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Some of the greatest scientific discoveries occurred by accident. From falling apples, to sandwiches that don’t mold, some of our greatest achievements began as simple analysis of the natural surroundings. Fluoride, one of dentistry’s most powerful tools in the fight against cavities, also has a similar origin story.  

The Colorado Brown Stain

In 1901, a young dental school graduate named Frederick McKay moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado to open a dental practice. Upon his arrival, he was astounded to observe that many of the locals suffered from brown stains on their teeth. After observing this, McKay searched for information about the disorder causing the stains, but couldn’t find anything sufficient.  

Teeth mottling and Dental Fluorosis 

For six years, McKay worked and found that nearly 90% of children native to Colorado Springs suffered from the stain. He gave the brown stain a more technical name (tooth mottling, which was later changed to fluorosis) and were surprised to discover that mottled teeth were highly resistant to tooth decay. While they couldn’t identify a cause for tooth mottling, they noted the anti-cavity effects of the stain and moved on.  

Rocky Mountain Brown Water 

In 1923, McKay went from Colorado Springs to Oakley, Idaho to investigate a recent uptick in tooth mottling in Oakley. The parents told him that the stains began appearing shortly after Oakley constructed a communal water pipeline to a warm spring five miles away. McKay observed the water and found it to be slightly browned by the pipeline. McKay advised town leaders to abandon the pipeline and use a nearby spring as their water source. The town obliged, and within a few years the brown stains disappeared. McKay still hadn’t found the exact cause, but he isolated the source of tooth mottling. 

What Causes the Stain? 

McKay then travelled to Bauxite, Arkansas, where the residents were afflicted with mottled teeth, but nearby towns were not. McKay asked the town to conduct a study on the water, and returned to Colorado. A town chemist named H.V. Churchill analyzed the water with more powerful tools than available to McKay when he was in Oakley. He found high levels of fluoride in the water at Bauxite, which compelled Churchill to write a 5 page letter to McKay, urging him to test samples from Colorado Spring and Oakley for increased levels of fluoride. McKay obliged, and within months, he found the answer to the brown stain problem: increased levels of fluoride were in fact staining teeth.  

National Institute of Health Refines Measurements 

Upon learning of McKay and Churchill’s findings, the National Institute of Health (NIH) decided to investigate water-borne fluoride, and the effects on teeth. The NIH developed a state-of-the-art method to measure fluoride levels in water with an accuracy of 0.1 parts per million (ppm). By the late 1930’s the NIH concluded that fluoride levels up to 1.0 ppm could not cause enamel fluorosis, or brown teeth.  

Schedule an Appointment with Us 

Today, fluoride is added to many communal water sources to improve the quality of water, and aid in the fight against tooth decay. Fluoride is included in many toothpaste, mouthwashes and other oral health care products to help people fight tooth decay at home.  

Visit our office to learn more about how fluoride works, and how it affects your children’s teeth.

Summer time presents parents with an excellent chance to help their kids get ahead on their oral health. Here’s how you can help your children have a cavity-free summer. 

1 - Maintain an Active Oral Health Routine 

It can be hard for kids to get into a summer brushing routine if they don’t have to wake up for school. Relaxed schedule aside, it’s important that your child brushes their teeth twice per day for two minutes at a time, and flosses once per day to clean debris from the hard-to-reach areas of their teeth. Brushing and flossing is the most important way to keep your mouth healthy, and fight plaque that causes cavities. If you have braces or other orthodontic equipment, try a proxabrush, which is designed to clean in between brackets and orthodontic devices.

2 - Eat Food that Teeth Love 

Starchy carbs like potato chips and crackers can stick to teeth and cause unhealthy acid buildup that fuels cavities. Instead of snacking on food that sticks to teeth, try eating food that cleans teeth as it’s being eaten. Fibrous vegetables like carrots, celery and bell pepper are excellent snacking alternatives to unhealthy chips and crackers. Their texture actually scrubs tooth enamel, and helps remove unhealthy plaque buildup. 

You can strengthen your teeth with food that’s rich in calcium, magnesium, and protein. Dairy products like milk, cheese and yogurt are all packed with the vitamins and minerals needed to build strong teeth and bones. 

3 - Drink More Water 

Saliva is crucial in the fight against cavities, and it is 99% water! When you are low on saliva, you will most likely experience dry mouth – a condition that makes it hard to swallow and chew because of a lack of saliva. By drinking enough water, you can prevent dry mouth and ensure that your saliva is produced at an optimal rate. 

Additionally, saliva and water also help keep teeth free of starchy food-debris that can eat away at tooth enamel. In fact, we suggest swishing with clean cool water for thirty seconds after meals to get rid of excess food debris, and prevent food-debris from turning into acid buildup on your tooth enamel.

4 - Travel with Oral Care in Mind 

If you’re travelling this summer, be sure that your family packs everything they need to maintain their oral health. A mouth-healthy travel kit is a great way to keep teeth clean while on the road. We suggest packing it with a toothbrush in a travel case, travel-sized dental floss, toothpaste, and a proxabrush or floss threaders if you have an oral appliance. When planning your summer travel, be sure to block off about 10 minutes each day for your family to take care of their oral care and personal maintenance.

Visit Our Office

Summer time gives you a great opportunity to catch up on your family’s oral health status by visiting our office for a checkup. Call us today to schedule an appointment so that we can evaluate the state of your children’s teeth, and help them reach healthier smile this summer.

Thumb sucking and finger sucking are habits common in many children. In fact, nearly one third of all children suck on their thumbs or fingers in their first year of life. Sadly, thumb sucking is an unhealthy oral habit that can have many different consequences down the line.

Thumb Sucking can Cause Oral Health Problems 

Unfortunately, thumb sucking can lead to many oral developmental issues that negatively affect the development of the mouth. Thumb sucking can casue an open bite, where the top and bottom teeth do not toch when the mouth is closed. It can lead to a narrowing and distortion of the palate and cause abnormal speech and misaligned bite patterns are common.

What Causes Thumb Sucking? 

Boredom, anxiety, anger, hunger, or even sadness can all cause children to suck on their fingers for comfort. Children mostly suck on their thumbs or fingers for comfort from an uncomfortable emotional state or stressful situation. 

Quick Tips to Defeat Thumb Sucking 

If your child hasn’t stopped sucking their thumb or fingers by age 4, then you must wean them from the habit so that they can develop a healthy young smile. By 4 years of age, your child’s mouth will be rapidly developing and thumb sucking can interfere with that process.

Identify their Thumb Sucking Triggers 

The simplest way to prevent thumb sucking is by figuring out what triggers your child to suck their fingers in the first place. If you can identify that, then you can help them adapt their behavior with positive reinforcement, or prepare them for the situation ahead of time. 

Intervene 

The best way to end thumb sucking is by intervening when your child is in the act. Explain to them that thumb sucking is a bad habit, and that it needs to stop so that they can be as healthy as possible.

Take a Family Approach 

You can’t be everywhere at once, so employ the help of your family to help rid your child of the bad habit. Make sure everyone is using the same language and intervention technique so that your child has a consistent understanding of why they need to break the habit.

Divert their Attention 

Diversion is another great method to overcome thumb sucking. If you catch your child sucking their finger, try diverting their attention with their favorite stuffed animal or toy, something that involves their attention and hands, to get them to quit right then and there.

Cover their Thumbs 

You can also make their thumbs less appetizing by wrapping them with Band-Aids, or cloth. This surprisingly simple method works well, and incentivizes children to get their uncovered thumbs back as soon as possible.

Visit Our Office 

Thumb sucking is a bad oral habit that can be fixed with proper knowledge and healthy habits. Schedule an appointment with our office so we can teach your child about the benefits of a healthy smile, and how they can work on one through healthy brushing and flossing, and a mouth-healthy diet. 

In a perfect world teeth would never need maintenance, and every smile would be healthy and bright. But, life isn’t perfect, and teeth sustain a lot of wear over time. Luckily, dental crowns are a fantastic way to combat a number of tooth ailments and improve overall oral health.

Dental Crowns Alleviate Multiple Problems 

Dental crowns are incredibly versatile tools that aid smiles in many ways. They are used to prevent weak teeth from fracturing, as tooth replacements, or to cover a root canal or dental implant. Dental crowns also help maintain proper teeth spacing, and aids in maintaining a proper bite alignment.

The Different Types of Dental Crowns 

Dental crowns can be made out of a gold alloy, stainless steel, all-porcelain or all-ceramic, composite resin, zirconia, or porcelain on the outside fused to metal or zirconia on the inside. Each type of dental crown works, and it’s up to the patient to work with our dentist to decide what works best for your child's needs.

Do Dental Crowns Hurt? 

Dental crowns are meant to function painlessly as a natural tooth. The procedure to place a dental crown is done with a numbing agent applied to the nearby gums. This allows for less painful procedure. Tooth sensitivity and light pressure can last for 1 to 2 days after getting a new crown.

How Long do Dental Crowns Last? 

Typically, dental crowns last between 5 and 15 years. But, the lifetime of a dental crown depends upon the material it is made of. Porcelain crowns are durable, but not unbreakable, and can crack or chip when patients grind their teeth. Other bad oral habits liking chewing fingernails, chewing on ice, or using teeth as tools to rip and tear can crack and damage dental crowns.

If your child has dental crowns, then try to teach them about good oral health habits that keep their crowns intact. If they grind their teeth, consider getting them a nighttime retainer that protects teeth from the stress of grinding and clenching. 

Dental Crowns Need Maintenance 

Children and teens with crowns and fillings can develop cavities near the device if it becomes old, or worn out. Over time, dental crowns can weaken and develop rough edges. This allows plaque to flourish in a hard-to-reach area, and can quickly result in a cavity. If your child has dental crowns, be sure that they regularly see their dentist to ensure that the crown is monitored and in working order.

Schedule an Appointment with Our Office 

A broken tooth is a serious dental problem that needs to be treated by a team of dental professionals. Our office will be able to treat your child, and inform you on how to avoid an oral emergency in the future. Schedule an appointment today to help your child get a healthy smile that is pain-free.