Many people open their mouths too widely when they brush, which makes it impossible to reach the outside of the back upper molars. Try brushing inside the lower teeth first and the outside later. Don’t forget your upper front teeth at the gum level. People will often turn their wrist when bushing the front teeth and skip over these. This may be the cause of the “problem areas” your dentist was pointing out.

Take care to brush the gum on the inside of the back molars. This is another place that is often missed.

Swollen gums is one of the first signs of gum disease–so if your gums bleed when brushed, you need to brush more often. But harder is not better. Brush with a softer brush, get all the spots, and slow down. Try to brush for two minutes.

When finished, rinse with listerine, and then follow that with rinsing with ACT.

For more information on proper brushing and doing the what you can to have a healthy mouth, go to www.cleanwhiteteeth.com.

Ellie Phillips, DDS

I would not try to have the sealants removed (most fall off anyway!) My position is to help children and adults AVOID dental filling materials - all of them.

Often people think “OH! It is only a filling……/only a sealant” and they believe that this is going to fix everything. Now you have the sealants on your son’s teeth I would leave them. There are three important points:

1. Realize that sealants do not stop dental disease - they just block up the crevices in the molar teeth - so if your son is not looking after his teeth they will simply decay in other places- and later need filling. Sealants are not any guarantee against tooth decay or future fillings - they are just temporary “crevice-blockers”!

2. Try to have your children understand that dental disease is not caused by food - but by bacteria that grow in an acidic mouth. Acidity can come from drinks like soda as well as acidic or sugary candy, snacks and even some sugar free or apparently healthy things. Eating 6.5 grams of xylitol each day will virtually eradicate the harmful bacteria that grow in an acidic mouth and cause cavities. If your children use my suggested mouth rinses along with xylitol, their teeth will become smooth, shiny, healthy, brighter and whiter-looking.

3. Use my program to give your family healthier teeth. If you do the suggested rinses and xylitol together it does not matter your age - young kids will grow up with perfect teeth, older patients can stop tooth decay and start to have a fabulous new look after 6 months on the program. Even elderly people with damaged teeth can reverse many of their problems and tooth staining.

Ellie Phillips, DDS

http://askdrellie.blogspot.com

www.zellies.com 

Some parents think because the baby teeth fall out, they are not important–but this not true!
Baby teeth hold the space for the next tooth and bad or healthy baby teeth will usually pass along good or bad bacteria to the permanent teeth.
A baby’s new teeth are soft and easily damaged by acids. For your baby, toothpaste is not necessary, in fact, children’s toothpaste sometimes contain sugars or sorbitol, which can damage your child’s teeth. You can try using a toothbrush dipped in a solution of warm water and xylitol or a special baby tooth wipe made with 100 percent xylitol like Spiffies.

Some people say that baby bottles cause tooth decay. The bottles are not the cause of decay, but rather what is in the bottle. Liquids such as fruit punch, Kool-Aid, or fruit juices (apple and grape) are especially harmful–even when diluted because they are acidic. Beware lemonade and orange juice also.

A good option is cow’s milk, which is safe for your baby’s teeth. Be careful of formula milk which will cause decay. A solution of one quarter teaspoon of xylitol in water would be a suggested alternative to juice, or you can use xylitol in cow’s milk. If your child uses a sippy cup be careful of its contents in the same way.
If your child has already damaged his or her teeth make sure you realize what the cause of the acidity that damaged them. Was it juice, lemonade, citrus fruits, acid reflux? Does your child take medications, sleep with an open mouth, eat candy before bed, or drink diet or regular sodas? Once you have recognized the problem – you just need to protect the teeth from them. If sucking lemons is causing damage- eat some xylitol after the lemon. Protect teeth after any acidic damage.  

For an older baby, especially if there are signs of damage (white or brown spots), use a soft toothbrush or cloth moistened with a drop of bubble gum flavor fluoride rinse. The fluoride will help strengthen tooth enamel. Fluoride and xylitol work in harmony to strengthen teeth, reverse cavities and possibly help you to avoid dental treatments that may be traumatic at such a young age.  

Ellie Phillips, DDS

www.zellies.com

http://askdrellie.blogspot.com

This is how bad teeth are “given” to children: Tooth bacteria can only grow on teeth. Tooth bacteria need a tooth - so they cannot live in a baby’s mouth before a tooth erupts. There are no tooth bacteria for the first six months of a baby’s life when there are no teeth.  

When the first tooth erupts – usually around 6 or 7 months of age: 

• The tooth erupts without bacteria on it.
• There are no tooth bacteria in the mouth.
• The bacteria for this first tooth have to come from another tooth – but from where?

It isn’t genetics–tooth decay is an infectious disease!
Parents usually transfer (or “infect”) their children with tooth bacteria from their own saliva – off their own teeth - through kissing or sharing food, on silverware or tooth brushes. If there are siblings, it may be a sister or brother’s tooth – by sharing toys - even at day care.  

There are two kinds of bacteria on teeth - healthy, protective ones or harmful aggressive ones.  If parents have harmful aggressive bacteria in their mouths – they are likely to pass these to the new baby tooth.  The earlier a child is infected with harmful germs the greater chance the child will have bad teeth for life. Children infected with harmful germs by two years old have more bad baby teeth and bad adult teeth. Aggressive tooth bacteria can be passed through generations within a family. 

What will protect your family?You can stop the pattern of tooth decay in your family. Your children do not have to suffer the same dental problems that you have. Some people say “don’t kiss your baby” – that is ridiculous! If you don’t kiss your baby – someone else will! Ideally – parents and the immediate family should get rid of harmful bacteria from their mouths before their baby has teeth.  

Eat 6-10 grams of delicious xylitol each day for 6 months! Xylitol will progressively remove harmful bacteria from the mouth.  

Research shows that mothers who chewed 100 percent xylitol-coated chewing gum were 80 percent less likely to infect their children with harmful mouth bacteria. As the child grows, or if you think teeth may already be infected, use 6.4 grams of xylitol for the child in drinks or cereal throughout the day. If the child uses xylitol in this way the new teeth will have protective bacteria on them as the child grows. 

Research shows that it does not matter how you use the xylitol. It can be granular, on gum, in mints or sprayed, wiped or brushed onto or around teeth. Xylitol can be baked into cakes, cookies or ice cream and works just as well for teeth. Add xylitol to a baby bottle, use a xylitol baby tooth wipe (Spiffies) to clean a baby tooth after nursing or sprinkle xylitol on fruit or cereal in place of sugar. As a child gets older there is kids gum or fruit mints that children like to eat in place of candy.  

Baby teeth do matter–children with decay in their baby teeth are nearly 3 times more likely to have decay in their permanent teeth. Baby teeth keep the space for the permanent ones. Infected baby teeth will infect the new adult teeth. Eating xylitol (and products with xylitol such as Zellies), can change this pattern.

Use xylitol to protect your family…for generations.

Ellie Phillips, DDS

www.zellies.com

I would like to share with you information on dental health, the use of xylitol and a program I developed called the CWT(Clean White Teeth) System. CWT was developed to assist people in avoiding cavities and to help remineralize teeth–which actually heals small cavities that have already developed. I look forward to sharing more with you on this forum.

Ellie Phillips, DDS
www.zellies.com