Dental health month in August
Is your school doing something for Dental health month in August to improve oral health promotion as recommended by recent health reform reports like ‘A healthier future for all Australians’ (item 86) and results in improved personal tooth care.
To make Dental Health Month more fun and reach the wider community, Supertooth suggests each student uses the social media to show what they are doing to understand acid demineralisation and saliva, fluoride or other remineralisation like Recaldent.
Tooth decay is our most common disease affecting every family including over eleven million Australians each year yet is easy to understand and prevent.
Cavities are formed after years of acid demineralisation that exceeds saliva and fluoride remineralisation, where food is left on teeth after eating and carbohydrate like sugar is changed to acid by plaque bacteria.
To see where plaque is on teeth, Supertooth suggests that student ask their parents for half a teaspoon of red or blue food dye to swish around the mouth and spit out. Then look at plaque in the mirror at gum margins and take a photo to post on the internet social media like Facebook. Few cavities occur here where saliva has easy access to remineralise those easy to see and brush.
Supertooth suggests ways of reducing demineralisation by reducing the frequency of consuming acid forming food and drink, particularly between meals. Choose healthy low carb, low fat snacks, fruit or veg like celery and low fat cheese.
Also increasing remineralisation by chewing sugarless gum after eating. However it is better to chew fibre like celery after eating to force saliva into trapped food between teeth and inside pits and fissures to dilute carbohydrate, especially sugar confection, neutralise any acid and remineralise demineralised tooth. It would be good to tell parents of this and arrange a day when everyone chews a 10 cm stick of celery after eating at school and at home.
Flossing or removing food from between teeth before brushing will increase fluoride access and remineralisation between teeth. See more on www.supertoothndk.org