Saturday, June 13, 2015

General anesthesia affects intelligence and language development

 


images


Growth and development of infants and young children makes the cornerstone of his/her future personality. Conditions provided in the childhood and treatment procedures employed for the remedy of various health disorders have strong impact on neurological, psychological and physical development of children. Least invasive oral and dental treatment procedures with minimal mental and physical stress should be the mainstay of diseases management. Specialist pediatric care should be provided keeping in mind all the side effects of minor and major surgical procedures. Prevention of the disease process through mother education and reinforcement of oral hygiene measures remains the mainstay of management plan.


General anesthesia is often considered to be part of overall management of oral disorders in uncooperative and phobic children. No doubt general anesthesia provides comfort and unimpeded field of operation to the dental and oral health care professional but it has severe side effects on the physical, intelligence and language development of the infants and small children. It has been established through evidence based studies that children below four years of age who went under general anesthesia for treatment procedures have suffered brain damage leading to cognitive and language impairment in their adulthood. Such persons cannot perform up to the mark in their fields of occupation. It is recommended to avoid general anesthesia in infants and small children at all costs unless deemed extremely necessary.


In past research, Dr. Loepke and colleagues found that general anesthesia led to nerve cell death and cognitive impairment in mice and rats, which sparked concern about how general anesthesia may impact the human brain in early life – a crucial neurodevelopmental period.


As such, the team set out to assess how general anesthesia given to children undergoing surgery before the age of 4 years may affect brain structure, IQ and language development.


“The ultimate goal of our laboratory and clinical research is to improve safety and outcomes in young children who have no choice but to undergo surgery with anesthesia to treat their serious health concerns,” says Dr. Loepke.


Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to analyze the children’s brain structures, and the children were also required to complete IQ and language development tests, including the Oral and Written Language Scales and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale.


These findings remained after accounting for potential confounding factors, including children’s age, gender, socioeconomic status, left or right handedness, the type of surgery performed and the length of exposure to anesthetics.


According to the researchers, the lower IQ scores identified among children who received general anesthesia for surgery is the equivalent to a potential loss of around a 5-6 IQ points.


http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/294966.php



General anesthesia affects intelligence and language development

Monday, June 8, 2015

Your tooth brush needs clean environment

 


download (19)


Brushing your teeth with an appropriate soft bristled tooth brush and dentist recommended tooth paste is the basic component of oral hygiene maintenance. It has been emphasized that maintenance of tooth brush hygiene is also essential to achieve the required goals. Your tooth brush should be clean and bristles should be in good shape. Contaminated tooth brushes with worn off bristles will provide more harm than doing any good to your teeth. do not keep your tooth brushes moist all the time in washrooms otherwise these will allow the growth and inhabitation of microorganisms. Recently various studies have shown fecal matter contamination of tooth brush bristles in bathrooms shared by multiple folks.


These studies have been done on hostel set ups where most often more than a dozen students share a washroom. In addition to the problem of fecal matter contaminated tooth brushes, it has been found that fecal matter of other individuals on your toothbrushes encourage the growth of microorganisms foreign to your body. Such change in flora can have adverse effects. Keeping your tooth brush clean is the key to combat dental and oral diseases. It is better to change the tooth brushes frequently to prevent such occurrences. Do not leave your tooth brush for longer periods of time in hostel washrooms. Keep the bristles dry and in an upright position away from other people’s tooth brushes.


Talk to health experts and other people like you in WebMD’s Communities. It’s a safe forum where you can create or participate in support groups and discussions about health topics that interest you.


The researchers analyzed toothbrushes from Quinnipiac students who used communal bathrooms with an average of more than nine users per bathroom.


Regardless of the students’ toothbrush storage methods, at least 60 percent of the toothbrushes were contaminated with fecal matter, the investigators found.


“The main concern is not with the presence of your own fecal matter on your toothbrush, but rather when a toothbrush is contaminated with fecal matter from someone else, which contains bacteria, viruses or parasites that are not part of your normal flora [microbes],” study author Lauren Aber of Quinnipiac University, said in a society news release.


In addition, “using a toothbrush cover doesn’t protect a toothbrush from bacterial growth, but actually creates an environment where bacteria are better suited to grow by keeping the bristles moist and not allowing the head of the toothbrush to dry out between uses,” Aber explained.


http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/news/20150604/sharing-a-bathroom-with-many-others-your-toothbrush-likely-has-fecal-matter



Your tooth brush needs clean environment

Saturday, June 6, 2015

Make your smile lively and attractive

 


aa


Extra white teeth are not always suggestive of a lively and attractive smile. Enhancement of your facial profile requires a natural smile which involves clean teeth having a color matching with the sclera of your eyes essentially and color of skin tissues generally. Too white or too dark teeth can have a disastrous effect on overall looks and fake smile impression is perceived. Complex teeth whitening procedures have been developed with the advancements in dental sciences and these have their importance when deep internal tooth staining occurs. However, external stains can be prevented and removed with simple home whitening products provided you have the knowledge of such daily items.


Coconut oil has been found to be very effective in preventing the deposition of stain causing chemicals on tooth surfaces. Swishing coconut oil can also remove simple stains. Baking soda is another product which is also used in various teeth whitening mouth washes. Strawberries look red but they can provide sparkling teeth. Cheese has been found to be effective as well. Rinse your mouth with water preferably warm salt water soon after you take tea, coffee or wine. An electric tooth brush can remove extrinsic tooth stains more efficiently than a manual tooth brush. Drinking milk and eating popcorn can help in giving you an attractive smile


For many, dubbed ‘bleachorexics’, tooth-whitening has become an integral part of the beauty routine, like colouring hair or waxing legs.


According to experts in the dental industry watching what you eat and drink and how you brush can make all the difference to the wattage of that winning smile.


For instance, despite their bright red colour, strawberries go a long way to keeping teeth white, as does popcorn.


Time to move your baking soda from your kitchen cupboard to your bathroom cabinet. The fine powder, which is found in lots of toothpastes, is a natural teeth whitener.


Salt water not only helps whiten your teeth naturally, it also helps maintain healthy gums. ‘Salt is a natural antibacterial working by attacking bacterial cell walls,’ explains Dr Marques.


Coffee and balsamic vinegar are also best avoided and white wine is better than red. But Dr Peta Leigh, whitening specialist at Elleven Dental in central London says: ‘If you do want to treat yourself to red wine, drink a glass of water after. This will help minimise staining.’


‘Electric toothbrushes can remove up to 70 per cent more plaque than manual brushes because they vibrate or rotate in a more efficient and effective manner than manual brushing alone,’ says Dr Marques.


Cheese is another great naturally cleansing food that can strengthen the teeth. Dr Marques explains: ‘Cheese contains calcium and also has a cleansing surface structure – especially hard cheese like cheddar.’


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3111225/Swill-coconut-oil-smear-Vaseline-ditch-takeaways-20-surprising-ways-whiter-teeth-revealed.html



Make your smile lively and attractive

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

How can you maintain clean white teeth?

 


download (16)


Dental health has been an area of prime importance for the overall health maintenance of an individual. Keeping your mouth clean prevents the occurrence of serious disorders in various body organs and systems. Microorganisms responsible for cardiovascular, neurological, liver, kidney and blood disorders get entry into the human body through the oral cavity. Inadequate oral hygiene maintenance can result in social embarrassment in the form of foul smelling mouth as well. Whiter and brighter teeth help in the enhancement of your smile. Clean teeth provide you healthy and confident lifestyle.


Twice daily tooth brushing with the help of properly selected tooth brush and tooth paste is the first factor involved in achieving good oral hygiene care. Tooth brushing should take at least 4-5 minutes of your time and involves thorough removal of food particles and dental plaque layer from tooth surfaces. Regular use of dental floss between the contact points of teeth is beneficial. Refined carbohydrates should be avoided in addition to lowering the frequency of inter meal snacks. Mouth rinsing and use of mouth wash are useful


Brush your teeth before you have breakfast and, if you want to ensure that sugar, acid or debris isn’t left in your mouth after a meal, simply drink a glass of water or chew sugar-free gum to restore your dental pH levels.


Spend two minutes twice a day on the task. Brush your teeth systematically, working your way from one corner of the mouth to the other, making sure you brush all the surfaces. Use just a smear of toothpaste and don’t brush too hard. Tickle the teeth and gums – that’s all the pressure you need. Don’t rinse with water at all – just spit out what’s left in your mouth. By not rinsing, the fluoride stays in your mouth longer and continues to do its job. 3. Live longer


Clinical trials have proved that gum disease affects our overall health. Twenty billion bacteria live in our mouths. Tooth and gum infection causes inflammation that spreads through our body, which is bad for our hearts, brains and blood vessels. So the big headline is: if you look after your teeth you will live longer. Non-smokers are ten times less likely to suffer from gum disease.


One in four of us suffer regularly from bad breath. Bacteria are responsible for halitosis, when our mouths dry out. Mother Nature’s mouthwash is just as effective as shop-bought remedies. Drink water or eat fibrous vegetables with a high water content, like cucumber, celery and carrots.


Watch out for hidden sugars and acids and try to alter your diet to reduce them. Substitute porridge for sugary cereals, for example, or eat an orange instead of drinking a glass of orange juice. Likewise, drink peppermint tea instead of a red berry fruit tea, which is very high in acid. And avoid lemon alcopops, which have the same acidity levels as stomach acid.


 



How can you maintain clean white teeth?