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Cavity Prevention

ROLE OF FLUORIDE IN PREVENTING TOOTH DECAY

Fluoride can strengthen tooth enamel, making it more resistant to decay
and help enamel to rebuild.

ADA RECOMMENDED SUPPLEMENTAL FLUORIDE DOSAGE SCHEDULE
Age of child	Water Fluoride Concentration (parts per million)
	Less than 0.3	Between 0.3-0.6	Greater than 0.6
Birth to 6 months	0	0	0
6 months to 3 years	0.25 mg liquid drops	0	0
3 to 6 years	0.5 mg drops or tablet	0.25 mg	0
6 to 16 years	1.00 mg	0.5 mg	0

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Tooth Brushing Tips

Use only a small pea-sized amount of an ADA Accepted fluoride dentifrice.
	Finger retraction will provide access while brushing a child's teeth.
Angle bristles toward the gums. Use a gentle circular motion.
	Biting surfaces also need to be brushed. Brush each area, slightly overlapping the previous section. After brushing, have the child spit out the toothpaste and rinse thoroughly.

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Spit Tobacco: Know the Score

Spit tobacco is not a safe alternative to cigarettes!

Like cigarettes, spit tobacco is addictive and can be harmful to your health. Spit tobacco contains at least 28 known cancer-causing chemicals and the addictive drug nicotine. The chemicals can lead to cancer of the mouth and throat. Nicotine can get you hooked on spit tobacco. If you hold an average-size dip in your mouth for 30 minutes, you get as much nicotine as you would from smoking 2 to 3 cigarettes.





Spit tobacco can cause gum recession, mouth sores, and oral cancer.
Gum recession - when gums pull away from the teeth - is not only unsightly, but can make you vulnerable to decay on tooth roots and make your teeth sensitive. Gum recession is usually permanent and is difficult to repair. The sores, white patches and lumps in the mouth are signs of tissue damage caused by using spit tobacco. Some white patches can turn into cancer over time.

Spit tobacco users are more likely than nonusers to get oral cancer - cancer of the mouth and throat.
Oral cancer includes cancer of the lip, tongue, cheek, throat, gums, roof and floor of the mouth, and larynx (voice box). Surgery to treat oral cancer is often extensive and disfiguring and may involve removing parts of the face, tongue, cheek, or lip. Difficulty chewing, swallowing, talking, and even breathing can result from cancer and the surgery required to treat it. Oral cancer can spread to other parts of the body quickly. On average, half of oral cancer victims are dead within 5 years of diagnosis.

Besides ruining your health, spit tobacco can ruin your image:
stained teeth, tobacco stuck between teeth, bad breath, and behaviors such as constant spitting and drooling are a turnoff to many people.

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Chew and Snuff

There are two forms of spit tobacco (also called smokeless tobacco). Chew is a leafy, bulky tobacco sold in pouches. "Chewing tobacco," as its name suggests, is chewed. Snuff is a finely ground tobacco sold in small tins. Users hold a pinch of "dip or rub" between their cheek and gum

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If you're not already a user, stay tobacco-free. Don't experiment. Spit tobacco is highly addictive; it's easy to get hooked.