the simple blog

Saw a patient today with excellent home care.  Here's someone who knows how to brush and floss.

Notice how the gums wrap tightly to the teeth like spandex.  Note the bright coral pink color.  (people of darker skin may have harmless patches of pigmentation in covering some of the pink areas)  They are not red and puffy from gingivitis, and they do not bleed when prodded with dental probes or floss.  This is what your gums can look like if you take great care of them with daily flossing and brushing.  It doesn't matter if you're 9 or 99, it can look like this.

Many of our patients wear down the sides of their teeth with a combination of excessive force, abrasive toothpastes, and stiff bristled toothbrushes.  A recent Scandinavian study simulated toothbrush abrasion on extracted teeth.  They found that the abrasiveness of the toothpaste had the most significant effect on how fast teeth erode.  Stiffer bristled toothbrushes had a lesser effect.  Our advice still remains the same...