During these tough economic times, many regular activities are being put on hold — and that includes visits to the dentist, as reported by Medill Reports.

So how can people take care of their teeth now to avoid expensive dental procedures in the future? Here are a few tips for you and your kids that will help you keep your teeth healthy.

1) Drink plenty of water. It’s a “natural” mouthwash that can help reduce stains left by coffee, soda and red wine.

2) Eat a piece of cheese. After dinner, munch on some cheddar – it can help neutralize acids in your mouth.

3) Chew sugar free gum. Chewing gum increases saliva production, which helps to wash away plaque acid and bathe teeth in needed minerals to strengthen tooth enamel.

4) Wait to brush after acidic drinks. After drinking orange juice and soda pop, don’t reach for the toothbrush right away. Wait at least 20 minutes to reduce the chance of enamel wear.

5) Rinse with hydrogen peroxide. (Not for the Kids) A small amount of H2O2 mixed with water makes a great anti-bacterial and whitening rinse after brushing. Just don’t swallow!

6) Brush with baking soda, a gentle abrasive that can clean like toothpaste.

7) Use a straw. Might feel awkward to drink coffee or red wine through a straw, but doing so can help minimize direct contact between your pearly whites and these staining liquids.

8) Soften your toothbrush. Sensitive teeth can find relief from rough bristles by running the toothbrush under hot water before brushing.

9) Avoid sugar and starches. Both sugar and carbs can feed bacteria that causes tooth decay. It’s just not the sweet stuff – a handful of crackers can have the same effect as a candy bar at feeding bacteria.

10) Brush and floss. Duh.

Source(http://worldental.org/oral-hygiene/top-ten-budget-tips-to-keep-your-teeth-healthy/)

How far should your toothbrush be from the toilet?

This is the last week of the contest so enter now to win!!

See contest rules and submit your answer HERE for a chance to win!

Check out Super Fun Dental Facts below.

Here are 3 more dental experiments to do with your kids. These experiments are a great way to keep fun and education going throughout the summer. Our favorite was the soda experiment, very interesting!

1. Clean a penny with soda (the effects of acid on teeth)

Children love to perform this experiment. The acid from the soda eats the dirt away from the penny’s surface, resulting in a clean penny.

 Materials needed:
    - Shallow container
    – Carbonated cola beverage
    – Pennies (the dirtier the better)
 

Instructions: 
Put a dirty penny in a shallow container. Add enough cola to cover the penny. Let the penny sit undisturbed overnight. The next day remove the penny and discuss why it is clean.

What a child learns from this experiment:
Bacteria and germs in your mouth need sugar to make acid. The acid then eats away at your tooth. If you are not cleaning your teeth properly or you eat a lot of sugary foods, you can get these acid attacks more often which will result in a cavity. In this experiment, the soda acids etch and eat at the penny, just as the acids etch and eat away at the tooth’s surface. 

2. Make your own toothpaste

Making your own toothpaste is an easy experiment for kids. Adults will find this a cost effective and simple approach for use as daily toothpaste.

Ingredients for homemade toothpaste:
  – Baking soda 
  – Salt 
  – Glycerin (found in the first aid aisle)
  – Flavoring (peppermint or strawberry suggested)

Instructions: Combine 3 tablespoons baking soda, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 tablespoon glycerin, and a few drops of flavoring. Mix together. Water can be added to get to the desired consistency. Store in an airtight container.

If making a larger batch of homemade toothpaste the ratio is 3 parts baking soda, to 1 part salt, to 1 part glycerin, and flavoring to taste.

3. Tongue taste buds

Our food combines with saliva when we eat. This lets the food disperse the flavors across the entire tongue and its taste buds. This experiment will single out the specific areas for each type of taste bud and its flavor.

What you will need:

Cotton swabs

Tonic water (bitter)

Lemon juice (sour)

Salt water

Sugar water

With the cotton swab, apply a small amount of one of the solutions to the area of the tongue that contains its taste buds. Try this with all the different solutions and their correlating areas of the tongue. Use the solutions in other areas of the tongue that do not contain that taste bud as well.

What are natal teeth?

See contest rules and submit your answer HERE for a chance to win!

Check out How Will My Baby’s Teeth Come In?

Here are some sun experiments to do with your kids to show how the things we eat affect our teeth.

Fluoride Power

This experiment simulates the protection 
power of Fluoride.

What you’ll need:

1 bottle of Fluoride rinse solution (available from your dentist, local dental supply company and some pharmacies)
2 eggs
1 bottle of white vinegar
3 containers

What to do:
Pour four inches of Fluoride rinse solution into one of the containers and then place an egg in the solution. Let it sit for five minutes. Remove the egg. Pour four inches of vinegar into each of the remaining two containers. Put the egg that has been treated with the Fluoride into one container of vinegar and the untreated egg in the other container of vinegar.

What will happen:
One egg will start to bubble as the vinegar (an acid) starts to attack the minerals in the egg shell. Which egg do you think will start to bubble?

Acids and our Teeth 

This experiment simulates an acid attack on bones (bones are rich with calcium, just like your teeth).

What you’ll need:
2 clean chicken bones (ask your parents to save them for you the next time you have chicken for dinner)
1 container
1 bottle of white vinegar

What to do:
Pour several inches of vinegar into the container. Soak the clean chicken bones in the vinegar overnight.

What will happen:
Check out the bones after they’ve soaked in the vinegar overnight. Are they softer or harder? Be sure to throw the bones away in the garbage after you’re finished.

Note: with any science experiment, it is recommended you have an adult present for supervision.

Source:http://healthyteeth.org/

What is the most common chronic disease among children ages 5-17?

See contest rules and submit your answer HERE for a chance to win!

Check out Super Fun Dental Facts below…

More than 51 million school hours are lost each year due to dental-related illnesses. Despite these numbers, many children still do not visit the dentist. In addition, almost 50 percent of tooth decay remains untreated in low-income children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“The need for dental care cannot be ignored. Dental diseases grow progressively worse without treatment, which influences overall health and may require increasingly costly care,” says Academy of General Dentistry spokesperson Mark Ritz, DDS, MAGD. “However, most oral health problems can be prevented. Regular dental examinations, oral health education and primary disease prevention will dramatically reduce the burden of dental disease in most patients.”

Regular examinations can seem expensive to people without dental insurance, and many children are without dental coverage. The Surgeon General’s office reports that for every child without medical insurance there are 2.6 children lacking dental insurance. These resources are available to help the parents of children in need of dental care:

Federally sponsored programs

Medicaid is the largest source of funding for medical and health-related services for people with limited incomes. More than 40 million people have Medicaid coverage and about half are children. In order to be approved and receive the funding, certain eligibility requirements must be met. Go to http://cms.hhs.gov to look up eligibility requirements in each state.

State-assisted programs

A State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is another option for uninsured children. SCHIP is a state-administered program, and each state sets its own guidelines regarding eligibility and services. Go tohttp://www.insurekidsnow.gov for a listing of SCHIP programs.

States also have dental clinics or other charitable programs set up to help children receive dental care at no cost or at a reduced fee. Search online at http://ask.hrsa.gov/pc. Some state dental societies will also list clinics or charities.

Dental schools

A dental-school clinic is another option for reduced fee treatment. Students perform the procedures, which helps reduce treatment costs. Experienced faculty members are on site throughout the process to evaluate the student’s work. State dental societies should have a listing of dental schools in the area.

source:http://www.agd.org/public/oralhealth/Default.asp?IssID=296&Topic=C&ArtID=1182#body

How many types of bacteria make up dental plaque?

See contest rules and submit your answer HERE for a chance to win!

Check out Super Fun Dental Facts below…

1. Remember, a child’s dental care begins before birth.  A child’s teeth form between the third and sixth month of pregnancy. An expectant mother must practice good health habits to ensure proper development of her unborn child’s teeth. This means consuming plenty of calcium-rich foods such as leafy greens, fortified cereals and dairy or soy products.2. Just because you can’t see your baby’s teeth doesn’t mean they aren’t there.  At birth, your baby has 20 primary teeth, some of which are almost completely formed in the jaw. The first four teeth will usually erupt when the baby is between 6 months and 1 year, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do anything in the meantime. Simply wiping a baby’s gums with a clean gauze pad after feeding will remove harmful plaque and bacteria. 3. Take your child to the dentist by his/her first birthday.  A dentist will check your 1-year-old for tooth decay, as well as identify fluoride needs and address any potentially dangerous habits such as thumb sucking. 4. Don’t use toothpaste for children under 2.  As soon as the first teeth appear, brush teeth with a little bit of water. After children have reached the age of 2, toothpaste can be introduced in pea-sized amounts. 5. Teach your children the proper brushing techniques.  Most children will be able to brush their own teeth by age 6 or 7. Select for them a brush that has soft, rounded bristles and teach them to use only a pea-sized amount of toothpaste. Show them how to use circular brush strokes to reach all surfaces of teeth, and make sure they spit out the toothpaste and rinse with water after brushing to avoid swallowing any toothpaste. 6. Don’t forget the floss!  As soon as any two teeth touch, make sure that you use floss to clean between your child’s teeth. This is the only way to avoid decay in places where a toothbrush can’t reach. 7. Make trips to the dentist fun for your child.  It is important for your child to have a good attitude toward dental visits. Be positive and remind your child that the dentist is a friendly doctor who is helping to take care of his or her teeth. Set a good example yourself by brushing and flossing twice a day and visiting the dentist regularly. 8. Take an active role in your child’s oral health.  You should always inform the dentist as to the status of your child’s health. Tell the dentist if your child is ill, what medications your child may be taking and if your child has any known drug allergies. If you don’t understand a dentist’s recommendations for the treatment of your child, ask for a more detailed explanation. Ask if there are other treatments available for this problem and, if so, how these other options compare cost wise. Then ask which of these methods would be most effective in treating the problem

Source: http://www.dentistry.com/daily-dental-care/pediatric-dentistry/keeping-your-childrens-teeth-healthy

What percentage of people surveyed say they floss daily?

See contest rules and submit your answer HERE for a chance to win!

Check out Super Fun Dental Facts below…