Enamel is the hardest substance in the body

You might have thought that it was bones, but it is actually tooth enamel that is the most solid substance of the body. It is so because of its high content (96 %) in minerals. The remaining 4 % is water and proteins. The primary mineral of enamel is called hydroxyapatite.

The second hardest substance in the body is not bone, but dentin, which is a tooth’s layer that is found under the enamel. Dentin also contains mineral hydroxyapatite (70%), and the rest is organic material (20%) and water (10%). Because dentin is softer, it is more easily decayed than enamel. Usually a cavity starts as a small hole in the enamel, but spreads more quickly and widely once bacteria reach the dentin.

Because enamel covers all teeth in the mouth, it is made to be very hard so it can chew and break soft and hard foods. But even though it’s the hardest substance of the body, enamel is brittle which means it can break more easily when under high pressure. Dentin is less brittle than enamel, and that property gives a tooth more flexibility.

Links

• Chun KJ, Choi HH, Lee JY, Comparison of mechanical property and role between enamel and dentin in the human teeth, J Dent Biomech. 2014; 5;
• 10 things you didn’t know about teeth, Studio Dentaire;
• Bone and tooth minerals, Science Learning Hub;
• Tooth enamel, Wikipedia;

5 oral hygiene articles to take with you when you travel

Dental floss

Have you packed your passport, your camera, and your dental floss as well? Yes that’s right, because flossing is important at home and away from home. If your are planning a trip that will last a few weeks, not flossing your teeth can make you develop periodontal disease because remaining plaque initializes gum infection and inflammation. Cavities can even start in between your teeth if you don’t floss them.

It is therefore important to carry dental floss with you when you travel. It’s a very helpful and quiet travel companion 🙂 Think of having waxed floss if the spaces between your teeth are very tight.

Toothbrush

A good old toothbrush is the most basic device for oral hygiene because it removes food debris after a meal, and clears up most of dental plaque. Brushing your teeth is well completed when you finish with dental floss. An electric toothbrush can even do a better job than a regular toothbrush, especially if you have braces or an orthodontic appliance. But if you travel with your electric toothbrush, don’t forget to take the charger with you too!

Remember as well that your dentist recommends using a soft or ultra-soft bristled toothbrush, since hard bristled toothbrushes can damage tooth enamel and irritate the gums.

Toothpaste

You can always buy toothpaste from wherever you are travelling to. Any supermarket from all around the world has toothpaste to sell. But some people have toothpaste preferences whether it’s the taste or if they need a tooth sensitivity fighter toothpaste, and are better off bringing their own.

Don’t forget that only 100 ml of toothpaste is allowed on your carry-on luggage when you travel by airplane.

Sugarless gum

Sometimes you are hungy and you eat a quick snack, or sometimes you want to try irresistibly delicious local food and you can’t necessarily brush and floss right after. Chewing on sugarless gum for about 10 minutes after a meal can stimulate the production of saliva in your mouth. Saliva is a natural cleaner which also reduces the acidity in your mouth.

Chewing gum does not replace brushing and flossing your teeth, but it’s a temporary solution that also makes your breath more fresh!

Interdental brush such as the proxabrush

When you are wearing braces or an orthdontic appliance, it’s a good idea to bring an interdental brush with you on your trip.

Sometimes even dental floss or an electric toothbrush doesn’t remove a tiny piece or rice stuck between your tooth and the metallic wire. But in a case like that, a proxabrush can do wonders.

An interdental brush can also be useful for people who have periodontal disease with receding gums. It’s also practical to remove debris stuck in spaces in between teeth that are difficult to clean.

Related Articles

• How to stop bleeding gums?
• Is chewing gum good for your teeth?
• 5 reasons to floss your teeth every day
• Why is oral hygiene important?

Links

• Oral Hygiene Kit for Travellers
• 5 articles d’hygiène buccale à apporter lorsqu’on voyage
• Oral hygiene: keeping your teeth clean
• Smile For A Lifetime!

Dr Mysa Vovan

Dr Mysa Vovan is a dentist who specialized in pediatric dentistry. Not only she is a close friend, but she is excellent in what she does and I refer her all my little patients who need extra attention and extra care, even if she practices 60 kilometres away from me. I am sure that those refered patients will get the best treatment for in order to help them save their teeth.

List of all dentists

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Symptoms for tooth abscess

Having a tooth abscess can be a very uncomfortable, if not to say painful experience. An abscess consists of an infection that has either reached a tooth, or the gums around a tooth. People notice they have an abscess when they start feeling pain, even though an abscess can develop for weeks without really feeling anything. Therefore, the main symptom is intense pain in the mouth, that comes from the infected tooth, but that can also spread throughout the whole side of the face.

Other symptoms can also tell if a dental abscess is about to take place:

• Gums might become red and puffy, with swelling around the tooth.
• Chewing food can become painful as the abscessed tooth is in contact with food or with other teeth.
• Infections can cause fever, which leads to general fatigue and even headaches.
• After the swelling occurs, pus might come out by itself and flow into the mouth. The pus’ taste is very bad, and it’s recommended to spit out the pus instead of swallowing it, but pain does calm down after this happens.

Full article: What Are the Symptoms of Having a Tooth Abscess?
Source: Dental Abscess
In French: Symptômes d’un abcès dentaire

Problems of dry mouth

Dry mouth, or xerostomia, is a state where there is a lack of saliva flow in your mouth. Dry mouth has many causes, and it’s sometimes possible to treat it or at least make it more comfortable. Saliva is important to keep your mouth moist and your teeth clean. It neutralizes acids produced by dental plaque and gets rid of dead cells that accumulate on the gums, cheeks and tongue. Saliva also prevents infection by reducing the number of bacteria and fungi in your mouth. And when it comes to nutrition, saliva helps to digest food by making it soft.

There are a few problems that may arise from dry mouth:

• The risk of having gum disease increases with dry mouth.
• The risk of tooth decay also increases because saliva limits bacteria growth and does a partial cleaning of food debris and dental plaque.
• Saliva improves the ability to taste and swallow foods. Moreover, enzymes contained in saliva help to digest these foods. Xerostomia therefore compromises eating because it reduces the ability to appreciate foods and to digest them.
• Dry mouth can also make it difficult to dentures and partials because contact on dry gums is difficult, and can also be painful.

Complete article: Can Dry Mouth be Harmful?
Source: Dry Mouth
In French: Problèmes de la bouche sèche

Dental problems and overall health

If you have dental problems, such as cavities, gum disease or infections, can they affect your health in general? Yes they can!

Dental health and body health are linked. The mouth should be considered like an open door to all kinds of infections that can eventually reach other organs in the body. Most dental problems are caused by bacteria and other harmful micro-organisms. Those bugs can be the cause of dental cavities, gum disease, and abscesses.

If these dental problems are not taken care of, oral bugs that are harmful can enter the blood stream and spread to other places. There is medical proof that some systemic diseases, such as diabetes and heart disease, can be caused or complicated by such oral infections.

Full article: Is there a Relationship between Dental Problems and Overall Health Problems?
In French: Problèmes dentaires et problèmes de santé

Leaving a cavity untreated

Cavity's bacteria

What might happen if you leave a cavity in your mouth without treating it? Tooth decay is like an infection. It is made of harmful microscopic bugs that use sugar to attack teeth. With time this creates a little hole in a tooth, and if not repaired with a filling, the cavity continues to grow.

If a cavity is not treated it can destroy a good part of the tooth, making it hard to be rapaired with a conventional filling. If a lot of the tooth is gone, only a crown can fix it.

If the decay’s micro-organisms reach the pulp chamber, where the nerve and blood vessels are located, then the pulp becomes irritated and infected. This can eventually lead to an abscess which can be very painful. Only a root canal can fix a tooth when its pulp is infected, and a crown is then probably needed as a final restoration.

There are also situations where a tooth is so much destroyed by a cavity that nothing can be done to fix it, not even a root canal and a crown. In that case the tooth would sadly need to be extracted.

Full article: What Happens if You Don’t Treat a Cavity?
In French: Laisser une carie sans la traiter

What reasons might cause people to lose their teeth?

Tooth Loss

Tooth loss is an unhealthy situation and many people believe it is something inevitable when you grow old. The fact is you don’t need to lose your teeth if you take care of them all your life. They will help you savour foods and nourish yourself in order to maintain you healthy for a long time.

By understanding the reasons why people might lose their teeth, it is possible to give a smart attention to your overall oral health in order to keep your teeth healthy all your life. Here are the causes of tooth loss:

• Poor oral hygiene increases the chances of you getting tooth decay and gum disease. Dentists advise to brush your teeth after each meal, or at least twice a day, and to floss at least once a day. It is also recommended to visit your dentist every six months for a check-ups and cleanings.
• Poor nutrition can ruin your teeth. Foods that contain a lot of sugar and acids can damage your teeth and gums. Such diets initiate cavities.
• Poor habits such as tooth grinding (bruxism) uses up your teeth over the years and make them shorter. People who grind intensely can also fracture their teeth. Smoking can make gum disease worse, which leads to tooth loss.
• If your kids play contact sports such as football, hockey, basketball and martial, they should wear a mouth guard to prevent trauma that can fracture of injure a tooth.
• Some people have an intense fear of dentists and never visit one, even if they are suffering from severe tooth ache. Not seeing a dentist for a problem in your mouth can worsen the condition over time and eventually lead to tooth loss.
• Some people cannot afford dental treatments. But it’s not everything done by dentists that’s overly expensive. Sometimes you can alternative treatments that are less costly. Remember also that preventing problems costs less than repairing problems.

Full article: Causes and Consequences of Tooth Loss
In French: Pour quelles raisons les gens peuvent-ils perdre leurs dents?

What can a patient with cancer do about dry mouth?

One of the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatment is xerostomia (dry mouth). It’s an unpleasant sensation caused by a reduced production of saliva in the mouth. This condition can increase the risk of developing tooth decay and can also cause a burning or painful feeling on the tongue and all around the mouth.

If you have cancer, you should clean your teeth and mouth at least four times a day, and floss at least once a day. If there are areas in your gums that are bleeding or that are sore, floss gently around them.

You also need to use a toothpaste that contains fluoride, in order to give a higher protection to your teeth against cavities. You can rinse your mouth with a solution of baking soda and salt in warm water several times a day, and this followed by rinsing with water alone. Other commercial mouthwashes may also be used to rinse your mouth, but as long as they don’t contain alcohol.

Full article: Cancer Treatments and Oral Health
In French: Que faire si on est atteint du cancer et on souffre de bouche sèche?

Can cancer treatment affect your mouth?

Yes it can.

A patient who is diagnosed with cancer in any area of the body might need to go through radiation treatments and chemotherapy. These cancer treatments can affect your mouth causing many side effects:

• Xerostomia or dry mouth, which follows a reduced production of saliva.
• Pain or burning feeling in the mouth, tongue and gums which might follow a low amount of saliva in the mouth.
• Cavities because of the low amount of saliva.
• Jaw stiffness.
• Problems with eating, speaking, and swallowing.
• Decreased ability to taste foods.
• Periodontal disease.
• Weakened immune system in general.

If you have to go through a cancer treatment, it is important to consult your dentist to make sure your teeth and mouth stay healthy.

Full article: Cancer Treatments and Oral Health
In French: Est-ce que les traitements du cancer peuvent affecter la bouche?

Early childhood caries

Early childhood caries is something that all parents should be concerned about if they are taking care of a baby or a child younger than 5 years old. This type of cavity is very aggressive and it affects deciduous teeth, especially the front ones that are on top. Early childhood caries apprear if a child’s teeth are exposed for long periods to liquids containing sugars. These liquids include fruit juices, soft drinks and even milk and baby formula.

It was previously called baby bottle tooth decay because a baby’s front teeth had extensive cavities after leaving for a long time a bottle in his mouth containing either milk or any other sweet liquid. The resulting effect were dark brown spots that could be seen around the front teeth. If these cavities develop, they grow larger, eventually destroying the whole tooth, like shown in the group of teeth on the above picture.

It is recommended not to let a baby have his bottle for more than 10 minutes, if the bottle contains milk or any sweet liquid. If the baby bottle remains longer in a baby’s mouth, only pure water should be in it.

Full article: Early Childhood Tooth Decay.
Source: Update on Early Childhood Caries
In french: Carie de la petite enfance

Abscess fracturing a tooth

Can a tooth abscess really fracture a tooth? Of course, if it’s left there for a long time! A tooth abscess that has originated from a tooth is caused by a big cavity that has reached the pulp chamber. When the abscess is big and painful, there is a good chance that the cavity is also huge and compromises the integrity of the tooth. If it is not treated, the tooth might break apart to a point that no treatment can restore it, eventually needing to be extracted. If the fracture is not too big, the tooth might be restored by a root canal and a crown.

An abscess might also originate from the gums and not from a tooth itself. In that case, gum disease must be treated in order to eliminate the abscess. Daily oral hygiene care, including brushing and flossing, are very important to prevent gum disease.

An abscess is made of infection, and whether it originates from the gums or from a tooth, it is a bad thing to have in the mouth because the bacteria can enter your body and reach other organs. This can complicate diseases such as diabetes and caridiovascular disease.

Depending of how big the abscess is, usually prior to any treatments, antibiotic medication should be taken to control it. But put in mind that the antibiotic effect is only temporary and permanent treatment should be done.

Full Article: Can an Abscess Cause a Tooth to Break Apart?
In French: Abcès qui fracture une dent?