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Articles
Resources for Celebrating National Children's
Dental Health Month
Wisdom Tooth Online
Checklist for Dental Emergencies
Don't Try These Ancient Remedies!
Healthy Nutrition Can Leave You Smiling
Captain Supertooth Returns!
Water Fluoridation Facts
Resources for
Celebrating National Children's Dental Health Month
This February marks the 52nd anniversary of National
Children's Dental Health Month. What started as a
one-day celebration in 1949 has grown into a month-long
event sponsored by the American Dental Association
(ADA) to promote healthy smiles for children.
There are a number of resources available - many
of them free - to help students at your school celebrate
good dental-health care, not just this month, but
all year round.
- Captain Supertooth. Delta Dental Plan of New
Jersey offers this free program to schools throughout
New Jersey. (See
"Captain Supertooth Returns!" on page
3 for more information.)
- Kid's Club. Delta Dental's web site, at www.deltadentalnj.com,
features an exclusive area for children, designed
to entertain and educate them about the importance
of good dental health. The site features a downloadable
game (kids can help Captain Supertooth defeat the
Plaque Attack), dental trivia and other information
designed to encourage children to practice good
dental hygiene.
- ADA Kid's Corner. This is the "official" spot
to find out about National Children's Dental Health
Month activities and order ADA-developed teaching
guides. The site, at www.ada.org, also features
coloring sheets, word games, and information about
dental health.
- Sparkle City. Sponsored by Crest, this site offers
lots of kid-oriented activities, including songs
("The Dentist is My Pal"), games (dental
instrument tag with "Doc Croc") and information
about dental hygiene in the
"Smiles Central" area. Go to www.sparkle-city.com.
- Kid's World. Sponsored by Colgate, this site
features
"Dr. Rabbit's No Cavities Clubhouse." Activities
include the Magic School Bus Maze Craze Game, where
kids help the Magic School Bus chomp its way through
a maze, eating all the healthy foods and avoiding
sugary snacks; the Jungle Game; and more. Go to
kids-world.colgatepalmolive.com.
Wisdom
Tooth Online
This edition of Wisdom Tooth as well as previous
issues are available at our website. Go to www.deltadentalnj.com
and look in our "Kid's Club" section. Other
Delta Dental newsletters are also available online,
including Subscriber News, Dental News and Broker
News.
Checklist
for Dental Emergencies
Knowing what to do before an accident occurs can
make the difference between saving or losing a tooth,
says the American Dental Association (ADA). The ADA
recommends the following emergency procedures:
Toothache
- Rinse the mouth with warm water to clean it out.
- Floss to make sure that food or foreign objects
aren't lodged around the tooth.
- Do not place aspirin on the aching tooth or gum
tissues.
- Contact your dentist as soon as possible.
Knocked out tooth
- Retrieve the tooth.
- Hold it by the crown, and rinse off the root
if it's dirty. (Do not scrub it or remove any attached
tissue fragments.)
- If possible, put the tooth back in its socket.
- If you can't put the tooth back, put it in a
container with milk or cool water.
- Immediately contact your dentist.
Broken tooth
- Rinse the mouth with warm water to clean the
area.
- Use cold compresses on the area to keep the swelling
down.
- Contact your dentist immediately.
Bitten tongue or lip
- Apply direct pressure to the bleeding area with
a clean cloth.
- If swelling is present, apply cold compresses.
- If bleeding does not stop, go to a hospital emergency
room.
Objects caught between teeth
- Try to gently remove the object with dental floss,
being careful not to cut the gums. Do not use a
sharp instrument.
- If you can't remove the object, contact your
dentist.
Problems with braces and retainers
- If a wire is causing irritation, cover the end
with a small cotton ball, beeswax or a piece of
gauze until you can get to the dentist.
- If a wire gets stuck in the cheek, tongue or
gum tissue, do not attempt to remove it. Contact
your dentist immediately.
- If an appliance becomes loose or a piece of it
breaks off, take off the appliance and the piece,
and contact your dentist.
Don't
Try These Ancient Remedies!
Dentistry's long, interesting history includes some
very strange practices. Here are some of the weirdest:
- For a toothache, boil earthworms in oil and use
the oil as eardrops.
- To relieve painful gums, scratch them with a
tooth from a man who died violently.
- Cure a toothache by applying this mixture to
a corresponding shoulder: figs, saffron, mustard
seed and plaster of myrrh.
- For tooth decay, rinse with a mouthwash made
by boiling dogs' teeth in wine.
- To make loose teeth firm, tie a frog to your
jaws.
For more dental trivia, visit Delta Dental's website
at www.deltadentalnj.com and click on the "Kid's
Club" icon.
Healthy
Nutrition Can Leave You Smiling
Five times more common than asthma and seven times
more common than hay fever, the most common chronic
childhood disease is cavities. Despite their prevalence,
cavities don't have to be an accepted part of childhood.
The following steps can go a long way toward helping
children prevent tooth decay.
Limit sugars. The human mouth contains hundreds
of types of bacteria that cling to the surfaces of
teeth, forming plaque. This sticky substance gobbles
up sugar and turns it into acid, which dissolves
tooth enamel and opens the door for tooth decay.
(That's why it's also a good idea to limit sticky,
chewy foods such as dried fruits, caramel and toffee,
which can cling to teeth and give bacteria more time
to produce acids.) Limiting foods that contain table
sugar or corn sweeteners are one way to reduce tooth
decay. The less sugar put into our mouths, the less
acid that plaque can produce. Watch out for all forms
of sugar, including honey, fructose, sucrose, glucose,
corn syrup and maltose. Also, pizza and hamburger
buns can contain more sugar than you might think!
Eat nutritious snacks. Offer children nutritious
snacks such as low-fat yogurt, cheese, pretzels,
plain popcorn or vegetable sticks instead of candy
and ice cream. A variety of foods help boost the
intake of specific nutrients that are essential for
healthy teeth and bodies. Dairy snacks such as low-fat
cheese contain calcium, which helps build strong
bones that support teeth. Fresh fruits provide important
vitamins and minerals, especially fruits containing
vitamin C, which has been shown to support healthy
gums.
Teach children good oral health practices. Brushing
with a fluoride toothpaste and flossing at least
twice a day are critical. You can also teach children
to take other simple steps, such as flushing sugar
from their teeth by drinking water after snacks when
a toothbrush isn't handy.
When it comes to healthy teeth, the choices you
make and the habits you teach them will stay with
your children for a lifetime.
Captain
Supertooth Returns!
Delta Dental's superhero, Captain Supertooth, will
once again visit New Jersey schools during February,
National Children's Dental health Month. He will
appear at 30 schools across the state between February
12 and March 12 to teach elementary school children
about the benefits of good oral hygiene. He will
also appear at Monmouth Mall on February 11
Wielding a giant red toothbrush and using the children
as teeth, Captain Supertooth demonstrates how brushing,
flossing, a balanced diet and regular visits to the
dentist can help vanquish tooth decay and other dental
foes. The 20-minute program - geared for children
in kindergarten through second grade - is offered
free to schools in New Jersey.
Since the program began in 1990, Captain Supertooth
has instructed more than 30,000 children about proper
dental care. Because of high demand for this program,
there is a waiting list. Teachers and school nurses
in New Jersey should call 973-285-4059 or email us
at jappaluccio@deltadentalnj.com to place their school
on the waiting list and request our free Captain
Supertooth video.
Water
Fluoridation Facts
Community water fluoridation has been hailed by
U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher as one of the
great achievements of public health in the 20th century
- an inexpensive means of improving oral health that
benefits all residents of a community. Former U.S.
Surgeon General Luther Terry included community water
fluoridation on his list of top public health achievements,
along with pasteurization, immunization and chlorination.
More than 10,500 communities in the United States
already have fluoridation programs, which benefit
144 million Americans. Here's why:
It's safe. Extensive research conducted over the
past 50 years has consistently shown that fluoridation
of public water supplies is a safe way to reduce
the incidence of dental caries (cavities) for all
community residents. The National Research Council,
a branch of the National Academy of Sciences, released
a report prepared for the Environmental Protection
Agency confirming that the currently allowed fluoride
levels in drinking water do not pose a risk of health
problems.
It's effective. Recent studies show that water fluoridation
reduces dental caries in permanent teeth by 17% to
40%.
It's economical. The United States Centers for Disease
Control estimates that for every $1 spent on fluoridation,
$80 is saved in dental treatment. The Centers for
Disease Control estimates that the cost of providing
fluoridated water to residents within a community
is $0.51 a year per person, amounting to approximately
$38.25 over a lifetime. A 1998 dental-cost survey
showed that the national average for filling one
tooth is $62. That makes a lifetime of fluoridation
less than the cost of a single filling.
It's supported by public health groups worldwide.
More than 100 national and international organizations
support community water fluoridation, including the
World Health Organization, the National Institute
of Dental and Craniofacial Research and the American
Medical Association.
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