Prevident 5000+

Do you hate it when you go to the dentist, and you always have a new cavity?

Well, if you haven’t been brushing or flossing, that really isn’t much of a surprise.

BUT! If you really do brush and floss daily, there are other things that we can do to prevent these new cavities from forming. Let me tell you about the story of cavities….

So our mouth is a lot like our gut.  In our guts we have a ton good and bad bacteria.  When we have more of this bad bacteria in our gut, that’s when we start to have digestive issues.  Same thing in our mouths!  There is a specific bacteria called Streptococcus Mutans that causes our cavities.  What this bacteria does, is that it eats up any left over sugars in our mouths, and it excretes lactic acid.  That’s right, what these sugar bugs do is eat up the left over sugars in our mouths that we don’t clean up, and then these bugs poop out acid right onto our teeth.  That’s gross.  What eventually happens is that this acid sits on our teeth, and it ends up eroding away our enamel and rots a hole in our teeth.  That hole is a cavity.  In that cavity, more of that bacteria – Strep Mutans – gets stuck and continues to digest sugar and excrete acid.  This acid continues to eat away at our teeth until it reaches the tasty center of our teeth, the nerve!  Once the bacteria hits the nerve, that’s when the tooth reallllllly hurts.

What are we to do?  Well it’s not a myth that you were told to brush and floss to prevent cavities.  To keep a cavity free mouth is it important to reduce sugar consumption so that the Strep Mutans (the bad bacteria) has nothing to eat.  But, it’s also important to clean up any sugars as well.  Now some of us do this: we dont each much sugar, and we really do floss and brush frequently.  So what’s a girl to do?

One of the things we can do is use Prevident 5000+.  This is a prescription toothpaste that has 5 times the amount of fluoride as normal toothpaste.  This fluoride does two things: it kills the bacteria that causes cavities – yes, it kills the Strep Mutans.  The fluoride also hardens your teeth, so if the Strep Mutans excretes a bunch of acid on your teeth, they are less likely to erode away.  This is a powerful tool to have since it protects your teeth from cavities in two ways.

This toothpaste is used a little differently though.  First, you have to just floss your teeth very thoroughly to make sure there is nothing left behind.  Make sure to actually scrape the roots of your teeth with the floss – just don’t pop the floss in and out – that won’t cut it.  Make sure to get deep in the gums and just scrape all the good stuff out.  It’s okay if it bleeds.  Bleeding is norming for first time flossers.  That bleeding will eventually go away in about 2 weeks.

Next, rinse your mouth out so that all the gunk that you’ve flossed out has been rinse away.  That doesn’t really need an explanation.

Then, use the Prevident 5000+ as if you’d use regular toothpaste.  Brush your teeth for 2 minutes thoroughly.  Then after two minutes, swish it around in your mouth and then spit it out.  Do NOT rinse out with water, and do NOT eat or drink anything for 30 minutes afterwards, and most importantly, do NOT collect $200 if you pass go….

And there you have it.  If you do this twice daily for about a year, you will have stronger teeth.  It’s also important to reduce the amount of sugars and acids in your diet as well.  If you have any questions, feel free to visit our Facebook Page and leave us a message or post something.  Also feel free to poke your head around for some entertainment.  If you’re also ready to make the jump to a new dentist who focuses more on prevention than drilling, give us a call 832-321-5761!  You can also book an appointment via ZocDoc!

Learn more about the team here!