeth

Whitening floss is one the many options now available to you when choosing a dental floss. This is because floss brands are looking to capitalize on the increasing popularity of tooth-whitening products, which also include whitening toothpastes and whitening mouthwash. Whitening floss doesn't actually bleach the teeth. Instead, it makes your teeth look whiter by doing a better job of removing the particles between them, similar to the way that vacuuming or dusting rugs or furniture doesn't actually change their color, but the colors look brighter when you remove the dust and dirt. Some types of whitening floss are coated with microscopic abrasive silica particles. Others are treated with compounds such as calcium peroxide that can help dissolve some of the excess proteins that saliva deposits on the teeth that can cause discoloration. But the main way that floss improves the appearance of the teeth is by removing food particles and bacterial plaque to keep your gums healthy. Your teeth will look brighter and healthier if you maintain healthy gums, which you can do by flossing daily with whitening floss or any other type of floss that you like. Keep in mind that whitening floss, whitening mouthwash, and whitening toothpaste can only provide modest changes in tooth color. If you have severely stained teeth, tooth-colored crowns, or implants, you may require special attention to make them whiter. In that case, talk to your dentist.

Dental Care During Pregnancy

If you’re pregnant, your dentist needs to know about the first signs of gum disease symptoms. Pregnant women are at increased risk for periodontal disease because the increased levels of progesterone that come with pregnancy cause an exaggerated response to plaque bacteria. As a result, pregnant women are more likely to develop gingivitis even if they follow a consistent oral health care routine. Gingivitis is most common during months two to eight of pregnancy. Tell your dentist when you are pregnant — he or she may recommend more frequent dental cleanings during the second trimester or early in the third trimester to help combat the effects of increased progesterone and help you avoid gingivitis. In addition, eating a balanced diet during pregnancy will help promote dental health and overall health for you and your baby. A baby’s teeth begin to develop between months 3 to 6 of pregnancy, so be sure that you are getting enough calcium, vitamin D, C and A, phosphorous, and protein. A myth persists that a pregnant woman will lose calcium from her teeth if she isn’t getting enough calcium in her diet during pregnancy. In fact, any calcium loss due to inadequate dietary calcium will occur in the bones, not the teeth. But if you include plenty of calcium-rich foods in your diet during pregnancy, your bones and teeth—and your baby’s bones and teeth—should be strong and healthy.

Sugar Has 56 Different Names

06/01/2015  |  

Posted in Fun Dental Facts, Nutrition, Oral Health

What do corn syrup, evaporated cane juice and agave nectar have in common? They are all names — aliases if you will — for sugar added to foods we eat every day. These include many foods you wouldn’t think of as being sugary: tomato sauce, bread and yogurt, for example.

Dr. Robert Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist, has compiled dozens of these aliases in his recent e-book, Sugar Has 56 Names. The fact is, one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself and your children is to limit sugar consumption. Not only does eating or drinking too much sugar increase the chance of losing permanent teeth; it can also lead to “metabolic syndrome” — a cluster of serious risk factors for heart disease, diabetes and stroke. One definition of metabolic syndrome states that a person must have at least three of the following: high blood pressure, a high blood sugar level, a high triglyceride level (a type of fat in the blood), low HDL (“good”) cholesterol, or excess body fat around the waist.

According to the National Institutes of Health, your risk for heart disease, diabetes, and stroke increases with the number of metabolic risk factors you have. In general, a person who has metabolic syndrome is twice as likely to develop heart disease and five times as likely to develop diabetes as someone who doesn’t have metabolic syndrome.

Dr. Lustig is quick to point out that you don’t have to be overweight to have metabolic syndrome; it actually affects up to 40% of normal weight people. In other words, sugar overload is everybody’s problem.

The American Heart Association says Americans consume about 22 teaspoons of sugar per day, when the maximum should be 9 teaspoons for adult men (about the amount in a can of soda), 6 for adult women, and 4 for children. These limits apply only to added sugar — not what occurs naturally in fruits, vegetables and milk. But limiting added sugar is no easy task, given how many foods contain it and the lengths to which the food industry goes to disguise it. That’s why Dr. Lustig has compiled this list of sugar’s 56 names. Study it, and let the buyer beware!

Sugar’s Many Aliases:

• Agave nectar
• Barbados sugar
• Barley malt
• Beet sugar
• Blackstrap molasses
• Brown rice syrup
• Brown sugar
• Buttered syrup
• Cane juice crystals
• Cane sugar
• Caramel
• Carob syrup
• Castor sugar
• Confectioner’s sugar
• Corn syrup
• Corn syrup solids
• Crystalline fructose
• Date sugar
• Demerara sugar
• Dextran
• Dextrose
• Diastatic malt
• Diatase
• Ethyl maltol
• Evaporated cane juice
• Florida crystals
• Fructose
• Fruit juice
• Fruit juice concentrate
• Galactose
• lucose
• Glucose solids
• Golden sugar
• Golden syrup
• Grape sugar
• High-fructose corn syrup
• Honey
• Icing sugar
• Invert sugar
• Lactose
• Malt syrup
• Maltose
• Maple syrup
• Molasses
• Muscovado sugar
• Organic raw sugar
• Panocha
• Raw sugar
• Refiner’s syrup
• Rice syrup
• Sorghum syrup
• Sucrose
• Sugar
• Treacle
• Turbinado sugar
• Yellow sugar

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