Clean teeth and healthy gums during teeth straightening- The role of diet, soft drinks, dentists and unhealthy gums. Part 2
Dr Andrew Chang interviews Dr Teck Tang, of the Specialist Dental Centre, Sydney to talk about clean teeth and healthy gums during teeth straightening- The role of diet, soft drinks, dentists and unhealthy gums. He is a well regarded specialist gum dentist, an expert in the field of maintaining healthy teeth and gums. In this Part 2, what’s covered are:
Please click here to access the audio version of the podcast. For those who prefer reading, the transcript is below:
Dr. Chang: We also have some patients who lead very busy lifestyles or they have braces which are attached behind their teeth or sometimes with teenagers, it’s quite a battle. I mean it can be quite hard as parents trying to encourage them to brush their teeth. So I know there are like gadgets that would save time like Waterpiks. Can this be perhaps an alternative to these cleaning in between their teeth with perhaps they are struggling with using Piksters or flossing?
Dr. Tang: For Waterpik or AirFloss, they are great. They are probably to get food debris out. But plaque can be very, very sticky. So I’m worried that the water pressure from those gadgets may not be strong enough to remove the plaque. So I will still recommend them to do mechanical brushing properly and using these as additional gadgets. It helps but I don’t think it can replace the use of interdental brushes or dental floss.
Dr. Chang: So mechanical brushing as in you mean physically getting you to brush or the brush as in the Piksters and just getting there and just cleaning the plaque out.
Dr. Tang: That’s right, rather than relying on the water pressure from AirFloss or WaterPik. It’s fantastic but it’s not ideal.
Dr. Chang: And of course, diet has – I mean what we eat has got a big factor to play. I mean I suppose if we’re eating something really sticky then it’s more likely to be hard to clean it off as well compared with fibrous fruits.
Dr. Tang: Yeah. For patients with a diet rich in carbohydrate, that could be a problem. They could have very sticky plaque. Or patients who have snacks all the time, so limit snacking. It could be need beneficial. And also, I always recommend the patient to brush thoroughly two or three times a day and especially after eating.
Dr. Chang: Speaking about that, we also have teenagers who are maybe listening, one of the things that they sometimes consume is softdrinks or fizzy drinks or carbonated drinks. I may see sometimes maybe their brother or sister, they’re bringing a bottle of softdrinks. Is there a right way to consume? Of course, we have to consume these in moderation and that goes to fruit juice as well. But is there a right way to drinking this or should we just cut it off entirely?
Dr. Tang: Ideally, I’ll prefer my patients to cut it off completely. But obviously, this is not possible. With the fizzy drinks, it’s not only the sugar that I’m worried about. It’s actually the acid as well. So in an acidic environment, you can get more bacteria that’s causing tooth cavities. So if you really want to consume it, try to limit the frequency if you can.
Dr. Chang: As in drinking it all in one go, right? Rather than sipping it every now and then. But if you’re doing these sort of sports when your mouth gets dry, drink it all in one go. And would that be …
Dr. Tang: Yeah, that’s exactly right.
Dr. Chang: And rinsing out with some water afterwards just to rinse out all the sugar. Would that be OK?
Dr. Tang: Yeah. I’ll probably wait for the saliva to neutralize the acid. I’ll probably wait for 20 30 minutes before I brush my teeth.
Dr. Chang: Right, yeah. And then definitely that as well. Right. Thank you. So, if we can now just go to the – OK. Let’s say I’ve had some – I mean sometimes when I haven’t been cleaning my teeth well, how – what are some signs or – I mean as a parent, I want to know that my son or my daughter is cleaning their teeth well, my teenage son or teenage daughter or a younger child, how can I check? How do I know