Why brushing teeth is important?
A. Introduction
Have you wonder why we must brush our teeth routinely? Teeth are one of the important organ of our
body. Without teeth, we can’t chew our food and it can’t help the digestive system to soften the food
we consume. So, do teeth need maintenance? Of course it does, some of us since our childhood, our
parents teach us to brush our teeth in the morning, after eat and before sleeping. Why? Brushing teeth
could prevent diseases like, plaque, tooth decay and not that, if we didn’t keep the hygiene of our
teeth, it could leads to heart problem and could also cause stroke. From our good habit, it also can
produce a good health as well.
Our Teeth
Humans usually have 20 primary (deciduous, "baby" or "milk") teeth and 32 permanent (adult) teeth.
Teeth are classified as incisors, canines, premolars (also called bicuspids), and molars. Incisors are
primarily used for biting pieces from foods, while molars are used primarily for grinding foods after they
are already in bite size pieces inside the mouth.
Parts of teeth are
Enamel
Enamel is the hardest and most highly mineralized substance of the body.
It is one of the four major tissues which make up the tooth, It is normally
visible and must be supported by underlying dentin. 96% of enamel
consists of mineral, with water and organic material comprising the rest.
Dentin
Dentin is the substance between enamel or cementum and the pulp
chamber of the dental pulp. The formation of dentin is known as
dentinogenesis. Because it is softer than enamel, it decays more rapidly
and is subject to severe cavities if not properly treated, but dentin still
acts as a protective layer and supports the crown of the [Link] is a
mineralized connective tissue with an organic matrix of collagenous
proteins.
Cementum
Cementum is a specialized bone like substance covering the root of a tooth.. Its coloration is yellowish
and it is softer than either dentin or enamel. The principal role of cementum is to serve as a medium by
which the periodontal ligaments can attach to the tooth for stability
Pulp
The dental pulp is the central part of the tooth filled with soft connective tissue . This tissue contains
blood vessels and nerves that enter the tooth from a hole at the apex of the root. Along the border
between the dentin and the pulp are odontoblasts, which initiate the formation of dentin [.The pulp is
commonly called "the nerve" of the tooth.
B. Experimentation :
Why do we need to brush our teeth?
Through this simple experiment we can see why brushing our teeth is important. I have found out
the effect of acid to our teeth through this experiment when we do not brush our teeth.
Materials needed:
Two eggs
Vinegar
Toothpaste
Two containers
Procedure :
Soak one egg in 20 ml vinegar with water and another egg in toothpaste. Then observe for 6
days.
Observation:
The egg shell of an egg is a hard and inorganic
calcium called calcium bicarbonate. And this egg
shell reacts with acid easily because of its
composition. The porous egg shell enabled the
embryo for respiration and it has a big resistance to
resist bacteria if keep dried.
Since egg shell and teeth both composed of calcium
so most likely we can see the reaction of acid to
calcium in our teeth using egg.
the egg shell was dissolved when soaked in vinegar
nd
for the 2 day appears this way. The egg shell became soft and it decolorized.
After six days…..
And skipped on the 6th days the
egg shows great difference, only
found a small amount of shell
that if being touched by hand it
will dissolved by itself and feels
like a sand. This shows that the
acid has eaten most of the
calcium in the egg.
This photo (left) is the outer layer of the egg
itself, 2nd layer before the egg, and white chalklike
powder in the hand is the shell that were left
after being touched.
And it was proven that the egg dipped in the toothpaste with water was stronger than an ordinary
egg. I’ve dipped
this egg for 6
days too.
The left egg is an
egg that was
burst already. Its
shell was not
easily broken
compared to the
ordinary egg.
We could also
look from the
color itself, the
egg dipped in
the toothpaste
has more whiter color than the ordinary one. And see the difference of the cracks.
So.. Can we say that it is related in the treatment of our teeth? By brushing our teeth with toothpaste
will make our teeth stronger? Lets check what are the contains of a toothpaste.
Toothpaste
Toothpaste is a paste or gel dentifrice
used with a toothbrush as an accessory to
clean and maintain the aesthetics and
health of teeth. Toothpaste is used to
promote oral hygiene: it serves as an
abrasive that aids in removing the dental
plaque and food from the teeth, assists in
suppressing halitosis, and delivers active
ingredients (most commonly fluoride) to
help prevent tooth and gum disease. The
ingredients of toothpaste are
Abrasive:
Abrasives constitute at least 50% of a typical toothpaste. These insoluble particles help remove plaque
from the teeth. The removal of plaque and calculus helps minimize cavities and periodontal disease
Fluoride:
is the most popular active ingredient in toothpaste to prevent cavities. Fluoride occurs in small amounts
in plants, animals, and some natural water sources. The additional fluoride in toothpaste has beneficial
effects on the formation of dental enamel and bones
Surfactants:
Many, although not all, toothpastes contain sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) or related surfactants
(detergents). SLS is found in many other personal care products, as well, such as shampoo, and is mainly
a foaming agent, which enables uniform distribution of toothpaste, improving its cleansing power.
So… does it important to brush our teeth???
The answer is YES!! Totally important!
We can say that taking care of the hygiene of our mouth and teeth is one way to keep our body healthy,
here is some disease and effect of not taking care of our teeth.
Heart Problems
No, not the heartache or something that made us sad, grief, etc. but truly, not taking care of our teeth
could cause heart attack, coronary heart problem and heart disorder.
Stuck in Blood Circulation
Plague could be collected in the wall of our blood arteries . therefore, it decrease the speed of blood
flow and even stopped its flow. And it could causes stroke.
Teeth decay
Bacteria that are seldom to be cleaned will surely create a hole or decay in a teeth. Not only painful, the
process of digesting food become imperfect.
Respiration problem
Laziness in brushing teeth affect lungs too. Example are asthma, infection lung cancer and etc.
It is recommended to brush teeth twice a day, before sleep and after breakfast. Especially before sleep
is very important, because the bacteria in teeth produce acid more while we are sleeping. So brushing
teeth is a simple act but it has a great effect in our daily life. Its application is similar to the observation
done with the egg dipped in the vinegar water, it is very weak and able to destroyed easily. But an egg
dipped in toothpaste water have more power, more tough because it is treated well and protected by
the toothpaste that have many good contains.
As a youth, to be healthy is a must and it is good to maintain our physical health and look. As a Christian,
it is best to have a pleasant and happy face so others could be blesses. But what if we have a bad
condition of teeth? Not nice right… so it is best to keep our teeth healthy so we could go through our
activity with a great confidence and without a smelly smell from our mouth. So, keep smile and brush
your teeth twice a day!