What Happens To A Mouth When You Introduce A Lot Of Acid?

You should always think of your oral care products as a system, or as a group of unified products that should work together and complement each other to accomplish your oral health goals. From there, they can travel throughout the body. And what are the chances that your child swallows some of the toothpaste or mouthwash they use. Your mouth care products are only as good as the weakest link. For example, if you’re doing everything right, but you’re decimating your oral microbiome with that swish of fluorescent alcoholic mouthwash, you could be negating all your efforts. Brush, floss, rinse, spit, repeat! Let’s be honest, oral care is not something we typically associate with fun. They reluctantly brush and exaggerate about how much they floss to their dentists and do the absolute minimum just to get by. But what if people loved taking care of their mouths? Our psychological associations with oral care are formed when we are young. Whether these associations are positive or negative depends on our early experiences. What would it be like to have your kids beg you to buy them their oral care products and use them enthusiastically and with pride? What if they were the oral health ambassadors in your family? They can and they should be. Of course, there are products that are unsafe and ineffective. To make things worse, many oral care products are actually acidic.

All The Wrong Reasons

This either is because of their formulation or because their ingredients are designed to extend shelf life. What happens to a mouth microbiome when you introduce a lot of acid? Oral care products need to be pH balanced or alkalizing for maximum effectiveness. Are you getting the results you’re looking for? Are your kids building positive associations with their oral care? Are their mouths healthier? Do they get fewer cavities? The answer to all these questions should be yes. If it isn’t, you need a new set of oral care products for your family. Don’t worry, I’ve done the work for you. To begin with, the reason it’s called toothpaste is because many of the manufacturers treat the mouth like it’s merely a collection of dead objects that need to be zapped with fluoride. They make toothpaste foam profusely to make you think it’s actually doing something and give it a strong mint flavor that masks the bad breath caused by poor oral health. Some conventional toothpastes completely neglect the rest of the mouth, including the gums, and don’t provide the nutrients that the mouth structures need. Last, but not least, many are out to kill all the microbes in your mouth, instead of trying to balance your microbiome. The oral care market has recently been inundated with natural toothpastes, but many of them are not much better than conventional ones. In fact, not only do they lack effective ingredients to combat oral conditions like cavities or gum disease, they are also filled with ingredients such as potent essential oils that can decimate your oral microbiome and expose your mouth to all sorts of opportunistic microbes. Some also have additives that don’t belong in the mouth at all.

Big Daddy of Them All

Additionally, they often use cheap, unhealthy sugars, such as sorbitol, saccharin, and aspartame, to improve their flavor. Let’s demystify toothpaste ingredients and show you what to look for and what to avoid. It has also been added to drinking water in some parts of the country and is the active ingredient in many oral care products. How does fluoride work to strengthen enamel? When your saliva becomes acidic and the pH drops to about 5.5, small amounts of hydroxyapatite dissolve out of the enamel surfaces during demineralization. In the presence of fluoride, they combine to form a new mineral, fluorapatite. When pH rises again, the new fluorapatite minerals get deposited into the enamel surfaces during remineralization. Fluorapatite doesn’t begin to dissolve from the teeth until the pH reaches about 4.5, so it is more resistant to acid attacks, making teeth stronger and less susceptible to cavities. The American Dental Association recognizes the use of fluoride and community water fluoridation as safe and effective in preventing tooth decay for both children and adults. If fluoride is effective in strengthening teeth, why all the controversy? Keep out of reach of children under 6 years of age. If more than used for brushing is accidentally swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center right away.

All I've Got to Do

It is true that fluoride, when applied topically, can help fight cavities. This is especially true for young children, since their teeth and bodies are still developing. Young children also tend to swallow more toothpaste and mouthwash. The prevalence of dental fluorosis, a condition caused by childhood ingestion of fluoride and associated with tooth discoloration and abnormal enamel development, has become all too common. Hydroxyapatite is a calcium phosphate mineral that is naturally present in teeth and bones. Studies have shown that hydroxyapatite can form a protective buffer on the enamel, lessening risk of erosion caused by sodas and other acidic beverages. Since hydroxyapatite mimics natural enamel, it can be effective in reducing tooth sensitivity by repairing enamel and exposed dentin, and it can naturally whiten teeth and restore luster damaged by bleaching agents or aging. As you already know, your teeth are more than just inanimate objects that need repairing only from the outside. Vitamin D, also known as the sunshine vitamin, is a very important nutrient, and one of its key functions is to promote calcium absorption and to help carry it to our bones and teeth. Vitamin K1 is primarily involved in blood clotting, while vitamin K2 serves to activate the proteins involved in getting calcium into the bones and teeth. Studies show deficiencies in vitamins D and K2 increase the risk of cavities and gum disease. We should be able to get adequate amounts of vitamin D by simply spending some time outdoors, the majority of people are deficient in it because of our modern lifestyles. Do they need more fluoride or hydroxyapatite?