I'm not kidding, either. On our Thursday, April 28 morning segment on The Ranch, 99.1 FM, we reviewed unexpected and potentially deadly information about "what" goes on in your mouth.
You're likely not to think much about your mouth or its health, but you have no idea how much your oral health is connected to your physical, emotional and social well-being. You use your mouth to express affection, feed yourself and defend yourself both verbally and physically.
You're likely not to think much about your mouth or its health, but you have no idea how much your oral health is connected to your physical, emotional and social well-being. You use your mouth to express affection, feed yourself and defend yourself both verbally and physically.
If a baby's motor and sensory skills are well-integrated, they will have a strong suck response at birth. They need to coordinate their lips, jaws, cheeks and breath control in order to feed. It's the first indicator of your infant's competence to survive. Earlier in our history, there were no "engineered baby bottles" that helped babies to feed. They either sucked competently or they died.
As you might think, your mouth is a source of intense satisfaction, mostly related to FOOD!!! When you even think about food, you begin to salivate. Saliva moistens your mouth and food and prepares it for full digestion. The initial stages of digestion actually begin in your mouth. Saliva breaks down the starches first. If you don't have competent teeth, you'll be limited to the kind and quantity of food that will be available to you. If you don't have adequate jaw strength, again, you'll be limited to your food choices.
In order to get sufficient nutrition, your teeth need to be healthy, your saliva has to be healthy and so does your jaw strength. More about saliva later. Let's talk about the yummy stuff first...taste.
In order to get sufficient nutrition, your teeth need to be healthy, your saliva has to be healthy and so does your jaw strength. More about saliva later. Let's talk about the yummy stuff first...taste.
[Love this picture!] Anyway, humans, at least, have about 5000 taste buds and no, those aren't those little sticky-out things on your tongue, those are papilla and they hold your taste buds.
We now know that various tastes are all over the tongue. We used to think that you tasted sweet at the front and bitter at the back. There are different types of cells within each taste bud and they are responsible for interpreting the various flavors. The whole tongue "gets into the act".
Babies develop preferences for tastes because of the foods that mother eats. It takes 7-10 days of eating the same foods for babies to learn to prefer flavors. If you want your baby to love veggies, you need to eat them intermittently for at least a week throughout your pregnancy.
Sweetness uses the same brain pathways as drugs of addiction. Drugs of addiction hijack the brain circuitry that evolved for food.
Certain flavors have behavioral effects. Sweetness blunts pain such as in the "spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down"! Sweetness also reduces the amount of crying in babies.
The lipstick industry is a billion dollar venture. But lips are naturally red because they have a lot of blood vessels and the skin is not thick enough to cover them. You know just how much lips bleed when you hit your mouth. There are also lots of nerve endings there which makes kissing so very exciting!
We now know that various tastes are all over the tongue. We used to think that you tasted sweet at the front and bitter at the back. There are different types of cells within each taste bud and they are responsible for interpreting the various flavors. The whole tongue "gets into the act".
Babies develop preferences for tastes because of the foods that mother eats. It takes 7-10 days of eating the same foods for babies to learn to prefer flavors. If you want your baby to love veggies, you need to eat them intermittently for at least a week throughout your pregnancy.
Sweetness uses the same brain pathways as drugs of addiction. Drugs of addiction hijack the brain circuitry that evolved for food.
Certain flavors have behavioral effects. Sweetness blunts pain such as in the "spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down"! Sweetness also reduces the amount of crying in babies.
The lipstick industry is a billion dollar venture. But lips are naturally red because they have a lot of blood vessels and the skin is not thick enough to cover them. You know just how much lips bleed when you hit your mouth. There are also lots of nerve endings there which makes kissing so very exciting!
Here's the "death" part of all of this. Sexually-transmitted oral cancers are seriously on the rise, especially in men. These vicious cancers are due mostly to the human papillomavirus. Salivary gland, tongue, lip, cheek and esophageal cancers can be caused by the HPV virus and the consequences are severe. Surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and carrying around a spray bottle to moisten your mouth are in your future. There are no reliable detectors for HPV in the mouth the way gynecologists detect HPV in the cervix.
A number of cardiac diseases start with bacteria in the mouth. Keeping your mouth clean is critical to reducing the potential to develop heart disease.
A number of cardiac diseases start with bacteria in the mouth. Keeping your mouth clean is critical to reducing the potential to develop heart disease.
While canker sores won't kill you, they sure are a social buzz kill and cause significant misery. Canker sores are not caused by viruses, but cold sores are caused by virus. Both are very painful lesions. Talk to your doctor about various treatments to reduce them when they pop up. There is no cure for cold sores.
What can you do?
1. See your dentist regularly for overall oral health. When you get your teeth cleaned, your dentist should grab your tongue with a gauze and pull it out to look around your tongue and in your mouth and into the top of your throat to determine any suspicious areas. You need to do a self-check. If you see something "funny", see your dentist immediately.
2. Consider getting an HPV vaccination even if you are male! You do not want to contract a sexually-transmitted cancer if you can avoid it.
3. Change your toothbrushes often. Run them through the dishwasher weekly.
4. Invest in a Sonic Care toothbrush. You cannot cannot believe how wonderful your teeth will feel!!
5 Floss every day. Start out with a goal of flossing every 3rd day and work yourself into a daily routine. The nastiest bugs hide between your teeth.
6. If you burn your tongue, run cool water over it. If it blisters, let it heal naturally. Don't poke around and interrupt the healing process.
Take care of your mouth and it will, indeed, make life more delicious and thrilling for you!
TTFN! Claudia
What can you do?
1. See your dentist regularly for overall oral health. When you get your teeth cleaned, your dentist should grab your tongue with a gauze and pull it out to look around your tongue and in your mouth and into the top of your throat to determine any suspicious areas. You need to do a self-check. If you see something "funny", see your dentist immediately.
2. Consider getting an HPV vaccination even if you are male! You do not want to contract a sexually-transmitted cancer if you can avoid it.
3. Change your toothbrushes often. Run them through the dishwasher weekly.
4. Invest in a Sonic Care toothbrush. You cannot cannot believe how wonderful your teeth will feel!!
5 Floss every day. Start out with a goal of flossing every 3rd day and work yourself into a daily routine. The nastiest bugs hide between your teeth.
6. If you burn your tongue, run cool water over it. If it blisters, let it heal naturally. Don't poke around and interrupt the healing process.
Take care of your mouth and it will, indeed, make life more delicious and thrilling for you!
TTFN! Claudia
