how are teeth affected by flourides and acids?
825235
flouride protects the teeth against demineralization a small amount of flouride added to our water system halfs cavitys by 50%!!!.........acid causes cavitys.
804228
TOOTH DISCOLORATIONS\nWhat Is It? \nYour teeth can become discolored by stains on the surface or by changes in the tooth material. Dentists divide discoloration into three main categories: \n-Extrinsic discoloration — This occurs when the outer layer of the tooth (the enamel) is stained by coffee, wine, cola or other drinks or foods. Smoking also causes extrinsic stains. \n-Intrinsic discoloration — This is when the inner structure of the tooth (the dentin) darkens or gets a yellow tint. Causes include excessive exposure to fluoride during early childhood, the maternal use of tetracycline antibiotics during the second half of pregnancy and the use of tetracycline antibiotics in children 8 years old or younger. \n-Age-related discoloration — This is a combination of extrinsic and intrinsic factors. In addition to stains caused by foods or smoking, the dentin naturally yellows over time. The enamel that covers the teeth gets thinner with age, which allows the dentin to show through. Chips or other injuries to a tooth can also cause discoloration, especially when the pulp has been damaged. \nIn rare cases, children with a condition called dentinogenesis imperfecta are born with gray, amber or purple discolorations.\n\nSymptoms \nSymptoms include stains on the enamel or a yellow tint in the dentin. \n\nDiagnosis \nNo special tests are needed. A dentist can diagnose tooth discoloration by looking at the teeth.\n\nExpected Duration \nSome tooth discoloration can be removed with professional cleaning, but many stains are permanent unless the teeth are treated (whitened) with a bleaching gel.\n\nPrevention \n-Brushing your teeth after every meal will help to prevent some stains. Dentists recommend that you rinse your mouth with water after having wine, coffee or other drinks or foods that can stain your teeth. Regular cleanings by a dental hygienist also will help to prevent surface stains. \n-Intrinsic stains that are caused by damage to a nerve or blood vessel in the inner part (the pulp) of a tooth sometimes can be prevented by having root canal treatment, which removes organic material before it has a chance to decay and darken. However, teeth that undergo root canal treatment may darken anyway. To prevent intrinsic stains in children, avoid water that contains a high fluoride concentration. You can check the concentration of fluoride in your drinking water supply by calling the public health department. Then consult your dentist.\n\nTreatment \nDiscoloration often can be removed by applying a bleaching agent to the enamel of the teeth. With a technique called "power bleaching," the dentist applies a light-activated bleaching gel that causes the teeth to get significantly whiter in about 30 to 45 minutes. Several follow-up treatments may be needed. \nIt's also possible to remove discoloration with an at-home bleaching gel and a mouth guard given to you by your dentist. The bleaching gels designed for use at home aren't as strong as those applied by your dentist, so the process takes longer — usually two to four weeks. Whitening toothpastes may remove minor stains, but they aren't very effective in most cases.\nIf you've had a root canal and the tooth has darkened, your dentist may apply a bleaching material to the inside of the tooth. When a tooth has been chipped or badly damaged or when stains don't respond to bleaching, your dentist may recommend covering the discolored areas. This can be done with a composite bonding material that's color-matched to the surrounding tooth. Another option is to get veneers, which are thin shells of ceramic that cover the outer surfaces of the teeth.\n\nWhen To Call a Professional \nTooth discoloration is mainly a cosmetic problem. Call a dentist if you're unhappy with the appearance of your teeth. Any change in a child's normal tooth color should be evaluated by a dentist.\n\nPrognosis \nThe prognosis is very good for extrinsic stains. Intrinsic
1116988
The use of Flouride started in the 1940's.  Since then there have been numerous studies showing that flouride in the water doesn't necessarily mean better dental health.  Also there have been numerous studies on the dangers of Flouride as well.  \nTHe safety levels of 1ppm have been drastically increased beacuse now many soft drinks contain flouride as well.  \n\nIn fact, Dr. William Marcus who headed the EPA's Office of drinking water was fired for suggesting an unbiased study of flourides cancer potential.  Makes you wonder why.\n\nFlouride is a waste product of many industries like aluminim, steel, fertilizer, glass, cement.  If we changed our opinion of flouride and said it was bad for you all those industries would have to start removing their waste flouride from the water (costing them a lot of money).  SO it's no wonder that the government supports Flouride in the water, whether its safe or not.
238679
If you don't brush your teeth everyday, you will face terrible terrible things. \n\nThe mouth contains a wide variety of bacteria, but only a few specific species of bacteria cause dental caries: Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacilli. These bacteria convert foods—especially sugar and starch—into acids such as lactic acid created through fermentation processes. These acids seep into the tooth and can wear away tooth structure. If you don't brush everyday, conditions in the mouth would become favorable; S. mutans and Lactobacilli will continue to thrive and continue to secrete these acids. Bacteria, acid, food debris and saliva combine in the mouth to form a sticky substance called plaque that adheres to the teeth.\n\nIt is most prominent on the grooved chewing surfaces of molars, just above the gum line on all teeth, and at the margins of fillings. Plaque that is not removed from the teeth may mineralize into calculus (formerly known as tartar). Plaque and calculus irritate the gums, resulting in gingivitis. Periodontitis occurs when there is loss of gingival attachment.\n\n \nParts of a tooth, including dentinThe acids secreted by S. mutans and Lactobacilli in the plaque dissolve the enamel surface of the tooth. As the bacteria become more prolific, the bacteria will follow the advancing front of acid damage and infect the dentin within the tooth. Left untreated, carious lesions will increase in severity from small discolored stains to actual holes in the tooth (cavities). Cavities are usually painless until they grow very large inside the internal structures of the tooth (the dentin and the pulp at the core) and can kill the nerve and disrupt the blood vessels in the tooth. If left untreated, complications may occur such as acute irreversible pulpitis (infection of the pulp) or acute apical pulpitis (abcesses within the mandible.)\n\nPlaque and bacteria begin to accumulate within 20 minutes after eating, the time when most bacterial activity occurs. If plaque and bacteria are left on the teeth, cavities can develop, and untreated tooth decay can result in death of the internal structures of the tooth and ultimately the loss of the tooth.\n\nDietary sugars and starches (carbohydrates) increase the risk of tooth decay. The type of carbohydrate and the timing and frequency of ingestion are more important than the amount. Sticky foods are more harmful than nonsticky foods because they remain on the surface of the teeth. Frequent snacking increases the time that acids are in contact with the surface of the tooth.\n\nSo, you see, if you don't brush regularly, your teeth might develop caries, and you might have to go painful surgeries... and more... but I dont want to make you afraid.  So, better brush everyday rather than getting into BIG problems later.
433796
Most all toothpastes contain a certain percentage of fluoride and it is poisonous in large amounts.  If you read the packaging, the instructions are not to ingest (meaning eat or swallow) toothpaste.
948201
They both contain about the same amount of flouride, however; closeup contains abrasive material (for whitening) that depending on your brushing habits and brush firmness can cause significant demage to enamel and gum tissue.
385038
hyperactive,diabetes,tooth problem
117420
mineral defficiency,bad diet,drinking colas and softdrinks and too much coffee can start wearing down tooth enamel.Your dad needs to make sure he is getting adequate calcium through a variety of non-dairy sources.Such as figs,soybeans,fortified juices,or fortified non-dairy milks,sesame seeds,broccoli and other green vegetables.He can also take a high qaulity calcium/magnesium supplement and a good multi-vitamin/mineral.Stop brushing teeth with flouride and replace with an herbal toothpaste that is flouride free.
583594
They do tend to make your teeth more sensitive.
1000022
Your heart pumps more blood while you exert yourself.  This expands the inner pulp of the tooth, causing pain.  As you heart rate subsides, the stress on your teeths should as well.
379565
There are two types of cavities, incipient and cavitated.  Incipient cavities only affect the enamel and they are reversible.  They may appear as white spots on the tooth and can be seen on a radiograph (x-ray).  Fluoride rinses are the rinses that will remineralize theses incipient caries (not anti-plaque ones like Listerine).  The most popular fluoride rinse is ACT.  ACT stops demineralization (weakening of the enamel) and promotes remineralization (strengthening of the enamel).  There are also fluoride gels and varnishes that work to prevent and reverse cavities.  And there are toothpastes that have a higher concentration of fluoride than the ones we buy at the store, but you need a prescription.  Needless to say, cavities that have already become a "hole in the tooth" cannot be reversed and can only be repaired by a dentist.
20323
Adding flouride to water systems is done in order to reduce the number if children and adults who experience tooth decay. But there is a debate about the safety of such measures for instance there are claims that it increases them risk of cancer. \nFluoridation: Benefits vs. Risks\nby Mark Bornfeld, DDS\n\nSince the early 20th century, the town of Hereford, in Deaf Smith County, Texas, was known as "the town without a toothache". Public health officials searched for a reason why this town had rates of dental decay that were significantly lower than average. It took nearly 12 years (from 1933 to 1945) for researchers to conclude through epidemiologic studies that it was the high naturally occurring levels of fluoride in its water that was responsible for this salutary effect on the residents of this town. On January 25, 1945, Grand Rapids, Michigan became the first city to intentionally introduce fluoride to its public water supply. Since that time, fluoridation of drinking water has become acknowledged by the Centers for Disease Control as one of the ten greatest public health accomplishments (see CDC / MMWR Report: Ten Great Public Health Achievements – United States, 1900-1999 at http://fluoride.oralhealth.org/papers/00056796.htm) Almost from the time of its introduction, however, the use of fluoride, especially in public water supplies, has been a topic of controversy. \n\nDespite some dissension on this issue by non-dentists (and a minority of dentists), most researchers believe the literature supports the purported benefits of the use of fluoride as a public health measure. (Not a scientific fact but an empirical observation: during the years that I maintained a practice in Lindenhurst, a small village in Long Island with demographics similar to those of my current practice in Brooklyn, I noticed an incidence of dental decay MANY orders of magnitude greater than that encountered in Brooklyn. The only factor which I could see to account for this difference was that Brooklyn was fluoridated and Lindenhurst was not.) I remain convinced of the value of fluoridation.\n\nFluoride can be applied to teeth in one of two ways: \nby application to the surface of the teeth (topically) through the use of fluoride-containing toothpastes, rinses, or professionally applied fluoride treatments, or \nsystemically, through fluoridation of drinking water or fluoride dietary supplementation. \nThe systemic application of fluoride is thought to benefit children whose teeth are still in the process of formation, because the fluoride introduced into the body can still be incorporated into the structure of the teeth. Since tooth enamel formation is generally completed by age 14 or 15, systemic fluoride is not thought to confer any benefit for those above this age. \n\nIn either method of application, fluoride becomes a part of the enamel structure. The main inorganic structural element of enamel, hydroxyapatite, becomes fluorinated: i.e., fluoride becomes an intrinsic part of its crystalline structure. This is postulated to combat decay by a combination of three possible mechanisms: \n\nEnamel becomes more resistant to softening by acid from decay-forming bacteria; \nEnamel develops an anti-bacterial quality, inhibiting growth of decay-forming bacteria; or \nEnamel develops a smoother surface that resists the accumulation of decay-forming bacterial plaque. \nRegardless of the mechanism or the efficacy of water fluoridation, its implementation required some assurance of safety, and therein lies the root of the controversy. Even before Jack D. Ripper declared (in the Stanley Kubrick movie Dr. Strangelove, 1964) that fluoridation was a "Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids", fluoridation ran into heavy opposition, and still does. Beyond the paranoia of the conspiracy theorists, there are legitimate questions that must be addressed, as they must for every therapeutic measure: do the benefits
694518
Dental caries = cavities.  The progression goes something like this:\n1. Germs live in your mouth.  They've been there since you got your first tooth.\n2. You eat stuff.  Sugar and carb-rich food can be digested by the bacteria, and the end product is lactic acid.  The sugars are also used to form the "plaque" which is sort of an adhesive for the germs.\n3. The lactic acid erodes the calcium-rich enamel, eventually getting through the enamel.  \n4. The germs get though like a breach in a dam, and you wind up getting inflammation of the nerve, and eventually a full-blown infection (pulpitis, abscess).\n\n"Arrested caries" occurs when the germs have slightly eroded the enamel, but repeated dosing of fluoride (in water, toothpaste, etc.) have allowed it to re-mineralize.  \n\nArrested caries usually do not warrant treatment, but should be monitored by a dentist at regular check-ups.
140100
Baking soda alone(not as part of a toothpaste formula) is a mild abrasive and antacid.It will clean your teeth and neutralize harmful acids on them.It will not remove imbedded stains.Use it,but don't expect it to "whiten"damaged enamel.
384093
twice because the sugars in the food that you eat attaches itself your teeth and bacteria grows. This bacteria breaks down the enamel of you teeth causing cavities.
622401
Check out this site:\nhttp://www.adha.org/oralhealth/
368245
As acknowledged by the Physicians' Desk Reference, some individuals are hypersensitive to fluoride. \n\nHypersensitive reactions to fluoride have been reported for both topical fluorides & ingested fluorides. The largest, government-funded, clinical trial found that 1% of people ingesting 1 mg fluoride tablets exhibited allergic/hypersensitive reactions to fluoride. \n\nSymptoms of allergic/hypersensitive reactions have been reported to include: skin rashes (e.g. dermatitis, urticaria, eczema); mouth lesions (canker sores); gastric distress; headache; joint pain; weakness; visual disturbances; and lethargy.