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About Siletz news / (Siletz, OR) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 2009)
Street Dance Siletz Tribal Administration Building Parking Lot July 10, 2009 Everyone seems to enjoy the limbo, one of several activities that took place during the evening, including Angel Oleman and Hayden Worman (left photo), Leslie Brown, Ryan Rilatos, Lexie Metcalf and Kyle Mac rae (below left) and three youth community members (below right photo). Right: Mandi and Kylee Mae Smith watch all the action. ■il IMMI IMMI mi IMMI IM Toothtalk - Plaque, Biofilm and Oral Sprawl, What is that on Your Teeth? By Mary Ellen Volansky, RDH, MS You wake up in the morning and rush to the bathroom to brush and floss your teeth. Homecare: always your first thought and action after your usual restful uninterrupted night of sleep. You run your tongue over the no- longer-furry surfaces of your teeth, satis fied with the cleanliness and health of your mouth. What a way to start a day! Are you with me so far? In thought at least? A short time later, you check your teeth again and this time you have a smooth almost glossy feeling to your teeth. You think of how wonderful it is to have such clean teeth and you move on through the rest of your day. Hey, wait a minute. Aren't my teeth supposed to feel like they did just after I brushed? What is that glossy feeling to my teeth? Is it bad for my teeth? Well no ... or sort of. The glossy surface on your teeth is called pellicle, widely considered a protective film. Pel licle helps protect the tooth surfaces from the acids that bacteria excrete. Bacteria eat the foods we cat, es pecially refined sugars/carbohydrates - white sugar, white flour, etc. Those special little critters then produce acids or waste or excrement. Aren’t those great words to use for inside our mouth? They are accurate if not attractive. Now the “or sort of’ portion of the answer. Pellicle “is the first step in plaque formation.”1 Pellicle-coated teeth allow for the attachment and growth of bacte ria - streptococcus sanguis, actinomyces viscosus and streptococcus mutans (cavity -causing critters)2. Ah, what a mouthful (remember these critters, their name will come up again) and gone is the glossiness. How can a substance do two things that are opposite to each the other? Re searchers continue to look for an answer. Researchers have placed pieces of teeth in people’s mouths. While in the mouth the pieces grow pellicle. These mouths usually belong to dental students who “volunteer” to not brush or floss their teeth for three weeks. Yuck, aren’t you glad dental professionals all wear facemasks? In summation, the tooth pieces with pellicle that are exposed to acid (orange juice) did not show as much wear as those without pellicle that were exposed to or angejuice. This is important because it’s the acid of plaque that etches teeth. Teeth with etched spots (engraved or cut) appear as white spots on our teeth. These white spots are the early stages of decay. Did you ever think orange juice and chunkier. Now the plaque begins to was an acid strong enough to etch teeth? cause not just cavities but gingivitis and Here is where the “sort of’ part comes eventually periodontitis - gum disease. in again. Researchers know that pellicle “It has been estimated that as many also helps the cavity-causing bacteria to as 400 distinct species may be found grow. Go figure. in plaque.”3 And in one to two days after pellicle So much for that furry vs. glossy feel grows and after streptococcus mutans and ing on our teeth. Glossy is good initially friends have settled in (remember them and bad the longer we allow it to sprawl from before?), new critters sprawl onto across our teeth. the surfaces of our teeth. Whether it’s the first thing in the morn These new bacteria land and grow ing or the last before you rush out the door, because mutans and friends excrete sub brush and floss. Let’s show those bacteria stances that encourage them to land, grow what we think of their excrement! and stay put. These new critters or germs Or brush and floss the last thing have names like fusobacterium nucleatum before exhaustedly dropping off into an or prevotella intermdiea. uninterrupted night of dreaming. Just keep Remember those dental student vol those critters and their excrement (acids) unteers? After two weeks of not brushing from building a condo on your teeth. or flossing, more germs land and grow. Oh by the way, are you due to have Can you even imagine not brushing and your teeth cleaned? Give a call at 541- flossing for that length of time? 444-1030 or 800-648-0449. These critters have names like Campy 1 Microbiology of Dental Plaque, Dr. Susan lobacter rectus, eikenella corrodens Kinder Haake, www.dent.ucla.edu/pic/mem- and (this tongue twister) actinobacillus bers/microbio/mdphome.html . actinomycetecomitans. 2 Role of Streptococcus Mutans in Human Den All of these germs excrete (sorry, but tal Decay, Walter J. Loesche, Microbiological Reviews, Dec. 1986, p. 353-380. American 1 am making a brushing and flossing state Society for Microbiology. ment) chemicals that help each other grow 3 Microbiology of Dental Plaque, Dr. Susan stronger. In other words, these germs ex Kinder Haake, page 1, www.dent.ucla.edu/ crete chemicals that build plaque thicker pic/members/microbio/mdphome.html. August 2009 • Siletz News • 13^
