Cats Kisses vs Dog Kisses

Like most kids, my little 3 year old niece loves dogs.  One of my all time favorite memories of when she was little, (as if she's really big now, LOL! ), has been when she visited my house as a wee little thing.  She has always had an advanced use of the English language so when she saw my little dog, she pointed and said really excitedly, "Puppies! Puppies!"  I only have 1 dog but with all the jumping around the dog was doing, it may have seemed like more than one!  She even has a "puppy screen cleaner" on her iPad. It's the cutest thing. It is a puppy that looks like he's licking your screen until it's clean. I think there's also ways to customize your "dog screen cleaner" to be different breeds. My breed would be the Pomeranian screen cleaner except in my case, the Pomeranian would stop midway and bark at you, continue licking the screen, then bark at you again before finishing cleaning the screen.

Speaking of dogs and puppies, my patient this morning reminded me of the difference between being kissed by a dog vs being kissed by a cat. That's rather an odd thought, you may say... Read my latest article and find out what goes through my mind when I'm treating patients! Hahaha!

CATS vs DOGS

Our family has always been a “dog family”.  Growing up, we’ve always had an endless parade of dogs in the house. I don’t remember a time when there wasn’t a dog or 2 around.  We have never owned a cat before. The only cats I’ve seen around are the stray ones walking around the neighborhood or the ones that live in the little neighborhood supermarket. There are so many differences between dogs and cats. For one, dogs are much more slobbery with their saliva. Cats don’t show as much drool as dogs do. When you are kissed by a dog, you walk away feeling like you need a shower but when you are kissed by a cat, it feels as dry as sandpaper.

Today I had a patient come in as an emergency. He doesn’t come in as often as we recommend so I was not surprised when he said he thinks he has a cavity.  After x-rays and an exam, turns out that he had 3 teeth that were so badly rotten close to the nerve that there is a big chance that he would need root canal in the future.  The last time he was in my office was about 1 year ago. How did things get so bad so quickly?

Being a good dentist means being a good detective as well so I asked him a bunch of questions. I asked him about his eating and drinking habits; about his brushing and flossing habits; about his health; about stress in his life; about any new medication he may have been taking; about any harmful habits he may have picked up.  The answers were, No, No, No to everything. Nothing has changed. But finally when I asked him about dryness in his mouth, he said, “Yes, actually, I’ve noticed that my mouth has become quite dry at night to the point when I have to get up and drink water several times a night.”  A-ha! This may be the answer to the puzzle! 

When it comes to saliva, I want all my patients to be like dogs and have lots of saliva.  Saliva protects teeth in 3 main ways. Saliva neutralizes the acid in our drinks and in the foods that we eat. That acid can dissolve away the outer part of our teeth. Saliva turns the pH more neutral.

Saliva also contains chemicals that “heal” early cavities.  They help to strengthen the outer layer of your teeth, the enamel.

After a meal, saliva also helps wash away food bits.  The food that sticks around is used by the bacteria in your mouth. These bacteria cause cavities.

So back to my patient that may need 3 root canals, I put in 3 temporary fillings to see how the nerve will react. If the nerve don’t do well and end up dying, he will need to do root canals.  If the nerve survive, I know both he and I will be very happy. Next month, I will talk about possible causes of dry mouth, what to do about a dry mouth and what happened to my poor patient. I hope he’ll be OK!

Happy Monday!!  I almost forgot to post this article. This is part 2 of 2 articles discussing 6 common problems with older teeth. Check on your parents and grandparents. I don't quite remember when was the turning point when it changed from my parents taking care of us to us taking care of our parents. But this is certainly our turn to take care of them.

My Teeth Didn’t Use To Look Like This (Part 2)

As Americans get older, they are keeping more and more teeth in their mouths; and with that, more problems arise.  In last month’s article, I wrote about the first 3 common problems of aging patients that I’m concerned about as a dentist. This time, I will discuss the last 3… oral cancer, crowding and grinding/clenching.

85% of smokers started smoking when they were 21 years old or younger. Every day, people try to quit smoking.  Some succeed, others don’t.  With every exam, I do an oral cancer check. Patients ask me, “I don’t smoke, why would you need to check every time?” Smoking doesn’t cause oral cancer but it increases the risks of it. There are other issues involved besides smoking. Heavy alcohol usages as well as the HPV (Human Papilloma Virus) are also linked with oral cancer. Every year there are close to 43,000 new cases.  The risks increase with age.  As with most cancers, the best chance for survival is early detection at an early stage.  Make sure you have regular visits to your dental office that includes an oral cancer check. Your dentist as well as your hygienist should both do it at every exam.  If your dentist does not check for oral cancer, find another dental office that will care for you.

Crowded teeth… With age, teeth do shift.  It makes it more difficult to clean and along with that comes periodontal disease possibly leading to lost teeth, or decay. 

Your crowded teeth could also be damaged with biting on the new positions.  What are the solutions? The simplest is a retainer to keep the teeth from shifting more.  The more ideal solution is braces to realign the teeth and prevent them from crowding again.  Shifting teeth could also mean gum disease.  Have your dentist check with xrays to be sure what the problem is.  Having fixed a smile with straighter brighter teeth is the easiest way to look younger, my patients tell me!

The last problem with aging is destruction of your teeth and restorations by grinding or clenching.  These are abnormal movements with abnormal strength usually at night.  It’s enough to damage or fracture teeth or crack porcelain crowns. Small fractures associated with everyday biting and chewing can also be more noticeable with age as staining collects in these cracks.  I recommend nightly use of a custom made night guard.  This will not stop you from grinding but it will protect your teeth.  Custom night guards are smaller and more comfortable than the store bought ones. They are more tolerable and patients will wear them more consistently. 

As my mother in law says, “Age is only a number. You are only as old as you say you are. I’ll always be 26!”