Welcome to Running: A FEVER. My name is Michael Davis. This is a podcast about fitness, diet, and medicine. My goal is to live a long, happy, healthy life right up to the very end by loving my life enough to make it last as long as possible.
This is episode 7 in our 10-part series on dental health. We’ve already talked about dry mouth, diet, biofilm, genetics, and pH. The objective is not to preach about sweets, brushing, and flossing but to find the causes of dental health problems, understanding that many of these problems are not our fault at all and may be completely out of our control, like genetics and dry mouth. With this newfound knowledge, we’ll have a better idea of what actions to take to improve.
Speaking of action, we’re at part 7, the first of three episodes, about what actions we can take to treat our ailments for a healthier mouth. This episode is about protection, the next is about planning, and the final is about whole-body health. So, let’s get into protection.
Even if your disease is not your fault, there are things you can do to address it. There are so many dental products out there, and not all are right for you. As I always say, it pays to be an expert at your own health. Much of this series aims to gain knowledge about your oral health. Only when you have such knowledge can you mitigate your risk factors and choose appropriate treatment.
In this episode we’ll talk about:
1. The Goal of Balance.
2. pH neutralization by eating less frequently and/or raising pH after eating.
3. Flouride.
4. Xylitol sweetener.
5. Antibacterial.
6. Remineralization.
7. Based on each risk factor, match up appropriate strategies to focus on.
In general, we are all resistant to change. Some might not want to change their toothpaste or take a rinse to work so they can raise their pH after lunch. But if we’re not willing to change what we do, we’ll never change the results. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to keep getting cavities and crowns. So, I’m willing to at least consider making some changes. I hope you are, too.
It’s a balancing act! All over the body, there are organs that require balance. For example, the circulatory system needs balanced blood pressure. Too high, and your blood vessels get stressed and wear out quicker. If it’s too low, you don’t get the circulation you need. This balance can be fostered by changes in diet, exercise, and medication. Your oral health needs a similar balance.
When you eat is as important as what you eat when it comes to maintaining a healthy pH balance. Frequent meals, snacks, and drinks cause the pH level to drop, and you can start losing the minerals in the enamel of your teeth. Restrict your eating and drinking of non-tap-water beverages to mealtimes, and don’t drag out how long you eat and drink.
High-pH therapies can address longer periods of low pH. Are you prone to low pH? To prevent this, use dental care products with a pH of eight or nine. If you already have a problem with excessive plaque buildup, you need to ramp that up to between nine and eleven pH. This can be done by wearing trays with a high-pH gel at night.
Flouride is another tool in your dental toolbox. It is a super treatment that addresses three big problems. It strengthens your teeth, protects against acid attacks, and reduces acid in the mouth, making it harder for cavity-causing bacteria to grow. Flouride binds with the mineral material in your tooth enamel during the Stephan response (discussed in part 6) and forms a more resistant barrier to acid.
There are several fluoride treatment products:
.243% neutral sodium fluoride toothpaste/gel, available over the counter or from your dentist.
.05% neutral sodium fluoride oral rinse, available over the counter or from your dentist.
1.1% neutral sodium fluoride toothpaste/gel, prescription only.
5% neutral sodium fluoride varnish, prescription only.
Young children need smaller amounts of fluoride. Consult your dentist or pediatric dentist before giving your child fluoride products.
Your dentist must prescribe fluoride products individually based on your risk of cavities. Be sure to have this evaluation to determine the appropriate dose.
I have used xylitol myself to prevent dry mouth. My dentist recommended it, and it came in a tab form that you stick to your teeth. It doesn’t sound like a good practice, but that’s how it worked. It was a nice cinnamon flavor. Xylitol is an anticaries agent (caries are like small cavities), making flouride more effective. It is a sweetener but is not often found in over-the-counter products because it is much more expensive than other sweeteners. When buying a xylitol product, ensure it has a 10% concentration. It needs that level to be effective.
Xylitol works so well because of three factors: (1) it cannot be dissolved by bad bacteria like sugar can, so they don’t produce the acid they normally would; (2) because they can’t digest it, bacteria grow slower and eventually starve, and (3) because it is so sweet, xylitol encourages the production of saliva, which we know is very important to preventing tooth decay.
If you already have a cavity-causing or cariogenic biofilm, this needs to be treated immediately. It is more difficult to treat than a normal bacterial infection. Bacteria in the biofilm cannot be treated with a course of antibiotics like other infections can. The primary treatment for a toxic biofilm is a broad-spectrum oxidizing antibacterial agent capable of penetrating a biofilm, such as sodium hypochlorite. Many other methods have been tried but have harmful side effects.
Sodium hypochlorite is available in an oral rinse, but you should discuss with your dentist whether you can benefit from it based on your situation. Believe it or not, sodium hypochlorite mixed with water is the same as household bleach! So, obviously, it can be dangerous if not used properly.
If your mouth is healthy, you will not lose minerals in your teeth due to the Stephan response. Your saliva does all the work necessary to return the required minerals to your teeth and rebuild the enamel lost during eating and drinking.
One of the things that must be accomplished when treating caries is treating the mineral loss. The surface of your teeth is a crystalline substance that grows during a process called amelogenesis, which you may remember from the episode on genetics. This is when very small mineral particles floating around are attracted to the crystals on your teeth, and they bind with them, making your enamel stronger. Along with the minerals are the substances hydroxyapatite and fluorapatite. For them to work, your mouth needs a pH of at least 5.5 (hydroxapatite) or 4.5 (fluorapatite). When I hear these names, I think about the Guns and Roses album Appetite for Destruction, though these apatites are for construction. I’m sure you’ve heard that calcium is good for your bones. And since teeth are bones, the same thing applies. Your saliva contains plenty of calcium, but it also needs a high pH to operate. Well, hydroxyapatite and fluorapatite do a much better and quicker job of returning minerals to the surface of your teeth. Some hydroxyapatite toothpastes are available, but I would talk to your dentist about these products because they might not be for you.
Well, I’m learning more about dentistry than I ever thought was possible. I hope this has also benefited you and that you enjoyed the episode. It’s time for me to take action for the sake of my teeth, and I have many questions for my dentist and hygienist. There are a lot of medical and chemical terms mentioned, so you may want to check out the blog at http://RunningAFEVER.com/376. You can google them and maybe succeed in a future spelling bee.
Until next time, if you’ve got the fever, keep it burning. If not, catch the fever, and I will see you next time on Running: A FEVER.
Reference:
Kutsch, V. Kim. Why Me? The unfair reason you get cavities and what to do about it. Anacortes, Washington: Soapbox Publishing, 2020.
Photo by Kamal Hoseinianzade:
https://unsplash.com/@teravis_sk?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash