Kids Take Gum Disease to Heart

Proper oral health early in life will pay off later.

(NewsUSA) - Teaching your kids to care for their teeth will do more than ensure a healthy smile -- it may also help them avoid health problems later in life.

Many parents consider cavities a normal part of childhood -- after all, children eat more sweet foods than adults and often neglect brushing and flossing. But research links cavities and gum disease with serious health problems, including cardiovascular disease.

Research suggests that there is a relationship between gum disease and heart health. The American Academy of Periodontology reports that people with periodontal disease are almost twice as likely to have heart disease. Likewise, in a study of 657 heart-disease patients published in "Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association," lead researcher Moise Desvarieux, M.D., Ph.D. of Columbia University discovered that patients with harmful bacteria in their mouths were more likely to have a clogged artery in their neck, a precursor to stroke.

Researchers believe that, when the harmful bacteria that cause gum disease invade the gum line, they also access the bloodstream. Once they enter the circulatory system, these harmful bacteria can cause disease in other parts of the body.

But kids will be kids, and some may stop brushing their teeth before they finish singing "The Star Spangled Banner" or forget to floss after eating that ice cream cone. Even if kids are excellent brushers and flossers, they can't get rid of the harmful bacteria living in every part of their mouths.

Parents can skip the risk by giving their kids probiotics for oral care, like EvoraKids (www.myevorakids.com), a chewable that contains beneficial bacteria that are normally found in healthy mouths. When these good bacteria adhere to the teeth, they leave less room for harmful bacteria to grow, helping to support tooth health.

"Daily use of a product such as EvoraKids is an easy way to naturally maintain oral health," says Dr. Jeffrey Hillman, D.M.D., Ph.D. and chief medical officer for Oragenics. "The good bacteria inhibit the growth of the damaging bad bacteria, leading to better health and breath."

For more information, visit www.myevorakids.com.

Brushing Up on Tooth Decay

It takes more than brushing to maintain a healthy mouth.
(NewsUSA) - You teach your kids to brush their teeth, yet every trip to the dentist could reveal another cavity. But don't fret. You're not doing anything wrong -- children can still develop dental cavities, or areas where harmful bacteria damage hard tooth structure, in spite of every precaution. In fact, tooth decay remains the most common chronic condition in children and adolescents.

"Kids have very special oral care needs, and are much more likely than adults to form cavities," says Dr. Jeffrey Hillman, D.M.D., Ph.D., chief scientific officer of Oragenics, Inc. For one thing, children tend to like sugary foods, which make them more likely to develop cavities. But sugar does not cause cavities directly -- sugar feeds the bad bacteria that cause tooth decay.

Brushing can help prevent tooth decay by removing plaque, or buildup of bad bacteria, but it's not a perfect technique. For one thing, it only takes 20 minutes after eating to develop plaque, and few children brush and floss immediately after eating. Also, brushing can't remove plaque from between teeth. To fight plaque between teeth, parents should floss their children's teeth at least once a day until about age 10, when children can start flossing for themselves.

In addition to daily brushing and flossing, oral care probiotics, or "good" bacteria, may help. Dr. Hillman recommends giving children an oral care probiotic supplement, such as EvoraKids (www.myevorakids.com). He explains that oral care probiotics work by flooding the mouth with good bacteria, which adhere to tooth surfaces, including crevices, pits and fissures in the chewing surfaces, leaving less room for bad bacteria to grow. "The probiotics effectively compete with certain harmful bacteria for both nutrients and space on teeth surfaces, reaching where brushing and flossing can't," says Dr. Hillman.

Despite all of your best efforts at home, a trip to the dentist can still do wonders. Regularly scheduled dentist checkups are critical to any healthy mouth. The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends that parents take their children to the dentist by age one