Open Letter to Retired GM Employees and Family

Dear GM Employee,

We have read with great concern the news about the changes in
benefits for you, as a retired GM employee.

As you well know, one of the best ways to continue to enjoy
your retirement is to take good care of yourself.  An
important part of taking care of yourself is to continue to
take care of your oral health.  Good dental health is
essential to your overall general health.  A regular dental
exam allows you to keep your mouth in first-class shape and
watch for any changes in your oral health that may signal
problems elsewhere in the body.  Signs such as oral cancer,
diabetes, and heart disease may be detected during an oral
exam.

So, a decision to maintain your oral health is also a
decision to support your general health.  I hope you will
agree that regular, preventive dental care is worth the small
investment.  Regular check-ups will allow us to take care of
any problems before they become more severe and more costly
to treat.

Please know that I am willing to work with you to make
arrangements so that you can continue to maintain good oral
health.  Our office is pleased to offer CareCredit, which is
a convenient payment plan.  We will be happy to discuss how
we can best help you meet your dental needs at the lowest
possible cost.  We are honored to have you as a patient in
our practice, and look forward to continuing to serve your
dental needs in the future.  If you have any questions about
your dental care, please feel free to call me any time.

Sincerely,

Andrew Z. Green, D.D.S.

Tooth Erosion and Decay Caused by Everyday Substances

These 4 Drinks Can Erode Your Teeth

They're sweet and tasty so soft drinks, sports drinks, fruit juices and teas are beverages we drink morning, noon and night. Uh oh! They all contain a high amount of acid--enough to seriously erode teeth.

HealthDay News reports that our teeth are wearing away at a faster rate than ever before, and the culprit is all that acid we're consuming. Dental erosion is the loss of the protective enamel on teeth and occurs when the enamel is worn away from acids in the mouth. When this happens, our teeth become sensitive, cracked and even discolored.
"Erosion is a chemical process of tooth destruction, not to be confused with abrasion, which is a mechanical process of tooth destruction," Dr. Melvin Pierson, a spokesman for the Academy of General Dentistry and a dentist in private practice in Sicklerville, New Jersey, explained to HealthDay News.

And it's not just adults who are suffering. In one study published in 2008 in the Dental Tribune, dental erosion was found in nearly one-third of middle school students. Dentists are pointing an accusing finger at our favorite soft drinks, sports drinks, fruit juices and teas.
"When we're talking about erosion, it's clearly the acid content that's causing it. In soft drinks, especially in cola soft drinks, one of the main flavoring agents is phosphoric acid. That's the acid we use in dentistry to roughen tooth enamel before applying a bonding agent. We use it like sandpaper," Dr. Edmond R. Hewlett, consumer adviser for the American Dental Association and an associate professor of restorative dentistry at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Dentistry, told HealthDay News.

It's not just the acid in those drinks; it's also the sugar. When you drink a sweetened beverage or eat sweetened food, bacterial plaque on your teeth absorbs the sugar and then excretes an acid that eats away at tooth enamel. "If you are eating sugary foods, the acidity of the plaque on your teeth increases precipitously," Hewlett told HealthDay News.

In addition to sugar and acid, the following contribute to dental erosion:

Savoring a drink by holding it in your mouth to enjoy the fizz and flavor
Aspirin
Acid reflux disease
Eating disorders associated with chronic vomiting

What can you do to protect and strengthen the enamel on your teeth?
Make sure you get enough fluoride. The best way to do that is by drinking tap water from public water sources instead of bottled water. Also, use a fluoridated toothpaste and fluoridated mouth rinse.

After you drink soda or juice, don't brush your teeth for at least 30 minutes. When you brush immediately, it scrubs at the enamel that is already softened by the acid attack and actually removes a microscopic layer of enamel that could have been replenished by the minerals in your saliva.

Saliva protects your teeth by returning the pH balance in the mouth to normal and restoring minerals eaten away by food acids.--From the Editors at Netscape