Understanding Oral Care Probiotics

What ARE Probiotics

Probiotics are a hot topic in the media today. Want to be more “regular”? Try this yogurt with probiotics. Want to boost your immune health? Try a supplement or another yogurt with probiotics known to support the immune system. In fact, yogurt has long been the delivery system for the beneficial bacteria known as probiotics. So, if you’re the average American who spends time on the Internet or watching TV, it’s likely you’ve heard about probiotics

What Exactly ARE Probiotics?

Probiotics are beneficial bacteria.

There are billions of bacteria in the human body. Actually, it’s thought that there are more bacteria in the human body than the cells that comprise the human body. Most of these beneficial bacteria are basically inert, causing no harm and offering no benefit.

Some of the bacteria in our bodies is harmful. These are what cause your head-cold, your stomach illness and many lesser known health issues.

When  harmful bacteria launch wage war, the beneficial bacteria in the body are right there waiting to fight back. If the beneficial bacteria in your body aren’t prepared to fight off the bad bacteria, you may end up with an infection and a prescription for antibiotics.

The use of probiotics -  be they food additives, supplements or any of the array of products which now include beneficial bacteria – help maintain a healthy balance between beneficial and harmful bacteria in the body.

Probiotics Benefit Mouth, Too

Research has shown that not only are probiotics beneficial for digestive health, they can also affect your oral health. By blending three beneficial bacteria commonly found in very health mouths, researchers at Oragenics, Inc. have created oral care probiotics for the entire family, focusing on maintaining a healthy balance of bacteria in the mouth. EvoraPro is a professional-strength oral-care probiotic meant for use after a professional dental cleaning or scaling. EvoraPlus is an oral care mint, which, when used twice daily, can help support gum and tooth health, freshen breath and naturally and gently whiten teeth. EvoraPlus is blended specifically to address the oral care needs of the those over the age of 10. EvoraKids oral care probiotics are blended to address the oral care needs of children ages 3-10. And even your pets can have fresher breath and whiter, cleaner teeth with Teddy’s Pride oral care probiotics for cats and dogs.

Ah – ah- ah- ACHOO!

Keeping Your Distance From the Common Cold and Flu

It seems everyone in your home or your office is sneezing up a storm. Your daughter’s nose won’t stop running. She has a low-grade fever and is complaining of a sore throat. Or your colleague in the office next door is hacking away with a deep chest cough. You know that with each cough, germs are being spewed into the air. You wish he had called in sick.

When those around you are suffering from the common cold, there is one strong feeling that probably accompanies your sympathy for them – a strong desire to not “catch” whatever ails them, be it a bacterial or viral infection. Whatever it is, you surely don’t want it.

How Can You Arm Your Immune System for Its Fight Against the Cold or Flu?

There are many commonsense approaches to keep in mind when those around you have a contagious illness: Wash your hands often. Avoid direct contact with the person’s belongings (especially any phone the person may have used!). Use ample amounts of hand sanitizer. Don’t grab a tissue from a tissue box in a common area. Don’t eat food off of a platter from which those who are sick may have also eaten.

Think About Your Face

When there’s a nasty “bug” going around, don’t touch your mouth, nose, ears or eyes with unwashed or unsanitized hands. The bacteria or virus that is causing the illness that is tormenting those around you enters your body through your mouth, your nose your ears or your eyes. Think about how often you casually wipe your eyes after you’ve been working at your computer for an extended period, or how you might casually itch near your mouth or nose. Even resting your chin in your hand is dangerous territory when you’re trying not to get sick. Touching your face is the fastest way to introduce illness-causing germs to gain a foothold in your body.

Boost Your Immune System and Stay Healthy!

Here are some ways to support your body’s natural germ-fighting defenses:

•    Brush your teeth. Yep – it sounds a little silly, but brushing your teeth can help remove some of the germs that may have entered your mouth in an effort to make you the next victim of that wicked cold or horrid flu. Before you brush your teeth, make sure you thoroughly wash your hands. Also, make sure your toothbrush is clean. If it’s more than six weeks old, get a new one. Toothbrushes should be thrown out after you have used them for about four to six weeks. Beyond that window of time, your toothbrush is simply too worn out to be effective. If your toothbrush is newer than that, pour a small amount of hydrogen peroxide on the bristles between brushings and be sure to let your toothbrush dry out before you brush again. Hydrogen peroxide will wipe out the harmful bacteria hiding in your bristles, and bacteria can’t survive on dry nylon bristles. You could even splurge and buy yourself a second brush. By alternating use between two brushes, you can ensure that your brush is dry and bacteria-free before you brush again.

•    Take some probiotics. Probiotics for digestive health can help boost your immune system, because they fortify the native bacteria in your digestive tract. By supplementing with a digestive probiotic, you‘re giving your digestive bacteria a little extra help as they wrestle with the foreign, illness-causing bacteria. While you have probiotics on your mind, add EvoraPlus and EvoraKids oral care probiotics to your shopping list. Oral care probiotics help support gum and tooth health by crowding out harmful bacteria in the mouth. EvoraKids is formulated specifically to address the oral care needs of children ages 3-10, while EvoraPlus is the proper formulation for those over the age of 11. EvoraPlus not only supports gum and tooth health, it also naturally freshens breath at the source and gently whitens teeth.

•    Boost your vitamin C intake. What your mother and grandmother told you is true: drink your orange juice! Orange juice isn’t the only way to get vitamin C, though. Many vitamin C supplements are now combined with other immune-boosting supplements. These products are so common that you can likely find them at your local pharmacy, or in the supplement section of your favorite grocery store.

Don’t fall victim to the common cold and flu! When those around you are suffering with a cold or the flu, taking precautions can help you from becoming the next person who needs a sick day.

Stop the Nagging Cycle!

Looking for Ways to Help Kids Brush Better?

“Brush your teeth!” You say for the 5th or 10th or 28th time this week. Why do some kids need constant reminders to brush their teeth?

If you’re one of the many frustrated parents who finds yourself wondering that very thing fairly often, one of the major things to consider is whether your messages about the importance of good oral hygiene are geared toward the right audience.

Teaching Preschoolers About the Importance of Good Oral Care

Getting most preschoolers to brush their teeth regularly (and well) is as simple as finding ways to make it fun. Try different things, like putting a mirror low enough for your child to see himself while he brushes (kids love to look at themselves in the mirror!) or make up your own silly “brush your teeth” songs. If those ideas don’t seem like the ticket to getting your kiddo to take up the task of thorough, regular brushing, consider making brushing a fun game, or creating a sticker chart, which, once completed, promises a reward.

How to Discuss Oral Care with Younger Grade-Schoolers

By the time many children have entered grade school, they are much more comfortable with trips to the dentist’s office. This is very handy for teaching kids about the importance of brushing! Ask your dentist to talk about how good home-brushing and flossing habits can mean less time getting their teeth cleaned by the hygienists. Your family dentist is also one of your best allies in explaining how important brushing and flossing are to avoiding cavities.

Oral Care for Older Grade-Schoolers

As our children get a little older, it gets much harder to make sure they are taking good care of their hygiene in general. By approximately the age of 10 (depending on the child), children are far less willing to have their parents checking on their cleanliness. No more peeking in the shower to make sure they’re actually soaping up; way more moaning and complaining when you tell them to smile so you can check for plaque.

By those same ages, however, children DO understand the concept of responsibilities – at least better than younger children. If you are able to teach your older grade-schooler that it is his or her responsibility to keep teeth well brushed and flossed, you’re well on your way to ensuring that child’s good oral health.

If that child isn’t buying the “responsibility talk,” however, perhaps he or she would be more motivated by consequences. When used properly – by not being harsh or threatening things you would not deliver – consequences can be a good motivator for stubborn children. Figure out their currency. Is it video gaming? Watching TV? Going to a friend’s house? Tell him or her that the consequence for not brushing and flossing is losing that privilege they hold so dear. Then follow through – every time. Yes, it’s hard for both of you. But poor oral health is harder – for both of you!

Using the “Fear Factor” to Show Your Preteens the Necessity of Brushing and Flossing

If your preteen – or even young teen – is still slacking on his or her brushing and flossing, one of your best weapons is showing them evidence of the consequences of not taking responsibility for their oral health. Yes. That’s right. Google some really ugly pictures of tooth decay, print them out and get ready for a serious discussion about how your teen’s teeth could easily turn out that way if they can’t come to terms with a few minutes of brushing twice a day and once daily flossing.

As harsh as it sounds, this little dose of reality is all it takes for most preteens and young teens – who are highly concerned with their appearances! – to step up to the sink and get the job done right every day.

No matter the age of your child, there are ways to make sure they learn the importance of proper daily oral hygiene.

If you’re looking for other ways to support your children’s oral health, consider adding oral care probiotics to your child’s brushing and flossing routines. EvoraKids Wild Very Berry probiotic chews are specifically formulated to meet the oral health needs of children. For children ages 11 and up, EvoraPlus probiotic mints not only meet those needs – they also freshen breath. If your preteen or teen has that infamous teenager bad breath, they might really need the extra boost!

What’s That? I Need A Breath Mint?

Do you think your breath smells? Do you know?

If you notice that lots of people are offering your breath mints or gum, it really might mean that you DO have bad breath. Like the old saying goes, never turn down a breath mint!

Bad breath, also known as halitosis, is one of the most common oral health complaints.

The Bad News Behind Bad Breath

Unfortunately, the bad news about bad breath is that you may be the last to know that you have it.

The other bad news is that most breath fresheners not only cannot be trusted to do their jobs, but they are also usually full of sugar which is the ideal food for the bacteria that are causing your bad breath in the first place.

Yep, that’s right. Not only do breath fresheners NOT make your breath fresher, they actually make your breath smell worse.

Why Don’t Most Breath Fresheners Work?

Here’s how it works: Inside your mouth, there are hundreds of different species of bacteria. Most of them are completely harmless – they just find the warm, wet, dark place that is the human mouth a good place to call home. A few are a little more worrisome.

The worrisome bacteria include the bacteria known to cause tooth decay and periodontal disease.
Then there are a few other bacteria in the mouth that are considered beneficial bacteria. Why beneficial? Because, by their very presence, they keep the bad bacteria at bay. They compete for space and nutrients, effectively crowding out the harmful bacteria.

So, who’s to blame for your bad breath?

You guessed it – the same bacteria that claims the blame for cavities and periodontal disease. You see, when these little guys feast on sugar (a common ingredient in most breath fresheners) and other food particles, they release Volatile Sulfur Compounds , which smell just as bad as they sound.

Oral Care Probiotics For Truly Fresh Breath

The only way to truly eliminate bad breath is to get rid of the bacteria that causes it. By using a probiotic mint twice daily, you can allow the beneficial bacteria to keep the bad bacteria in check, and finally kiss that bad breath goodbye!

Now that makes sense!

Are Harmful Bacteria Winning the War in Your Mouth?

If you’re like most people, you probably brush your teeth at least twice daily, floss as often as possible and visit your dentist whenever it’s recommended. But are you happy with the appearance of your teeth? Are they white enough? And how about your breath? Minty fresh? If you’re not happy with your oral health basics, you’re not alone.

If you’re dedicated to following a pretty good oral care routine and still have stained (or yellow) teeth and bad breath, you may have a bacterial imbalance in your mouth. Like everywhere else in your body, your  mouth is loaded with bacteria. Each of those bacteria have a different story. Some of them are good for your tooth and gum health. Some are harmful. And many just happen to like the warm, wet, dark digs your mouth provides.

The harmful and beneficial bacteria in your mouth are directly at odds with one another. They compete for space on the teeth and food. If the bad bacteria is winning that war, one way you’ll know is in the smell of your breath. The harmful bacteria that reside in the mouth produces volatile sulfur compounds (VOCs) which are best known for their rotten-egg smell. Now, your breath doesn’t have to smell like rotten eggs to know that bad bacteria and VOCs are causing foul play. Bad breath is a sign that things are not right, and one simple way to rectify the situation is to address the bacterial imbalances in your mouth. Oral care probiotics help restore the beneficial bacteria in your mouth, giving those harmful bacteria less food to munch on and less room to grow.

Other signs that bad bacteria are gaining a strong foothold include poor tooth and gum health and bleeding gums.

For the moment, bad bacteria may be winning the battle in your mouth. But you don’t have to let them win the war! Fight back with oral care probiotics!

Say Boo! To Cavities

Understanding the Basics of Tooth Decay

If the abundance of sugary treats available at Halloween awakens you with nightmares of tooth decay, you’re not alone – many people think of tooth decay when they see bowls full of candies and trays full of donuts and cookies.

But how does sugar cause cavities, anyway? Let’s start from the beginning.

What is Tooth Decay?

Tooth decay is a breakdown of tooth enamel that only happens when foods containing carbohydrates (either sugars or starches) are left on the teeth. Harmful bacteria that naturally live in the mouth thrive on sugars and starches. When they consume these carbohydrates,these harmful bacteria produce acids that destroy tooth enamel and cause tooth decay.

Are Children the Only Ones With Cavities?

While children are at higher risk for cavities due to their diets and oral-care habits, adults are also at risk for developing cavities.
In adults, the areas exposed when the gums recede and also the areas surrounding old fillings are often the most susceptible to new cavities. These areas often provide the small spaces bacteria find ideal for growth.

How Can You Prevent Decay?

The following are some great tips for helping prevent tooth decay, according to the American Dental Association:

•    Brush your teeth twice a day.
•    Clean between teeth daily with floss.
•    Eat a balanced diet and limit between-meal snacks.
•    Visit your dentist regularly for professional cleanings and oral exams.
•    Ask your dentist about dental sealants, a protective plastic coating that can be applied to the chewing surfaces of the back teeth where decay often starts.

Taking an Extra Step to Support Tooth Health

For those who want to ensure that harmful bacteria don’t get the upper hand in their mouths, oral care probiotics are a great way to keep those harmful bacteria in check. Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that are natural residents of your mouth. By boosting their numbers, you are helping them in their fight against the harmful bacteria. Beneficial bacteria and harmful bacteria compete for both nutrients and places to live. When the beneficial bacteria have the upper hand, they successfully crowd out the harmful bacteria.

A Halloween Nightmare

Watch Your Mouth!

With extra candy, gum and other sugary treats lying around during the Halloween season, even the strongest-willed among us are inclined to do a little extra snacking. Who can resist a few nibbles of chocolate here, or a package of gummy treats there?

If you’re worried about your tooth health, and you just can’t (or won’t!) resist those yummy Halloween sweets, here are some ways you can protect your teeth.

Brush After Snacking

Of course, the most common sense rule is to brush your teeth after you indulge in sweets. Because the bacteria that are responsible for tooth decay love to snack on sugar, the best thing you can do to keep tooth decay at bay when you’ve been snacking on sweets is to brush that sugar away.

The other benefit to brushing is that it may slow down your snacking, if you’re the type to graze. You might be able to resist the candy dish (or your child’s bag of Halloween treats) if your teeth are freshly brushed.

Oral Care Probiotics

Using a probiotic mint, like EvoraPlus, can help crowd out the sugar-loving bacteria by competing with them for both space and nutrients. Using oral care probiotics supports gum and tooth health year ‘round, not just at Halloween!

Drink Water!

Drinking water between snacks helps rinse a little of the food – and sugar – from your teeth. It’s not nearly as effective as brushing your teeth, but if it’s the only thing you can do to clean your mouth after indulging in a little treat, it’s certainly better than nothing.

Tips for Avoiding Oral Thrush, And What to Do if You Have It

Candida albicans – It’s the technical name for the fungus that most moms call “thrush.”

Oral thrush is a condition in which the fungus accumulates on the lining of your mouth. In addition to painful creamy white lesions, oral thrush can appear on the roof of the mouth, the gums, tonsils and the back of the throat.

Babies and those who wear dentures are most affected by oral thrush infections, as are those who use inhaled corticosteroids and those whose immune systems are compromised.

Though oral thrush can be quite painful, it is only a minor problem for those who are healthy.

How You Can Prevent Oral Thrush

Keep It Clean!

Not only do bottles and pacifiers need to be sterilized, babies’ mouths need to be cleaned after feedings in order to help prevent thrush infections. If the baby is breast fed, it’s important that the mother keeps her nipples clean before and after feedings. It’s easy for mothers and babies to share oral thrush infections.

Good Digestion

The mouth isn’t the only place Candida albicans fungus likes to hang out. The digestive tract is another favorite haunt for these pesky health-wreckers. Not only does the Candida albicans fungus cause the painful lesions of oral thrush, it also causes major digestive discomfort if it travels into your stomach or intestines. To help avoid this, try eating lots of green, leafy vegetables and other fiber-rich roughage, which can help keep the intestines clear. Digestive probiotics can also keep Candida albicans out of the digestive tract.

What If You Suspect Your Or Your Baby Has Thrush?

Call your doctor. While there are many things you can do to avoid thrush, and many great ways to take care of yourself to avoid a relapse, if you think you or your child have thrush, the best thing you can do is call your doctor to confirm the diagnosis and prescribe the appropriate treatment.

How is Oral Thrush Treated?

As with many conditions, the treatment for oral thrush depends on the person.

Doctors tend to treat both mothers and their nursing babies, even if only one of them is presenting symptoms, simply to keep them from passing the infection back and forth. While the baby will take an antifungal medication, the mother is likely to use an antifungal cream for her breasts. Anything that regularly comes into contact with the baby’s mouth, like bottle nipples, pacifiers and teething toys will need to be rinsed in a solution of equal parts water and vinegar to inhibit the growth of fungus. The same goes for all parts of breast pumps that come into contact with the mother’s milk.

Healthy adults and child with oral thrush may be able to get their symptoms under control simply by eating unsweetened yogurt or taking acidophilus capsules or liquid. Yogurt and acidophilus don’t destroy the fungus, but they can help restore the normal bacterial flora. If the infection persists, a doctor generally will prescribe an antifungal medication.

Adults with weakened immune systems need to go straight antifungal medication.

What’s That Smell?

Ready to Kiss That Morning Breath Goodbye?

Was it the onions on your salad? That cup of decaf after dinner? When you wake up with morning breath, the cause hardly matters. You want the bad taste in your mouth – and the stink that goes with it – gone, and fast, please!

If your morning breath is caused by foods like garlic, onions or even beverages coffee, it will probably linger even if you give brushing and flossing your very best shot. The breakdown of food particles in and around your teeth can cause a lasting foul odor. After foods like onions and garlic are digested and the pungent oils are absorbed into your bloodstream, they’re carried to your lungs and are given off in your breath until the foods are eliminated from your body.

Another major cause of morning breath is dry mouth. Not only do our mouths produce less saliva at night, if you are a mouth-breather or someone who snores through your mouth, you’re likely to have a very dry mouth at night. This can translate to some very smelly breath in the morning. Drinking alcohol can also lead to dry mouth.

If you suffer from periodontal disease, you may also have morning breath. Fortunately, this is something you can potentially avoid by brushing and flossing properly before bed each night. If you don’t brush and floss daily, food particles remain in your mouth, collecting bacteria that can emit chemicals, such as hydrogen sulfide — the compound that gives rotten eggs their characteristic smell. Over time, a colorless, sticky film of bacteria called (plaque) forms on your teeth.

If it’s not brushed away, plaque can irritate your gums, causing gingivitis and tooth decay, and eventually forming plaque-filled pockets between your teeth and gums called periodontitis.

The microscopic uneven surface of the tongue also can trap bacteria that produce odors.

In addition to carefully and thoroughly brushing and flossing your teeth before bed each night, consider using oral care probiotics. By flooding the mouth with good bacteria, oral care probiotics leave little room for smelly bacteria to thrive. But don’t think of it as a short-term solution like a piece of gum or a mouthwash. Used twice daily, oral care probiotics hit bad breath where it really counts, knocking out the bad bacteria in places that brushing and flossing alone simply can’t, like in the pits and crevices of the teeth, deep beneath the gums and in the surface of the tongue.

Now that you know what’s behind that stinky morning breath, don’t you think it’s time to go ahead and kiss it goodbye?

Things to Consider

Less Saliva Means More Cavities

Dry mouth is a common problem that could lead to an even more common – and more costly and painful problem – cavities.

A number of things can reduce the flow of saliva. The prevailing cause generally is medication. From antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications to diuretics, narcotics, antihistamines and blood pressure medications, many prescription and over-the-counter medications can quell your normal flow of saliva.

You may have also noticed that your mouth is dry at night. This is because when we sleep, salivary glands produce less saliva. Our salivary glands also tend to produce less as we age, so dry mouth is more common in older people. Not only that, the composition of our saliva changes as we age, making our saliva less protective as we age.

Unfortunately, any alteration in the quantity or quality of one’s saliva can reduce the benefits that saliva can provide. The presence of xerostomia, which refers to a state of diminished salivary flow, can tip the balance between tooth demineralization and remineralization in favor of tooth decay, or the forming of cavities.

Brush and Floss

Since salivary flow decreases at night, be sure to brush and floss at night before going to bed to ensure that you’re removing both food particles that may be left behind and as much harmful bacteria as possible.

Drink!

Those with chronically dry mouths should drink plenty of fluids to stay hydrated, to moisten the mouth and to keep food and bacteria from staying lodged between teeth.

Try Oral Care Probiotics

Saliva isn’t the only thing that protects your teeth from harmful bacteria. The good bacteria that live in your mouth also help to protect your teeth and gums from the harmful bacteria that reside there. Oral care probiotics help replenish those residential beneficial bacteria to support gum and tooth health.

Chew Sugarless Gum

Since chewing increases the flow of saliva, chewing sugarless gum can help increase your flow of saliva without feeding the bacteria known to cause cavities and gum disease.