Four cups of coffee a day keeps mouth cancer at bay

It is our responsibility to share with our patients all the facts and worrying figures about mouth cancer.


There has been some recent developments in America about reducing the risk, a suggestion that will suit many of us coffee drinkers

Drinking four cups of coffee can halve the risk of dying from throat and mouth cancer, according to a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Lead author Janet Hildebrand and her colleagues from the American Cancer Society (ACS) used data from 968,432 men and women for the study. The researchers found that the participants who reported drinking more than four cups of caffeinated coffee a day had a 49 per cent lower risk of death from throat and mouth cancer compared to those who don't drink coffee at all.

However, Hildebrand warns that this evidence is not solid enough to actively encourage people to go out and drink coffee.

Emma

About face! Facial Aesthetic Treatments at Absolute Dental.

What if botox changed not only the way you looked but also your feelings?


The history of botox.

The therapeutic effects of botulinium neurotoxin were originally discovered back in the 1950s and originally used to treat problems such as cross eyes and muscle spasm and in the 1980s patients reported that treatments also had an effect on general lines and wrinkles and from this, modern facial aesthetic techniques were developed. Botox has now been used for over 20 years and successfully treated millions of patients worldwide.

We know that it physically enhances the natural beauty of the skin by eliminating fine lines and wrinkles, restoring younger, healthier, more vital looking skin – but what about the emotional benefits?

The brain registers what your face is doing- its like an emotional thermometer. If you’re laughing the brain will think, oh, lets decrease the stress hormones. With negative feedback such as frowning, it will think more pessimistically. Gravity can make us look progressively cross or miserable – the corners of the mouth move down, the jowl droops, the eyelids look heavy. After good treatment people react to you differently, because they pick up on the subtle clues which tell our brains whether someone is happy or sad, young or old.

Facial rejuvenation can have an even more positive effect between the ears than on the outside!

Good news for the rest of the family too!

Some people have very active frowns and one patient in the USA who had botox for a hyperactive frown found that after treatment her husband no longer thought she was cross with him, thus ending their marital friction!!!!!!

At Absolute Dental we offer a programme of anti-ageing treatments to rejuvenate facial appearance. Call us on 01548 852165 for more information, or to book a consultation.

Maureen

Mens Health Week 2013 - DIY MOT

Here are a few DIY tests you can carry out at home; you need absolutely no medical knowledge whatsoever and little more equipment than a tape measure. These simple test could identify a health issue that needs thorough investigation - so, don't bury your head in the sand, ask yourself these questions:

1.Are you breathless? Difficulty catching your breath or losing balance while dressing are signs of being unfit. This can lead to injury and put added pressure on the heart. Get exercising and stub out those cigarettes.

2.Do you have pains in his chest or legs? Check your pulse rate. If it's racing or irregular or you get dizzy when standing up quickly, then your heart may be under strain.

3.Are you consuming large amounts of saturated fats? A mixed diet containing fruit and veg and foods with omega-3 oils (such as fatty fish) can help to reduce heart disease risk.

4.Are you thirsty all the time? Check to see if there is a history of diabetes in your family.

5.Do you have unusual-looking moles? Look for changes in size and colour. Ask your partner to look in areas you can't see easily, like your back.

6.Are you waking up in the night? If you can't sleep, lack concentration and are snappy, it could be depression.

7.Do you have erection problems? Impotence can be due to a physical problem - such as diabetes or hypertension - or emotional problem. One in ten men suffers from impotence. But 75 per cent of erectile dysfunction is due to a physical not emotional problem. If you have an erection when sleeping, the problem is probably emotional not physical. See your GP.

8.Are you getting a gut? Weight usually goes on the midriff first and this is a risk factor in heart disease. The rounder a man is around the tum, the greater the possibility of heart disease and diabetes.

9.Have you lumps in your testicles? Women can spot the problem first, often during sex. You don't need to conduct medical examinations during lovemaking but you may notice differences while having a feel. Squeeze them gently. Look out for a hard lump on the front or side of a testicle, swelling or enlargement, an increase in firmness and any difference between one and the other.

10.Does you always need to pee? Frequent urination, having to rush to the loo or even not being able to go at all, can indicate a prostate problem. If you often need the loo several times during the night, see your GP.

Mens Health Forum

Absolutely Safe

Within the last few weeks the whole Absolute Dental Team carried out their basic life support and CPR training; this is an annual event which ensures that the Team’s skills and knowledge are up to date with current guidelines.


It is a really important date in everyone’s diary as we review our protocols and systems in the event that one of our patients should become unwell whilst under our care.

Dot, an advanced life support nurse, has been running our annual course for many years; she takes us through various scenarios and we have the opportunity to re-familiarise ourselves with situations which may arise and how best to manage them.

On the day, each Team member needs to demonstrate that they are able to give quality CPR and work together efficiently in an emergency.

Also we are taught how to use a defibrillator and recognise signs of medical emergencies such as heart attacks, severe allergic reactions and other medical emergencies.

We also reviewed the contents of our emergency kits, from medicines to oxygen cylinder, their uses and mode of administration.

As always this was an excellent training session, it is always great to be able to review our knowledge on such a very important subject.

As much as we hope we will never have to use these skills, the Team are always very keen to ensure that they are prepared for any situations and are able to keep the Absolute patients safe.

A very valuable training session.

Melanie

Healthy Gums - Healthy Heart!

That’s right! According to recent studies, research shows that serious diseases such as heart disease, strokes, diabetes & even premature, low birth weight babies can all be caused by or made worse by poor oral health!


So, I guess your wondering how? I know I was! Often people relate plaque bacteria, poor brushing & sugar is related to holes in the teeth, its often forgotten & not known that the plaque bacteria can have harmful effects on gum tissue & the rest of the body.

Gum disease is severe inflammation of the gum caused by plaque bacteria being left on the tooth surface long enough to irritate it. The bacteria is then able to get into the blood stream where it produces a sticky protein which can stick together in blood vessels, making it a higher risk that blood clots to form- which in time can lead to a heart attack. The effect the plaque bacteria has on the blood vessels can also prevent blood flow to the brain, causing a stroke!

People who suffer from diabetes, are far more likely to suffer with gum disease than those without the condition. This is due to diabetics slower response to infections making them more prone to being more sensitive to the plaque bacteria. New research has found that if you do have gum disease then you are more likely to develop diabetes too! So it seems like a vicious circle!

Anyway, you get the picture- keep your gums healthy & you are at lower risk of developing a serious illness! The body it an amazing thing & before I started my career in the dental industry, I would never of imagined that the way I look after my mouth would have such an all round effect on everything else! It certainly opened my eyes to how important regular visits to the dentist & hygienist are, teamed with a thorough oral hygiene routine!

Amber

A few slants on crooked teeth

Don't Mess with Mother Nature!

It would seem that crooked teeth are a product of modern man. If one was to study all the skulls dated 250 years ago or older, you would be hard pressed to find one case in a thousand of crowded teeth. It would also be hard to find decay and evidence of periodontal disease.

What might have caused the human race to suddenly develop crooked teeth ? One of the following three hypotheses that might explain how this happened.

Theory number one suggests that the Industrial Revolution which began in Britain around 1750 could be responsible . The concept is that the air was fouled by the output of the refineries and this poor quality air led to constriction of the airways which in turn led to misshapen jaws and crooked teeth. This theory could partially be evidenced by industrial countries displaying a greater percentage of crowded teeth than non industrialized companies. But there is probably more to it.

What might go along with the industrial revolution’s negative impact on the smile is theory number two ..... processing of food especially sugar. A dentist with a camera named Weston Price took photos of populations that fed on their indigenous foods on many continents in the 1930’s . He returned later to take pictures of the next generation feeding on processed foods such as white flour and refined sugar. His pictures show an evolution of decay and crooked teeth showing up in the next generation.

The last theory of what causes crooked teeth is particularly reflective of the idea that one should not mess with Mother Nature.

"Dummies" or "Pacifiers" have been around since ancient times. However, the baby bottle got its’ start in France around the mid 1700s. As it has proven impossible to mimic the human breast, the bottle nipples have produced a different type of swallow to express milk from bottles. Babies must use a suction action to get milk from a bottle. The baby must make a negative pressure to pull milk from the bottle. This is the opposite from the baby on a human breast. Natural breastfeeding requires the baby’s tongue to roll in the roof of the mouth and express milk from the mother. There is no real suction action in natural breastfeeding.

The baby on the bottle can carry this suction action of swallowing into his adult life. This bad type of swallow leads to narrowing the upper arch, narrowing of the airway, and crowded teeth. In addition, children with pacifiers and bottles are more likely to have otitis media (ear aches) malocclusions (bad bites), and less attractive faces.

So the old expression about messing with Mother Nature comes to light as we look at the cause of crooked teeth.

Ruth

Sunday Times article - ‘Natural’ food has more sugar than Coca-Cola

One of the nice things, for me,  about a Bank Holiday Weekend (apart from the wall to wall sunshine we had this weekend!) is the time to read the Sunday paper. An article in the Sunday Times caught my eye this week about supermarket food containing more sugar than Coca-cola:

"SOME bestselling supermarket meals and snacks contain more sugar than a can of Coca-Cola, despite being described as savoury and “natural”.


Ready meals, sauces, soups, high-fibre cereals and low-fat yogurts were found to have sugar levels described under NHS guidelines as “high”.

Some have a sugar content of up to 20%, with one Tesco chicken sauce containing 95.4g, equivalent to 22 teaspoons of sugar, in each jar, compared with 35g or just over eight spoonfuls in a regular can of Coca-Cola.

Food experts say an unwanted by-product of the drive to reduce fat and salt has been the use of extra sugar to improve flavour. They are calling on the industry to combat the problem."

Although this may not be news to people in the dental industry, it is still a worry that the message is still not as wide-spead in the public domain as we would like. Often when we're trying to eat healthily, we are consuming more sugar than is good for our health and good for our dental health.

This article went on to describe how cereals such as All Bran and Uncle Bens "cook in" sauces contained more sugar per 100g than Coca-cola.

It was suggested that the sugar content in food should be highlighted with red labels if the content was high - I think this is a good idea as there are so many foods containing "hidden sugars" (yogurts, soups, sauces) that attention should be drawn to their presence.

Our quest for a healthy diet could mean we are eating less saturated fat and salt - but the flavour has to come from somewhere - and this often means the sugar content is bumped up!

Until these suggested "red labels" are introduced, please do check the food labels for sugar content - but please remember, it won't just be labelled as "SUGAR" in the ingredients list - it will be cleverly "hidden" as one of the following:

■Brown Rice Syrup


■Agave Nectar

■Barley Malt

■Barley Malt Syrup

■Beet Sugar

■Brown Sugar

■Buttered syrup

■Cane Juice

■Cane juice crystals

■Cane Sugar

■Caramel

■Carob syrup

■Castor sugar

■Coconut Sugar

■Confectioner’s sugar

■Corn sweetener

■Corn Syrup

■Corn Syrup Solids

■Date Sugar

■Dehydrated Cane Juice

■Demerara Sugar

■Dextran

■Dextrin

■Dextrose

■Diastatic Malt

■Diatase

■Ethyl maltol

■Evaporated Cane Juice

■Fructose

■Fruit Juice

■Fruit Juice Concentrate

■Galactose

■Glucose

■Glucose Solids

■Golden sugar

■Golden syrup

■Grape sugar

■High Fructose Corn Syrup

■Honey

■Icing sugar

■Invert Sugar

■Jaggery

■Lactose

■Malt Syrup

■Maltodextrin

■Maltose

■Maple Syrup

■Molasses

■Monk Fruit / Luo Han Guo

■Muscovado Sugar

■Palm Sugar

■Panela

■Panocha

■Rapadura

■Raw Cane Sugar

■Raw sugar

■Refiner’s syrup

■Rice Bran Syrup

■Rice syrup

■Saccharose

■Sorbitol

■Sorghum

■Sorghum Syrup

■Sucanat

■Sucrose

■Sugar

■Syrup

■Treacle

■Turbinado Sugar

■Xylose

■Yellow sugar

Feeling overwhelmed!!!!! I think that is often the intention - confuse the consumer!!!! However, if you're like me, and enjoy a game of "hide & seek", until those red food labels are mandatory by food manufacturers, check those food labels carefully and try to avoid those unnecessary sugars.

Diane