User:Fitdent/Sandbox

Oral Fitness
Oral Fitness is the application of exercise physiology, sports science, and other physical fitness concepts to oral health -- more in particular to home oral hygiene -- so as to dramatically improve the effectiveness of dental disease prevention, as well as preventive dentistry overall.

In the medical community, it is well known that merely improving physical fitness can impart significant health benefits such as lowering blood pressure, reducing cholesterol, reversing mild cases of diabetes, and many more. Similar (dental) results can occur in oral health by applying a fitness perspective.

Example: Many people ask their dentists what is the "best toothbrush". This may appear to be a valid question from a typical dental perspective, but from a fitness perspective, it is meaningless. This is because there exists no single "best exercise device". Likewise, there is no "best exercise". Even though the Cochrane Collaboration lists the best brushes for removing dental plaque, true plaque removal depends upon proper technique, angle of bristles to the long axes of the teeth, range of motion, path of motion, and more. In dentistry, because of the need to control stubborn disease organisms as well as maintain hygiene and prevent self-inflicted damage, proper technique is even more important than in physical fitness.

One aspect of physical fitness involves ensuring safety during exercise. One common problem with untrained exercisers or vigorous exercisers who do not follow proper exercise techniques is accidental damage to joints, ligaments, bones, and connective tissue. The same problem happens in the mouth, except that permanent, irreversible damage called toothbrush abrasion and gingival recession occurs to the hard and soft structures of the teeth and gums. This abrasion and recession is the self-inflicted alter ego spectre of dental decay and gum disease. It is a serious problem that causes tremendous discomfort and grief. 82% of American adults exhibit tooth sensitivity. More than 50% of American adults exhibit gingival recession quite often from toothbrush abrasion  and bruxism (grinding and clenching teeth), and 20% complain of actual pain from abrasion and recession.

Typical impression of "Oral Hygiene". Most people think of the following five factors when they think of oral hygiene: 1) Brush 2) Floss 3) Rinse 4) Avoid sweets 5) Visit the dentist regularly

However, oral hygiene is generally unrelated in time and function to actual dental caries and gum disease processes. One analogy might be to imagine splashing battery acid into your eyes several times per day (consuming food several times per day), yet rinsing your eyes only twice per day (performing oral hygiene twice per day). You can see that if you took care of your eyes like you take care of your teeth, you will likely go blind quickly. Most people in industrialized countries consume some sort of food about seven times per waking hours of each day, whether it is a full meal or just a snack, soft drink or sweetened beverage. These food intakes constitute seven potential caries attacks on teeth. Bacterial metabolism of fermentable carbohydrates results in very quick acid production in dental plaque -- usually within just a few minutes (stephan curve) "Stephan curve", showing sudden decrease in plaque pH following glucose rinse, which returns to normal after 30-60 min. Net demineralization of dental hard tissues occurs below the critical pH (5.5), shown in yellow. "Stephan curve", showing sudden decrease in plaque pH following glucose rinse, which returns to normal after 30-60 min. Net demineralization of dental hard tissues occurs below the critical pH (5.5), shown in yellow. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Stephan_curve.png