Basic information on Oral Hygiene

  Hello dear readers I am Dr.Haq  (B.D.S.) A little bit about myself I graduated in 2016 from china with my undergraduate degree in BDS. While preparing for my licensing exams I thought with the help of SAM Daily Times I could help educate our dear readers. I shall do my best commit to this column.

In this age where all sorts of information and articles can be accessed on our phones and laptops instantly, it can sometimes get a bit confusing. My goal is to give concise, researched and collaborated information.

So on to our topic of oral hygiene. Now we have all heard time and time again that we must brush our teeth regularly and how important a beautiful smile is, but this convoluted and vague information is not really helping the fight against hygiene related diseases.

As a dentist people ask me questions regularly about their varying degree of pathologies and they all claim to brush their teeth regularly, so my goal is to make sure that certain things get cleared up. Things like why sometimes people that brush only once a day do not have cavities, but people who brush on a regular basis still sometimes find issues popping up left and right.

Todays topic is just a start as I will systematically try to explain these complicated processes in a manner that does not overburden our readers with information.

Brushing is not a new concept but has been around for ages, where our ancesters used twigs from certain trees like the acacia tree, as brushes (concept of Midwak). The acacia tree is well known in its properties of cavity prevention and its extracts are used widely in toothpastes.

Let us start with knowing what teeth actually are, that is they are a complicated and multi-layered appendage made of calcium hydroxide the same thing bones are made of, but much more tightly packed, with a much more complicated molecular formula called Hydroxyapatite Ca₁₀(PO₄₆(OH)_2. 

It is one of the densest and hardest material found in the human body, yet this should make us think why even with such properties, are teeth still so prone to damage and how does brushing protect it? Well good question, this is because of bacterial acid production. Our mouth is actually a perfect environment for bacteria to grow in and is therefore one of the most unhygienic parts of the body. Even a clean mouth can have more bacteria then there are people in the world. during the ages before anti bacterials a bite from a human generally meant death, as the infection would generally lead to sepsis A healthy and clean oral cavity (mouth) generally has a neutral pH of 7 and when we eat we provide food for the bacteria present to feed (usually sugary substances) and produce acidic by-products which caused a drop in pH and in turn cause erosion (demineralisation through leeching). Therefore brushing is a very important first step for a clean and healthy mouth and most definitely a beautiful smile.

Brushing is in fact required to help remove plaque present on and around teeth and also to prevent further plaque formation. Plaque around teeth are like barnacles present on the bottom of ships as in it houses the harmful bacteria present in the oral cavity and protects them in a crystallised matrix fixing them on the surface of enamel and preventing antibacterials in mouthwash or toothpaste from killing them. The older plaque gets, the harder it is to remove hence brushing regularly is a necessity.

Then the choice of toothpaste is just as important as the toothbrush. A fluoride toothpaste is what you want to go for. The fluoride changes the formula of the enamel and therefore makes the enamel more resistant to erosion through the action of acids. This changes the chemical formula of enamel a bit from hydroxyapatite to Fluorapatite Ca₅(PO₄)₃F . It should also be known that the fluoride also helps fill in tiny microscopic cracks in our enamel and help keep it safe from cavities.

There is a very simple and basic formula on prevention of cavities

Bacteria + substrate(sugars mostly)+time= Cavities

All of these three things are required for formation of a tooth cavity. Remove anyone of these three from the equation and tooth cavities can be prevented. The simple act of brushing twice a day and flossing can prevent not only tooth decay, but also heart diseases. It helps keep your mouth fresh, disease free all day long everyday and gives you a gorgeous simile to boot.

So guys this is Dr Haq signing off and will be back next time with more information on your tooth brush and how to use it.