Cleaning Your Kids' Teeth

Cleaning Your Kids’ Teeth

By Mina Levi, DDS, 04/16/2015

We all know that many babies are born without teeth, and they slowly emerge throughout infancy and childhood, then they sprout their adult teeth in later childhood. However, many of us don’t know when we should start or how to go about keeping our kid’s mouths healthy and clean. In this week’s article, Dentist San Francisco Mina Levi DDS discusses the process of cleaning your kids’ teeth so that they can have healthy mouths and won’t have any cavities.

When should I start brushing my kids’ teeth?

Before your child’s teeth emerge, you should be taking care of their gums by rubbing a ramp washcloth or gauze across gum tissue to clear the mouth of any food/bacteria and starts healthy oral care habits. Children’s teeth should be cleaned as soon as they emerge. When the teeth first appear, the teeth are small and the child’s mouth is small, so it seems it would be difficult to clean or at least get a toothbrush in there. You can use a soft washcloth wrapped around your finger instead of a brush when the teeth first appear. When you do try to start using a toothbrush as soon as you can, you can try a long-handled toothbrush that you and the baby can grasp or a finger puppet type toothbrush that will be similar to the washcloth. There is no need to use toothpaste right away, just dip the toothbrush in warm water. If your child is having trouble adapting to the toothbrush, it’s okay to switch back and forth to the washcloth.

How do I brush my kids’ teeth?

When a few more teeth appear, it will be time to upgrade your child to using toothpaste. The American Dental Association recommends using fluoridated toothpaste about the size of a grain of rice. Fluoride is important for children because it helps their developing teeth be resistant to cavities. Brush your child’s teeth twice per day – once in the morning and once before bed time. Spend 2 minutes brushing and make sure to spend extra time on the back molars when they appear. The molars are an area where cleaning isn’t always great and cavities begin to appear. You can start using a pea sized amount of toothpaste when the child is about 3 years old.

When should I start flossing my kids’ teeth?

You should start flossing your child’s teeth when two teeth emerge that are touching each other. You can use flossers or floss sticks instead of traditional floss which may make it easier to navigate your child’s small mouth without them gagging.

When should my kids start brushing and flossing on their own?

Most kids start being able to brush and floss their own teeth by the time they are around 6 or 7. The best way to teach kids how to brush and floss on their own is to “lead by example”. Let your kids watch you brush your teeth. This teaches them that an oral hygiene routine is important and they will also pick up on your technique.

When should I take my kids to the dentist?

Kids should start going to the dentist by the time they are one year old, or within six months of their first tooth emergence. Your San Francisco Dentist can inspect the teeth for any irregularities and also give you tips about how to brush your kids’ teeth and diet changes.

If you have questions about how to brush your children’s teeth or your kids are due for a dentist visit, visit San Francisco Dentist Mina Levi, DDS on the web at www.minalevidds.com or give us a call at (415) 513-5066.

Topics: Dentist San Francisco, childs teeth, toothbrush, kids, kids brushing, kids oral hygiene, hygiene, brush, brushing, kid brushing, childhood, cleaning, dental cleaning, cleaning teeth, cleaning kid teeth, how to clean kid teeth, kid dentist, child dentist, pediatric dentist, pediatric dentist San Francisco, kid dentist San Francisco, flossing, floss, kid floss, kid flossing, child floss, child flossing, child brushing, child teeth cleaning 

A Toothbrush That Tracks Progress

A Toothbrush that Tracks Progress

By Mina Levi, DDS, 01/14/15

Recently, the company Kolibree came out with a new toothbrush product that allows you to track and improve yours or your children’s dental hygiene routine. This toothbrush uses a unique technology to analyze brushing habits and display them on a mobile dashboard. In this article, Dentist San Francisco Mina Levi discusses the Kolibree toothbrush, what it does and what problems it aims to solve.

How does this toothbrush work?

First, the user of the toothbrush will need to download the free mobile app, connected via Bluetooth. From there, every brushing with the Kolibree toothbrush is downloaded to the app. The data about the brushing session will synchronize to a smart phone and tell the user whether or not they brushed for long enough and whether or not you reached the hard to reach parts of your teeth and gums. The stats from the app are easily shared with Dentist San Francisco, and the app even works with multiple toothbrushes/family members. The Kolibree toothbrush gives positive feedback and cheers on improvement, which encourages children to improve habits.

What problems does the Kolibree toothbrush solve?

Home care is essential for the overall health of your mouth. With the Kolibree toothbrush letting you know how to improve, it can improve the home care aspect of dental care. With improved home care, it can make an improvement in gum disease and lower dental caries. It is still very important to visit the dentist regularly.

If you have any questions regarding the Kolibree toothbrush or how to improve your home care, visit Dentist San Francisco Mina Levi, DDS on the web at www.minalevidds.com or give us a call at (415) 513-5066.

Topics: San Francisco Dentist, toothbrush, Kolibree toothbrush, smart toothbrush, toothbrushing app, home care, oral care, oral health care, tooth brushing, flossing, mouthwash

15 Different Uses for Toothpaste Other Than Brushing Your Teeth

15 Different Uses for Toothpaste Other Than Brushing Your Teeth

          Normally, toothpaste is purchased and used for one thing: brushing your teeth. However, there are many other ways that you can use toothpaste without it even touching the toothbrush! Below we discuss fifteen different uses for toothpaste. 

1.     Spider Bites. As many of us know through unfortunate experience, spider bites normally swell and itch badly with little you can do to relieve the symptoms. The fluoride found in toothpaste tends to calm the itching and can help reduce the swelling if applied to the bite.  

2.     Polishing Silver Jewelry and Diamonds. Toothpaste will help clean gunk off of silver jewelry and diamonds and leave them with a brilliant shine, much like it does with your teeth. You can wipe away any toothpaste residue with a damp cloth and your jewelry will be bright and shiny.

 

3.     Burns. When you burn yourself, there is a lasting “hot” feeling in your skin that seems to be relieved temporarily with cold water. Applying toothpaste to the burn will help remove some of the heat and make the pain easier to bear.

 

4.     Remove the Smell from Baby Bottles. Many parents can agree that there is a foul smell from milk and formula that left over in baby bottles that sometimes doesn’t go away by washing it with soap and water. Wash the bottles with a toothpaste-water mixture, and the odor will be gone quickly.

 

5.     Acne. Toothpaste goes near our faces every day when we brush our teeth, but many of us wouldn’t think to put toothpaste on our faces. When applied to pimples, toothpaste can help dry out the area and decrease redness and swelling. Be careful, however, because using too much toothpaste or leaving it on the pimple for too long can cause skin irritation.

 

6.     Keep Diving Goggles from Fogging. While diving or swimming and using goggles, the insides of the goggles tend to fog up and collect moisture which inhibits good visibility. If you rub toothpaste on the inside surface of the goggles and then rinse it off, it will keep the goggles from fogging up to much while you’re trying to have fun in the water.

 

7.     For Your Nails. When using nail polish often, it starts to leave a yellow tint or staining on the fingernails that is unpleasant and is often covered up with more nail polish. By using toothpaste, you can buff away those stains much like toothpaste helps remove yellow staining on teeth.

 

8.     Cleaning of Piano Keys. The keys of a piano can get dirty easily when they are played often, which takes away from the class and elegance of a piano. By rubbing the keys with a toothpaste and water mixture and then buffing with a cloth, the keys will shine.

 

9.     Remove Children’s Drawings on Walls. When it gets too quiet in the house, most parents suspect that their child is up to something and that something can sometimes be large murals of crayon on the walls. These drawings can be easily removed by the abrasive character of toothpaste. However, it is important to test a small patch of the wall before trying to clean the entire work of art, just in case the paint on the walls is sensitive to abrasive substances.

 

10.      For DVD/CD Scratches. It is incredibly frustrating when you go to put a DVD in a player and the audio or picture skips and distorts because there is a small scratch on the playing surface. Toothpaste can help us with this situation as well. Very gently rub toothpaste onto the playing surface, then rinse and buff with a soft cloth. The abrasive characteristic of toothpaste helps even out the playing surface of the disc. Be careful, however, because too much of this abrasiveness can make it worse.

 

11.  Hair Strengthening. You can rub gel toothpaste in your hair to enhance  its strength. Also, toothpaste has similar properties to hair gel, and when you need a strong hold you can apply the toothpaste into your hair and style it the way you want.

 

12.      Remove Strong Food Smells from Hands. When cooking with garlic or fish, you will notice that a distinct strong smell lingers on the fingers, and often for a lot longer than we want it to. Gel toothpaste, when applied to the fingers, penetrates deep into the skin and removes those unpleasant smells from your fingers.

 

13.      Polishing shoes. Scuffing of shoes is something that is nearly impossible to avoid, unless you never wear them that is. Working especially well on leather shoes, rubbing toothpaste on the shoes and buffing off with a soft cloth can remove scuffs and polish shoes so that they look brand new.

14.      Remove Burn Spots on a Clothing Iron. When we use our clothing irons, after some time small dark circle spots become noticeable on the heated surface, which are burns from the excessive heat the iron gives off. Scrub the heated surface (not while the iron is hot, of course) with toothpaste and water. This will wipe those burn spots away and increase the lifespan of your iron.

 

15.      Caulking Over Nail Holes in the Wall. If you’ve got holes in the wall from a picture nail (or any other type of nail for that matter) you can use toothpaste to fill it up. The easiest is by using white toothpaste on white walls. If you have colored walls though, you can mix the toothpaste with food coloring or eye shadow to match the color. Apply the toothpaste to the hole and allow to dry, and then use a flat object like a credit card to go over it and smooth it down. 

Although there are many different uses for toothpaste, the most important use for toothpaste is for brushing your teeth. Dental check-ups with the Mina Levi DDS Dentist San Francisco are very important to maintain healthy teeth and gums. For more information, visit Mina Levi on the web at www.minalevidds.com or call us at (415) 513-5066.

Ten Teeth Brushing Mistakes You Could Be Making

Ten Teeth Cleaning Mistakes You May Be Making

Throughout our lives, brushing our teeth becomes a menial task implemented in the daily routine that seems to come with a simple rule that if it is being done, it is working. However, what many people unfortunately do not know is that there are many important aspects to the teeth cleaning routine that can be done incorrectly, and thus can bear painful and financial consequences. Visiting Mina Levi DDS Dentist San Francisco can be helpful in determining proper brushing aspects. Below we discuss ten mistakes you may be making in your dental hygiene routine and why they are important.

1. Incorrect Toothbrush Bristles. Who knew that the type of bristles on your toothbrush mattered? If the bristles on the toothbrush are too hard or too stiff it can affect the gums and can also damage your tooth enamel. Therefore it is recommended that you use a softer-bristled toothbrush to avoid this kind of damage. To soften a stiff bristled tooth brush, run the toothbrush under hot water before using it to clean your teeth. However, if the bristles are too soft, they may not be strong enough to help remove plaque buildup which can cause gum disease.

2. Not Using the Proper Toothbrush. There are many options when it comes to choosing a toothbrush, but these options are limited in choosing the right toothbrush. When using a manual toothbrush, a soft-bristled choice is better because it causes less damage to the gums and the enamel. Also, be sure to choose a manual toothbrush that has a comfortable handle size. If the handle is the wrong size, it can cause tiring of the hand and thus a poorer quality brushing technique. When using an electric toothbrush, choose one with settings that fit your needs such as a sensitivity mode. Although electric toothbrushes may help with the cleaning, the benefits of using an electric toothbrush are lost when brushing technique is of poor quality or is undervalued.

3. Not Brushing Enough. One of the biggest mistakes a person can make is not brushing enough times a day or not brushing for long enough during each session. Not brushing at least two times a day allows for more dental plaque to build up on the teeth and increases the risk for dental caries and gum inflammation, which can eventually lead to cavities and gingivitis. Each brushing session should last at least two minutes in order to ensure that all of the teeth and all of the teeth surfaces are being cleaned well. If the sessions are too short, some of the surfaces of the teeth may go un-cleaned, and cavities can develop.

4. Brushing Too Much. Usually we hear that we aren’t brushing enough, but brushing too much can also be an issue. Brushing more than three times a day can irritate the gums and begin to erode the enamel of the teeth. Brushing too many times can also expose some of the tooth root to increased irritation which further aggravates the gum tissue. Two to three times a day is the ideal brushing routine.

5. Brushing Too Hard. Brushing too hard or with too much pressure can be damaging in the same way as using a toothbrush with very course bristles. Brushing too hard can irritate the gums and cause erosion of the dental enamel, making your teeth more easily prone to cavities. It is suggested that you brush softly, and if you are “squishing” the bristles of the toothbrush against the teeth you are brushing too hard.

6. Not Brushing Correctly. Even if you choose a good quality toothbrush and are brushing your teeth three times a day, if you are not executing the proper technique problems can occur. The toothbrush needs to be angled around 45˚ toward the gum line in order to make sure the plaque is being removed from the space between the gums and the teeth called the “gingival sulcus”. Brushing should be done in short, vertical strokes or in small circular motions, avoiding horizontal strokes. It is also very important to make sure that all of the surfaces of the teeth are brushed thoroughly, and that the tongue is also brushed to ensure fresh breath. Improper technique can lead to the buildup of plaque on certain teeth surfaces or in the gingival sulcus, causing dental caries and gingivitis. It may be helpful to use plaque disclosing tablets every now and then to ensure that the proper technique is being utilized and every surface is being cleaned. To see proper brushing technique and advice, see this video.

7. Brushing the Same Way Every Time. Many people have their own brushing routine, but brushing the same way each time you brush is problematic. As the brushing session goes on, we get bored or tired and put less effort into cleaning. So if you start the session by brushing the same quadrant first, this one quadrant will be getting the most attention, and the last quadrant cleaned will be underprovided for.

8. Skipping the Inside Surfaces of Teeth. Many people focus on the outside surfaces of the teeth because they are the ones that are visible and are more easily accessible than the insides of the teeth. However, skipping the inside surfaces of the teeth or saving those surfaces for the last part of the brushing session every time can allow for plaque to build up on one side and can sit there for such a long time it develops into a hard calculus that is difficult to remove without the assistance of a professional. This build-up causes periodontal disease and can increase dental caries.


9. Not Replacing the Toothbrush Regularly. Many people only replace their toothbrush when they get lost while traveling or get dirty. However, it is important to replace your toothbrush on a regular basis such as every three months. After a while, the bristles become worn down and lose their effectiveness in cleaning, becoming more stiff and even breaking apart. It is also recommended that toothbrushes should also be replaced after suffering from an illness such as strep throat, because the bacteria may linger or grow on the toothbrush and be re-implemented into the body with further use. However, recent studies have shown this may not be completely necessary if the toothbrush is disinfected properly.

10. Not Letting The Toothbrush Dry Out Between Sessions. If a toothbrush is not allowed to dry between teeth brushings sessions, it can cultivate bacteria in the bristles which will go back into your mouth and can cause illness. Also, remaining wetness on the toothbrush can allow the bristles to warp as you use them and will decrease their effectiveness. After each brushing session, shake out the moisture and let dry. Covering the top of the toothbrush after shaking out moisture with a cap that allows air in to the cap may also be helpful in the drying process and can help prevent the growth of oral bacteria.

Topics: Teeth Brushing, Toothbrush, Brushing Technique, Bacteria, Gingivitis, Plaque, Oral Hygiene, Dentist San Francisco, Gum Disease, Erosion, Oral Bacteria