I recently had my first child, and during pregnancy he was taking a ridiculous amount of my calcium and my teeth became so weak I actually lost one of them. So I went to the dentist, despite my lack of insurance. I have always taken good care of my teeth, but as a child and early teen I did not floss. As an adult I did. So why then, brushing twice a day, was I told that I had periodontal disease? Come to find out, a few of my friends do too. We have not even hit 30 yet, so how can our teeth have such deep pockets?
I blame our mothers. Now before you accuse me of being overly Freudian, because while I approve many of his theories, I am definitely more in the Jung corner, hear me out. How many of you have heard someone say, or had the thought, "why worry so much about baby teeth, they're going to fall out anyways." Here is why.
The longer it takes for a tooth to break through the gum, the stronger it is. Why? Because it has longer to harden before being exposed to the erosion of acidic foods and tartar build-up. This does not only apply to baby teeth. The longer those first teeth last, the longer the adult teeth have to build up underneath. It is rare that the adult tooth tries to come out before the baby tooth is lost so don't worry about that. Fact: the more decay in baby teeth, the more prone to decay the adult teeth will be. What all of this means is that parents need to care for their child's teeth, as in daily brushing, beginning with the first tooth. If the parent doesn't brush the baby teeth, the child has a harder time developing the habit on their own when it is time, and the adult teeth end up weak because of the early exposure to decay. Meaning that despite lifelong, at minimum, decent, care of my teeth, I have periodontitis. Talked to my mother, and no, she did not care for my teeth as an infant.
If you are anything like me, you might be thinking, why does it matter? The damage was already done. It matters because you can prevent it from happening to future generations, if not entirely, you at least have the power to give your kids a fighting chance at decent teeth as an adult. However, those of us who have this issue now might also have issues taking care of these deep pockets to prevent further decay. Resulting in teeth being pulled, early dentures, and the dreaded root canal or expensive crown.
I've recently made a discovery in tooth care that I think anyone else with periodontal disease should know about:
Infant toothbrushes.
A lot of people don't realize that whitening toothpaste and anything other than a soft toothbrush will erode your teeth and make them sensitive. They also don't realize that a toothbrush too large for your mouth will never provide a proper clean, which is why electric toothbrushes, like the ones at the dentist during a cleaning, do only a single tooth at a time. An infant toothbrush is labeled, "ultrasoft," and it is almost as small as the head of an electric toothbrush. I was having pain and bleeding every time I brushed trying to keep my deep pockets clean and prevent further decay. Then I bought my son his first toothbrush, and they came in packages of two. I bought myself a new toothbrush at the same time and even though it was soft, it was so big I was struggling to brush. So one day I pulled out the second infant toothbrush. I applied my toothpaste, natural and whitening free of course, and brushed one side of my mouth. Then I reapplied and brushed the other side. I honestly couldn't believe the results at first. I could actually feel the bristles getting into my deep pockets between teeth, but without pain, There hasn't been any bleeding since I switched, and now that I can get into those pockets, I've noticed a drastic decrease in tartar between teeth when flossing.
Either dentists don't realize how well this works for periodontitis or they're trying to fatten their wallets through your pain and suffering. If you are suffering from this condition, go out and get an infant toothbrush. It actually will change your life. Hannaford has them, $2 for 2. Switching your brush every 3 months as recommended, that is $4 a year to keep your own teeth longer. Obviously a no-brainer.
This article was primarily to share my ideas on the cause of periodontal disease and my care discovery. However, I would like to close by saying that as a WAHM(Work at home mom,) I am always trying to find better and cheaper ways to care for myself and my family while avoiding the many things in the US that will pollute your body. So if you enjoyed the subject matter, or only the part about better care of your teeth for $4 a year, follow me. I can guarantee there will be more articles like this. Hopefully not more about teeth though! You might suffer a few of my opinions or radical ideas once in a while, but it would be worth your time.
