Here at Sninski & Schmitt Family Dentistry, we understand that it can often get obnoxious to hear the same advice from your family dentist in Holly Springs: “Brush your teeth!” Therefore, we spend time looking for articles that give our family dentistry patients little dental tips and tricks that aren’t the simple dental hygiene offerings. We believe that studies like this can help our patients in the time between their appointments with our family dentist in Holly Springs.
Family Dentist’s Tip: Chew Your Food!
A recent study has found that chewing food can stimulate the release of T helper 17 (Th17) cells in the mouth. After all this time, it turns out that one of the oldest family dentistry tips was accurate. Th17 cells are a part of the mouth’s adaptive immune system, which uses specific antigens (a molecule that triggers an immune system response) to encourage the growth of friendly bacteria that are beneficial to overall dental health. Chewing increases the presence of the bacteria that encourage higher amounts of Th17 cells. Until very recently, dentists did now know how the production of this cell type was encouraged, but scientists have recently discovered that chewing your food (an old Family Dentistry tip) increased oral production of the Th17 cells.
The researchers were careful to point out, however, that too much chewing will produce an overabundance of Th17 cells, which can increase the risk of gum disease. This disease, which can be easily diagnosed by your Holly Springs Family Dentist, can cause a host of other problems including diabetes and heart disease. The dentists involved in the study said:
“Importantly, because inflammation in the mouth is linked to development of diseases all around the body,” says Dr. Konkel, “understanding the tissue-specific factors that regulate immunity at the oral barrier could eventually lead to new ways to treat multiple inflammatory conditions.”
What This Means for Family Dentistry in Holly Springs
When the scientists in the study said that people needed to chew their food, they referred to dental abrasion. Dental abrasion, however, can be caused by any number of things. As many of our patients know, one of our Holly Springs family dentist’s favorite things to harp on is brushing your teeth. Brushing your teeth is a form of dental distress in a similar vein to chewing. In fact, one of the ways they tested this in the study was to rub the gums of the mice with a cotton ball. For our Holly Springs family dentist, this means that there is even more reason why paying attention to basic dental health rules such as brushing your teeth and chewing your food can provide disproportionate returns. It really is the simple things that are often the most useful to maintain your family’s dental health. If you would like to speak with a family dentist in Holly Springs, contact Sninski & Schmitt Family Dentistry today. Our expert family dentists can inform you and your children of the best ways to maintain your dental health, even with simple tips like “chew your food” and “brush your teeth”