J-
CHA-MAY WEEYA - MEDICINETALK
i ________ ___ ___________________ ___ ___ __
Siletz
Community
U-
Clinic
Health
274 Teeth Get the
Treatment
by Mary Ellen Vol an sky, RDH, MS
Siletz Valley School students par
ticipated in this year's sealant clinic in
April. Besides 63 children having
screenings and 274 teeth getting sealed,
the kids had videos to watch, coloring
books to fill, and toys to take home.
The numbers cannot tell the whole
story. One student was so scared the
first day at our clinic that this student could
not participate. The second day ot the
clinic, after a talk with a wise grandmother,
this very same patient requested another
chance. Well, II teeth were sealed.
Congratulations to one brave SVS student!
Numbers do show us whether
progress is being made from year to
year. At this year’s clinic, we saw 46
percent more kids (63 verse 43) and
we sealed 160 percent more teeth (274
verses 105) than last year.
The only disappointment in all this
prevention success is how few of the
SVS students actually got to participate
- 63 out of a possible 240 in grades 1-12.
One more number is important -
$13,630. This is the dollar amount
needed to provide these services for 63
Be Careful!
A Message from Dr. Rick Letherer
Dr. Matthew Winkle and Bonnie Me Alpine seal a student's teeth,
(photo by Diane Rodriquez)
children to have 274 teeth sealed, a
substantial preventive service provided
by the Siletz Tribe to SVS students.
Beyond numbers are the “thank yous”
to U)urdes Jackson for her work in organ
izing the students at SVS. She distributed
the consent forms to parents (twice)
and coordinated the busy schedules ot
students, teachers, classes, and lunch.
With Ms. Jackson’s help, we have
set a date for next year's sealant clinic.
Information and parental consent
forms will be included in the students'
enrollment package, to be filled out by
parents in late August.
Next year, we are looking for
greater participation by SVS students.
I’ll keep you posted.
This time of year is a safety hazard
for children. Being out of school, out
side. and exposed to the trill of tire, loud
noises, and the colors of fireworks is a
strong temptation to avoid safe habits.
The leading cause of blindness in
children is injury. Last year, there were
approximately 9,000 hospital ER vis
its for fireworks injuries alone. Nearly
half of these injuries were burns to the
head and eyes. Half of the injuries were
to children age 15 and under!
Please, parents - supervise your
children at all times with fireworks and
avoid a tragedy. Sparklers are hot and
can severely burn hands, faces, and eyes.
Happy Holidays!
Tooth Talk
by Mary Ellen Volansky, RDH, MS
Biofilm Is in Our Mouths?
Yes! You can find them in many
common places: pond scum, inside
water pipes, in acidic pools in Yellow
stone National Park, on glaciers in
Antarctica, and on our teeth.1
In pipes they lead to clogging and
corrosion. In acidic pools in Yellow
stone or on glaciers in Antarctica, 1 have
no idea what they do. On our teeth a bio-
film, also called plaque, causes cavities.
A biofilm is a collection of micro
organisms such as bacteria that are liv
ing collectively. Incredibly, more than
500 bacterial species have been iden
tified in typical dental plaque, as well as
fungi, algae, yeasts, protozoa, and other
micro-organisms and corrosion products.2
So what is a person to do? Drink
water with fluoride in it. Seems simple,
but not in Oregon.
Nor is it easy if you're a bottled
water drinker. Read the label f>n bottled
water to check for its fluoride content -
many bottled waters do not have fluoride.
You can use over-the-counter
toothpaste and mouth rinses (ACT,
Oral-B. Tom’s of Maine) if you live in
an area without fluoride in your drink
ing water, if you drink bottled water,
or if you have lots of decay.
Next? Stop drinking soda - sugar-
sweetened and diet sodas. Not likely,
you say? Me too.
Consider having sodas only with a
meal, when saliva is flowing and helps
neutralize those acids. It takes saliva
15 minutes to neutralize the acids of
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Siletz News
•
one sip of soda. If you sip through the
day, saliva can't keep up.
Another trick is to rinse twice with
a mouthful of water after drinking soda
or eating sugars.
When you come into the Siletz
Clinic, ask to view the poster on sodas.
It compares sodas with battery acids
... disgusting!
Another step you can take is to be
gin using products containing Xylitol,
five minutes five times a day.' A total
intake of 5 grams4 is considered optimal.
Xylitol (xy li tol OR zi li tol ) has
40 percent less calories than sugar and
the same level of sweetness.5
Xylitol occurs naturally in corn
cobs, fruits, vegetables, mushrooms,
and some seaweeds. For use in food,
it's extracted from birch wood chips.’6
Xylitol is a white crystalline powder
with a Glycemic Index of 77. People with
diabetes know the benefit of this number.
Bacteria that cause cavities love
Xylitol, but they cannot digest it. With
out digestion, there are no acids to draw
minerals from our teeth - less chance of
white or brown spots and less chance
of soft mushy decay.
Back to reading labels - are you a
regular label reader? Then you know that
each product has the ingredients listed
on its label under the heading Contents.
Contents are listed in order of abun
dance. with the most abundant item listed
first. The least abundant item is listed
last. For Xylitol to be effective, it must
be the first item in the content list.
July 2007
Trident gum has Xylitol but when
you read the label and check ‘the con
tents, you'll find Xylitol is not the first
ingredient listed there. Trident is not
recommended for fighting tooth decay.
Here are some Xylitol-containing
products you might enjoy. Try gums
(Spry, Xylichew, Ice Breakers/Ice
Cubes) and mints (try Spry and Smint
- mints only).
Toothpastes have Xylitol too
(Squiggle and some of Tom’s of Maine,
look for Xylitol and for fluoride), and
a mouth rinse (Spry).
These products are good to reduce
the rate of decay for people with dry
mouth too. Patients have told me that
using Xylitol products helped their dry
mouth feel better.
Use these products for five minutes
five times a day. Do this in addition to
brushing and flossing. One more sug
gestion, use Xylitol products after eat
ing a meal or snack.8
Caution dog owners - Xylitol, like
chocolate, should never be given to
dogs. If your dog does eat Xylitol, con
tact your dog’s doctor immediately.9
Check with the American Veterinary
Medical Association at www.avma.org
for more details.
Questions or comments? Contact
me at toothtalk@ctsi.nsn.us. If you go
directly to the tribal Dental Web page,
you’ll find the links listed below. You
can just click on them and explore.
1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biofilm
2 www.ere.montana.edu./biofilmbook/
MODULE_01/Mod() l_Blue.htm
3 Northwest Tribal Dental Support Cen
ter, Oral Health Promotion and Dis
ease Prevention Manual
4 www.cda.org/popup/Xylitol
5 www.m-w.com/
6 www.blueshieldca.com\
7www.xlear.com/xylitol/how.aspx
8 www.xlear.com/xylitol
9 www.tomsofmaine.com/toms/ifs/
xylitol.asp
Out-of-Area
Health Care
by Judy Muschamp,
Health Director
Call-in dates for pre-authoriza-
tion are July 2 and Oct. 1.
Calls are answered starting at 8
a.m. in the order received. Be sure to
register for health care before these
dates.
Only one authorization per
year per tribal member is allowed.
Members have a choice of select
ing medical, dental, vision, or
hearing services.
Numbers to call: 541-444-1236
or 1-800-628-5720.