Protecting your children is one of your most important roles as a parent or caregiver. Dental sealants are one way you can protect your children's teeth from the ravages of tooth decay, drilling and fillings — and they can be applied simply, comfortably and quickly right here in our office.

What is a dental sealant?

A dental sealant is a thin, plastic film that is painted onto the tiny grooves on the chewing surfaces of the back teeth (usually the premolars and molars) to prevent caries (cavities) and tooth decay. And by allowing us to use sealants to seal these little nooks and crannies where your child's toothbrush can't reach, you will dramatically reduce their chances for developing tooth decay. This one, simple and quick office visit could save you both money and time with fewer dental visits and healthier, cavity-free teeth.

So will sealants guarantee no (or no more) cavities?

No, just like life, there are few guarantees. Your child's oral hygiene, regular dental visits, fluoride, sugar consumption and genetics are the other important factors that will determine to what degree your child experiences tooth decay. However, research shows that pit and fissure (chewing surface) decay accounts for approximately 43% of all decayed surfaces in children aged 6 to 7, even though the chewing surfaces (of the back or posterior teeth) constitute only 14% of the tooth surfaces at risk. This demonstrates the vulnerability of the chewing surfaces of the posterior teeth to decay. By placing a protective seal over the areas of teeth at risk, you can effectively and proactively protect your children's teeth.

How long do sealants last?

Research has shown that some sealants can last up to 10 years. However, if you opt for sealants for your children's teeth, we will closely monitor them with each office visit to ensure that they are still doing their job. As needed, we can apply more sealant.

Every parent, caregiver, coach, sports fan and especially injured party dreads the moment when an injury to the mouth occurs during a sporting event. The first thought observers have after looking closely to see if it is their child or someone they know is, “I hope someone knows what to do!” Do you know what to do in case of a dental sports emergency? Test your dental injury IQ with this simple, quick quiz. The answers are listed at the bottom of this article.

Dental Injury IQ

1. If a tooth (including its root) is totally knocked out, what can you safely store it in while finding a dentist within 5 minutes of the injury?
1. Water or salt water
2. Milk (preferably cold)
3. Inside the cheek (mouth) of the injured person
4. All of the above
2. True or False: Immediately following the injury, fresh cold tap water or bottled water is the best way to remove debris from where a tooth was knocked out.
3. If a tooth has shifted from its original position following an injury, you should...
1. See a dentist within 5 minutes
2. See a dentist within 6 hours
3. See a dentist within 12 hours
4. Only see a dentist if the tooth is not better in a few days
4. True or False: You treat a knocked out baby tooth in the same manner as you do a permanent tooth.
5. The most important thing to do to save a tooth that has been completely knocked out of the mouth is to…
1. See a dentist as soon as possible
2. Replant the tooth within 5 minutes
3. Stop the bleeding before re-planting the tooth
4. Rinse the tooth with fresh, clean water

The Answers

1) d = all of the above, 2) true, 3) b = see a dentist within 6 hours, 4) false – baby teeth are typically not replanted, 5) b = replant the tooth within 5 minutes

Want To Learn More?

Contact us today to discuss your questions or to schedule an appointment. You can also learn more about treating dental injuries when you read the Dear Doctor article, “The Field-Side Guide To Dental Injuries.” Or, you can download a FREE, pocket-sized guide for managing dental injuries.

If you like soft drinks and carbonated colas, beware. Acids in these drinks may be dissolving the minerals in your teeth — a process called chemical erosion. And don't think that natural fruit juices or sports and high energy drinks are any better than sodas. They also contain acids that dissolve the surface enamel of your teeth. Once your enamel is lost, it is gone forever. It cannot naturally recover.

Sadly, teeth in children and teenagers — an age group most likely to drink large quantities of soda and juices — may be more easily eroded by acids. These youngsters have not had long-term exposure to fluorides which harden tooth enamel and protects them from acid erosion.

The Difference between Erosion and Decay
Chemical erosion is not the same as tooth decay (cavities). In chemical erosion, acids in your mouth react directly with minerals in the outer enamel of your teeth. In the case of tooth decay, bacteria in dental plaque (a bacterial film that forms on your teeth) utilize the sugars in the drinks and produce acids that attack your teeth.

After Acidic Exposure, Wait 30 Minutes to an Hour before Brushing
You may think that the solution to chemical erosion is to brush the acidic solution from your teeth as soon after drinking them as possible. But tooth brushing immediately after can actually accelerate chemical erosion and make it worse. After they are bathed in an acidic solution, minerals in the tooth surface become partially dissolved. Brushing at this time may brush away the affected layer. If you wait a half hour to an hour, your saliva will have time to neutralize the acids and harden the tooth surface by adding minerals back into it.

Drinks Less Likely to Cause Dental Erosion
Instead of drinking colas and sports drinks, stick to water and/or milk, which have the added benefit of supplying calcium to help add minerals back to the tooth surface.

If you must sip on juices or soft drinks, try to do so only at mealtimes. This is preferable to drinking them all day long, which leaves your teeth constantly bathed in an acid solution. Avoid swishing the drinks in your mouth, and sip them with a straw to reduce contact between acidic drinks and your teeth.

Contact us today to schedule an appointment to discuss your questions about acid erosion of teeth. You can also learn more by reading the Dear Doctor magazine article “Dental Erosion.”

Parenthood comes with no manual — if it did it would surely include many essential tips to make your job easier while improving your children's lives. One important fact that surprises many people, is the age you should take your children to the dentist for their first dental appointment, age one. The reason that the age one dental visit is so important is that it establishes the foundation of oral healthcare for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, some parents wrongly assume that because primary teeth “fall out anyway,” they do not need to worry about them. Nothing could be further from the truth!

One problem children may face is Early Childhood Caries (ECC) tooth decay. This is a type of tooth decay that occurs from sucking on a bottle filled with sugary liquids such as formula, juices and fruity drinks for extended periods of time and from a sleep-time bottle. ECC can affect all the primary (baby) teeth in infants soon after they come into the mouth.

Bringing your children into our office for their age one dental visit enables us to establish a friendly, trusting relationship with the whole family while we assess your children's oral health. During this consultation we will identify if the teeth and jaws are developing correctly, whether habits such as sucking on baby bottles are causing tooth decay or if there are other underlying issues that may indicate future problems. And this ounce of prevention often enables us to stop an anticipated problem before it even starts.

Nightly snoring can be a sign of a dangerous condition called sleep apnea (from “a” meaning without and “pnea” meaning breath). When someone snores the soft tissues in the back of the throat collapse onto themselves and obstruct the airway, causing the vibration known as snoring.

If the obstruction becomes serious, it is called obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA. In such cases the flow of air may be stopped for brief periods, causing the person to wake for a second or two with a loud gasp as he attempts to catch his breath. This can cause heart and blood pressure problems, related to low oxygen levels in the blood. The obstruction and mini-awakening cycle can occur as many as 50 times an hour. A person with this condition awakens tired and faces the risk of accidents at work or while driving due to fatigue.

Studies show that sleep apnea patients are much more likely to suffer from heart attack, congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, brain damage and strokes.

What can be done to treat OSA?
Snoring, apnea, and OSA occur more frequently in people who are overweight. So start with losing weight and exercising.

At our office, we can design oral appliances to wear while sleeping that will keep your airway open while you sleep. These appliances, which look like sports mouth guards, work by repositioning the lower jaw, tongue, soft palate and uvula (soft tissues in the back of the throat); stabilizing the lower jaw and tongue; and increasing the muscle tone of the tongue.

Another approach is to use a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) bedside machine. These machines send pressurized air through a tube connected to a mask covering the nose and sometimes the mouth. The pressurized air opens the airway so that breathing is not interrupted.

Much less frequently, jaw surgeries may be recommended to remove excess tissues in the throat. These would be done by specially trained oral surgeons or ear, nose and throat specialists.

Diagnosis and treatment of OSA is best accomplished by joint consultation with your physician and our office. Contact us today to schedule an appointment to discuss snoring and OSA. You can learn more by reading the Dear Doctor magazine articles “Sleep Disorders and Dentistry” and “Snoring and Sleep Apnea.”