The EggSperiment – For Teachers

This is a fun experiment for parents and teachers to show kids how fluoride helps protect teeth against tooth decay. The Canadian Dental Association recommends adult supervision for this activity.

Background

Eggshells and teeth both have something in common; they can be weakened by acid. When you put an egg in vinegar, it attacks the shell similar to how your teeth are vulnerable to weak acid attacks.

*Note for teachers: You might like to create a checklist for the following steps on your blackboard or on paper handouts to involve your whole class in this activity in this EggSperiment.

Purpose

This experiment shows how you can help lock in the calcium in an eggshell – and your teeth – by protecting them with a fluoride toothpaste.

Time Needed

This experiment can take 5 or 6 days so if this is being done at school, start on a Thursday or Friday afternoon.

Materials

Crest for Kids Cavity Protection Sparkle Gel toothpaste
Paper towel
Teaspoon
Plastic wrap
Marker or pen
Clear nail polish
Glass measuring cup (500 ml / two cups)
Three or four eggs without cracks – fresh or hard boiled*
Table vinegar

*NOTE: You’ll only need one egg for the experiment but you might want to use 3 or 4 eggs just in case one egg gets dropped.

Preparation

Let the egg warm to room temperature
Empty the tube of toothpaste into the measuring cup.
Remove any air bubbles in toothpaste by patting it down with a teaspoon.
Wash your hands and the egg with warm water and dry using a paper towel
Mark one side of the egg with a small “X” using a pen or marker to show the side that will not be covered (protected) by the toothpaste.
Cover the mark with the nail polish to protect it from the coming vinegar.
Horizontally, place the egg into the measuring cup to cover half the egg with toothpaste. But make sure the bottom of the cup doesn’t touch the egg.
Use plastic wrap to cover the cup and put it in a safe place. Place it in room temperature for 4 days.

Acid Attack

After 4 days, use the teaspoon to carefully remove the egg and rinse off the toothpaste with some warm tap water.
Let the egg dry overnight.
On the next day, pour enough vinegar into the measuring cup that will submerge the egg
Carefully place the egg into the vinegar solution
You and your students will see gas bubbles quickly begin to form and rise from the unprotected side of the egg. The shell is being attacked by acid.
Leave the egg in the vinegar until the side with the “X” softens. This could take between 7 and 13 hours. You can leave it overnight and record the number of hours the egg spent in the vinegar.

Results

After the egg has been in the vinegar for at least 7 hours, you can check if the unprotected side has softened by using your finger to tap it very lightly
When finally soft, carefully remove the egg and wash it with warm water.
Holding the egg, you can now tap the unprotected side (side with the “X”) and compare the weak shell with the protected side, which should be much harder.

The fluoride in the toothpaste helped to make the eggshell strong, protecting it from the acid in vinegar. Fluoride is a mineral found in nature. It makes the hard, outer layer of teeth (called enamel) stronger. – Canadian Dental Association

We hope you and your kids learned something about enamel and the importance of protecting your teeth with fluoride!

Source: http://www.cda-adc.ca/en/oral_health/teaching_resources/eggsperiment.asp

December 8, 2020January 27, 2021

How Do Cavities Affect Your Teeth – and How to Prevent Them

cartoon tooth with cavity on side of tooth

What is a Cavity?

A cavity is a small hole that forms on the surface of a tooth because of a bacteria mixture. When we eat sugary food, the bacteria in our mouths produce an acid that eats away at the enamel of our teeth (outer layer). Cavities can happen more often in childhood, but adults get them too!

Fillings:

These cavities form around the filling because fillings are not as smooth as natural teeth and small food bits and bacteria work their way into the filling. This allows a cavity to form. And when a filling breaks, the section of the tooth that isn’t covered is more likely to get a cavity.

Roots

These cavities form around the root of a tooth. If you like to brush hard or have a bad habit of it, your gum line can recede. Getting older can also cause this gum recession. When your gums no longer cover the roots, the roots of the teeth unprotected and are more likely to get cavities.

Soft Drinks

Did you know that soft drinks or sodas —even those that are sugar-free —have a concentrated acid that eats away at tooth enamel. If you can’t live without them, you can drink them quickly and use a straw to avoid extended contact with your teeth.

A List of How to Prevent Cavities

Cut out sugary foods and drinks
Eat vitamin D
Chew on sugar-free gum (Healthy alternatives like Xylitol or Stevia)
Brush with fluoride toothpaste
Rinse your mouth with mouthwash
Visit your dentist regularly
Drink some tap water
Consider dental sealants

Dental Exam

Dental exams are extensive and thorough. When you get your dental exam, your dentist will check your fillings and previous dental and health history to see if anything would suggest that you replace any broken or loose fillings. Your dentist will check for any signs of decay that would be seen in brown or black spots on your teeth.

Your dentist may want to use X-rays to look closer at these spots. If a cavity shows up in the x-rays, your dentist may wait and watch it (if it’s small), or suggest filling it immediately. Without cleaning and filling a cavity right away, you can lose your tooth. If this does happen, it will have to be replaced by an artificial tooth for adults which don’t have natural replacements.

Besides a tooth extraction to replace your tooth, your dentist may offer fluoride treatments, fillings, a crown, or a root canal.

Source: https://www.cda-adc.ca/en/oral_health/talk/complications/diseases/cavities.asp

Learn more about how a Dental exam works and can prevent cavities here.

Want to Book an Appointment for your child? Drop us a message

February 6, 2019October 21, 2020

How to Make Dental Health Fun For Kids

young kids playing with dental toy to learn good dental habits

As adults, we barely think of brushing our teeth as “a chore.” The cost of a cavity seems like a pretty high price to pay for skipping out on two minutes of dental hygiene. Kids, however, are still working on learning this skill and aren’t worried about consequences they haven’t experienced themselves. For some, brushing teeth can even mean wild tantrums and tears, so we’re here to share a few tips and tricks that’ll help kids get excited about their oral hygiene!

But before we get started, it’s helpful for parents to understand why their kids avoid teeth brushing in the first place.

It’s boring! Two minutes can feel like an eternity for them, especially when that brand new lego set is calling from the room next door. Time spent brushing their teeth is competing with every other “fun” activity.
It tastes gross! Ever seen a kid shove a plate of broccoli across the table? The same goes for toothpaste. If they decide it’s yucky, they’ll do everything they can to avoid it.
It’s too hard! Kids are still working on refining their motor skills, so even simple tasks like teeth brushing can require a lot more effort.

So now that you’ve got an idea as to why kids will try dodging the toothbrush, let’s dive into some more “exciting” approaches to this daily routine.

Create a “Toothbrush Treasure Chest”

Fill a “treasure chest” with all kinds of fun prizes (these could even be new toothbrushes and toothpaste flavours). Print of a weekly checklist for the bathroom and when your kid has earned a full week of checkmarks for brushing and flossing, let them pick a “prize” from the chest.

Invite them to pick a “Brush Buddy”

Kids love their stuffed animals. Most of the time they even consider them to be friends. Have your kid pick one of their stuffed animals and deem this stuffy their “brush buddy.” Every morning and night, your child and “brush buddy” can brush their teeth together.

Buy an animal toothbrush and build a backstory

There are tons of fun toothbrushes to pick from at the grocery store. Find one that resembles an animal and give it a backstory. For example, a tiger toothbrush might love exploring caves, checking for healthy teeth. If the child’s teeth are clean, the tiger can report back to the land’s “king” or “queen,” saying the child has passed all inspections.

Create a “Smile Passport”

Build a “smile passport” that takes kids on a tooth brushing journey. As they venture forth, they’ll get a stamp in their passport. Start with rinsing the mouth, then lead into brushing and flossing. End with gargling or using mouth wash.

Pick a toothbrushing song

Pick a song that you and your kid can dance to as they brush their teeth. You can even break the song into parts and shift focus to brushing different teeth as the song progresses.

Brush together and have them play “copy cat”

Kids are still watching everything you do and learning from your actions. Take advantage of this and have them mimic your teeth brushing routine. See if they can do it “exactly like mom or dad.”

Play dentist and have them check for healthy teeth

If your kid is a fan of playing dress-up, incorporate this into their tooth brushing routine. They could wear their “dentist coat” and start by checking your teeth with a flashlight. Once they’ve done this, ask them to find and brush those same teeth in their own mouth.

Learn more about Children’s Dental Care here.

Want to Book an Appointment for your child? Drop us a message

February 6, 2017February 9, 2021

Save Your Smile with Cosmetic Dentistry

How to Save your smile using cosmetic dentistry

What is cosmetic dentistry?

Cosmetic dentistry is generally used to refer to any dental work that improves the appearance (though not necessarily the functionality) of teeth, gums and/or bite. It primarily focuses on improvement in dental aesthetics in color, position, shape, size, alignment and overall smile appearance.

Here are some different examples of cosmetic dentistry:

1. Teeth Whitening
Believe it or not, teeth whitening can be one of the least expensive and simplest ways to save your smile. For $500 or less, your teeth can be bleached professionally with in-office products in-office or you can bleach your teeth at home. There are over the counter products that can also be more convenient options that include whitening rinses, toothpaste, and Whitestrips. These can cost between $3 to over $50 in retail stores.

2. Dental Veneers
Known as “Hollywood Teeth”, dental veneers are thin shells of tooth-coloured porcelain or resin that cover your tooth from the front to change its colour, shape, size, or length. Before they’re placed, about a half millimetre of enamel from your tooth surface is removed and then these are bonded or cemented to the front of the teeth.

3. Dental Bonding
Using an ultraviolet or laser light, a tooth-coloured resin is applied to the tooth to harden and bond the material to the tooth. It is then trimmed, shaped, and polishes by your dentist. Bonding is quite useful when repairing chipped, cracked, misshapen or decayed teeth; it also serves as a cosmetic alternative to, or replacement for, silver or amalgam fillings. Bonding can take about 30 to 60 minutes per tooth.

4. Dental Crown
These are known in dentistry as a cap that fits over the entire damaged tooth above the gum line to restore its strength and appearance. These crowns can hold a cracked tooth together, keep a weak tooth from breaking, or cover up discoloured or mishappen teeth. Materials for crowns can range from porcelain-fused-to-metal, resin, metal, or ceramic.

5. Inlays and Onlays
Inlays and Onlays are made from porcelain, gold, or composite to fill decayed or damaged teeth. Because of this, they are called indirect fillings.They are molded into place when you visit a dental office but are created in a dental lab before being bonded into place by your dentist. The bonding happens the centre of your tooth and is called the inlay and is called an onlay when the filling happens on the outer edge of your biting surfaces. Inlays and onlays are an alternative to crowns and preserve as much as possible of your natural tooth.

6. Dental Implants
Dental implants are a replacement tooth made of titanium that are inserted into the bone of the missing tooth. As the jawbone heals, the bone root grows around the implanted post, securing it in place inside the jaw and providing the foundation for a replacement tooth.

Other Options
We use Laser dentistry that doesn’t involve drills and heals quicker than traditional dentistry when we do some of our cosmetic dentistry, so you’re not uncomfortable during your dental visit.

Learn more or book an appointment today!

Learn more from Crest

4602-50 Street Red Deer, Alberta T4N1W9

PARK CITY DENTAL

Tag: advice