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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 2006)
Clinic Health CHA-MAY WEEYA - MEDICINETALK Siletz Communit Tooth Talk Siletz Relay Team Says Thanks by Mary> Ellen Volansky, RDH MS by Tamara Morrow, team captain, and Monica Bessette, co-captain Chewing it Over: Fact or Fiction The following topics have been gleaned from the cumulative 83 years of experience of the professionals at the Siletz Dental Clinic. We have been asked some surprising questions and been offered some surprising treatments. With the help of the Internet, the fol lowing was compiled to help you sort out the fact and fictions of everyday advice. Aspirin: This over-the-counter headache medicine is caustic. Aspirin can bum, corrode, dissolve, or eat away by chemical action. Sound painful? It is. Aspirin’s burning effect happens when it’s placed on the gum tissue of a tooth that hurts. This does nothing to resolve the pain. And it will hurt, add ing one’s overall discomfort. You might get some benefit from the amount you eventually swallow. Two patients, reported in the Jour nal of the American Dental Associa tion, chewed four to eight aspirin tab lets per day for two to 10 years. A man and a woman each developed erosion of the teeth that chewed the aspirin. Aspirin taken as directed on the label or as prescribed by your practi tioner is the healthful way to obtaining its benefits. Lemons and lemon juice: Can swished lemon juice be used to treat pe riodontal disease? One Web page listed the benefits of rinsing with lemon juice as “Due to its high content of vitamin C,” it will “strengthen the gums and teeth, is ef fective for preventing and curing acute inflammations of the gum margins, pyorrhea, dental caries and other ora) diseases.” The Web site’s author and the medi- cal/dental profession agree that vitamin C is necessary for the health of our entire body. The dental profession cau tions against regular use of lemon juice because it’s an acid and it’s also caus tic. This caution extends to sucking lemon wedges and vitamin C tablets. This Web site also reported the ben efits of lemon juice for scurvy, which hap pens when the body doesn’t get enough Vitamin C. Sailors were at sea for a long periods of time, and ships didn’t carry trees or plants with fruits or vegetables for sailors to eat for their vitamin C. With out vitamin C, scurvy is fatal. In about 1753, James Lind wrote a book saying the absence of vitamin C was the cause of malaise and deaths seen aboard ship. Symptoms of scurvy include black-and-blue spots on the skin, especially the legs; spongy gums or other gum disease; bleeding mucous membranes; poor healing of wounds; thinning hair; anemia; pallor and partial immobility; joint pain; and depression. Folk medicine practitioners knew scurvy for centuries, way before Lind wrote his A Treatise of the Scurvy. Yet many sailors continued to die of scurvy in the British and German Navies. Af ter 1753, British ships began carrying lemons and limes. The Germans provided sauerkraut, which is rich in vitamin C. Now you know how the nicknames of “limey” and “kraut” came from Brit ish and German sailors. Teething: At about 2-4 months old, infants’ salivary glands begin function ing. This “contributes to the constant drooling, which parents may misinter pret as a symptom of teething.” Baby’s first teeth begin to erupt at about 6 months old. Also, babies have the physical ability to put their hand into their mouth at this age. Again, the article said these developments have nothing to do with teething. In 1964 a researcher working on symptoms associated with teething stated, “ ... teething produces nothing but teeth.” And “nearly 40 years later, evidence-based medicine confirms that few symptoms can be attributed con sistently to teething ... not fever, bit ing, appetite for solids, irritability." How many of you agree? Eventually researchers felt it would be prudent to acknowledge what par ents have observed for generations. They acknowledged that a “few exist ing studies do demonstrate that teeth ing infants may manifest some of the symptoms” listed above. And they stated parents might observe these symptoms in their infants, “in the three to five days preceding tooth eruption." Cleanings cause teeth to become moveable: You might not believe this, but a few people don't take care of their teeth. They don’t brush thoroughly or floss daily and they do this for years. Each day of not brushing or floss ing causes plaque and calculus to build on teeth. With this buildup happening daily, bacteria will cause the gum and bone to recede. With enough bone loss, teeth become moveable. When the quantities of calculus building on individual teeth are large enough, it merges to form a continu ous bridge around all teeth. This cal culus bridge holds teeth still while the bone around the teeth continues to be lost to periodontal disease. If the calculus is then removed from these teeth, bone will stop being lost. If the calculus is removed, the teeth and gums will be healthy. Depending on the amount of bone loss, teeth may become moveable when the calculus is removed. Having moveable teeth does not mean you will lose them. Having the calculus gone, along with brushing and flossing your teeth daily, is what will help you keep your teeth. Red or pink toothbrush and floss: We talk with our mouth, but our mouth can’t talk to us. Bleeding, tenderness, pain, and swelling are not normal. Bleeding and tenderness of our gums is our mouths’ way of telling us they need help. I would like to take this time to thank all of my teammates for all the hard work they did helping to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Our fund-raising consisted of a burrito breakfast, car wash, bake sale, raffle, selling moon and sun memories cards, selling luminaria, and individual donations. I would like to personally thank Pepsi for the donation of the water and sport drinks for our burrito breakfast, the Diabetes Program for the team reg istration fee and food donations, the tribe for the $1,000 donation, and the Charitable Fund for the two $1,000 donations (one for luminaria sponsor ship and one for team money raised). I also would like to thank every one who donated items for the raffle. Thank you to everyone who bought tickets and donated money. Our team brought in a total of $4,800! Our family (Mason) started this team after our mother, Madge Mason, passed on from cancer, in memory of her, and we each have taken turns as the team captain. 1 was honored to lead the team this year and was fortunate enough to have some very special teammates who went above and beyond to help. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. It makes me feel good inside to know we raised money to help fami lies who are dealing with cancer and know it will help them in the fight. If you know of anyone who is deal ing with cancer who is looking for any kind of assistance, contact JC Chalupa at the American Cancer Society office in Eugene, Ore., at 1-877-221-3072 or 541-434-3114; or by e-mail at JC.Chalupa@cancer.org. Part of the Relay For Life team from Siletz: Jennifer Flores, Monica Bessette, Melissa Butler, Tamara Morrow, Andrea Butler, Anthony Butler, Kay Stainbrook, and Peggy Flores. If there is just bleeding, but no pain or swelling, you first should check the thoroughness of your brushing and flos sing. Are you reaching the gum line? Bleeding and tenderness will stop in three to four days if home care is the cause. If you ignore bleeding gums, the bleeding also will stop, but for the wrong reason - not touching the gums to stimulate the bleeding. Gentle touch ing of our gums with a finger, a brush, or floss should not cause bleeding. If there is swelling of any kind, give us a call that day. Together we can fig ure out what needs to be done to bring your mouth and gums back to health. Superglue: All brands of superglue are toxic to our bodies. Superglue (cyanocrylate) was discovered in 1942 as part of a WWII research effort that failed - plastic for gun sights. Trying to glue chipped teeth, broken fillings, or loose crowns with superglue can have toxic effects on you. Over- the counter-substances, or cements, exist for this purpose. If you cannot get to the dental clinic for an emergency appointment, these over-the-counter cements will temporarily ease your dis comfort. Please call for a dental ap pointment to get a lasting repair. Another problem with superglue inside the mouth is the possibility of cementing your tongue to your teeth or cementing your lips together. All sources 1 found recommended against using superglue in the mouth. And they said it would take from two to four days to separate cemented facial tissues. Dentists and physicians use a form of superglue, called meth methacrylate, to repair teeth and skin, even finger»’ nails secured to their bed. Superglue and meth methacrylate are not the same. This is a special mention for Heather Moore, TYEE participant, at the Siletz. She collected information for this article on the computer and con tributed the information about teething. Thank you, Heather. For more information about the top ics above, check out the tribal Web page, the Dental Clinic, Tooth Talk sec tion. The Web page addresses used for this article are listed for you to explore. We have a new e-mail address. Thi^ should be the last e-mail change for a long time. If you have questions for Twth Talk, send them to toothtalk@ctsi.nsn.us. If you have topics you would like to see covered, send an e-mail to me. I would like to know your interest or answer questions you have about oral health. September 2006 • Siletz News • 21
