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Good Neighbor Podcast North Atlanta
Bringing Together Local Businesses & Neighbors of North Atlanta
Good Neighbor Podcast North Atlanta
EP #65: Kaplan Orthodontics - Do Braces Cause Cavities? with Dr. Jason Kaplan
Do braces cause cavities? This thought-provoking question forms the backbone of our lively discussion with Dr. Jason Kaplan, our trusted expert from Kaplan Orthodontics. Pouring light on this common misconception, Dr. Kaplan helps us understand the complex relationship between braces and cavity formation. He expertly breaks down how food particles and bacteria interact in our mouth, leading to cavities and how braces, acting like ledges, can serve as platforms for these bacteria to accumulate.
This episode is not only an enlightening discussion about braces and oral hygiene but also a wake-up call for better tooth-care practices. Whether you're wearing braces or know someone who is, this episode is a must-listen. So, grab your toothbrushes and let's get to work on keeping those pearly whites healthy!
This is the Good Neighbor podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Stacey Risley.
Speaker 2:Hello friends and neighbors, Welcome to today's episode of North Atlanta's Good Neighbor podcast. Today we're here with Dr Jason Kaplan of Kaplan Orthodontist. He's our expert contributor for Dunwoody Neighbor's Magazine and he's back with us a second time to discuss his most recent article in Dunwoody Neighbors. It's going to be in our December issues and we are so happy to have you back, Dr Kaplan. How are you?
Speaker 3:I am great, stacey. Thank you for having me back on. This is a really fun topic that we get a lot of questions about, so I'm not going to spoil the title of the article and I'll let you introduce it, but I'm really excited to share the information with your viewers.
Speaker 2:Well, we are excited for you to do that, and I will get to ask the one question that we're going to ask today, and it happens to be the title of the article, and it is do braces cause cavities? So go ahead and educate us. Do braces cause cavities.
Speaker 3:So for those people who are rushed for time, the short answer is no, they don't. But for those of you who have extra time, let's talk about it a little bit. So braces actually do not cause cavities, and what happens during the process, or having to answer the process with food, is that food gets broken down by bacteria and that bacteria secretes an acid on your tooth that creates a cavity and cavities start out at different stages.
Speaker 3:They start out you know, it's white and then they get to be different colors browns and yellows and eventually it breaks through the enamel that's the outside surface of the tube. So we have this process that goes from healthy enamel to cavitation and the slang for it is really a cavity and so we call them dental caries. So when patients have braces, they have these squares, these rectangles or bumps that are attached to their teeth and those serve as platforms for bacteria to collect. I mean, if you think about it, anytime you've got a ledge and you look at that ledge, there's always dust that hangs out on that ledge. Like you always have to dust your countertops, you have to dust the top of, like your chest of drawers. Why? Because the dust settles there right. And so the same thing happens when you're eating.
Speaker 3:You get some food, you put it in, you chew it all up but, still little pieces get caught between your teeth, they get caught in the gum line and most definitely they get caught around the braces. So we have to figure out a way in dentistry, and definitely in orthodontics, to educate our patients about how to take care of their braces and their teeth so they don't get those cavities. And a lot of folks over the years have said, oh, the braces caused this, but they really don't. It's user error, right? It's the person not using their toothbrush the way that they need to or the dental floss the way they need to in order to keep everything clean. So that's really the gist of do braces orthodontics cause cavities?
Speaker 2:Okay, so something that you said that resonated with me because it happened actually to me. You said that cavities start as, and they move through, different colors, and I've seen this happened with when my braces were removed and in the ninth grade I remember so well I had a white little line around the bottom one of my bottom teeth, around where the bracket had been, and I didn't realize that that was the beginning stage of a cavity. So that was and it makes perfect sense what you were saying you know that it's a shelf. You know for lack of a better word that the bracket acts as a shelf for that bacteria to collect, and so that was actually that little white mark that was made was a was the beginning stages of a cavity. I did not know that.
Speaker 2:So that and it wasn't caused from the bracket. It was caused from the fact that I didn't do a good job of brushing that one tooth.
Speaker 3:But it only worked. The bracket is just like the white spot or the white line is just the outline of where the bacteria was able to really collect and that there's nothing more disappointing than that day that the braces are coming off and you remove the brackets and you've been talking to your patients for months about are you brushing, are you flossing? You've shown videos on how to do it. You send the YouTube. I mean there's a billion videos on YouTube on how to clean your teeth. Information is easily accessible. We're not hiding anything in the dental profession. We want you to help.
Speaker 2:You're not keeping it a secret.
Speaker 1:No, no, no. This is this is open information Everybody can see this.
Speaker 3:But when the bracket comes off and you look at this beautiful tooth that's nicely aligned and the bite that fits together so well, and now there's something that draws your eye away from all of that hard work the 18 months, the two years, and some people it can even take longer. And now you don't really get to enjoy the true fact that you have this beautiful smile because there's more work to be done, and that work to reverse the process if it can be reversed takes time and it takes additional money and nobody wants to spend more. You don't want to buy a new roof if you don't have to buy a new roof. Forgive me, roofers, we need new roofs, right, but if you don't need one, you just don't go buy roofs. And the same thing with teeth If we don't have to spend money to fix something that was entirely preventable by five cents or less of toothpaste on the bristle side of the toothbrush and really getting in there, then it's a win for everyone.
Speaker 3:And it's one of the things that I mentioned in the article is about diet and one of the types of foods that we need to be looking at in order to help, because bacteria respond differently to the food we feed them. I mean, think about our bodies. If we give our bodies a lot of high fatty foods, a lot of fried foods, our body can't process all the healthy nutrients that we need in order to be able to grow. But bacteria love those things right, and so they eat them up and then they create much more acid. So we look for things that are karyogenic. So karyogenic means at cavity producing or karies producing, and the number one thing what do you think, stacy, what do you think people like associate cavities with? Automatically?
Speaker 2:Candy.
Speaker 3:That's right, that's right, because there's a ton of sugar and bacteria process sugar, so well made acid. But it's also in white bread, protein bars and soft drinks and juice pretzels like we don't tell you not to eat pretzels because they're hard and just because they're hard and crunchy, they have these. These cavity make these high karyogenic properties that can create those white lines. So we look for things and recommend things in diets that are still healthy lean meats, brown rice, lentils, meat those are things that are low karyogenic and very healthy for you, salads very healthy. And there are even things that are opposite of that, like they're anti-karyogenic, they actually help fight off the bacteria. So looking at milks and teas and cheeses, those things can really help out. So you know, we can be proactive in the brushing, but we could also be really proactive in what we're eating.
Speaker 2:I have to say I was really surprised to read, you know, that, that pretzels I found the most surprising, you know. I think that you know, if this was our regular interview like that, with the questions that we asked, the same, you know, the myths and misconceptions this would. That would be one for this, for this article, and and because I always thought that pretzels were like the healthy alternative to potato chips, you know, or Doritos and you know, and that I fed my kids pretzels, you know when they were growing up.
Speaker 3:You're thinking that that was a healthy food but they are not fried, right, they're baked and not fried, and so when we're choosing what we're gonna eat, you know everything has a it's in moderation, like we've been hearing. It aren't here. I am, it's 49 years of my entire life and all I've heard is you don't need to die, you just need to be. You eat in moderation and you'll be able to enjoy many things. And the same thing goes with those patients who are wearing orthodontic graces or even in clear aligner therapy that that may have attachments on their teeth, of those patients who are in disalign you. You just want to watch the amount and the style of food or the type of food that you're eating in order to best help your teeth move, because we really want that to happen your body to grow and also to prevent any negative effects that that could happen.
Speaker 3:I mean we tell patients you know who are smokers. It slows down the ability for your teeth to move. Like there's a lot of body chemistry that we have to take into consideration and we're not just being trying to be annoying, as as orthodontist, to say you can't have all of your favorite foods. We're saying it for an in for a reason. We want you to get through treatment successfully and we want you to have the healthiest teeth. Oh and before I forget diet ice, please avoid chewing on ice. Unless it's the soft little pellet ice, that's fine, but the big chunks of ice like it's not bad for your teeth because it's gonna make cavities. It's bad because it could. Your teeth could chip and you could knock your braces off.
Speaker 3:I just had to get that in there. It's not cavities, but I want to make sure, since I was talking about diet, that I threw in some, you know some ice.
Speaker 2:No, that is good information, because I I am also, and I used to be an ice chewer and like, literally one time I thought I had I it was a really hard, big piece of ice and I bit into it and I really thought I broke my tooth and I didn't, fortunately, but like it it was it really so. Then I have stopped chewing. And then you, then you said that about pellet ice and I'm like, oh, that's my favorite, I can't chew it.
Speaker 3:So years ago. Years ago, I made a bunch of t-shirts for the schools and it was something that I called the two to two rule, so I want to share that with you and it's it's. It's visit a dentist two times a year and you brush two times a day and you brush for at least two minutes each time. Now that two to two rule is. It is important because it gives about 30 seconds of brushing in each quadrant. Now, for braces patients, it's gonna take you longer. There's there's no doubt about it, but at a minimum you should be brushing on all surfaces of the braces and brushing into the gum line and brushing your tongue and don't forget to floss right. So we've got brushing for two minutes a day, brushing for two times a day and visiting a dentist twice a year, and that really helps out. Our braces patients actually should add a little bit in there to help with potential cavities by visiting their dentist while embraces every three to four months.
Speaker 3:And most of the doctors that the dentists that I work with really appreciate seeing their patients about every three months because it gives them another opportunity to really watch for cavities that are being created and help guide the patient through to a successful treatment. So two-to-two rule is pretty awesome.
Speaker 2:If that sounds like very good advice and helpful information. Well, Dr Kaplan, it has been an absolute pleasure having you on again today, and we look forward to the next time that you are on to talk about an artist.
Speaker 3:Thank you, Stacy. This is always fun to be able to hang out with you and share some thoughts about what's going on in the world of teeth.
Speaker 2:Well, as we said we told you during the pre-interview, you're one of our favorite guests here. Thank you, so. We're always just so super nice. So thank you so much for being here, dr Kaplan, and that's all for today's episode. Atlanta. I'm Stacy Risley with the Good Neighbor podcast. Thanks for listening and for supporting the local businesses and nonprofits of our great community.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor podcast North Atlanta. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, Go to GNPNorthAtlantacom. That's GNPNorthAlanacom, or call 470-946-7007. Nandela.
