Oral diseases and other chronic diseases can be prevented by addressing common risk factors. These include:

Oral Hygiene

Ensuring proper oral hygiene helps to retain teeth. Adults over 35 years are prone to gum diseases, like periodontal disease. This can be prevented by daily tooth brushing and flossing. This removes plaque (a colorless film, which sticks to your teeth at the gum line). Plaque constantly forms on your teeth. By daily cleaning you can prevent periodontal disease.

Dental cavities can be prevented by maintaining a constant low level of fluoride in the oral cavity. Fluoride can be obtained from fluoridated toothpaste, as well as from professionally-applied fluoride or mouth rinse. Long- term exposure results in fewer dental cavities in both children and adults.

Nutrition

This plays a Major role in your dental health. Having a balanced diet helps to boost your body’s immune system, leaving you less vulnerable to oral disease. Avoiding sugar consumption between meals and maintaining a well-balanced nutritional intake helps to prevent tooth decay and maintain healthy gums.

How often and what you eat have been found to affect your dental health. Eating starchy foods such as crackers, bread, cookies and candy causes the bacteria in your mouth feed on it, they then produce acids, which attack your teeth for up to 20 minutes or more. Also foods that stick to your teeth or are slow to dissolve give the acids more time to work on destroying your tooth enamel.

Starchy foods:

• Crackers
• Breads
• Cookies
• Candy
• Potato chips

Sticky / slow to dissolve foods:

• Granola bars
• Chewy fruit snacks
• Dried fruit
• Hard candy

Sticky and starchy foods create less acid when eaten as part of a meal. Saliva production increases at mealtime, rinsing away food particles and neutralizing harmful acids.

Foods such as nuts, cheese, onions have been shown to slow growth of decay- causing bacteria in the mouth. Consuming fresh fruits and vegetables, protects against oral cancer and avoid processed foods.

Stop tobacco use and alcohol consumption to reduce the risk of oral cancers, periodontal disease and tooth loss.

Professional Cleaning

Professional cleaning will remove calculus in places your toothbrush and floss have missed. The dentist will chart the condition of your gums through perio-charting, which is the measuring of periodontal pockets. Through these measurements, the dentist is able to accurately diagnose the presence of gum disease, as well as the level of advancement it is at.

Cleaning is done using an ultrasonic scaler. It literally blast tartar, or calculus, off of your teeth. Water flows out of the tip’s end to wash away debris. This significantly reduced the amount of plaque bacteria that causes most dental diseases. This is why it is suggested to come in for a professional cleaning every six months. Some patients might need to come in every three or four months, due to the advanced level of gum disease.

Preventive Exams

It’s essential to have regular recall check-up exams in order to prevent problems from developing unnoticed. A recall examination helps dentists to thoroughly re-visit areas within your mouth and compare them to previous records. To properly diagnose, it is vital to take a set of x-rays in order to have an accurate idea of any problem. Dentist might also use an intra- oral camera and diagnodent to further diagnose a concern. Recall examination are usually paired with your professional cleaning.

Sealants

Pit and fissure sealants are preventive measures. This effectively “seals” the deep grooves and pits acting as a barrier, protecting enamel from plaque and acids.This is suggested for children once they start growing their permanent molars.

Sealants are single step procedure and take only a few minutes to seal each tooth. Sealants hold up well under the force of normal chewing and can last several years before a reapplication is needed. They protect the depressions and grooves of teeth from food particles and plaque that brushing and flossing can’t reach.

Oral Cancer Screening

Oral cancer is usually detected late and has a 50% mortality rate. However, when it’s found early, it can have almost a 90% survival rate. It is mainly associated with heavy smokers or drinkers but today has been a frightening increase in oral cancer in non-smokers and non- drinkers.

The signs and symptoms of oral cancer are often not seen clearly by the naked eye, Therefore, we advise for oral cancer screening at SPOT Center or a visit to your dentist to identify morphological and biochemical changes in the cells of your mouth, tongue, throat and tonsils. Technology has the means to spot the occurrence at early beginnings of oral cancer. The test is simple, painless and takes only 10 minutes.