[HN Gopher] School dental program prevents 80% of cavities with ...
___________________________________________________________________
School dental program prevents 80% of cavities with non-invasive
treatment
Author : voisin
Score : 173 points
Date : 2023-02-12 15:45 UTC (7 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.nyu.edu)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.nyu.edu)
| neilv wrote:
| > _The study included 2,998 children in kindergarten through
| third grade at 47 New York City schools. The schools--which serve
| a racially diverse group of students, most of whom are from low-
| income families--were randomized to receive either the simple or
| complex treatment._
|
| Was this selection because some low-income families need this
| kind of treatment more than affluent ones? Or represent a
| diversity of racial backgrounds against which the treatment can
| be better tested?
|
| Was it a factor that they were cheap subjects? Or maybe unlikely
| to know any lawyers?
|
| As a kid, our (modest, Catholic) grade school participated in a
| lengthy toothpaste study. The incentive, AFAIK, was you got free
| toothpaste for your family (and I seem to recall some free
| toothbrushes).
|
| As an adult now, aware of some history and societal dynamics, if
| I ever have kids, and they came home with an experiment subject
| consent form, one of the questions on my mind would be "Are the
| children of the wealthy and connected also in this subject
| cohort?"
| jonahbenton wrote:
| I don't know anything about this study, but am a lifelong NYC
| resident whose kids have gone through the public school system
| and who also has been directly involved as a "parent leader" in
| some DOE programs. With some confidence I posit the answers to
| the questions are a) very much yes b) yes c) n/a d) no.
|
| NYC DOE is an incredible organization that serves both the
| extremely wealthy and the extremely needy. There are schools
| where the majority of families are millionaires and the quality
| of the education and attention is competitive with $50k/year
| private schools. But there is much, much more pervasive need.
|
| Some estimates put 1/10 of the total attending population as
| homeless. 70% of the attending population are on some form of
| financial assistance.
|
| The range of services the DOE offers are astonishing. For
| various reasons they do NOT include anything that constitutes
| medical care, but they will regularly run studies that involve
| making medical resources available or provide some medical
| intervention. The needs in some areas are so great. As an
| efficient deliverer of in person services, there is no better
| organization than the DOE.
|
| It is very likely that most of the students in this study have
| never been- and never would otherwise be- to a dentist. They
| very likely get 1-2 meals a day from their school year round.
| They in many cases spend more waking hours in their school than
| at home. High poverty classrooms can be chaotic, but they often
| are much less chaotic than whatever home is.
|
| Consent was collected, to be sure- DOE is extremely careful
| about this. DOE legal is extremely aggressive because they are
| often sued- mostly by students of means but also by advocacy
| organizations, of which there are many.
|
| Very likely NYU was offered the option of where to do the
| study. They could have picked the Upper East Side or Tribeca-
| wealthy neighborhoods where kids will regularly attend boutique
| dental practices- but then what would they learn? The kids
| there are already getting sealants and so forth.
| throwayyy479087 wrote:
| Second us. One of the most amazing things about New York is
| that it has a functioning school system unlike places on the
| West Coast.
|
| Stuy, ps101, bx science are some of the best schools in the
| country
| hn_throwaway_99 wrote:
| This is a bit of a silly take in my opinion. This bit, "The
| schools--which serve a racially diverse group of students, most
| of whom are from low-income families", sounds just like
| editorializing to me.
|
| That is, it was just a test in NY public schools, not like they
| specifically sought out low income or underperforming schools,
| it's just that public schools in NYC have a much higher rate of
| low income families.
| Spivak wrote:
| I don't think it's editorializing, there are _plenty_ of
| school systems, public and private, that don't fit this mold.
| My HS class had maybe 20 of 250 students whose families'
| weren't firmly middle class or above with a good 50 who came
| from the rich feeder school who were "new Mercedes for 16th
| birthday rich." Realizing my family was lower-middle class
| was a bit of a shell shock for 13 year old me.
| PaulHoule wrote:
| I am sure there is some study somewhere that samples rich
| people rather than others.
| Spooky23 wrote:
| [flagged]
| dang wrote:
| " _Eschew flamebait. Avoid generic tangents._ "
|
| https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
| loeg wrote:
| We do fluoridate drinking water, but it does not (fully)
| prevent cavities.
| sitkack wrote:
| This has been "known" for 30 years. It needs to be mandatory.
| umvi wrote:
| My brother is a dentist and he says the main drawback of SDF is
| that it looks bad. It indeed stops the decay but turns the tooth
| (or part of the tooth) black.
| dwheeler wrote:
| It doesn't stain healthy enamel, but it does permanently stain
| parts with cavitation:
| https://www.sproutpediatricdentistry.com/blog/pediatric-
| dent....
| kranke155 wrote:
| !! I wouldn't mind
| hgsgm wrote:
| Titlegore
|
| > Silver diamine fluoride, as well as sealants, protected against
| cavities
| derwiki wrote:
| My (dental hygienist) mother insisted that I get a sealant on my
| teeth when my permanent teeth came in, and to this day I've never
| had a cavity. Definitely doing the same for my kids.
| 4gotunameagain wrote:
| Some sealants contain BPA derivatives though. I'd rather have
| cavities than xenoestrogens messing up my hormonal system, so
| any non resin sealant is a great step forward
| CipherThrowaway wrote:
| Surely exposure from composite resin falls off quickly over
| time and pales in comparison to our constant environmental
| exposure to plasticizers. Any data on this?
| nickff wrote:
| "Surely" seems a bit over-confident unless you've seen some
| research, but it does seem likely.
| 4gotunameagain wrote:
| Surely it is worth it minimising every single source
| identified
| kranke155 wrote:
| So what sealants are good/best ?
| 4gotunameagain wrote:
| I am not qualified to say what is best, but glass ionomer
| cements (the ones without resin) do not contain
| plasticisers.
| throwboatyface wrote:
| [flagged]
| cvccvroomvroom wrote:
| Yep. I've had maybe 2 cavities in all of my life, from teeth
| where sealant dislodged. Didn't need teeth alignment until well
| into middle age.
| hummus_bae wrote:
| I never got sealants but did get fluoride treatment and
| brushing twice a day as a kid. I never had a cavity either and
| even as an adult I can maybe count the number of cavities I had
| on one hand. (And I brushed my teeth maybe once a day, don't
| judge me.) Honestly my diet played a huge role here, but the
| sealants, fluoride, and twice daily brushing just give you so
| much more protection than you could expect from brushing alone.
| dmarlow wrote:
| I stopped getting cavities when I stopped rinsing all of the
| fluoride away after brushing my teeth. If you wish to rinse, do
| so after a few minutes. I told this to my dentist and he said
| he wished that was more common knowledge, yet he's never
| mentioned it to me. Go figure.
| colordrops wrote:
| I stopped getting cavities when I started using fluoride-free
| toothpaste and filtered my water with reverse osmosis. But
| correlation is not causation and all, so it was probably due
| more to not eating sweets so much anymore, brushing and
| flossing properly and without fail twice a day, and
| maintaining a healthy immune system through sleep, exercise,
| and a good diet.
| azinman2 wrote:
| Fluoride is effective at remineralizing your enamel.
| Fluoride isn't just for cavities.
| colordrops wrote:
| Perhaps, but how much of a difference does it really
| make? Your saliva remineralizes your enamel naturally.
| I've gone over 10 years without fluoride in my toothpaste
| or water and my teeth are in perfect condition, at least
| according to the dentist. So is the toxicity of fluoride
| worth some clearly minor and perhaps not even necessary
| improvement? I used large quantities of fluoride as a
| child, both in toothpaste and mouth washes, and still got
| 10 cavities.
| azinman2 wrote:
| Most people benefit significantly. That has been proven
| in study after study. The toxicity has not been, or it
| wouldn't be widespread world wide. I'm glad your genetic
| makeup, diet, microbiome, etc is working out for you.
| That may or may not change with time.
|
| The CDC says there's a 25% reduction in cavities for
| children due to fluoride [1]. So it's not like fluoride
| is only for cavity prevention, and perhaps your teeth
| would have been even worse without it.
|
| [1] https://www.cdc.gov/fluoridation/index.html
| wingworks wrote:
| Everyones teeth, diet etc are different. What works for
| you may not work for others.
| MathMonkeyMan wrote:
| What other uses does mineralized enamel have, aside from
| resisting attack by plaques? Honest question.
| azinman2 wrote:
| Plaque and tartar eat away at your enamel causing caries.
| Remineralizing is important to restore what has been
| taken away. So it's not so much about resisting attack (I
| don't believe fluoride fights bacteria) as much as
| reversing the attack.
| saurik wrote:
| You are much better off using nanohydroxyapatite for
| that, though; you can easily import such toothpastes from
| Japan via Amazon.
| azinman2 wrote:
| Interesting. Hadn't heard it it before, but at least
| according to this and it's linked paper it's roughly
| equivalent. What makes you say that you're better off?
|
| https://www.rdhmag.com/patient-
| care/article/14276225/nanohyd...
| quotz wrote:
| Source?
| wingworks wrote:
| Not really a source, but this Dental Hygienist talks a
| bit about hydroxyapatite. Sounds like it could be of at
| least equal effectiveness. Though further studies are
| needed. https://youtu.be/kQAPEZaqwfY?t=63
| alexsereno wrote:
| Not OP but I have a family member who's a specialized
| dentist who's well regarded in the field and constantly
| harps on this kind of toothpaste over fluoride. I think
| fluoride is basically cheap and that's all
| jghn wrote:
| All of these posts have me wondering how commonplace cavities
| actually are. I stopped getting cavities in my preteen years,
| about 35 years ago. The only change I made was actually
| brushing my teeth regularly, which very young me always tried
| to avoid despite my parents' best efforts.
|
| I'm sure my consumption of things like refined sugars has
| gone steadily down in that time, but not as part of a
| conscious effort. Being a kid in the 80s meant you ate a ton
| of crap :)
| wingworks wrote:
| They're still pretty common, at least in the people I hang
| out in. You're very lucky you've not had any cavities since
| preteen. I've done allot to change my diet to strip out all
| sugars, refined carbs, acidic foods / drinks etc. But still
| get cavities.
|
| It's a journey, sometimes a long one, to get to a spot with
| good oral heath. In my case, I had poor heath education. I
| didn't know what I didn't know. Like visiting the dentist
| is not equal to visiting a dental hygienist. Up until a few
| weeks ago, I had no clue what a dental hygienist was or if
| I should visit one. My dentist never recommended one, so I
| thought it wasn't needed. But I recently booked an apt with
| a dental hygienist at another practice, it was 100% needed.
|
| From my understanding, a dental hygienist is more
| preventative work (and cleaning), while dentist is more the
| surgeon who does the fixing after an issue has occurred.
|
| I learnt a tonne in my first ever dental hygienist visit.
| Basic things I wasn't doing for my oral heath. Like
| flossing... I never done it for years cos I thought it
| wasn't that big of a deal and cos I thought my teeth were
| to crammed together, but I learnt (and she showed me) that
| you can 100% floss my teeth and you defo should!
|
| I wish some basic oral heath was taught in school, and that
| dental (at least 6 months/yearly checkups were free/govt
| funded), it's so important, and so expensive these days,
| even for a checkup.
|
| It's especially tricky when you want to learn so much while
| at the dentist/hygienist, but know it's costing you $$$ so
| don't maybe ask everything. Personally the Teeth Talk Girl
| YouTube channel has helped me so much and gave me the
| courage to go back to the dentist (after not going for ~5
| years).
|
| I highly recommend the channel if you want to learn more on
| what good oral heath is. https://www.youtube.com/@TeethTalk
| ars wrote:
| The various soaps that toothpaste is made of are not so great
| to leave on your mouth. If it can cause canker sores and
| various skin conditions in some people.
|
| Instead just get a fluoride rinse, they're not expensive and
| considerably better for you than soap.
| [deleted]
| WheatMillington wrote:
| I don't floss, brush once per day and have never heard of
| sealant, and I also have zero cavities. n = 1
| btgeekboy wrote:
| It boils down to your dentist, too. Some will leap to
| drilling and filling every little speck they can find (and
| charge you for it), while others will monitor them and see if
| they progress.
|
| Having been to both types, I'd say I strongly prefer the
| latter.
| MathMonkeyMan wrote:
| Some people have harder teeth genetically. Probably also diet
| matters. And habits that alter salivation.
| wingworks wrote:
| Yeah this, everyones teeth are different. And we all have
| different enamel thickness etc. And diet definitely plays a
| role.
|
| Also, it's not inherently bad to brush once a day, IF
| you're doing a crazy effective job. It's recommended to
| brush twice a day because most people don't do a good job,
| so best to disturb the plaque twice a day before it hardens
| into tartar (which only the dentist can clear). Plaque
| usually hardens within 48 hours.
|
| But always best to talk to your dentist / dental hygienist
| about what's best for you teeth, as everyones teeth (diet
| etc) is different.
| giantg2 wrote:
| Eh, I had sealant when my adult teeth came in. I still had a
| few cavities. My teeth naturally have very deep pits and
| fissures. Apparently that has some bearing on the likelihood of
| cavities. I wonder if that also effects the success of sealant
| application.
| jcomis wrote:
| Same here. My father was a dentist and insisted on sealant and
| maintained them until around 20. No cavities and almost 40.
| ben1040 wrote:
| During my bi-annual dentist visits they always mention the
| sealants on my teeth (maintained with the last touchup done
| when I was 16) and I'm sort of surprised they're largely
| intact. I'm 41 and haven't had a cavity since I was 13, on an
| adult tooth that I just missed my chance to get sealed before
| the cavity happened.
| roundandround wrote:
| I always wondered why the topic of sealants was always related
| to children and figured it was somehow only appropriate for
| teeth with an approaching end date. Are there any issues such
| as needing to reapply it every X years?
| Semaphor wrote:
| Never heard of dental sealants before this. But from a
| cursory search, you can only use it on _clean_ teeth, so no
| fillings or cavities.
| wbl wrote:
| As you get older your teeth have worn smoother so the pits
| being filled are less serious. I did have a failed sealant
| result in a compositing of the surface of one of my teeth.
| jupp0r wrote:
| "kept 50% of cavities from worsening when children were seen two
| years later."
|
| Wait, they let kids run around for two years with untreated
| cavities?
| dzink wrote:
| Yes it works, but the part they don't mention is that the
| treatment is black as black gets. You have to be very careful
| about where it goes, or it can affect the self-confidence or the
| kids, and possibly exacerbate bullying.
| [deleted]
| technocratius wrote:
| There's a case report [0] where they were able to reverse the
| staining with a potassium idiode treatment, might be a
| potential solution in the future.
|
| [0] https://meridian.allenpress.com/operative-
| dentistry/article-...
| zackees wrote:
| [dead]
| AgentOrange1234 wrote:
| Sounds awesome. I've never heard of this before, but from some
| quick googling it looks like there are some pediatric dentists
| around who already offer it.
|
| Are there other important new preventive measures to know about?
| oifjsidjf wrote:
| If you read Weston Price's Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
| you will see that many tribes have PERFECT teeth without even
| flossing.
|
| Tooth decay is purely caused by diet.
|
| Certain grains also cause it, not only sugar.
|
| Rice for example is very bad for teeth (90% of people damaged
| teeth, acidic starch is what they assume), while potatoes are
| much less harmful (~10% if I remember correctly, since potato
| starch is alkaline).
|
| Sodas (anything with low ph) is terrible for the teeths as it
| seems.
|
| So it's also not "just carbs", but there are other factors.
|
| So "painting teeth" with dubious chemicals is moronic since the
| problem is the food. If the food destroys your teeth so much,
| think what it does on the inside of you which you cannot see.
|
| Eg check out this study: TOOTH DECAY IN RELATION TO DIET AND
| GENERAL HEALTH NILS P. LARSEN, M.D
| delecti wrote:
| > If the food destroys your teeth so much, think what it does
| on the inside of you which you cannot see.
|
| I was with you until this point. The stomach is highly acidic.
| The natural next step food takes in our bodies is into an
| environment that would destroy our teeth. It does not
| necessarily follow that food which damages our teeth is bad for
| the rest of us. If anything, your potato/rice examples would
| suggest that the opposite is true.
|
| I agree tooth decay is largely a result of our diet, but that
| doesn't mean we _have_ to change our diet to reverse /prevent
| tooth decay. I have a garbage diet and still manage to keep my
| teeth okay. I'm not in a rush to overhaul how I interact with
| food.
| jononomo wrote:
| Once I switched to an all meat diet I just couldn't believe
| how many minor health issues it cleared up, how great I felt,
| and how good I looked naked.
| delecti wrote:
| People say basically the same thing while on
| vegan/keto/paleo/raw diets. The real trick is being mindful
| about what you eat and minimizing processed junk. Based
| purely on the externalities, you probably picked the worst
| arbitrary set of rules to remove junk from your diet.
| nerdbert wrote:
| An all-meat diet, like many other diets, is a non-
| processed-sugars diet. I suspect that's more important than
| meat vs vegetables.
| __float wrote:
| > So "painting teeth" with dubious chemicals is moronic since
| the problem is the food.
|
| This is a pretty bold claim to make -- given the _reality_ of
| American diets, do you think there 's a better option?
| Especially in healthcare (and especially with $$$ American
| healthcare) you have to balance the perfect solution with
| meeting people where they are.
| zackees wrote:
| [dead]
| Broken_Hippo wrote:
| You still need this stuff while people's diets change, though -
| diets generally have a good amount of cultural, religious, and
| family ties and it takes time.
|
| Then there is the entire issue of trying to change the diets of
| poor people at a time when places (like the US) aren't even
| making sure the folks at the bottom can get enough calories and
| nutrients nor are we making sure diabetics and others have a
| diet fit for them, let alone trying to make sure folks aren't
| eating badly for their teeth.
|
| And I'm sure I'm not considering things like changing the crops
| being planted and things like that.
|
| But we have this stuff, perhaps. It isn't moronic considering
| we probably aren't going to change diets suddenly.
| anon84873628 wrote:
| Yeah but maybe unwinding 10,000 years of agriculture isn't very
| feasible.
| tdeck wrote:
| > So "painting teeth" with dubious chemicals is moronic since
| the problem is the food.
|
| Moronic! Why do this simple intervention when we could simply
| get everyone to completely change their diets, removing every
| staple food their family has been cooking with for generations?
| Obviously the latter is much more practical.
| gregwebs wrote:
| Price didn't believe that carbs or grains caused tooth decay:
| he prescribed freshly ground grains for the diet.
|
| Price's book is compelling evidence that something in modern
| societies causes tooth decay, which is unnatural.
|
| Price's hypothesis was that it was caused by the change to the
| modern diet and its lack of nutrients. So white flour bad,
| freshly ground whole grain good. Refined sugar, which Americans
| still eat ~80 pounds of a year creates a nutritional deficit
| that is hard to over come since the rest of our diet is not
| nutrient dense.
| jononomo wrote:
| After I had been on an all meat diet for a year I went to the
| dentist for a cleaning and the dentist called someone over to
| show them my gums, which were apparently unusually healthy.
| anvuong wrote:
| I don't believe in rice causing bad teeth either. I live in
| Asia and almost all of my grandparents and great-grandparents
| have good teeth, and we only eat rice here. The ones who have
| bad teeth are, unsurprisingly, heavy smokers or drinkers.
| hbarka wrote:
| Potatoes are not alkaline. Potatoes and rice are close in ph
| and on the acidic to neutral side. The average pH of baked
| potatoes is around 6.0 to 7.0, while the average pH of cooked
| rice is around 6.0 to 6.5.
|
| (7 is neutral, and values above 7 move toward alkalinity.)
| dukeofdoom wrote:
| Poor Dental health has been linked to heart attacks. Also root
| canal is like pathway for bacteria to enter blood stream and
| cause life long source of inflammation. Potential benefits to
| humanity woud be so big. Even if it stained teeth would be worth
| it.
| jononomo wrote:
| Eating a diet of only beef is a great way to prevent cavities and
| gum disease, and also to have excellent health and fitness in
| every other respect.
| technocratius wrote:
| Sounds interesting, if you don't have caries in visible parts of
| your teeth!
|
| I did a quick search and it's apparently also an effective
| treatment for adults:
|
| "According to an umbrella review, application of 38% SDF
| prevented root caries in adults with success rates 72% higher
| than a placebo treatment. The same review reported a prevented
| fraction for successful root caries arrest, between 100% and 725%
| higher as compared to a placebo treatment.21 Moreover,
| application of 38% SDF in combination with oral health education
| was found to be the most effective method for preventing root
| caries in adults."[0]
|
| [0] https://www.ada.org/resources/research/science-and-
| research-...
| petra wrote:
| Interesting. Thank you!
|
| Btw why aren't dental sealants a good treatment for adults ?
| Loic wrote:
| I asked my dentist last year. She told me that old teeths
| have microfisures and to seal she would have to first remove
| too much of the teeths to clean out these fisures before
| sealing.
|
| Maybe your dentist can tell you more.
| giantg2 wrote:
| My teeth naturally have deep pits and fissures. I had
| sealant and still got some cavities. I wonder if that
| affected its success.
| cfeduke wrote:
| In elementary school in the 80s in upstate New York we had some
| sort of tooth treatment provided in the classroom _, and it
| seemed like sort of a big deal at the time. Until recently I
| thought it was just a national program, until my wife told me she
| never had anything like it growing up in Rhode Island.
| Anecdotally I 've had pretty good teeth my whole life and as far
| as I know, my friends from school have as well. Let's just say my
| wife is presently losing at Redneck Life (where the final score
| is number of teeth you still have at the conclusion of the game).
| :)
|
| _ its certainly not this treatment, since my treatment was like
| 30+ years ago, but it was a treatment
| giardini wrote:
| And take vitamin K2 for your teeth (and bones and arteries).
| bailoon wrote:
| Is there any company working on "cloning" or growing teeth? That
| way we don't have to worry about cavities or root canal any
| longer? When I was a kid, I was sure we'd have this tech by now.
| How hard is it to grow teeth?
| dazc wrote:
| Good oral hygiene is all that is needed, and (in the UK, at
| least) we've been mostly failing at this basic level of common
| sense prevention for eternity.
|
| I guess it's the same for dieting, people looking for magic
| solutions when the simple answer is to eat less.
| noodlesUK wrote:
| I think this is a pretty reductive take, both for dental and
| dieting.
|
| There are a lot of reasons a person might not be able to take
| care of themselves very well, and we should certainly try to
| make it easier for them, rather than just dismissing it as a
| solved problem and a moral failing of anyone who runs into
| issues.
| roundandround wrote:
| Good oral hygiene is only fixing one reason for needing
| replacement teeth. Artificial replacement remains subpar and
| causes gradual erosion in the jaw that will catch up with
| people who have accidents early in life.
| taeric wrote:
| Between people looking for magic solutions and other people
| deriding the masses for being lazy... yeah, not much room
| left in the field for learning and growth.
|
| I do agree there is something to pushing for a bit more
| hygiene for things. That said, I also think there is
| something to be said for looking at the items holistically.
| To wit, I'm not brushing my pet's teeth every night, and I
| have yet to ever have one that needed intervention due to
| cavities. Especially not in mid life. I know some folks that
| have, of course. So, it isn't like it is completely unheard
| of in the animal kingdom. I'm curious why it is so different
| for us, though. Would love to see a good treatment of that
| topic.
| dazc wrote:
| I'm sure you already know that your pets don't consume much
| sugar and that's the main reason they don't get cavities?
|
| Maybe humans will, eventually, evolve to a state where our
| teeth renew themselves naturally, without intervention? Who
| knows?
| taeric wrote:
| I mean, you aren't wrong. They also eat a lot of really
| hard to chew things that scrape at their teeth and gums.
| And, I'm sure, breeding selected for pets that don't have
| massive teeth problems.
|
| That is, I get it, very complex topic. You can see other
| similar "patterns" that are of little help in the animal
| kingdom. See a "fat" animal, and it is almost certainly
| one that doesn't eat meat as a primary nutrient source.
| Similarly, lean animals are typically predators. Would be
| a fallacy to think you have to be a meat eater to be
| lean, though.
|
| The topic that has been intriguing to me lately, is the
| link between mouth breathing and poor oral health. So
| many topics that we don't know nearly as much about as we
| want individually. Much less all mixed up together.
| whateveracct wrote:
| Pets get other stuff though. My understanding for cats at
| least is there's a heavy genetic component. I have two
| brother cats and one has bad teeth [1] and one has good
| teeth. But they eat the same and get their teeth brushed
| the same.
|
| [1] As in, he lost one and needed his teeth cleaned by
| age 7 (not old). That said, I didn't get into a habit of
| brushing their teeth until they were several years old,
| and both of their teeth are excellent now (vet doesn't
| see either of them as needing a cleaning in the
| foreseeable future). So dental hygiene is helpful even
| for cats!
| taeric wrote:
| 7 is fairly old for cats, I thought? Not ancient old, but
| well past early life.
|
| I fully agree on it having a hefty genetic component.
| Pure breed?
| wingworks wrote:
| Allot of what most people consume isn't great for teeth.
| Like coffee (and some teas).
| wizofaus wrote:
| Other animals don't eat nearly as much sugary food, or food
| of a sort that tends to get stuck in your mouth (non-
| processed food like corn on the cob can do so, but even
| that's a product of domestication and not so widely eaten
| by other animals - our dog loves it, but canine teeth are
| spaced further apart and shaped in such a way it's less
| likely for bits to get lodged between them. Also I gather
| dogs at least have much more powerful anti-bacterial agents
| in their saliva.)
| giantg2 wrote:
| "Other animals"
|
| Most other animals (at least mammals with teeth) don't
| live as long. Many do suffer from dental issues if
| untreated. For example, horses may live into their 30s in
| domestic settings, which include dental care. Wild horses
| typically live 15-20 years. If they survive other perils,
| one of the causes of their earlier death can be
| starvation or malnourishment due to not being able to
| chew their food.
| taeric wrote:
| Yeah. I tried hinting at that in my first post. Pets will
| have teeth issues as they get older. Much of that comes
| from nutrition learning, though.
|
| Humans seem particularly prone to midlife tooth issues.
| With the obvious caveat that humans also are prone to
| ignorance dominating the things we believe. :)
| wizofaus wrote:
| Sure, but humans often have issues with cavities well
| before even reaching adulthood.
| taeric wrote:
| The food that gets the most stuck in my teeth is meat.
| Pretty much period. Close second will be stringy
| vegetables.
|
| Which is to say, you aren't really wrong. But it is
| clearly more nuanced. I put a longer response to another
| post. I am not trying to find a single answer here. If we
| are lucky and there is one, I'm all for it. But, in
| general, I am very skeptical of many of these simplistic
| answers.
| xhkkffbf wrote:
| Celery in my case.
| viraptor wrote:
| Meat and stringy stuff gets stuck _between teeth_ , not
| _to teeth_. It 's the stuff that sticks to the teeth,
| provides cover and environment for bacteria to grow is (a
| big part of) the problem. The things that are actually
| stringy are usually easy to remove. Things that stick to
| the surface - less so.
| giantg2 wrote:
| The thing that typically gets stuck _to_ teeth even with
| a good diet are minerals found in saliva.
| taeric wrote:
| As someone that doesn't have any cavities, I'm well aware
| of many of the subtle points. I also am well aware of
| just how scatter shot so much advice is... And how
| dominant genetics can be in this.
| wizofaus wrote:
| I'd hazard that cooked meat is more likely to have that
| issue than raw meat. And as another poster pointed out,
| it's possibly more relevant what food sticks to the outer
| surface of your teeth, though I'm pretty sure any source
| of food around your teeth that bacteria can grow on is
| likely to lead to cavities.
| bilsbie wrote:
| Even if it was invented it would be super expensive.
| interestica wrote:
| I've always half-wondered if wisdom teeth could be saved.
| Either for re-insertion. Or as the source for the required stem
| cells for regrowth.
|
| I mean, evolutionarily, the late appearance of those teeth were
| probably to replace broken molars?
| jononomo wrote:
| If you get 95% of your calories from hunting you will spend a
| lot of time chewing tough pieces of meat. Kids who grow up
| chewing meat and gnawing on bones develop larger and wider
| jaws (and more attractive faces) and they have space for
| wisdom teeth.
| nerdbert wrote:
| It seems like I've been hearing for the last 40 years that
| tooth-re-growing tech was just around the corner, and in five
| years none of us would have to worry about dental problems
| anymore.
|
| Still waiting.
|
| Soon I'm going to have to break down and buy a toothbrush.
| oneoff786 wrote:
| Can't just clone them. Gotta grow them in your mouth with stem
| cells.
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2023-02-12 23:01 UTC)