We all have acid forming bacteria that live in our mouths and on the outside surfaces of our teeth. These bacteria eat the sugars in the foods we eat and excrete acids on the tooth surface. If we don’t brush or rinse these off our teeth, these acids make holes in the tooth, called a “tooth cavity”. If these holes/cavities get deep enough over time, hot, cold and sweet foods or drinks get inside and bother the nerve endings in the tooth. It’s best to see your dentist often enough (every 6 months) so he/she can find these tooth cavities when they are small and stop them. It’s also good to brush your teeth carefully at least 2 times each day and avoid sugary foods and drinks to keep the bacteria from making the acid that make cavities.

No sugar to the bacteria = no acid = no tooth cavities. You can live your whole life without tooth cavities if you avoid sugary foods and drinks, and brush carefully at least 2 times each day.

If you get hit hard on a tooth, especially a front tooth by falling, bumping into something, etc., the tooth may crack or break right away. Or, it may turn dark months later which tells us that the nerve living inside the tooth has been injured and requires treatment. Tell your parents or your dentist about this as soon as you can.

Some people have deep staining inside most of their teeth that shows up as bands of brown, gray or yellow color. This happens because of very high levels of fluoride that is unexpectedly in your drinking water. Please do not confuse this with the controlled, safe amount of fluoride purposely put into the water in some communities, like Philadelphia.

The controlled amount of fluoride put into some community drinking water can make the outer surface of the tooth enamel even harder and stronger against bacterial acids. It is wise for a community to serve their citizens by placing and continually monitoring small amounts of fluoride into the drinking water supply, and wise for the citizens of that community to drink this tap water. Bottled water does not have fluoride. Bottled water does not help you fight tooth cavities!

We need to carefully brush our teeth at least 2 times each day and use dental floss (string) or other devices to clean between the teeth where the toothbrush does not reach. The same bacteria which live in everyone’s mouth and make acid holes in teeth (“tooth cavities”) sometimes can also hurt our soft gum tissues that live between and around our teeth. Redness, some swelling, and bleeding when we brush or eat some foods can be a sign of gum inflammation or “gingivitis”. Careful brushing, flossing or using special cleaning tools, and coaching from your dentist or dental hygienist is the best way to stop gum inflammation. The American Dental Association has a website called www.mouthhealthy.org that shows proper brushing, flossing and other techniques to guide you to better oral health.

Some of us are born with teeth that do not fit together as well as they should. Some folks call this a "bad bite". Some need treatment for this and some do not. Your bite appearance can be named according to a dentist’s system and we want that to be part of your record. Examples are shown in this program. Ask your examiner to show them to you.

Certain normal tissues in your throat (tonsils, adenoids) may be too large and block some of your breathing space (airway). The size of your tongue, especially the sides and back part, might also be large. If these parts of your body are too large for the space where they live, you might have snoring and/or breathing problems. You might have OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) which stops you from normal, restful sleep.

Parents and children should report any breathing/snoring/sleeping difficulties to your Doctor or Dentist as soon as these conditions are discovered.

Some of us have clicking, popping and even pain coming from our jaw joints (just in front of our ears) when we try to chew or yawn. This pain should be reported to the dentist or doctor at the youngest age possible.

This is having even one tooth cavity before the age of 6 years. This is an important factor to accurately include in your record.

This screening examination is to inform you about important conditions you might have and help you find a dentist to help treat any problems that might need treatment. A report will be given to you to at the end of this screening to bring to your own dentist or to a new dentist that we will help you find.