Author Archives: phebe

Dry mouth reasons and remedies

Saliva has many different functions; to name a few, digestion, lubrication, to help you taste food, to protect your teeth from tooth decay, helping you swallow food, and protection your mouth from infection. It is produced by the many salivary glands in out mouth. There are 3 pairs of major salivary glands (the parotid glands, the submandibular glands and the sublingual glands, one of each on each side of the face) and over 600 minor salivary glands. These glands are connected by a duct and open into the mouth via small orifices. Sometimes we take saliva for granted such that we don’t realize how important it is until we’ve lost it. A normal person produces 4-6 cups of saliva daily. If the production decreases, he or she will have symptoms of “dry mouth”, or “xerostomia”, resulting in a great discomfort and inconvenience. It is a common phenomenon especially among middle aged and elderly women.

Dry and fissured tongue

 

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History of toothpastes

There are many brands of toothpaste in the market available today, such as Colgate, Darlie, Fresh and white, Aquafresh, Sensodyne etc, all with different ingredients serving different purposes such as teeth whitening and fighting tooth sensitivity; but their main function is to fight decay. So how did the toothpaste first come about?

Different types of Toothpastes

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Ancient Toothbrushes

The very first toothbrush was introduced around 3500BC. These toothbrushes are in the form of “chewing sticks”. These sticks are taken from trees such as Garcinia kola and Govania lupiloides.The ends of a stick are chewed on until the fibres of the wood have frayed and take the form of a brush, which can then be used to clean teeth. This type of toothbrush was used by the Egyptians and Babylonians, and was probably the ancestors of the Miswak toothbrushes which are used the same way as chewing sticks. The difference is that they are made from the branches of the Salvadora persica tree, which have healing and antiseptic qualities. Miswak is still used today and even considered to be superior to modern tooth brushes by some. It is especially popular amongst Muslim communities.

Miswak

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Understanding The Use of Partial Dentures in Children

Partial dentures are often associated with the elder age group, to replace permanent teeth that have been extracted. However, in some situations children are also required to wear partial dentures.

Reasons for loss of teeth in children:

A child with a missing front tooth

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What Are Magnetic Dentures?

Introduction

An overdenture is a partial or complete denture that are supported by one or more remaining natural teeth or implants; these supporting teeth or implants are called “abutments”. The overdenture may be attached to the abutments by 2 means: mechanical (ball and bar attachments) and magnetic attachment. Overdentures with magnetic attachments are called “Magnetic dentures“. Magnets have become very popular as retainers since the 1950’s. According to The Times, in 1957, a Cornell University Medical College professor developed a denture that was held in place by embedding powerful magnets in the patients jaw bone. The magnets were made from aluminum–nickle–cobalt (AlNiCo) alloys. However, this means of achieving retention had limited success, as they were associated with a few problems:

An overdenture

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Porcelain Vs. Acrylic Teeth

Artificial teeth used to make dentures can be made of porcelain, acrylic resin, or composite resin. Here we will be looking at the most commonly used ones-porcelain teeth and acrylic resin.

Artificial teeth for dentures

 

Let’s first look at the requirements of good artificial teeth: Continue reading →

About Hydro floss Oral Irrigator

What is Hydro floss oral irrigator?

Thе Hydro Floss Oral Irrigator іѕ a dental care system thаt can be used at home. It uses a flow οf water tο irrigate thе spaces between уουr teeth аnd gums that may have been missed by regular brushing and flossing.

The Hydro Floss Oral Irrigator

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What Is a Rest on a Partial Denture?

A partial denture consists of the following parts:

  1. Major connector-the main body of a denture which provides rigidity and unites all the parts of the denture
  2. Minor connector-connects all other parts of a denture to the major connector
  3. Denture base-the part that is adapted to the soft tissues in the region of missing teeth and will be used to support the fake teeth.
  4. Artificial teeth– replace missing teeth
  5. Direct retainer-parts of the denture that prevents the denture from dropping out of the mouth. Clasps are often used as a direct retainer.
  6. Indirect retainer-parts of the denture that prevents the denture from rocking or shifting sideways or rotating during eating or talking, eg: rests.

We will be focusing on rests in this article.

Parts of a denture

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The History of Pepsodent Toothpaste

Pepsodent: the beginning

Pepsodent was a popular brand of toothpaste back in the mid-20th century. It was probably introduced in the earlier parts of the 20th century as a dentrifice in powder form, but eventually took on the recent-day paste form. Pepsodent was owned by the company Unilever, a British and Dutch company that sells an assortment of consumer products throughout the world, and was advertised through commercials and ads to be able to fight tooth decay and whiten teeth. Its most popular slogan was the catchy phrase, “you’ll wonder where the yellow went, when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent”, as evident in the youtube video below. Pepsodent was well-known for its minty flavor derived from sassafras, and was claimed to contain the key ingredients:

  • Irium is actually sodium lauryl sulphate, a type of surfactant (detergent) that is commonly found in toothpastes nowadays. Lauryl sulphates help to clean teeth and provide foam that helps to carry away debris. It also has antibacterial properties and can penetrate and dissolve plaque.
  • The other ingredient, “I.M.P” was purpoted to whiten teeth. What its letters individually stand for remains unknown. Continue reading →