Dental Health for Adults (seattle dental implants)

March 25th, 2010 admin Posted in hygiene |

By Sybil Carver

The generation of baby boomers will be the first where the majority will keep their natural teeth over their entire lifetime. One huge contributing factor would be their having benefited from water fluoridation and cavity preventing toothpastes.

The number of adults missing all their natural teeth over the past 10 years has declined from 31 percent to 25 percent for those aged 60 years and older, and from 9 percent to 5 percent for those adults between 40 and 59 years.Unfortunately, 5 percent translates to an astounding 1 out of 20 middle-aged adults that are still missing all their teeth. Over 40 percent of poor adults (20 years and older) have at least one untreated decayed tooth compared to 16 percent of non-poor adults.

Toothaches are still the most common pain of the mouth or face reported by adults. Anyone who has ever had a toothache can attest to the fact that this pain can interfere with vital functions such as eating, swallowing, and talking. Amazingly, almost 1 of every 4 adults reported some form of facial pain in the past 6 months.

Not only baby boomers but most adults show signs of gum disease. Severe gum disease affects about 14 percent of adults aged 45 to 54 years. Signs and symptoms of soft tissue diseases such as cold sores are common in adults and affect about 19 percent of those aged 25 to 44 years. Millions of Americans are affected by compromised oral health and chronic disabling diseases such as jaw joint diseases (TMD), diabetes, and osteoporosis.

Women report certain painful mouth and facial conditions (TMD disorders, migraine headaches, and burning mouth syndrome) more often than men. More than 400,000 cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy suffer from oral problems such as painful mouth ulcers, impaired taste, and dry mouth every year. Hospital patients with weakened immune systems, such as those infected with HIV and other medical conditions (organ transplants) and who use some medications (e.g., steroids), are at higher risk for some oral problems.

More than 164 million hours of work each year by employed adults are lost due to oral health problems or dental visits. The customer service industry employees incredibly lose 2 to 4 times more work hours than executives or professional workers.

Seventy percent of adults reported visiting a dentist in the past 12 months. Those with incomes at or above the poverty level are much more likely to report a visit to a dentist in the past 12 months as those with lower incomes.For every adult 19 years or older without medical insurance, there are three without dental insurance.

Additional informative on health issues may be found at oral and dental Read more on Dental Health for Adults

Food Hygiene: The Importance of Using Different Chopping Boards for Different Foods

By Andrea Flint

Food Hygiene - it’s a topic you probably have heard on televised cooking shows. There is a very good reason to understand the importance of using different chopping boards for different foods. There are some important differences in chopping boards as well, in the materials they are made from.

First, why use different chopping boards for different foods? This is a basic sanitation issue. Any time you cut with a blade, there can be tiny grooves left in the cutting boards. The grooves can harbor germs, and bacteria. It is very important to separate raw from cooked foods, in particular meats and poultry. You should also separate the meat from the poultry. This is accomplished by having several boards available and marked for each particular use.

By cutting raw meat on a board and later using the same board for working with cooked meat, the juices and any bacteria from the raw meat are transferred to the cooked meat, and can cause intestinal problems for the person who then eats that cooked meat. The same is true for raw vegetables. Of course, you would wash the vegetables to rid them of dirt and any contaminants, but with the groove situation and bacteria, you could also transfer the raw vegetable problems to your cooked food.

A far better solution is to purchase several chopping boards. If you have ever watched a certain popular cooking show chef, surely you would have heard him caution regarding the important of using different chopping boards. He mentions the ‘chicken police’ and ‘pork police’, and even has different colored cutting boards for each so they do not get mixed up. This is a great idea you can copy!

You can wash and disinfect chopping boards with soapy warm water, and a light diluted bleach solution. You can re-plane wood boards, and clean with coarse salt. Replace your board when needed. Do not put wood boards into dishwashers or soak them in water. A very light grade food quality mineral oil can be used on wood boards to help keep water out of the grooves.

Second, what about the materials chopping boards are made from? Common kitchen chopping boards are made from wood or plastic. Others are available, made from steel, glass, marble, or corian, but although these may be easier to clean than wood or plastic, they can damage your knife blade edges.

Food Hygiene starts with the importance of using different chopping boards for different foods. It ends with healthy meals and healthy, happy people!

Andrea writes for a kitchen accessories site where you can browse a huge range of cooking products including chopping boards.

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