"Manly" Drinks & Your Dental Health - Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola

Coke is perhaps the worst possible thing that you can do to your teeth -- shy of getting into a fight with a motorcycle gang -- and it's one of those rare occasions where brushing your teeth afterwards does more harm than good. The reason why is right there in the ingredients label; phosphoric acid. That sounds like an industrial chemical instead of a food ingredient, and the fact of the matter is that it is indeed an industrial chemical.

When you drink phosphoric acid, a lot of things happen. Things deep in your intestines and in your bones and all over your body; my nutritionist tells me that a can of cola is essentially an anti-multivitamin. It actually causes your body to urinate out a whole pile of vitamins and minerals that it should otherwise have kept and used. That lack of micronutrients really does affect the health of your teeth in the long run -- but it's nothing compared to the short-term impact.

The short-term impact is that the phosphoric acid severely weakens your enamel, especially if you keep the drink in your mouth for any considerable period of time. That's why brushing your teeth after you drink Coke is a bad idea. Even a medium-hard toothbrush will literally scrub the weakened enamel away, and leave you in dire need of Dr. Johnson.

Now, we do have to put a bit of a lid on the hysteria, because we've done the research; cola will not, in fact, dissolve a tooth overnight. It takes a few weeks, and fresh-squeezed orange juice will actually do the job faster. But that doesn't mean it's necessarily safe to drink regularly if you want to avoid a trip to our office.

If you must drink a sugary, manly, bubbly drink this summer, we encourage you to check the label. If it lists any kind of acid that isn't citric, you should probably switch drinks. According to one study, root beer is generally best for your teeth if you must have a soft drink.

Just One of Many Things Men Can Learn From Women: Oral Health

We've known for years that women outlive men — and we've known for years that good oral health translates rather directly into good overall health, including a longer life. What we've found out relatively recently is that those two facts might actually be related.

A study published in the April 2011 Journal of Periodontology examined the oral health habits of men vs. women, and discovered that one of the best ways to improve your oral health habits is to have a second X chromosome. On average:

• Men brush their teeth 1.9 times per day — women: 2.5
• Men lose 5.4 teeth by age 72 — women: 3.2
• 53.1% of men said they have concerns about visiting the dentist — women: 41.1%
• 57.6% of men said they only went to the dentist when they had a toothache — women: 46.9%
• 61.2% of men said they "brush each tooth carefully" — women: 77.7%

The list of statistics goes on and on, but the implicit truth is clear; women pay more attention to their oral health than men. While no one is saying that the extra attention they give their oral health leads directly to women's longer lifespans, it certainly has merit as a contributing factor.

Among other things, that's because oral and throat cancer (caused by gum disease) is significantly more common in men than in women. Again, there's no evidence that the difference in cancer rates is directly related to the lack of attention the average man pays to his oral health, but it's a fairly easy conclusion to draw.

Some experts have argued that the extra care women take with their teeth is largely undone by the effects that progesterone has on increasing one's vulnerability to gum disease. The ladies at Dr. Johnson's office, on the other hand, think it's an opportunity for the men in our lives — one of many ways that, if they were just a little more like us, they might be a bit better off.

In Honor of Mother's Day...

In honor of Mother's Day this month of May we would like to celebrate some important women in the history of dentistry.

Like Amalia Assur, who in 1852 became the first female dentist in Sweden; she was given special permission from the Royal Board of Health (Kongl. Sundhetskollegiets) to practice independently as a dentist, despite the fact that the profession was not legally opened to women in Sweden until 1861. The infamous Emeline Robert Jones, who in 1855 became the first woman to practice dentistry in the United States. She married the dentist Daniel Jones when she was a teenager, and became his assistant in 1855. These women and so many more helped pave the way for women's role in the field of dentistry so that in recent times, Kathleen T. O'Loughlin, of Medford, Mass., became the first female executive director of the American Dental Association in 2009.

Women have always played an important role in history and dentistry is no exception. The office of Drs. Johnson and Risbrudt are appreciative and humbled by the impact these dentists, women, and mothers have had on the field of dentistry.

Pre 20th century

• 1523: The earliest known dental engraving, made by Lucas van Leyden in copper, depicts an itinerant dentist and his female assistant.
• 1866: Rosalie Fougelberg became Sweden's first female dentist after the profession was opened to both genders. In
• 1861, the dentist profession was legally opened to women in Sweden. Fougelberg tried twice to get her dentist's certificate; the second time, she was approved by the medical examiners but not by the dentistry representative. During her third try in 1866, the examination was supervised by the press. She was still turned down by the Collegium Medicum, but given a royal dispensation by the monarch, Charles XV of Sweden.
• 1866: Lucy Hobbs Taylor became the first woman to graduate from a dental college (Ohio Dental College).
• 1869: Henriette Hirschfeld-Tiburtius, born in Germany, became the first woman to take a full college course in dentistry, as Lucy Hobbs Taylor received credit for her time in dental practice before attending dental college. She graduated from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery in 1869. She later returned to Germany and became the first female dentist in Germany.
• 1874: Fanny A. Rambarger became the second American woman to earn the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery in 1874, when she graduated from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery. She worked in Philadelphia and limited her practice to women and children only.
• 1886: Margarita Chorné y Salazar became the first female dentist in Mexico.
• 1890: Ida Gray Rollins became the first African-American woman to earn a dental degree in the United States, which she earned from the University of Michigan.
• 1892: The [American] Women's Dental Association was founded in 1892 by Mary Stillwell-Kuesel with 12 charter members. Annie T. Focht, secretary, listed 32 members in her report on March 4, 1893, and stated: "the women interested in dentistry [met] in Philadelphia in March 1892, to organize a society by which they could strengthen themselves by trying to help one another." At monthly meetings of the association essayists presented scholarly dental papers. Their mailing list grew to include about 100 female dentists. No reports of the association exist after 1898.
• 1895: Lilian Lindsay became the first licensed female dentist in Britain. She was also a leading dental historian, and the Lindsay Society for the History of Dentistry, established in 1962 (after her death) was named for her.
• 1898: Emma Gaudreau Casgrain earned her license to practice dentistry and thus became the first female dentist in Canada.

20th century

• 1907: Frances Dorothy Gray became Australia's first female Bachelor of Dental Science upon graduating from the Australian College of Dentistry, University of Melbourne, in 1907.
• 1916: Gillette Hayden became the first female president of the American Academy of Periodontology.
• 1920: Maude Tanner became the first recorded female delegate to the American Dental Association.
• 1921: During the annual meeting of the American Dental Association (ADA), 12 female dentists met in Milwaukee and formed the Federation of American Women Dentists, now known as the American Association of Women Dentists (AAWD). AAWD's first president, M. Evangeline Jordan, was one of the first to limit her practice to children and was a founder of pedodontics. She graduated from the University of California School of Dentistry in 1898.
• 1923: Anita Martin became the first woman inducted into the American dental honor society Omicron Kappa Upsilon.
• 1933: Grace Rogers Spalding was appointed the first formal editor of the [American] Journal of Periodontology, a position she held until July 1949.
• 1946: Lilian Lindsay became the first female president of the British Dental Association.
• 1951: Helen E. Myers of Lancaster, Pa., a 1941 graduate of Temple University, was commissioned as the U.S. Army Dental Corps’ first female dental officer in 1951.
• 1975: On July 1, 1975, Jeanne C. Sinkford became the first female dean of an American dental school when she was appointed the dean of Howard University, School of Dentistry.
• 1977: The American Association of Dental Schools (founded in 1923 and renamed the American Dental Education Association in 2000) had Nancy Goorey as its first female president in 1977.
• 1988: In 1988, the American Student Dental Association elected its first female president, N. Gail McLaurin of the Medical University of South Carolina.
• 1991: Geraldine Morrow became the first female president of the American Dental Association.
• 1997: Hazel J. Harper became the first female president of the [American] National Dental Association.

21th century

• 2001: Marjorie Jeffcoat became the first female editor of The Journal of the American Dental Association.
• 2003: Rear Admiral Carol I. Turner became the first female Chief of the U.S. Navy Dental Corps.
• 2004: Sandra Madison, of Asheville, N.C., was elected as the first female president of the American Association of Endodontists.
• 2005: Michele Aerden became the first female president of the FDI World Dental Federation.
• 2007: Laura Kelly became the first female president of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry.
• 2008: Beverly Largent, a pediatric dentist from Paducah, Ky., became the first female president of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry.
• 2008: Valerie Murrah became the first female president of the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology.
• 2008: Paula Jones became the first female president of the Academy of General Dentistry.
• 2008: Deborah Stymiest of Fredericton was elected as the first female president of the Canadian Dental Association.
• 2008: Susan Bordenave-Bishop became the first female president of the Academy of Dentistry International.

Info courtesy of Wikipedia.

The Cancerous Effects of Marijuana

Cancer of all kinds happens when cells in your body begin to operate incorrectly, due to either physical or chemical stress. Wounds that fail to heal for one reason or another are one of the more common causes of cancer, as are pesticides and other chemicals that affect your cells' functions. Marijuana brings both of these threats to the table.

Cannabis and Your Immune System

Marijuana dampens the immune system, especially in those areas directly affected by the smoke; your mouth, throat, and lungs. That means that pot smokers are much more likely than the average person to get oral infections, and those infections don't heal quickly, either. Cannabis also causes xerostomia -- a malfunctioning of the salivary glands that leads to dry mouth -- which makes your mouth tissues more vulnerable to injury.

Marijuana and Oral Cancer

Eventually, chronic pot smokers are much more likely than others to develop something called oral leukoplakia -- thick, white patches on the mucus membranes of the mouth. Oral leukoplakia is often considered a pre-cancerous growth, meaning it's quite likely to turn into cancer. The most common cannabis-related oral cancer is on the back of the tongue or on the floor of the mouth under the back of the tongue.

Please call the office of Drs. Johnson and Risbrudt for an oral cancer screening at 949-493-9311.

The Warning Signs of Oral Cancer

Early detection and treatment is the number one way to prevent death or recurrence in cancer cases -- all cancer cases. The 5-year survival rate of oral cancer, for example, is more than 80% when it's detected before metastasizing. Afterward, it drops to less than 50%. Fortunately, while oral cancer doesn't cause pain in most cases, there are other warning signs that you can detect if you're paying attention.

• Tissue changes -- including texture, color, and heat sensitivity -- within the mouth and gums.
• Lesions of red, white, or mixed red and white, especially those lasting more than two weeks. Red lesions are the most likely to become cancerous, but any long-lasting lesion can trigger a tumor.
• A lump or thickening of the soft oral tissue in the back of the throat.
• Soreness or the feeling that something is caught in your throat.
• Difficulty chewing or swallowing or difficulty moving the jaw or tongue.
• Numbness of the tongue or back of the throat.
• Any open wound in the mouth that doesn't heal within two weeks.
• Swelling of the jaw or pressure under the jawbone.
• Ear pain or constant need to 'pop' your ears.

None of these by themselves indicate that you have oral cancer, but they indicate that you may need a checkup. The majority of oral cancer cases involve one or more of these symptoms in conjunction with one or more of these risk factors:

• Smoking or chewing tobacco.
• Heavy alcohol drinking.
• A poor diet, particularly one lacking in raw fruits and vegetables.
• Lack of exercise.
• Old age (60+ years of age.)
• HPV of the throat.

If you belong to one or more of these categories and you have any of the symptoms above, call our office today and schedule an oral cancer screening for yourself. Don't hesitate -- if it is cancer, time is absolutely of the essence!

Don't Blush: Oral Sex and Oral Cancer

It's a bit of a tender subject, but one that needs discussing; oral sex. For decades, the practice of oral sex has been on the rise, with many people -- especially teenagers -- considering it 'safer' than 'normal' sexual intercourse. It's certainly less likely to result in an unwanted pregnancy, but scientists are discovering a link between oral sex and oral cancer later in life.

The link, some scientists theorize, is due to the Human Papillomavirus (HPV). HPV lives in the genital area of both men and women, and is known to cause cervical cancer in women (leading to the development of Gardasil and other immunizations against HPV). It turns out that during oral sex, HPV can take up residence in the mouth, where it lives for decades, eventually resulting in some form of oral cancer, most often in the tonsils or the base of the tongue.

How can you limit your risk of oral cancer due to HPV? Fortunately, the vaccines that work against HPV are starting to become available for men as well. As of this writing, only Gardasil is actually on the market for men, but other brands are following suit quickly. If you're under the age of 26, you can get the vaccine injection and dramatically reduce your risk.

Mount Sinai Medical Center came up with an excellent infographic that says it all:

If you see yourself somewhere in that chart above, feel free to ask us for an oral cancer checkup. We'd rather our patients be safe than find out too late that they need massive surgery to remove a deeply embedded tumor we could have found years earlier. 

Let's Talk About Oral Cancer

This year alone, nearly forty thousand Americans will be diagnosed with oral or pharyngeal (back of the mouth) cancer -- and more than eight thousand people will die from it. That's about one death per hour, twenty-four hours every day, all year long. Of the forty thousand Americans who receive the diagnosis, only half of them will be alive in five years.

Those are some powerful numbers, and yet oral cancer is one of those kinds of cancer that people most often discover too late -- after it's metastasized into the lymph nodes of the neck or some other area in the body. By the time that's happened, the primary tumor has had the opportunity to grow deep into the local muscle and bone structures, all without causing any real pain or discomfort.

Risk Factors

Cancer is a strange disease because it doesn't have one big risk factor. Rather, it's an accumulation of small factors that work together. Alcohol use, tobacco use, HPV, an unhealthy diet, heavy metal exposure, carcinogen exposure, and many other factors all contribute, as does the most obvious culprit; poor oral health.

Detection


Much like breast cancer and regular mammograms, almost the only way to detect oral cancer is to deliberately look and feel for it with your eyes and hands. Or, more likely, have your dentist or doctor look for it with his/her eyes and hands. If you have a sore or discolored area in your mouth and it doesn't heal within two weeks, have it examined by a professional. Similarly, any difficulty speaking, swallowing, or chewing that persists for more than 14 days needs professional attention.

If you have even the vaguest notion that you belong to a few of the risk-factor groups mentioned above, contact our office and schedule an appointment for an oral cancer checkup immediately.