While most parents will make sure their kids brush after eating their treats, dental experts suggest taking a fuller approach to oral health.
"Teeth and gums are obviously key components of oral health care, but they're just part of the whole environment inside one's mouth," says Dr. Bob Kross, a biochemist who's been researching and developing oral health-care products since the 1980s. "The nooks and crannies in our mouths and gums are not the only places crammed with organic debris and feed the bacteria that creates plaque. "There are also cracks on the tongue's surface and in the other soft tissues in the mouth and pharynx where bacteria collect, further compromising dental health and creating bad breath."
He says normal oral bacteria are fine, actually even necessary, when present in proper balance with each other, but it's a problem when putrefying and pathogenic bacteria start to take over.
But Kross warns that sticky candies and treats children and adults consume during the holidays can disrupt the normal balance of bacteria if good dental hygiene isn't practiced.
In addition to using his patented Breath Appeal oral rinse(www.breathappeal.com), he offers these tips to protect your teeth and keep bad breath at bay:
• If you develop bad breath don't simply try to mask it with mints. Anaerobic bacteria can also lead to painful and potentially serious conditions such as gingivitis and periodontitis, so it's best to attack the problem at the root. Maintaining the proper balance or oral bacteria will not only keep your breath fresh, it will help you maintain good oral health.
• Add tongue scraping and an oxidizing daily rinse to your oral hygiene. Brushing and flossing reach about 25 percent of your mouth, and that's why you should add tongue scraping and rinsing to your daily routine. That white stuff you might see on your tongue is a collection of food particles and other organic matter, which can putrefy and create oral malodorants. Oxygen inhibits the growth of the responsible anaerobic bacteria, so scraping off the film and using an oxidizing mouthwash will counter that problem.
• Control bad breath by controlling the mouth's bacteria. Brush at least twice a day, floss, scrape the tongue and use a non-alcoholic rinse that has oxidizing properties. Individuals suffering from bad breath will experience optimum relief only by using alcohol-free, oxidizing oral hygiene products.
