However, what you may not know about diabetes, is that it can do some serious damage to your oral health. Diabetes can put you at a higher risk for periodontal disease, which is an infection of the gums and bone that hold the teeth in place in your mouth. Here are some of the symptoms of periodontal disease:

• Gums that bleed easily

• Bigger spaces between the teeth

• Halitosis

• Swollen and tender gums

• Gums appear to be detached from the teeth

• Loose teeth

• Pus in between the teeth and gums

If you have diabetes, it’s time to start paying more attention to your oral health. Staying in control of your blood glucose levels can dramatically reduce your risk for gum disease. Having diabetes puts you in a position to get gum disease more severe than others who don’t have diabetes. When you don’t control your blood glucose levels, the risk for periodontitis will only increase and eventually cause tooth loss. A person with diabetes will have a hard time managing severe gum disease due to the inability to fight infection properly. Good oral hygiene practices can also help to prevent a diabetic from getting gum disease.

Here are a few tips on how to maintain a good oral regime in order to be effective:

• Brushing your teeth- Take the time to thoroughly clean your teeth twice a day. Slow down and brush every tooth with care on the front side and inside. You don’t have to brush your teeth hard in order to get a good clean. In fact, abrasive brushing can lead to receding gums. Be sure to pay close attention to the gum line when you brush. This is where gum disease begins. Keep in mind that a pea sized blob of toothpaste will do the trick.

• A good oral rinse- An effective oral rinse may cost you a few extra dollars, but the results will be well worth it. You want to find something that fights bacteria and helps to repair any damage.

• Floss daily- Always floss to help remove food particles that may have been lodged in your teeth during the day. So whether you have diabetes or are at serious risk of developing it, keep these important oral health tips in mind. Your teeth are worth saving!

Good oral health is one of the keys to your overall well-being and self-confidence. When you maintain a thorough cleaning routine, you greatly reduce the risk for certain dental problems.  All too often, the focus of dental hygiene is only on the teeth.  However, gums play a crucial roll in the health of your mouth.  Developing a gum problem can lead to serious consequences.  Receding gums is a serious issue in which gum tissue is lost and exposes the roots of the teeth. Periclean is an innovative dental product that is designed to help maintain a cleaner, healthier gum line among other benefits.  In order to effectively understand how Periclean can help, you must first understand gum recession and its adverse affects to your mouth.

Gum recession, also known as gingival recession, is when the gums slowly deteriorate beginning at the gum line.  Over time, you will loose more and more of the precious gum tissue that you need.  Many things can cause this problem, from poor dental hygiene to aggressive brushing.  Teeth grinding and sensitive gum tissue can also be the culprit.  More often than not, gum recession can easily be corrected when the source of the problem is detected.  However, it is up you to be aware of the signs and check with your dentist for a cleaning and a solution.

Symptoms of gum recession include:

• Bleeding gums whenever your brush your teeth or floss
• Swollen, red gums
• Halitosis
• Exposed teeth roots
• Increased space between teeth
• Longer looking teeth

Left untreated, gum recession can lead to periodontal disease, which is an infection of the gums that can lead to bone loss.  Understanding gum recession can help you to prevent this problem from forming in your own mouth.  This magnitude of symptoms will definitely affect you in your daily life. Before the problem gets out of control, take matters into your own hands.

Periclean is a specialty toothbrush that is gentle on the gums. Periclean is also bacteria resistant. The sleek design of a Periclean toothbrush allows it to get around your tooth line efficiently.  It also lasts twice as long as a conventional toothbrush.  The soft rubber bristles of a Periclean brush help clean along the gum line without causing damage or trauma to your already sensitive gums.  The nylon bristles on a conventional toothbrush can strip your enamel and cause damage to gums.

If you want to correct the problems that have affected your gums, try a Periclean toothbrush to receive an optimal clean every time you brush your teeth. Understanding gum recession can help you fight back and regain the health of your mouth.

Most of us want clean, healthy teeth, right? Brushing our teeth twice daily is probably the best way we take care of our teeth, in addition to going to the dentist regularly for checkups. Other things that help include flossing, rinsing between meals, and minimizing how much we eat of sugar, junk food, and other “sticky” foods that can contribute to tooth decay.

Even so, there can be too much of a good thing. The question is, then, are we all brushing too hard? In a word, yes. Although we must be thorough when we brush our teeth, and we must do it frequently enough to keep teeth clean (twice a day is the most often recommended frequency), we can indeed brush our teeth too hard.

Tooth Sensitivity

What happens when you brush too hard? Increased tooth sensitivity.

Consider the degree to which enamel erosion happens, especially as we get older. While brushing is necessary, over-brushing or brushing too hard can slowly wear away tooth enamel.

The result? Increasingly sensitive teeth, teeth that hurt when exposed to hot or cold foods, for example. The fix to this is to use a soft or extra soft brush, hold the brush at a 45-degree angle, and limit your brushing time to two minutes. In addition, lighten the pressure you put on your toothbrush; many modern toothbrushes have heads that will flex backward if you apply too much pressure, thus giving good remedial help as to how much pressure you should apply.

If you do brush with a manual toothbrush and don’t have a pressure-sensitive head on the toothbrush, one way to make sure you’re not applying too much pressure is to hold the toothbrush gently in your fingers, not clenched in your fist, and use small circular motions when you brush – again with an extra soft or at least soft toothbrush.

Gum Erosion

Do your gums bleed when you brush your teeth? They could be bleeding because you have some kind of infection in your gums, also known as gingivitis; if that’s the case, you should see your dentist. However, if your gums bleed when you brush your teeth and you don’t have an infection, chances are you’re brushing them too hard – and that can lead to gum erosion. Gum erosion is bad news, because your gums protect your teeth, especially at the roots; exposed roots mean tooth pain and extra sensitivity.

Remember, brushing right and with the right frequency (twice a day, gently, with a soft-bristled toothbrush) can help ensure that you have healthy teeth for decades to come.

Research shows that proper dental care should include regular flossing. In fact, flossing helps to keep your smile attractive and healthy. Oral health can also prevent other more serious diseases, including some that can become life threatening. Toothbrushes work by manually eradicating plaque from teeth with its textured bristles. Toothpaste increases the effect of brushing, especially the kinds that contains fluoride, which helps to decrease the quantity of bacteria in the mouth. However, toothbrushes have one disadvantage; they are not efficient enough to get between the teeth or beneath the gums. This is where flossing comes in.

The American Dental Association proposes that flossing prior to brushing your teeth helps make brushing more effectual. Flossing is excellent for removing plaque from hard to get to spaces between the teeth and beneath the gums. When less plaque is wedged between the teeth, the fluoride in toothpaste is more effective at reaching additional parts of your mouth. However, if you are not yet persuaded to add flossing to your daily oral cleaning routine, here are a few examples of why flossing is so important:

Brushing and flossing are more effective than brushing alone
Even though brushing your teeth twice daily is effective with maintaining oral health, for the best possible cleaning, flossing is recommended.

Flossing Protects Gums
The place where the gums and teeth come together is where flossing is most beneficial. Tiny bits of food can get stuck causing plaque in this area to harden and form tartar that only a dentist can eliminate with a scraper. Tarter accumulation can lead to red, swollen gums known as gingivitis, the first phase of gum disease.

Flossing Saves You Money
Education about oral care encourages people to brush and floss daily. Specialized dental procedures and tools are cutting-edge and can fix even acute medical problems. However, if you ask any dentist, they will tell you the most cost effective tools to protect oral health are a toothbrush and a box of floss, which is much cheaper than a visit to the dentist!

Flossing Helps to Prevent Additional Diseases
Gum and tooth disease can develop into more than discolored teeth, bad breath, or discomfort. According to the CDC, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, in-depth research has proven that bacteria that flourish in an unhealthy mouth can lead to respiratory illness, diabetes, and heart disease.

Summary
Poor health of the teeth, gums, and mouth can contribute to a host of serious illnesses. Flossing is a simple tool that can help with oral health and the overall health of the body. Flossing only requires a few minutes each day, but can contribute to a lifetime of health.

Toddlers are often stubborn when it comes to the essentials of life; as any parent can attest, they are often reluctant to dress, eat, and sleep. Dental care is no exception, but the dental health habit toddlers develop set the stage for healthy teeth and healthy habits throughout life. Knowing how to care for your toddler’s teeth is quite important: although baby teeth fall out eventually, if they become seriously decayed they can cause serious complications, including damage to the adult teeth and systemic infection.

Toothpaste & Brush

Until the age of 2, you should use a non-fluoride toothpaste unless a dentist or physician recommends otherwise. Toddlers don’t need much toothpaste, and using too much can be both messy and dangerous; an amount the size of a pea is plenty. When buying a brush, be sure to choose a child-sized brush with soft bristles. A Periclean toothbrush can be a good choice for a gentle but effective toddler toothbrush.

General Brushing

Toddlers’ teeth should be brushed twice a day; it’s helpful to brush them at the same time as you brush your own, so your child comes to see that brushing is also part of your daily routine.

How to care for your toddler’s teeth: brush gently for about 2 minutes, in a circular motion that reaches the gums as well as the teeth. Brush the front, tops, and backs of the teeth. Be sure to be gentle as you brush – most people brush their own teeth too hard, and toddlers’ teeth and gums are even more delicate.

Flossing

When teeth grow next to one another, plaque can accumulate, and daily flossing is necessary. Often, only the front teeth are close enough together to need flossing in toddlers. If you’re uncertain, check with your dentist. Daily flossing should accompany twice-daily brushing for toddlers.

Diet

Sugary drinks are a big cause of cavities in people of all ages, including toddlers. Try to keep juice and other sugary drinks to a minimum, and encourage the consumption of plain water throughout the day, especially if the child had juice earlier in the day. Drinking plain water after a sugary drink or a meal can help rinse sugar and starch from the mouth.

First Dentist Visit

Babies should start seeing the dentist as soon they have a few teeth, before or around the 1st birthday. During this appointment, the dentist will assess your child’s dental health and needs, including determining whether your child is at an elevated risk for cavities. He or she will recommend general tooth care, demonstrate techniques of how to care for your toddler’s teeth, and get you on schedule to have regular check-ups.

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Your children watch you and mimic your habits, so be a good role model in your own dental care. Let your kids watch you brush and floss your teeth, starting when they’re toddlers and preschoolers. Tell them why you brush your teeth — it gets rid of pieces of food — and keeps them clean. Explain that you use floss to remove particles that are trapped between your teeth. Even if your kids don’t watch you brush your teeth every day, remind them that every day you brush your teeth twice and floss them, too.

Educate Your Children While You Brush their Teeth

Before they’re ready to brush their own teeth, your children will have absorbed lessons on how to clean them properly. While they watch you brush their teeth with their own kid’s toothbrush, you can also emphasize that you always brush softly, because brushing too hard can hurt the teeth. That is why you brush smarter, not harder, and use an ultra soft toothbrush.

Encourage Healthy Eating Habits for Life

Serve healthy snacks, milk and water to your children, not junk food and sodas. Drinking too much sweetened juice and eating sugary snacks daily will help kids develop a sweet tooth early in life. Excessive sugar is bad for the teeth and provides little nutritional value. Sugar creates a sticky film on teeth that is harder to brush away and, if not taken care of promptly, promotes tooth decay.

Use an Ultra Soft Children’s Toothbrush

The enamel on the tooth is as thin as an eggshell. It cannot withstand the hard brushing of a traditional toothbrush. Even a soft-bristled kid’s toothbrush can damage the enamel that protects teeth. An ultra soft toothbrush will be gentle for both teeth and gums.

A Revolutionary Toothbrush for Kids that Won’t Hurt their Teeth or Gums

The PeriClean for Kids, or PeriKids, is an innovative ultra soft toothbrush for children invented and designed by a dentist. Dr. Jack Gruber noticed that many of his patients, even those with good dental care habits, were unknowingly damaging the protective enamel on their teeth by brushing too hard.

Dr. Gruber created the PeriClean ultra soft toothbrush for kids. Now, you can use this specialty toothbrush to thoroughly clean your children’s teeth without damaging their tooth enamel or gum tissue.

Gold Stars for Everyone!

Kids love to be praised for doing well. When your child starts brushing their own teeth, put a chart on the wall to record their progress. Give them a gold star to put on their chart every time they brush their teeth with the PeriClean ultra soft toothbrush for kids.

Visit Your Children’s Dentist Regularly

You and your child will be glad to hear the dentist praise you for the great job you’re doing brushing your children’s teeth. That calls for another gold star!

Unique Features of the PeriClean Ultra Soft Children’s Toothbrush

• Made with FDA Approved Materials
• Excellent Softness and Flexibility
• Antibacterial Properties in Handle
• Made from High Tech Materials
• Very Strong and Lightweight
• Made in the USA

The PeriClean Ultra Soft Children’s Toothbrush will be available in December 2012. If you have a question or wish to order your PeriClean Ultra Soft Children’s Toothbrush, please contact us online. Thank you very much.

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Why You Need to Brush Regularly

Brushing your teeth with any toothbrush, twice a day for two minutes, is necessary to remove plaque. What makes an ultra soft toothbrush different is that it will treat your tooth enamel and your gums gently.

The enamel of your tooth is as thin as an eggshell and brushing too hard with a standard toothbrush will wear that enamel down, leading to sensitive teeth and a greater potential for developing gingivitis.

Using an ultrasoft toothbrush will help you protect the tooth enamel and avoid gum recession.

How to Brush with an Ultra Soft Toothbrush

Good brushing with an ultra soft toothbrush is performed in the same manner as a standard toothbrush. To properly brush your teeth, it takes at least two minutes paying adequate attention to each area of the mouth.

Use short gentle strokes and start in the back.

• Clean around the outer surfaces of the upper teeth, then move to the lower teeth on the outside.
• Clean around the inner surfaces of the upper teeth then move to the lower teeth on the inside.
• Clean along the chewing surface.
• Be sure to use your ultra soft toothbrush on your tongue. The textured surface cleans your tongue and helps prevent bad breath.
• Tilt the toothbrush at a 45 degree angle and gently brush along the top teeth and the gum line in a sweeping motion. Repeat for the bottom teeth.

The key is to treat each area of the mouth, while effectively brushing to dislodge food particles and avoid the build-up of plaque.

How Often Do You Need to Brush?

Most people follow the recommendation of the American Dental Association and brush at least twice a day. Someone with very sensitive teeth may find it hurtful to brush that often. Another who eats small meals several times a day, may wish to brush and floss more often to keep their teeth clean. The frequency of brushing may change, subject to guidance from a dentist.

Why You Need to Floss

Brushing by itself isn’t enough to clean your teeth. No toothbrush can penetrate the spaces between your teeth, nor reach below the gum line where 80 to 90 percent of decay and periodontal disease occur.

How to Floss Properly

Start with about 18? of floss. Wind most of it around each middle finger and leave about 2? of floss to work with

• Hold the floss taut between thumb and index fingers of each hand, then slide it gently up and down between your teeth
• Gently curve the floss around the base of each tooth, carefully sliding beneath the gum line.
• Do not snap or force the floss, as this can cut or bruise the soft tissue of the gum
• Change to a clean section of floss as you move from tooth to tooth
• To remove the floss from a tooth, use the same gentle back and forth motion to bring the floss away from the gums.

How Often Do You Need to Floss?

You should floss your teeth frequently: in the morning when you wake, before bed and after any meal where you consume solids. This helps keep food and other particles out of the gum line, plus they will not collect between the teeth, where they contribute to the growth of harmful bacteria.

Click to read about how the NEW PeriClean ultra soft toothbrush will help keep your teeth clean and help prevent gum recession.

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You probably take adequate care of your teeth and gums and aim to avoid tooth decay and sensitive teeth by relying on the dental care you learned as a child. In fact, if you use a standard, hard bristled toothbrush and an abrasive toothpaste, you may be causing damage to the eggshell-thin enamel of your teeth and the paper-thin gum tissue that is The Skin of Your Teeth®.

Sadly, many of those habits, including brushing styles and tooth brushes, are in fact the leading causes of tooth decay and sensitive teeth.

A survey on the perceived causes of tooth sensitivity and erosion of enamel was conducted by the Academy of General Dentistry. More than 50% of the professionals surveyed stated that aggressive brushing was the leading cause of sensitive teeth and the erosion of enamel, followed by acidic food and drink.

Understanding Tooth Sensitivity

More than 40 million Americans, of all ages, suffer from sensitive teeth (or dentin hypersensitivity). Symptoms include extremely sharp pain with a sudden onset in one or more teeth; triggers include sudden changes in temperature, from consuming hot or cold food and drink.

In addition, pressure from biting or clenching teeth, as well as sweet and sour foods, may cause pain and discomfort.

Avoiding Sensitive Teeth

The best way to avoid the erosion of tooth enamel that leads to sensitive teeth is to brush teeth gently. As hard as teeth are, they can still be worn down by over brushing or brushing with too much pressure.

The enamel or protective layer around your teeth, covering the inner dentin layer, is extremely susceptible to erosion. Think of it like the rock of a riverbank. It may be difficult to break by hand, but a consistent stream of water over a long period of time can wear it down. The enamel of the teeth is paper-thin and fragile. Over time, aggressive brushing will wear away that enamel layer.

Beneath the enamel, the softer tissue known as dentin is very porous and connects the inner nerves of the teeth. Without its protective layer, sensations of hot and cold temperature, as well as foreign substances, can easily penetrate this soft tissue cause considerable pain and discomfort.

Avoiding Tooth Sensitivity with the Ultra Soft Toothbrush

More than 60% of the dentists surveyed confirmed a rise in the number of cases where patients are suffering from tooth sensitivity due to aggressive brushing. A partial solution is for patients to manage the discomfort with changes in eating habits. If you are not prepared to give up coffee and ice cream, there is an alternative. You may let the teeth recover by using an ultra soft toothbrush.

Teeth will replace the lost enamel gradually over time. When you use an ultra soft toothbrush, and Brush Smarter for Healthier Gums, the teeth will not be subjected to the aggressive brushing that may have caused the problem. Over time, the sensitivity will fade as your teeth recover and the enamel grows stronger.

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Extrinsic yellowing of the teeth has to do with the exterior of the teeth and is caused by staining from coffee, cola, tobacco and other foods.

Intrinsic teeth yellowing results from internal changes in the structure of the teeth. For example, aggressive brushing may wear away the enamel, which is eggshell thin. As the enamel thins out, the dentin inside the tooth can darken and take on a yellow tint. Additional causes include over-exposure to high amounts of fluoride during childhood; tetracycline antibiotics used during pregnancy or as a child; physical trauma that inhibits the development and restoration of enamel on the teeth.

Age-related yellowing of the teeth is extremely common, as the dentin within each tooth naturally begins to yellow over time. As we age, the enamel becomes thinner and this makes the deeper-tinted dentin more visible, creating the appearance of yellowing teeth.

Presentation and Development of Yellow Teeth

There is no set pattern for the onset and progression of yellow teeth. It may result in one or two teeth begin to yellow while a family member experiences a different degree of yellowing.

The entire tooth may not discolor in the traditional sense, either. Some teeth may exhibit spotting, pitting, or streaks of white or yellow. The pattern and severity vary due to the structure of the mouth, oral hygiene habits, diet, presence of bacteria, use of medications and antibiotics.

Yellow teeth do not typically cause pain and discomfort, beyond self-consciousness of a less attractive appearance. The staining and discoloration are a visible symbol that the teeth need attention. If left unchecked, however, the accumulation of plaque and tartar, plus the growth of bacteria along the gum line, will lead to gum disease and loss of enamel.

This process often results in brittle teeth, pain while chewing, sensitive teeth and gums, oral infections and other health problems.

How to Treat Yellowing of the Teeth

There are several options to treat the discoloration of teeth and restore a whiter smile, starting with a professional cleaning or whitening with a dentist. Dental bleaching gels and strips that whiten teeth for use at home are readily available in most retail locations.

Professional surgery or a more direct approach may be required to fix oral issues that are causing the discoloration.

If oral health habits are the primary cause, you can improve your home dental care. Use an ultra soft toothbrush to clean and whiten teeth, like the PeriClean. A gentle cleaning will remove the plaque and also protect the enamel when you brush. Keeping the enamel, which is as thin as an eggshell, will significantly reduce the yellowing of the teeth. Also, take note of your diet and eliminate or at least reduce consuming items things that stain your teeth. Of course, schedule a dental cleaning and examination to ensure your smile is a healthy one.

Fix Yellow Teeth Today – Learn More About the PeriClean Whitening Toothbrush

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You may not know that there are ingredients in toothpaste that affect your teeth in surprising ways. Some manufacturers incorporate crystals or grit into their toothpaste to be more abrasive, claiming whitening action and cleaning power. These abrasive agents can cause serious damage to your tooth enamel. The enamel that protects your teeth is as thin as an eggshell and brushing too hard with this type of toothpaste might be harmful to the tooth.

Must all toothpastes be abrasive to work?

There are different ingredients used to make toothpaste and tooth powder, which are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration.  The category of relative dentin abrasivity, or RDA value, is used by the American Dental Association to test and score the abrasion of the toothpaste.

The ADA test utilizes real human teeth that are mounted within a brushing machine and then subjected to a constant stroke speed and pressure for a period of time, using the toothpaste. Based on the test results, the toothpaste is scored between 1 and 250. The ADA considers anything over 100 is considered to be highly abrasive, and recommends scores below 200, as follows:

• From 0 to 80 = low abrasion
• 70 to 100 = midrange abrasion
• 100 to 150 = highly abrasive
• 150 to 250 = considered harmful to teeth

Very few manufacturers publish their RDA scores on the toothpaste tube or box. Here are some examples of well-known toothpastes, ranked from low to high:

• Arm and Hammer Dental Care – 35
• Colgate Regular – 68
• Sensodyne – 79
• Crest Regular – 95
• Colgate Whitening – 124
• Crest Multicare Whitening – 144
• Colgate 2-in-1 Tartar Control – 200

Avoid Abrasive Toothpaste – Use an Ultra Soft Toothbrush

Whether the abrasivity of a toothpaste is high or low, the toothbrush itself is key to the potential for abrasion. Many people either brush too aggressively or they use a standard, hard-bristled toothbrush that can wear away tooth enamel over time. Sometimes, a person will hurriedly brush fast and hard to get the job done sooner. When a highly abrasive toothpaste is used in this scenario, it greatly increases the potential for damage to the tooth enamel over time.

It’s Up to You

You can improve your dental health by being alert to brushing too hard and carefully selecting a less abrasive toothpaste that will not hurt the enamel. Erosion of enamel leads to yellowing of the teeth (the dentin layer becomes visible through thinned enamel), dents in teeth, cracks, chipping, pain, discomfort and sensitivity.

When you clean your teeth with an ultra soft toothbrush, one with a soft, gel-like textured tip, you will remove the plaque from the surface without scraping the enamel. Your aim is to leave your teeth feeling clean and reduce any abrasion that can cause permanent damage to the enamel and your smile.

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