{"id":606932,"date":"2023-02-11T13:49:36","date_gmt":"2023-02-11T19:49:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/11\/how-to-keep-your-teeth-healthy-even-if-you-dont-have-insurance\/"},"modified":"2023-02-11T13:49:36","modified_gmt":"2023-02-11T19:49:36","slug":"how-to-keep-your-teeth-healthy-even-if-you-dont-have-insurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/11\/how-to-keep-your-teeth-healthy-even-if-you-dont-have-insurance\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Keep Your Teeth Healthy, Even If You Don\u2019t Have Insurance"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I don\u2019t floss. If I\u2019m too drunk, too tired, too sad, or some combination thereof, I don\u2019t brush my teeth before I go to sleep. On the nights that I do brush, I\u2019ll often get torturously hungry at, like, 11:30 p.m. and pound an entire sack of Goldfish in bed. I am powerless to resist a box of Buncha Crunch or a sleeve of Twizzlers when I set eyes on them in a bodega. I smoke about 1,000 cigarettes a day, and I drink at least 24 ounces of black coffee each morning.<\/p>\n

I am, in short, a dentist\u2019s worst nightmare.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve long deluded myself that I can abuse my mouth in such a manner and get away with it, as long as I visit the dentist twice a year<\/a>. But now the jig is up: In November, I lost my job, and with it, my dental insurance. Shortly thereafter, I canceled my standing appointment at East Village Smiles and quietly began to panic. Now that I\u2019ve joined the ranks of the estimated 86.7 million American adults who don\u2019t have coverage for their chompers\u2014whether that\u2019s because they\u2019re unemployed, can\u2019t afford their premiums, or live in a state that\u00a0doesn\u2019t offer dental insurance under Medicaid<\/a> or\u00a0Medicare<\/a>\u2014I figure I need to start taking better care of my teeth. So, last week, I called up two dentists for some advice.<\/p>\n

As you\u2019ll learn from the experts SELF spoke to, there\u2019s a lot more to protecting your teeth than just brushing and flossing. But don\u2019t freak out: It\u2019s pretty easy to keep your teeth in good shape, once you\u2019re awakened to all the different ways you\u2019re absentmindedly screwing them up. Here\u2019s what I learned about not having to pay exorbitant costs for mouth-based maintenance.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re eating something sugary, eat it all at once.<\/h2>\n

Here\u2019s why sugar is bad for your teeth: There\u2019s a bunch of bacteria sitting on those bad boys literally all the time, and that bacteria loves\u00a0sugar,\u00a0Leila Jahangiri, BDS, DMD<\/a>, the chair of the department of prosthodontics at NYU\u2019s College of Dentistry, tells SELF. When you consume sugar, the bacteria on your teeth go to town on it. The byproduct of that sugar feast is an \u201cacid attack,\u201d Dr. Jahangiri says, which eats away at your teeth\u2019s enamel, resulting in tooth decay. Decay typically leads to cavities<\/a>, which can lead to root canals, which can lead to crowns, which can lead to the removal of a tooth entirely. Pain aside, dealing with all of that can be prohibitively expensive, especially if you\u2019re uninsured.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, sugar rips.\u00a0We\u2019re not going to tell you to stop eating it altogether<\/a>, and neither is Dr. Jahangiri. But if you\u2019re going to have something sugary, have it all at once\u2014within the span of 5 to 10 minutes, she says. When it comes to your teeth, the amount of sugar you consume in one sitting doesn\u2019t really matter; what matters is how many times you consume sugar each day. \u201cIt has everything to do with frequency,\u201d Dr. Jahangiri says. \u201cLet\u2019s say somebody wakes up in the morning, has a can of Coke, and walks around with it half the day. Every time they sip\u2014one damage, two damage, three damage, four damage.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Snacking on a single candy bar throughout the day can do significantly more damage to your teeth than eating it all at once, according to Dr. Jahangiri. The same rule applies to all sugary foods, whether they\u2019re processed or not. \u201cA lot of people think that if anything is \u2018natural,\u2019 it\u2019s good,\u201d Dr. Jahangiri says. \u201cThe reality is, honey will do as much damage. Dates would do as much damage as chocolates. Bacteria don\u2019t care whether it\u2019s natural or not. The bacteria go by the sugary substance.\u201d<\/p>\n

A final note on sugar: It\u2019s best to have it with a meal, Dr. Jahangiri says. When you\u2019re eating, you produce more saliva, which serves as a buffer that protects your teeth from sugar and acid. If you drink a soda or eat a candy bar within 15 minutes of a meal, it does \u201cvery little damage\u201d to your teeth, Dr. Jahangiri says.<\/p>\n

Have a strategy around acidic foods and drinks.<\/h2>\n

Sugar is bad for your teeth because it creates acid in your mouth. By the same token, drinking anything acidic is bad for your teeth too,\u00a0David Hershkowitz, DDS<\/a>, the division chair of restorative dentistry at Penn Dental Medicine, tells SELF. \u00a0\u201cWhat people don\u2019t think about is fruit juices,\u201d Dr. Hershkowitz says. \u201cEveryone thinks orange juice, or a little squirt of lemon in your tea or over your seafood, is good. But it makes for an acidic environment, and the mouth needs an acidic environment to cause [tooth] decay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Again, Dr. Hershkowitz is not asking you to cut OJ out of your life. But when you drink it\u2014or any other citrusy juice\u2014he recommends using a straw. \u201cThrow it into the back of your mouth so it doesn\u2019t bathe the teeth,\u201d he says. If you can, rinse out your mouth with water when you\u2019re done sipping. And avoid brushing your teeth immediately after drinking fruit juice or any other acidic beverages, like soda, energy drinks, or coffee.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBrushing right away, if you have orange juice or lemon, only makes it worse,\u201d Dr. Hershkowitz says. \u201cThe acid on the teeth kind of weakens [them] a little bit. Now you\u2019re taking a toothbrush, which is abrasive, and you\u2019re brushing the tooth. That makes it even weaker. You should take some time before you do the brushing. Rinse with water first, and then brush afterwards.\u201d It\u2019s wise to wait until at least 30 minutes have passed, he adds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Get specific about your brushing and flossing habits.<\/h2>\n

Brushing twice a day\u2014once in the morning, and once at night\u2014is obviously important, as is flossing. But Dr. Jahangiri and Dr. Hershkowitz raised a few not-so-obvious pointers to keep in mind.<\/p>\n