From First Tooth to Golden Years, Mastering Oral Health with Dr. Valerie Mukanga

Welcome to the Get Healthy Tampa Bay Podcast with Dr. Kerry Reller! This week I am joined by Dr. Valerie Mukanga on the Get Healthy Tampa Bay podcast covers a comprehensive range of topics on oral health, including the importance of dental care from infancy through adulthood, preventive measures like proper nutrition and hygiene practices, the impact of oral health on overall well-being, and strategies for managing dental anxiety. They delve into specific issues such as cavities, gum diseases like gingivitis and periodontitis, and the significance of regular dental visits for early detection and treatment, including screenings for oral cancer. The discussion also highlights personal motivations behind choosing a career in dentistry, underscoring the profound effect oral health has on quality of life and self-esteem. 

Dr. Valerie Mukanga graduated from Tulane University with a BS in Biology. She received her Doctorate of Dental Surgery at the University of Tennessee Health and Science Center. Following her graduation, she completed a General Practice Residency program at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital before moving to Texas where she has been practicing dentistry. 

Dr. Mukanga is the founder and CEO of Healing Wings Dental in Arlington, Texas. She helps patients attain and maintain optimal dental health and smiles. For her, dentistry is not an option- it is a mission. 

Dr. Mukanga has been recognized as one of the TOP Doctors by Marquis Who’s Who and as a Top General Dentist by Find a Top Doc and Top Professional by Continental Who’s Who. 

00:29 - Introduction to the Podcast and Guest
00:46 - Role of General Dentistry Across Ages
01:24 - Dr. Mukanga's Path to Dentistry
06:02 - Link Between Oral Health and Overall Well-being
07:20 - Key Points on Pediatric Dental Care
13:33 - Nutrition's Impact on Children's Oral Health
18:48 - Addressing Teen Dental Health and Sports Safety
22:50 - Explaining Cavities and Prevention
29:56 - Understanding and Managing Gingivitis
33:03 - Enhancing Oral Health: Tips and Practices

Connect with Dr. Mukalang
Healing Wings Dental Phone: (972) 213-0202
Website: www.healingwingsdental.com
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/healingwingsdental/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/healingwingsdental
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@healingwingsdental/featured
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/healing-wings-dental/

Connect with Dr. Reller
My linktree: linktr.ee/kerryrellermd
Podcast website: https://gethealthytbpodcast.buzzsprout.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClearwaterFamily
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clearwaterfamilymedicine/
Clearwater Family Medicine and Allergy Website: https://sites.google.com/view/clearwaterallergy/home

Subscribe to the Get Healthy Tampa Bay Podcast on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Amazon music, iheartradio, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Pandora.

Transcript

Kerry: 0:29

Hi, everybody. Welcome back to the Get Healthy Tampa Bay podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Kerry Reller, and today we have a very special guest, Dr. Valerie Mukanga. Welcome to the podcast.

Valerie: 0:40

Thank you. Thank you so much, Dr. Kerry Reller, for inviting me.

Kerry: 0:44

Tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do.

Valerie: 0:46

So I'm a general dentist, and so we see children, or we see adults, we really see people of any age. We start seeing patients at six months old, until whenever. We do your preventative care, we do treatment, we do fillings. crowns, bridges, implants, you name it we do procedures to help people maintain and also regain their own health.

Kerry: 1:13

Awesome. I'm super excited to have you on because I haven't had a dentist on and I'm sure our audience has lots and lots of questions. I know I do. But first of all, how did you get into dentistry?

Valerie: 1:24

Okay, so growing up, I wanted to be a physician like you. So I I'm from the Democratic Republic of Congo. I came here in the U. S. after high school and I was coming here to go to med school. But while I was in school my friend Louise and I, we went to see an advisor. And he completely like deter us was like, No, you're a foreigner. It's not a good idea. And so, you know, we had the wrong information because obviously there's bunch of foreigners who study medicine here in the U. S. So we were we were just like we retracted and were very discouraged. So I went about not really knowing what I wanted to do, but loving biology. I still continued with my degree in biology and It's after graduation that really, you know, I felt like a strong impression about dentistry. And so I ventured out and tried to figure out why dentistry would be ideal for me to pursue. And then I realized that In my family, there were a lot of people who went through dental trauma. Like I always use the example of one of my aunts who had halitosis, which is a big fancy term for just bad breath. And so anytime she would speak to people, like we would gather at home, we live like with a bunch of, you know, family members in our home. And so, you know, we would just sit out and just like tell stories in the evening. And she would always be covering her mouth because she was super conscious about her state. And she also had a bunch of cavities. And even myself, when I was young, because growing up, people didn't really think about going to the dentist. It was not a thing. People went to see a physician when they had issues, if they had pain somewhere, whatever. It was never like anything where it was a routine. You go, you know, to get your annual checkup. No, there was not such thing. And definitely not when it came to the dentist. So I lost a tooth, a front tooth at that when I was about 15 years old. And I actually, it's only when shortly before I came to the U. S. that my parents actually took me to a dentist and that was restored. So they ended up giving me a bridge, thank God. And I was able to regain my smile. And so with that being said, you know, because it was, it was like two weeks before I left to come to the U. S. So the shade, you know, the color of the bridge did not perfectly match my other teeth. And so I was, I was always looking at it and I said, I wish I was a dentist because I would have, you know, done a better job, I would have treated myself. Now that I am one, really, you do need a dentist for procedures such as those. But, you know, that was my wishful thinking. But when I was on campus, I was a sophomore at Tulane University when my mom, no, someone in my family called me to let me know that my mother's brother, the one who comes just after her my uncle Rene passed away and they told me this story about the fact that he passed away because he had an infection, a tooth infection, so he ended up having a stroke. He actually went to see a doctor. One day and the very day, you know, he ended up having a stroke and passed away. the same day. So I, I mean, I didn't believe them. I thought they were just like making up a story not to tell me the real reason. It's only when I went to dental school that I realized that yes oral health is tightly linked to the rest of your body. You are one body. Your mouth is linked to the rest of your body. And if you have an infection, it is the same infection that's in your mouth, that's going to travel through the same blood that goes through all around your body and can affect your brain. You can end up having a stroke. You can have end up having a heart attack. Those are not like things that happen often or that we hear they have a small percentage of happening, but it did happen in my family. So, you know, the accumulation of all of those things are, you know, what encouraged me to pursue dentistry to be able to help people, who don't know anything about it or don't really take oral health as a priority, for it to be able to change that narrative. And also for the people who have, you know issues who treat them help them like people who are like me who have lost the Tooth and have poor self esteem because of that, you know I understand because I went through that myself and I am able to put myself in their shoes because I was you know in their shoes once upon a time And so yeah, so those are some of the things that caused me to want to pursue a career in dentistry

Kerry: 6:02

Those are amazing reasons. I'm sorry about your family member, but it's so true that our oral health affects our entire health of our body. And I mean, those are some reasons why I think the risks of having those infections is sometimes why we give that, you know, prophylactic antibiotic for some people who we already know are at risk of having those kinds of infections, like someone with a mechanical heart valve or something like that, for example. And It's so true that it can be tied in and unfortunately, you know, outcomes like that can happen, but I mean, that's why we have to work closely with dentistry, except I'm always like, well, you got something going on here with your mouth and you're going to have to ask the dentist. So I wish I knew more about it. So I think that's what's great having you on today too. And the other thing is you mentioned you see people at like six months and then all the way into old age. And dental health is super important across the lifespan. I see a lot of people who are, you know, getting the work done on their mouth and they're having difficulty eating and they ended up losing weight unintentionally. And it's a big thing. So, you know, obviously oral health is very important. What can you tell me about maybe in like a pediatric frame, what kind of things that are important to look for with kids? And then we'll talk later, maybe more with the adults and older population.

Valerie: 7:20

Yeah. So Children depend on their parents, right? They depend on their parents depending on their age like I said, we see kids from six months old and up so babies can't take care of themselves. They can't, they don't know. It's up to the parents as far as like what they're going to be eating, when they're going to be conducting oral hygiene, or who is going to provide that for them. So it's very important for the parents to be educated, right? And so many people don't really know what to do. They allow their children to eat so many things that are high sugar bunch of candies and not even just that, but even like chips and things like that. So in my office healing means dental. We see a lot of kids, I'll say maybe like maybe 50, 50, you know, kids versus adult and we Take Medicaid as well. So you see these kids, especially unfortunately, people with Medicaid, you see they will come even in the office with cokes and chips and that's what they snack on day in and day out. And so what you give your children As food, the nutrition is super, super, super important because they need to eat food that is high in nutritional value when you give them things that are so packed in sugars. This is exactly what bacteria in your mouth will actually feast on and they will start, digesting it and producing acid, which is going to cause what is called cavities, right? So it's very important to monitor what you're giving your children candies all day. Please don't do that And even, you know, they're like, no, I don't give them sweetss, you know, I don't give them sweets. But I mean, what about, the juice that they're drinking all day or like the soda that they're drinking all day, that's really not helping them because that sits on their teeth and even juices or even sodas it's acidic. So that is going to also damage your enamel causing you even having erosions, sensitivity, things like that. But besides that when I talk about nutrition when you think about milk milk has lactose and so even that it is a type of sugar, so that can also cause cavities on your teeth. I remember growing up, my younger brother, He had these two dark areas in two of his incisors, his front teeth, and it was cavities. It's only when I went to school that I came to understand that that is baby bottle syndrome, whereby it causes decay. And that happens not just with using a baby bottle, but even when a mother is breastfeeding her child. It can also happen. So it's very important after you watch what you give your Children to eat. Make sure that oral hygiene is a priority for you to provide for your kids. You want to make sure that you're brushing their teeth at least twice a day, morning and night, that you're also flossing their teeth. So the reason why you want to brush in the evening because maybe some people may not understand in the afternoon in the evening you have less salivary flow and saliva helps because it's going to neutralize acid but also it deters or makes it hard for bacteria to actually adhere to your teeth and so with that you know it's when you you have a decreased salivary amount, then it's easier for them to do that. Your mouth is more dry and they can cause more problems. So brushing your teeth at night will make sure or ensure that you have removed, all these debris and all the food that you're eating and even your bacterial load at night is very important. Now, the reason why you want to floss the children's teeth is because the bristles of the toothbrush are too thick and they don't go between the teeth. So, that being said, when you floss, it's going to remove all of that. There are many kids that we see, and even adults, whereby you look at the surfaces, the chewing surfaces of their teeth. They're good. They're in good shape. You can tell that the patient is brushing really good. However, when you look at the x rays now, they have cavities between the teeth because though they're brushing well, they are not able to brush between the teeth. So that's where the floss comes in. And that's very important to do. Also, make sure that you give your Children lots and lots of water because water is great for your body overall, including your mouth. That's going to hydrate things for you. And also, you know, remove all these debris and Yeah, so those are, you know, in a nutshell, I know I said a lot, but those are some of the things that, you know, people or parents may think about as far as helping their children with their oral health. Another thing that I often stress upon is that many parents have anxiety and fear that they project on their Children. So, a child may not necessarily be scared and that's why you want to see the children early because the earlier they come to the office, the more acquainted now they are, they know what to expect and they grow up not having that fear and anxiety because some children you see, they might be anxious and they are not anxious because they're scared, but just they can feel the fear from the parents emotions, you know, faces. And then they're like, Oh, mommy's scared. And I think I should be scared, too. So try to if you're a parent, try to see the benefit of bringing your Children to a dentist early and try to mask your fear if you can, so that you can encourage them, you know, I've seen parents who, when we have to provide treatment and while we have to treat the child, they kind of step away, they're like, I'm so scared. So they step away so that, they know that they can allow us to provide care for their parents. If that's what you're going to have to do, it's better to do that than not so at least your Children can be taken care of adequately.

Kerry: 13:33

Yeah, absolutely. I think you Provided so many good things and tips there. I mean, one is obviously the juices and I remember when I was a resident seeing people bring in like strawberry quick and feeding it to toddlers. And I was, ah, that's like definitely not a good thing, but also, some people have a habit of giving that bottle of milk or drink right before bed and they would have already brushed their teeth at that time. And I don't think I was in thought that lactose can be as guilty as, you know, other sugars to cause that decay. I mean, obviously that habit isn't good, but that's important to know that that's really not something that you want to do and definitely didn't know about the breastfeeding could be the problem too, but if they have teeth at that point, it's a little less often that they have teeth, but some people are born with teeth. It's amazing. Yeah,

Valerie: 14:22

So what we advise right now is I know say you're breastfeeding your child is, you know, six months old, has teeth I mean, and at night they need to drink, you know, you're not going to not breastfeed, but what you can do, you don't necessarily have to take a toothbrush and toothpaste and all, but you can even use a washcloth you wet it and you wipe their teeth.

Kerry: 14:44

yeah, I actually, I feel like I remember getting that advice at some point. Yeah, it's important to and then the other thing I just want you to clarify something about flossing. So sometimes I think about flossing is just like, oh, gosh. Get out the food that's stuck in there. But for kids, like sometimes their teeth aren't that tight. I mean, depending on the age until they get a little older that they, you know, may not get food stuck, but it's still important to get that flossing mechanism in there and why is that?

Valerie: 15:11

So as I was saying earlier, right? Yeah, and you're right. Many kids have spaces between their teeth, but usually those spaces will be between their incisors or their front teeth. If they have molars, they will more than likely have contact. So you want to make sure that you're flossing to remove those particles that get lodged between their teeth that the toothbrush cannot reach. If you do not get those areas they are able to to develop cavities between them. Now using you know, the regular string floss that's going to be challenging if you have to do that In your mouth could be really hard because you have to put both your your hands that are bigger They have a small mouth, but you can use those little flossers It's better to do that than not but you want to make sure that reach in a C shape and that can help You can also use a water pick, it will, you know, with help with pulsation, it will help you remove those debris, even between the teeth, according to studies. So, That can also be helpful. But also, it will be depending on the age. Could you do it at two years old? No, I wouldn't recommend. But if they're old enough, let's say maybe depending on the child, six years old, 9, 10. Yeah, that would be safe.

Kerry: 16:25

okay. One other comment on from what you had said earlier was like the anxiety and fear of going to the dentist at the younger ages. Well, I know I like to read like a book about, you know, going to the dentist before we do it, whether it's Bernstein Bears or Peppa Pig or something like that. I think that really helps ease the kids feelings and maybe the parent too. So that could be something that they do as well. So another question, when do you recommend that the kids do like an electric toothbrush or things like that?

Valerie: 16:54

Okay. So I think that for the electric toothbrush, I'm not quite sure as far as like how old, they can use it, but obviously an electric toothbrush is going to help a kid. I'm thinking probably like maybe six years old. This is just me speaking from the top of my head, because when they're too young, even manual dexterity, and that's where it helps a lot because they don't really have it. Like if your child is not able to tie their shoes, it's gonna be very difficult for them to brush on their own. So that's where you can let your child play around with a toothbrush. And with an electric toothbrush especially, they have come up with some that have a timer. So with the timer they can know when the beep goes up that they're done. So that will be very, very handy. I need to kind of like do some research to see what's the actual age at which they can start using an electric toothbrush, but yeah, so an electric toothbrush for a child is going to be very, very helpful because it will actually, do the motion for you, whereby, if you lack dexterity, It's going to help you do a better job. And also the parent can help them do that and make sure that they do brush.

Kerry: 18:04

Okay. Have you seen those toothbrushes for kids that are like little trays and they like vibrate or something like that? I don't know how to describe it. Do you know what I'm talking

Valerie: 18:15

I've heard of them.

Kerry: 18:17

Mm hmm.

Valerie: 18:17

them. But I'm not very familiar with them to tell you the truth. However, I'll say, brushing, even using something is better than not doing it. So I'll say, you know, if that can help, I'll say, yeah, go ahead and go for it.

Kerry: 18:30

Okay, so better than nothing, but maybe not superior to traditional, like,

Valerie: 18:34

I'm not, I'm not very familiar with it.

Kerry: 18:37

Yeah.

Valerie: 18:38

So, I could

Kerry: 18:38

Okay.

Valerie: 18:39

on that. I can definitely, if I come back and I can do some research, research about it and we can talk about it again for sure.

Kerry: 18:48

Yeah. Okay, sure. So kind of covered kids in that, I mean, does anything happen in like the teenage years that would be different than managing your teeth in different parts of the lifespan?

Valerie: 19:01

So when there are teenagers, they're more self conscious. So I've seen some parents who have asked me to tell their kids, they're like, Oh, he doesn't like to brush his teeth. And so, you know, we tell them, well, we advise them. We say The tooth that you want to keep, go ahead and brush that one too. So if there's one that you're not very, that you're not very concerned about, just leave that one alone. But so basically, you know, it's important to brush, but also, you know, as far as them being conscious and then, you know, peer pressure and things like that, we can kind of like play into it to where If it's a guy, you don't want to not have good breath or whatever. You might not be able to get a girlfriend or things like that just to encourage them. But the process is the same, right? As far as brushing just twice a day and flossing. Make sure you do that. But also, With teenager, I guess, even with being in school, they are exposed to so many different things, like maybe smoking, like maybe vaping and things like that. And you want to make them understand that those are very detrimental for your health as far as well as your body. So deter them from doing that and things like that. And then another thing is like some teenagers that have braces maybe to encourage them to make sure that they brush really good because if you don't use the proper techniques, you can end up in it, depending on how long you wear your braces, you can end up with gingivitis or gum disease periodontitis, where you lose bone still gum disease, and also, after removing all those brackets, you can end up having cavities. So, if you are not eating properly or eating sweet, sweet food or lots of sodas, you can end up having those kinds of issues. So we talk to them about those kinds of things.

Kerry: 20:43

Those are really good points. I think, yeah, teenagers still tend to have the braces and things like that, and kind of continuing their oral health is very important. And I like how you're tying it into, the social health with it, which I think is super important at that age as well. So are the most common like dental health problems that you kind of see in your practice and how can people prevent

Valerie: 21:05

So the most common would be cavities, and gingivitis. Gingivitis is gum disease whereby when they're brushing their teeth, they're bleeding. So, bleeding gums, right? And so that's caused by infection at the gum level. So, we see that a lot where the gum is really puffy or red or bleeding. We see that a lot. And so we encourage them. And if it has not yet reached the point where it's starting to cause recession of your bone level, it's reversible. So, by brushing really good and focusing on brushing the area between your gum and your teeth because many people they brush the surfaces of their teeth, but they're not reaching those areas where the food actually gets lodged. So we encourage them to do that. So cavities and gingivitis, so gum disease, periodontitis, we see that a lot. Then you also have people who have lost teeth. That we now need to, you know, restore their smiles. Those are some of the issues or you have teeth that are not well aligned, and that can cause a lot of issues. It can prevent people from being able to brush their teeth very well so then you start packing plaque. Plaque starts forming in those areas that they are not able to brush very well. So that's why we advise them or recommend to have orthodontic treatment or braces. You can do regular braces that you can actually see what people know, or also clear aligners, like Invisalign and that can help also with that. Those are like some of, you know, the things that we see often

Kerry: 22:42

so let's unpack them a little bit. So what exactly like is a cavity and how does it, does it occur and all that?

Valerie: 22:50

Okay, so what's a cavity? A cavity is like a hole that has been created by the acid produced by bacteria. So we all have bacterias in our mouth, about 500 different types, but you have good bacterias and then you have bad bacterias. So those bad bacterias would be taking food debris and they would start, you know, consuming it. And then the byproduct is acid, to where, you know, the acid is going to Start causing those small erosions on your teeth and over time they become bigger and bigger and those those are in in a nutshell what we call cavities and how they are formed.

Kerry: 23:26

And you fix them by fillings and what else?

Valerie: 23:30

So the different ways and depending on the stage of treating the problem. If they're small enough, yes, you will get a filling and a filling is just the material what we do is we remove the cavity with special instruments and tools. And then after that, We put composite more often. Back in the days, we used to do amalgam as well, which is sort of silver fillings. But nowadays, people don't really do that anymore. so now we do white fillings or tooth color fillings. It's made of composite. So that's how we treat small cavities. If they're too big and they have reached too many surfaces in your teeth whereby you have lost a lot of tooth structure, then now we are looking into doing crowns. And a crown is going to be something where you remove the cavity, and then you prepare the tooth. To give it enough room to put something that looks like a tooth, kind of like you put a hat on your head. So it's going to adapt on the remaining surface of your tooth, like a hat, but it's going to have the shape of your tooth. and nobody's going to know, usually look at it. And in some people want gold crowns. Yes. But like most, most people want white crowns that have the exact color of the remaining of the teeth. And so we can do that too. If you have lost the tooth, then we can look into bridges or we can look into implants, it just depends. And also, if the cavities have reached the nerve that's inside the tooth, now we're looking into doing something called a root canal, whereby we are going to remove the nerve that has been infected. And then we place a filling inside the roots. That's the root canal. And then we put a crown on top of it. So another way of restoring if they have lost them would be to do a dentures but those are removable. Some can be fixed by implants and so, yeah, so those are some different things that we can do, like, for someone that has had cavities or has lost the tooth or teeth because of cavities.

Kerry: 25:36

Where does a sealant come in?

Valerie: 25:38

Sealant comes in before you get cavities. So what it is is like teeth has little crevices, kind of like your hand like this, you have little crevices. And those are areas where cavities Start. So before you have cavity, we seal those areas. We put like a little material that's going to be on those areas and that's going to decrease the chances of having cavity. But we have to do that before you actually have a cavity.

Kerry: 26:03

So if someone is going to the dentist, say every six months, as we're kind of told to go to the dentist twice a year, at least, right. For cleanings and stuff. What are the chances of having like the need for some of these procedures later on?

Valerie: 26:18

You still have high chances, but they are reduced compared to someone who does not go at all. Because. Cavities progress depending on the people, depending on what you're eating, depending on so many different things, they may progress really fast or they may progress really slow. So for people where it progresses really slow, That's very good because then you'll come many times and we do your oral hygiene we do your cleaning and everything like that and some people may never get cavities however some people may and if they're small enough then yes we are able to intervene. Also using fluoride helps a lot because it strengthens your enamel. I know there's a lot of controversy on fluoride, but it really does help. It really does help from research studies. The thing is, you don't want to ingest it because it can give you a stomach ache and also using too much of it also, which is the reason why you want to use pea size on your toothbrush. You don't have to fill your toothbrush with toothpaste. But yeah, you want to do that. That helps a lot. That really helps a lot as far as keeping things in check. So that being said, we have seen people they had nothing and by six months they have cavities. They may have a lot of them, things like that. But also we have even seen kids especially that we have treated and I know I did a filling six months later they come and I know that I did a good filling but six months later they come and there's a cavity right there and it's like, you know, they have not been taking good care of themselves. So what happened is that The enamel is the hardest surface in your body is stronger than bones. And so if you end up having a cavity on your tooth, the filling that we do provide is also very strong, but it's just not as strong as your enamel. Some people come and say, well, I had a filling. So why do I have a cavity again? If you can have a cavity on your enamel, then guess what? On the filling, you can end up having recurrent decay, which is decay around your feelings. So it's important to still, even though, you know, treatment has been rendered, even under a crown, you can end up having a cavity, which is why you want to come often. So we can keep things in check. But honestly, it's most important for you to take good care of your own oral health at home because we're not there every day to do that. You play the major part in your own oral hygiene

Kerry: 28:47

Yeah, absolutely. And like you're saying like lifestyle matters too, like what you're eating and drinking does make a difference as well. So those are, those are really important comments. tell

Valerie: 28:58

want to come back. I'm sorry. I want to come back on something because I just something came from my mind while you were asking me about teenagers. you have a lot of young boys that play sports. they play basketball, they play football, they want to make sure that they have a night guard when they do that because there's been many kids that have, you know experienced like a blow, maybe a ball or something or fell and broke a tooth. So having a night guard that helps a lot because that's going to protect your teeth to prevent dental trauma.

Kerry: 29:32

But the night guard during the during playing like a

Valerie: 29:35

why they

Kerry: 29:35

when you play. Yeah. Yeah, not just at night Right.

Valerie: 29:38

Right. Right, right,

Kerry: 29:39

Yeah. Okay. So any kind of contact sport or

Valerie: 29:43

Mm hmm. Yes. So when I said night guard, I meant to say an occlusal guard.

Kerry: 29:48

got it. Okay So tell us about gingivitis and what that is and how to prevent it and treat it

Valerie: 29:56

Okay. So gingivitis, yes, gingivitis is is inflammation of your gum. And so when so you can notice it when you see that your, your gum are really puffy or they look bright red or really dark pink. Yes. Especially when you're bleeding, when you're brushing, you know that you have gingivitis. The good thing with gingivitis is that it's reversible. So if you brush really good and you brush the area between your gum and your teeth it will get reversed. It's not like now, okay, so today you're told that you have gingivitis, now you brush and then tomorrow it has resolved. But it takes about 10 days to two weeks. for you to see that the bleeding has stopped. So many parents, when the kids are young, they see that there's bleeding when they're brushing their teeth and they're scared because they think that they're hurting their teeth. No the children's teeth or their gum. Actually, the mechanical use of the toothbrush and brushing is what is going to actually reverse gingivitis. It's causing it to causing you to have healthier gum, but you want to focus and put the bristles of the toothbrush between the gum and the teeth and sweep up all that stuff. And then, you know, it's going to revert.

Kerry: 31:14

So my dentist likes to call out like numbers when they're examining you. Can you tell us what that means?

Valerie: 31:22

Yeah. So I know it's uncomfortable, the reason why we do that is because we want to measure the level of your bone to know if you have periodontitis, which periodontitis is the other type of gum disease whereby your bone has now receded. So if your dentist is calling out number and you hear one, two, three, you know that your mouth is healthy. Your gum is healthy. If you start hearing four fives, then you're starting to lose the bone level. And so now, you know at five, six, you want four. Okay. But like definitely fives and sixes, you starting to need to have a deep cleaning whereby we have to go really below your gum and clean all the gunk, all the hard plaque that is lodged in there to help. And so with periodontitis, it doesn't really revert, but at least it can get stabilized, which is the reason why if you do have periodontitis, we bring you more often. Oftentimes it's like every three months to kind of revisit everything and reclean everything for you. But that's the reason why, we call out those numbers. We want to measure to see the bone level and to see if you have lost bone or if you have a healthy bone.

Kerry: 32:35

That's really helpful. Cause I thought it was for gingivitis or something like when they caught the number. So it's actually for the bone health and that makes sense. Cause I mean, I know our dentist does recommend more often cleaning and they call it like a deep clean or something like that. So it seems like it's on par with, you know, the evidence based medicine in dentistry. So that's good to know. Yeah. So what else would you recommend for anybody who trying to improve their oral health as well? Mm

Valerie: 33:03

besides brushing and flossing, you can use mouthwashes, you can use we talked about waterpik earlier, those come in handy as well. Check your nutrition, that plays a big, big, big role. So as far as what you can eat, we spoke about what not to eat. But as far as what you can eat, you want to make sure that you eat fabulous food that's going to help keep your teeth more healthy. You want to also to have a bright smile. You want to refrain from using foods that will cause discoloration of your teeth, for example, people eat turmeric or, you know, curry. Those will stain your teeth. So if that's in your culture. We won't say don't, especially like turmeric has very good benefit as far as even decreasing your high blood pressure, your pressure. So you want to make sure that you brush your teeth after so that you decrease those staining, but what causes staining also coffee or even tea, you want to make sure that you brush more often, that you drink, drink, drink lots and lots and lots of water. That's highly, highly, highly important. To drink a lot of water. It does your body good, including your mouth. And then what else can I say? That's pretty much what I can really say. Make sure that you go see your dentist often. And that you see a good dentist. If you're not comfortable with the one that you found, try to ask for recommendation. Nowadays, you know, on social media, you can go to groups, in your area and ask, would you recommend as a dentist? You know people will, recommend and then you can try them out, but it's important to, to go and to not just hide behind, or maybe not just hide behind, but be frozen by the fact that you're anxious or that you have experienced trauma in the past at the dentist because not going and not checking things, you know, prevention is better than having to now fix things. So the more you go for your routine care, the better off you're going to be.

Kerry: 35:02

Yeah, absolutely. I think those are all very good tips and I have to take the tumeric one home because I started making this chicken recipe that has turmeric on it, and I don't know if I brush my teeth right away. And then also more curries we've been eating, so I will have to take note on that. Yeah, I don't want to have, you know, yellow orange teeth, so that's important.

Valerie: 35:24

And also, another thing like, if you're going to be, I mean, coffee, it's a thing some people cannot go without drinking coffee. Try to drink with a straw. That's going to, bypass your teeth some, at least the drink is not going to be lingering on your teeth

Kerry: 35:42

yes, I've heard that recommendation before too. Yeah, that helps, kind of not, it wouldn't like be sealed on there as much, but obviously you could drink water right after. Wouldn't that help? Like switch it around any specific other comments that you want to make today?

Valerie: 35:58

You know, I often stress and the reason why I speak about my uncle is because it did happen in our family. So we don't think about that often, but it can get to the point where someone loses their life. And I take it to heart and definitely prioritize your oral health. It's going to really help you. You don't want to because you didn't take care of your teeth, now you have pain, you're missing school, you're missing work, you know, whereby, or you know because you're so anxious, you don't go and now you have a big cavity, and now you have to wake up in the middle of the night, you're trying to go find someone, at the emergency room. Oftentimes, they don't have a dentist. So try to do things when you can schedule them according to your own schedule. And then things can be prevented, but all health, please make it a priority for your life.

Kerry: 36:50

I have one quick question before I let you go and that is, do you guys do oral cancer screening or if you, would you be able to pick up some abnormality to be able to refer someone

Valerie: 36:59

absolutely. So when you come for your exam, we do screen for that. If you, we see a lesion, we will direct you accordingly. Oftentimes we direct to an oral surgeon, which is a specialist, and then there, they will do a biopsy. They will send it to a pathologist who's going to make a determination and treatment will be done or conducted accordingly. But yeah, we do have to check because people can go to their physician and oftentimes they might not see something that we, you know, with everything that we have, we can see something that is off right away.

Kerry: 37:35

Yeah, I feel like you are definitely used to looking in the mouth a lot more than maybe some other people and that can definitely be, you know, something that should be picked up on more easily, I think. So that's helpful. Yeah. Well, thank you so much, Dr. Mukanga for coming onto the podcast today. I very appreciate, yeah, I appreciate your time. And I mean, I have a million questions, but I didn't want to make this last forever. I've like down to what mouthwash should I choose, but I really appreciate it. And thank you so much. And we'll have to have you back, but everybody tune in next week and stay healthy.