Dental Health

[Music] why are teeth important because we chew food and good teeth help prepare the food for digestion because we speak and a good set of teeth helps us form words clearly because we smile and attractive teeth add much to our appearance so we can see that teeth are important what can we do to keep our teeth healthy and attractive first let's look at a model of the permanent teeth we have four types of teeth in our upper and lower Jaws the iners the cuspids the bicuspids and the MERS the incizors our sharp front teeth are used in cutting food these scissors illustrate the action the cuspids at the corners of our mouth are used to tear food apart somewhat as these Nippers can tear things apart the bicuspids behind the cuspids crush food somewhat like a nutcracker crushes nuts the MERS grind food the way a pestle grinds now let's examine just one tooth one of the MERS the crown is the part that we ordinarily see the part above the gums the crown is about a third of the tooth then there's the root portion it's about 2/3 of the tooth and is the part that is below the gums in the Jawbone if we could look inside the tooth we would see that it is made up of four parts there is a layer of shiny enamel that covers the crown enamel is the hardest material found in the body a thin layer of cementum a bone-like material covers the root Denton an ivory likee material beneath the enamel and the cementum makes up most of the two tooth inside the Denton is the pulp chamber it is filled with tiny nerves and blood vessels they extend through canals to the ends of the roots where they connect with larger blood vessels and nerves within the Jawbone the tooth is held by a network of string-like fibers these cushion the tooth when we chew now we've seen the structure of a tooth what can we do to keep all our teeth healthy most of us try to eat a balanced diet including the right amounts of fresh fruits eggs meat fish vegetables bread and milk if our diet satisfies the needs of our whole body then it will also satisfy the needs of our teeth and the gums and bones that support them but a diet that can injure our teeth is one that consists of too many foods sweetened with sugar foods like candy and cake but why is too much of such foods not good for our teeth with the help of this model tooth some back bacteria and a sugar solution we can demonstrate how lots of sweets might affect a real tooth on the culture plate types of bacteria are growing that are usually found in our mouth we'll put a bit of the bacteria culture on the tooth this sugar solution can represent the sweet Foods we eat the sugar itself does not affect the tooth but after a few minutes the bacteria feeding on the sugar produce acid they act somewhat like this acid the acid attacks the tooth enamel this is the beginning of Decay also called Dental carries of course actual Decay happens much more slowly Decay starts with a tiny cavity in the enamel as more acid is produced it attacks the Dentin and you may start having a toothache unless the tooth is treated by a dentist the Decay will spread attacking the pulp the pulp may become infected and then at the root end of the tooth an abscess may form a sack filled with pus but we can help prevent Decay by being careful of our diet and we can help prevent Decay by having clean teeth proper brushing clean CLE your teeth it helps prevent the Decay causing acids from building up on the surfaces of the teeth cleaning keeps the bacteria from forming colonies at home we should brush right after eating acids can form within minutes after eating sweets but brushing keeps our teeth clean only if it's done properly we always brush away from the gums where food particles collect so we brush the upper teeth down we brush the lower teeth up and we brush the chewing surfaces an electric toothbrush may also be used to clean the teeth and a toothpaste that contains a fluoride a chemical helps prevent Decay the fluoride in the toothpaste makes the tooth enamel better able to resist the acid action in the mouth whatever kind of toothpaste or brush we use it is still necessary to brush properly to protect our teeth at school where we usually can't brush right after eating it's a good idea to finish lunch with firm foods that help clean our teeth a carrot a piece of celery an apple when we're unable to brush right after eating another good habit is rinsing using water we rinse thoroughly rinsing helps keep our teeth clean too many food particles which can Lodge between the teeth and cause Decay there are rinsed out by the action of the water many communities have added small amounts of fluorides to their water supply systems this is known as fluoridation fluoridation does not change the taste of the water as in toothpaste the only effect the fluoride has is to make the tooth enamel more resistant to Decay when fluorides are not present in drinking water the dentist May apply a fluoride solution to the surface of the teeth but first he cleans the teeth with his instruments the dentist is able to clean our teeth much more thoroughly than we can even though we brush regularly stain and deposits called tartar or calculus will build up after a while that's one reason for visiting the dentist regularly he's able to remove the stains and tartar now we can start with perfectly clean teeth again and try to keep them clean the dentist may also take X-ray pictures to look for cavities and other tooth defects that he might not otherwise see X-ray pictures allow the dentist to see all parts of the teeth and the bone which holds them above this line that the dentist marked is a cavity discovered by the x-rays Decay cannot cure itself so the dentist cleans out the Decay and fills the cavity with a hard filling material the dentist sometimes sees that some of our teeth are not in the proper positions this may effect facial appearance cause speech defects and prevent the proper chewing of food but such conditions can be corrected with the use of bands which slowly move the teeth to a satisfactory position this may take many months taking care of our teeth is something we must do year after year we've seen that a balanced diet that satisfies the needs of our body also satisfies the needs of our teeth eating too many sweets is not good for our teeth and so we should have fewer sweets especially between meals brushing our teeth right after eating whenever possible can help prevent tooth decay and visiting our dentist regularly is important to good dental health caring for our teeth can help us have good teeth for chewing our food properly for forming our words clearly and for an attractive appearance [Music]