Healthy Smile Series: X-rays can detect dental problems early

Since many oral diseases cannot be spotted by just a visual or physical examination, X-rays are a valuable preventive tool to help your dentist identify oral health problems early.

X-rays provide information about your oral health, such as early-stage cavities, gum disease, infections or some types of tumors.

How often dental X-rays should be taken depends on your overall oral health condition, age, risk for disease and signs of oral disease that might be present. While a recent study suggests yearly or more frequent X-rays might increase the risk of developing meningioma, the most commonly diagnosed brain tumor, the American Dental Association reiterates its professional opinion that dentists should continue to order X-rays when necessary for proper diagnosis and treatment.

It is important to note that this latest study relied on patients’ memories of having X-rays taken years earlier. Studies of this type have shown that the ability to accurately recall information is often difficult. Therefore, the results of studies that use this design can be unreliable because they are affected by what scientists call “recall bias.”
Further, the study acknowledges that some of the subjects received dental X-rays decades ago, when radiation exposure was greater.

Radiation rates were higher in the past because of the use of old X-ray technology and slower speed film.

The West Michigan Dental Society urges patients to continue to see your dentist regularly and to talk with your dentist about the importance of X-rays and what standard safety precautions are used in the dental office.

How do dental X-rays work?

As X-rays pass through your mouth, they are mostly absorbed by teeth and bone because these tissues are thicker than cheeks and gums. When X-rays strike the film or a digital sensor, an image called a radiograph is created. Radiographs allow your dentist to see hidden problems, such as tooth decay, infections and signs of gum disease.

Patient safety

The American Dental Association recommends the use of protective aprons and thyroid collars on all patients. In addition, the ADA recommends that dentists use E- or F-speed film, the two fastest film speeds available, or a digital X-ray.

Patients are encouraged to talk to their dentist if they have questions about their dental treatment. As a sciencebased organization, the ADA fully supports continuing research that helps dentists deliver high-quality oral health care safely and effectively.

Benefits of dental X-rays

Since many diseases of the teeth and surrounding tissues cannot be seen when your dentist examines your mouth, an X-ray can help reveal: Small areas of decay  between the teeth or existing fillings; Infections in the bone;   Gum disease;  Abscesses or cysts; Developmental  abnormalities; Some types of tumors.
Finding and treating dental problems early can save time, money and unnecessary discomfort.

Dental X-rays vs. other radiation sources

The amount of radiation patients are exposed to from dental X-rays is very small compared to daily exposure from cosmic radiation and naturally occurring radioactive elements.

Radiation exposure is measured in millisieverts (mSv), a unit of measure that allows for some comparison between radiation sources that exposure the entire body (natural background radiation) and those that only expose a portion of the body (dental X-ray).

For example, a dental bitewing X-ray yields 0.038 mSv, while radiation from outer space yields 0.510 mSv per year. In addition, the average radiation in the U.S. from natural sources each year is 3.0.

Pregnancy and dental X-rays

In some cases, a dental X-ray might be needed for dental treatment that cannot wait until after a baby is born. Because untreated dental infections might pose a risk to the fetus, dental treatment might be necessary to maintain the health of the mother and child.

The use of a leaded apron minimizes exposure to the abdomen and should be used when any dental radiograph is taken.

The use of a leaded thyroid collar is recommended for women of childbearing age, pregnancy women and children.

Also, dental X-ray exams do not need to be delayed if a patient is trying to become pregnancy or is breastfeeding.


Reference: West Michigan Dental Society

LINKS:

Dental X-Rays

Digital X-Rays

Panoramic X-Rays

Children's Dentistry

6 Nighttime Tips for Healthy Teeth

Practicing dental health isn't just a daytime job — your teeth and gums need protection at night too.

When you wake up in the morning, you may want to immediately reach for a toothbrush to get rid of any bad taste in your mouth and freshen your breath. But while daytime dental hygiene is important for good oral health, it isn't enough to guarantee it: Establishing a bedtime dental health routine to thoroughly clean your teeth will prevent cavities and gum disease from developing while you sleep.

Dental Health: Before Bed Counts

Why does your dental hygiene matter so much when you're sleeping? Because if bacteria are present in your mouth all night, they will heighten your chances of developing cavities.

"A good nighttime routine is important because as you sleep, your metabolism slows down, reducing the salivary flow and making the mouth dry out," says Sally J. Cram, DDS, a periodontist in Washington, DC, and a consumer adviser for the American Dental Association. "When your oral tissues dry out, they become inflamed and bacteria proliferate, causing gingivitis and possible periodontal disease."

Gum disease means big trouble for your dental health: It can result in tooth loss and even bone loss.

Dental Health: Best Bedtime Routine

As part of your before-bed ritual, take the time to dote on your dental health. There’s more to brushing teeth than a quick swipe of a brush: Follow this routine each night to prevent cavities and gum disease:

1. Brush your teeth right before bed. Use a soft toothbrush, suggests Dr. Cram, because it's gentler on your teeth and gums. To prevent cavities and gum disease, spend a good two minutes brushing your teeth — every nook, cranny, and surface of each tooth.
2. Brush your tongue and the roof of your mouth. Your teeth aren't the only parts of your mouth that need a good cleaning at night. Don't neglect your tongue and the roof of your mouth, which can also harbor bacteria.
3. Use toothpaste that contains fluoride. You're not just brushing your teeth to make your breath fresh — you're trying to get rid of bacteria and food particles and strengthen your teeth. Using a toothpaste that contains fluoride offers the best protection against cavities and weakened teeth.
4. Floss nightly. When flossing, make sure you do a thorough job, says Cram, getting in between teeth to remove bacteria that can pull an all-nighter destroying the enamel on your teeth. Wrap the floss into a C-shape and gently rub it up and down the side of each tooth all the way to the gum and back. Don't neglect your very back teeth, even though there are no teeth behind them.
5. Don't sneak sugar before bed. All that brushing and flossing won’t do any good if you follow it up with a cookie, glass of milk, or other food or drink that contains sugars, even naturally occurring ones, right before bed. If you do want a snack, make sure you enjoy it before you brush and floss so that the residue doesn't stick to your teeth all night.
6. Keep a glass of water near your bed. If you sleep with your mouth open and wake up with a dry mouth, take a sip to keep the tissues in your mouth moist.

Making these six simple steps part of your nightly routine can go a long way toward protecting your dental health by preventing cavities and gum disease. You’ll sleep peacefully knowing that your smile is safe.

Reference: Everyday Health By Diana Rodriguez

San Diego Padres great Tony Gwynn, 54, dies of cancer

SAN DIEGO — Tony Gwynn, the Hall of Famer with a sweet left-handed swing who spent his entire 20-year career with the Padres and was one of San Diego’s most beloved athletes, died of cancer June 16, 2014. He was 54. 

Gwynn, nicknamed “Mr. Padre,” had been on a medical leave since late March from his job as baseball coach at San Diego State, his alma mater. He died at a hospital in suburban Poway, agent John Boggs said.

“He was in a tough battle and the thing I can critique is he’s definitely in a better place,” Boggs told The Associated Press. “He suffered a lot. He battled. That’s probably the best way I can describe his fight against this illness he had, and he was courageous until the end.”

Gwynn had two operations for cancer in his right cheek between August 2010 and February 2012. The second surgery was complicated, with surgeons removing a facial nerve because it was intertwined with a tumor inside his right cheek. They grafted a nerve from Gwynn’s neck to help him eventually regain facial movement.

Gwynn had said he believed the cancer was from chewing tobacco.

“For more than 30 years, Tony Gwynn was a source of universal goodwill in the national pastime, and he will be deeply missed by the many people he touched,” commissioner Bud Selig said.

San Francisco Giants third base coach Tim Flannery played a long time with Gwynn and then coached him. Flannery says he’ll “remember the cackle to his laugh. He was always laughing, always talking, always happy.”

“The baseball world is going to miss one of the greats, and the world itself is going to miss one of the great men of mankind,” Flannery said. “He cared so much for other people. He had a work ethic unlike anybody else, and had a childlike demeanor of playing the game just because he loved it so much.”

In a rarity in pro sports, Gwynn played his whole career with the Padres, choosing to stay rather than leaving for bigger paychecks elsewhere. His terrific hand-eye coordination made him one of the game’s greatest contact hitters. He had 3,141 hits, a career .338 average and won eight NL batting titles. He excelled at hitting singles the other way, through the “5.5 hole” between third base and shortstop.

Gwynn played in the Padres’ only two World Series, including in 1984 against the Detroit Tigers, and was a 15-time All-Star.

He homered off the facade at Yankee Stadium off San Diego native David Wells in Game 1 of the 1998 World Series and scored the winning run in the 1994 All-Star Game. He was hitting .394 when a players’ strike ended the 1994 season, denying him a shot at becoming the first player to hit .400 since San Diego native Ted Williams hit .406 in 1941.

Gwynn befriended Williams, and the two loved to talk about hitting. Gwynn steadied Williams when he threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the 1999 All-Star Game at Boston’s Fenway Park.

Gwynn retired after the 2001 season. He and Cal Ripken Jr. — who spent his entire career with the Baltimore Orioles — were inducted into the Hall of Fame in the class of 2007. Also in 2007, the Padres unveiled a bronze statue of Gwynn on a grassy hill just beyond the outfield wall at Petco Park. While Gwynn was still with the Padres, then-owner John Moores donated $4 million to San Diego State for a new baseball stadium that bears the Hall of Famer’s name.

Gwynn was a two-sport star at San Diego State in the late 1970s-early 1980s, playing point guard for the basketball team — he still holds the game, season and career record for assists — and outfielder for the baseball team.

Gwynn always wanted to play in the NBA, until realizing during his final year at San Diego State that baseball would be the ticket to the pros.

“I had no idea that all the things in my career were going to happen,” he said shortly before being inducted into the Hall of Fame along with Ripken in 2007. “I sure didn’t see it. I just know the good Lord blessed me with ability, blessed me with good eyesight and a good pair of hands, and then I worked at the rest.”

He was a third-round draft pick of the Padres in 1981. 

After spending parts of just two seasons in the minor leagues, he made his big league debut on July 19, 1982. Gwynn had two hits that night, including a double, against the Philadelphia Phillies. After doubling, Pete Rose, who had been trailing the play, said to Gwynn: “Hey, kid, what are you trying to do, catch me in one night?”

Survivors include his wife, Alicia, daughter, Anisha, and son, Tony Jr., who plays for the Philadelphia Phillies. Alicia and other family members were at his side when he died, Boggs said. Tony Jr. was in Philadelphia.

“Today I lost my Dad, my best friend and my mentor,” Gwynn Jr. tweeted. “I’m gonna miss u so much pops. I’m gonna do everything in my power to continue to … Make u proud!”

Gwynn was last with his San Diego State team on March 25 before beginning a leave of absence. His Aztecs rallied around a Gwynn bobblehead doll they would set near the bat rack during games, winning the Mountain West Conference tournament and advancing to the NCAA regionals.

Last week, SDSU announced it was extending Gwynn’s contract one season.

Unfortunately anyone can become affected by oral cancer. This is why our office offers and recommends having the VELScope Oral Cancer Screening test performed annually. 

Schedule your first visit today and have your oral cancer screening performed. It could save your life and avoid your family going through the same heart ache as Tony Gwynn's family. 

Dallas Star Larry Hagman (JR Ewing) died of Oral Cancer

Famous TV show star Larry Hagman alias JR Ewing from the Dallas series died a few days ago of oral cancer. This fact triggered the attention of oral health organizations who work now more than ever on raising the awareness upon the importance of regular oral cancer screenings.

Prevention is the best cure, and if people would respect those regular oral cancer screenings, this would save the planet tens of thousands of deaths annually.

On Friday, Larry Hagman, a prominent actor died of tongue cancer. He has been diagnosed with the disease in October 2011.

Oral cancer does not select among patients and in the past few years several important names have been touched by the disease. Just to name a few, there was Michael Douglas, the former cricketer from England Geoffrey Boycott, and Dany Baker, a BBC radio presenter.

 

The best way to stay protected from oral cancer is to get annual oral cancer screenings.    The FDA-approved VELscope^® offers dentists another examination tool to help detect oral cancer in its earliest stages. The VELscope^® is a blue excitation lamp, which highlights precancerous and cancerous cell changes.

 

Make an appointment for your VELscope oral cancer screening. If not for yourself, then for those you love.

 

~ Kris

Certified and Registered Dental Assistant

Office Administrator

 

Join the Fight to Save Antibiotics; Preventing Super bugs

As you learned in our blog post last week, Misusing antibiotics can mess with your immune system and make it impossible for your body to fight against lethal infections. Here are five simple things you can do to help prevent superbugs.

1. Use antibiotics correctly. Work with your doctor to determine if an antibiotic will truly help what's ailing you, then follow her instructions. Any time you skip doses, don't finish a course, or drink alcohol when you're on the meds, you make the antibiotic less effective and give bacteria a chance to become resistant.

2. Buy meat labeled "raised without antibiotics" or "organic." Those exact phrases mean that antibiotics were not given to the animal needlessly. Watch out for wording; labels that say "all natural" guarantee nothing. Some good, antibiotic-free brands: Applegate Farms, Murray's Chicken, Bell & Evans, and Niman Ranch. Can't find these in your market? Tell your grocer to stock up and that you and your friends will buy! Also ask your kids' school to serve meat that was raised without antibiotics. Chicago Public Schools just became the largest district in the country to do this.

3. Ask your favorite restaurants if they use meat raised without antibiotics. If a company like Chipotle can do it, why can't others? "Things will only change if we ask for changes," says Gail Hansen, a public health advocate with the Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming.

4. Spread the message. "Like" the group Save Antibiotics on Facebook, and get friends to do the same. Awareness is key: Most people have no idea which illnesses require antibiotics, nor do they know how much the drugs are used in food animals. "Unless you grew up on a farm, why would you know that?" says Hansen.

5. Tell Congress to pass a law. The Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act would withdraw the use of antibiotics that are vital to humans from food-animal production unless the animals are diagnosed with illnesses. Says U.S. Representative Louise M. Slaughter, who introduced the bill: "Send a letter to your member of Congress — along with this article! — and tell them to sign the bill and get it passed." Personalize your own letter at saveantibiotics.org/moms/action., then get your reps' addresses at senate.gov and house.gov.

 Author:  Erin Zammett Ruddy; Redbook Magazine

DENTAL VISITS MAY BE USEFUL FOR EARLY LIP CANCER DETECTION

Beautiful Smile, Teeth and Lips

Dentists may be able to spot some skin cancers of the face and neck areas when they are in the early treatable stages. Regular visits to your dentist could aid in the early detection of lip cancers, which are a type of oral cancer. Exposure to sunlight may increase the risk of lip cancer, which occurs most often on the lower lip. Avoiding the sun or using some type of sunscreen or colored lipstick on the lips may decrease the risk of lip cancer. Sun-induced skin cancers are the most common types of cancers in the United States, according to the National Cancer Institute, with more than one million new cases diagnosed each year.

In addition to exposure to the sun, other common risk factors for developing lip cancer as well as some other types of oral cancer are alcohol use, tobacco use, the human papilloma virus (HPV), male gender, and age over 40. Approximately 26,000 new oral cancers, including lip cancer, are estimated to occur annually in the United States. Of that total, between 10% and 15% are cancers of the lip.

Early lip cancers may have no symptoms. When symptoms do present themselves, the most common situation is a sore on the lip that will not heal. Most lip cancers develop on the lower lip and are squamous cell cancers. These are cancers caused by changes and abnormal growth of the flat, disc-like cells that line and cover the lip.

Lip cancer symptoms commonly involve only the lip itself. However, the cancers may involve other areas when they spread. When diagnosed early, lip cancer has an excellent prognosis and potentially can be cured by either surgery or radiation therapy. Later stages may also be treated with surgery or radiation or a combination of the two methods. Most lip cancers that develop into serious problems do so because medical assistance was not sought at an early stage in the development of the disease. Therefore regular visits to your family dentist should be maintained, usually at the time recommended by your dentist. Any type of suspicious sore or lesion that you notice should be presented to your dentist at the time of your visit.

Common Symptoms of Lip Cancer

According to the Oral Cancer Foundation common lip cancer symptoms include:

Bleeding lip area

Discolored or darkened area of the lip

Enlarged lymph nodes around the head or neck

Lip sore that does not heal

Lump in or under the lip

Numbness, tingling, or pain of the lip

Swelling in the jaw or mouth

Thickened area on the lip which may also be discolored

Left untreated, lip cancer can result in serious conditions. Seek prompt medical care if you have bleeding that does not stop, persistent or unusual symptoms, or trouble eating, drinking or swallowing.

Make an appointment with our dental office.