With the temperature climbing remember to stay cool this summer.  Scouting magazine had a great article on heat exhaustion, click here to read the full article. http://scoutingmagazine.org/2015/04/how-to-survive-heat-exhaustion/

Remember to drink lots of water, and find a good swimming hole.  These are Dr Jared's boys at Pineview Dam.  Share pictures of your favorite swimming hole or redneck swimming pool.

Hope you had a happy Halloween and all your Ghosts and Goblins had all the candy they could handle.  Let me know what you do to get rid of all the candy.  Email me at ajwolthuis@gmail.com.  Do you do the one night binge, or do the kids have a secret survival cache hidden throughout the house?    After our kids ate candy for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and had extreme sugar melt downs and withdrawal symptoms for 3 days,  we hid it all in our closet.  I take my favorites from their stash but it will most likely end up in the garbage can this week.

Besides the sugar in candy (possibly as addictive as heroin, don't believe me, try taking candy away from a child) most candy also has an acidic pH which erodes (decalcifies) teeth.  Decay causing bacteria also love to live in an acidic environment.  Look at the pH values below and see.

pH at which teeth decalcify    4.0
Spree    3.0
Sour Gummy Bears    3.0
Sour punch Straws    2.5
Skittles    2.5
Laffy Taffy    2.5
Starburst    2.4
Lemon Heads    2.4
Sour Skittles    2.2
Air heads    2.0
Now and Later    1.9
Pixy Stix    1.9
Fun Dip    1.8
Warheads sour Spray    1.6
Battery Acid    1.0

Maybe you are one of the fortunate parents who has a child who believes in the Great Pumpkin, so you don't have to worry about any of this.  If not I recommend plenty of sleep to get rid of a sugar hangover.

Happy Hauntings
Jared Wolthuis

With the record breaking temperatures this week you most likely stayed cool by having a big glass full of your favorite drink.  You may want to re-consider your drink choice when it comes to the health of your teeth. 

Decay is primarily caused by bacteria in your mouth that love to live in
 acid (pH below 5.5) and eat sugar.  At a pH of 5.5 or below teeth start to demineralize (acid erode).  See the chart below:

The number of times you sip your drink also plays a major role.  Do you chug all at once, or do you sip throughout the day?  The Wisconsin Dental Association ran several adds on TV educating patients that it is much more harmful to sip on a beverage all day vs drinking the beverage in a short period of time.

So you say great! I am doing good.  I drink bottled water.  It may surprise you, but some brands of bottled water actually have a low pH:  Smart water (5.9), Perrier (5.53) Aquafina (5.35), Vitamin Water (3.34), Dasani Plus (3.04).


In fact it is probably best just to get a cold glass of water right out of the kitchen tap.  Wendy Hobson MD (Uof U survery Utahoral health conference 2005) reported that two key reasons to discourage the use of bottled water are its exorbitant costs, and it lack of fluoride.  SaltLake and Davis counties public tap water is fluoridated, unfortunately Weber county is not.

Cost comparison of 20 gallons of water (2005 survey)
Tap water                    12 cents/20 gallons
Filtered tap water       2 dollars/20 gallons
Bottled Water            20 dollars/20 gallons

Hope this helps, stay hydrated and cool.  If a cool beverage can’t cool you down then  maybe you should make your own backyard waterslide.

Check out this youtube link for homemade waterslides
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyYy1VMB_Cg


Jared Wolthuis
Canyon Dental Group
801-399-5831


 

It might sound crazy, but spending $100 on your teeth can actually save you thousands. How? First let's look at what $100 covers. The average cost of a dental exam and cleaning is $50 - $135. If you have dental insurance, your out-of-pocket expense may range from nominal to nothing for basic dental care services including X-rays.
 
Now let's go over how this can actually save you thousands.
  If you have dental problems like tooth decay, gum disease or even oral cancer, regular dental visits give your dentist a chance to catch it early on. That's key. Because the earlier your dentist diagnoses a problem the easier it is to treat.

For example, if you have gum disease and let it go unchecked (and untreated) for too long, you may need extensive -- and expensive -- gum disease treatment. Regular dental checkups allow you and your dentist to stay ahead of problems, which can translate into thousands saved.
 
A professional dental cleaning is also a must because it's the only way to effectively remove tartar (hardened plaque). Even if you brush and floss regularly, that’s not enough. Besides looking unsightly (tartar is a "stain magnet" and often has a brown or yellowish tint), tartar also contains cavity-causing bacteria. Preventing the need for a mouthful of fillings every year easily adds up to thousands saved in the long run.
 
Perhaps one of the most important reasons to invest in regular dental exams and cleanings is that it has a positive impact on your overall health. Recent studies have shown that there’s a link between periodontal disease and heart disease; when the former is present, the latter is twice as likely.
 
According to the American Academy of Periodontology, gum disease can have a domino effect on your health. The bacteria caused by periodontal disease can enter your bloodstream and attach to your heart's blood vessels, causing dangerous blood clots. Another scenario is that the plaque buildup caused by periodontal disease can cause the heart's blood vessels to swell.
 
In this way, regular checkups and cleanings are not only money-saving but life-saving. And that’s priceless.