Medical health professionals help parents raise their children to be strong and healthy individuals. This includes dentists who only want the best oral care by providing basic teeth deep cleaning to affordable orthodontics (Braces Phoenix).  In this post, oral and dental professionals share their insights on how the environment may affect oral health.

The Impact of Environment on General Dental Health

WATER

Very often, parents prefer to use bottled water for their children. In this case, you need to be careful. If the water contains the trace element fluorine and its content is more than 1 mg / l, then very often children develop fluorosis, which is expressed in the form of spots on symmetrical teeth from white to dark brown. With this disease, the fragility of the enamel increases, which leads to chipping of the cutting edges of the front teeth and the masticatory tubercles on the back teeth.

If the fluorine content in water is less than 1 mg / l, then the content of the main mineral elements calcium, phosphorus, and fluorides in the surface layers of the tooth enamel is significantly reduced. In this case, the activity of caries increases. The optimal concentration of fluoride in drinking water is 1 mg / l. Harder water and poor oral hygiene contribute to the formation of tartar and, as a result, lead to gum disease.

AIR

If we talk about the influence of bad ecology on dentition, it is necessary to take into account the ecology that surrounds a pregnant woman and her unborn child. The health of the mother and the conditions of her life is the first environmental factors that affect the correct laying and formation of all organs of the child, including teeth. Women living in a big city, where high air pollution is caused by exhaust gases from cars, enterprises, and the microclimate in the apartment disturbed by smoking relatives are recommended to move to a more environmentally friendly area. Clean air, good drinking water, proper nutrition, hardening – this is what you need to strive for in order to raise healthy children. If it is not possible to take the child to an ecologically clean place, you yourself need to try to create such conditions.

FOOD

It is also important for the dentist to design the nutrition program of a child. Very often, mothers of children who have lesions of the front teeth to serious destruction and the absence of crowns of the front teeth visit the dentist for this complaint. This condition is called “nursing bottle caries”. Dentists can diagnose this condition even when mothers do not use a bottle for feeding, but only their breasts, especially at night, and the child is more than 1 year old.

The reason for this condition is the prolonged contact of teeth with sweet breast milk. Lactobacilli contained in dental plaque begin to activate against the background of reduced immunity, which can be caused not only by poor nutrition, colds but also by vaccinations. Also, freshly squeezed juices, which are extremely important for the body as a whole, are harmful to the enamel of the teeth, as they contain fruit acids.

At an older age, children may be addicted to candy and soda. This is very dangerous for the teeth. Carbonated drinks have a bad effect on the function of the liver, kidneys, and gastrointestinal tract. A professional doctor can determine all these changes by the state of the mucous membrane of the oral cavity and tongue.

What happens to tooth enamel after prolonged contact with carbonated drinks? The answer to this question lies in the composition of this drink. It contains acids (citric, orthophosphoric) and sugar – a favorite delicacy of bacteria found in dental plaque, which sometimes may not even be noticed on still young teeth. Therefore, after eating tasty “harmful” products, you must always rinse your mouth with boiled water.

What’s good for our teeth are products containing fluoride and calcium. These are sea fish, cod liver, veal, spinach, cottage cheese, and butter. Hard cheeses are very useful as they neutralize the action of acids and supply the body with calcium. Bitter chocolate is also good for the teeth. The cocoa beans included in it prevent the growth and reproduction of bacteria. Eating apples, carrots in solid form is also very good.