The Get Healthy Tampa Bay Podcast

E119: Gum Disease Explained—Causes, Symptoms & How to Protect Your Health with Dr. Mukanga

• Kerry Reller

Share episode

Welcome to the Get Healthy Tampa Bay Podcast with Dr. Kerry Reller! This week, I’m joined again by Dr. Valerie Mukanga, general dentist and CEO of Healing Wings Dental in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. In this episode, we take a deep dive into gum disease, discussing what it is, why it happens, and why it matters beyond just your mouth.

Dr. Mukanga explains the difference between gingivitis and periodontitis, the early signs to watch out for, and how poor technique—even if you're brushing daily—can still lead to problems. We cover proper brushing and flossing methods, the role of anti-inflammatory foods, and the connection between gum disease and systemic issues like heart health, stroke, and even sepsis.

Whether you’re trying to improve your own routine or teach your kids better habits, this episode offers clear and actionable advice for a healthier smile and body.

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. 

00:28 – Welcome and intro with returning guest Dr. Valerie Mukanga
01:47 – What gum disease actually is: gingivitis vs. periodontitis
03:19 – Signs and symptoms: bleeding gums, swelling, redness
06:11 – Is bleeding from flossing a sign of disease?
08:41 – Brushing technique: 45-degree angle, circular motion
10:32 – Flossing tips: C-shape method and interdental brushes
13:48 – Anti-inflammatory foods that support gum health
16:13 – How gum disease is diagnosed at the dentist
19:07 – What happens next: treatments, cleanings, and medications
21:49 – How gum disease affects the rest of the body
27:04 – Water’s role in oral health + Valerie’s personal bedtime routine

Connect with Dr. Mukanga
Website: www.healingwingsdental.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/healingwingsdental/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/healingwingsdental
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@dr.valeriemukanga
Email: Lamukang@gmail.com

Connect with Dr. Kerry Reller
Podcast website: https://gethealthytbpodcast.buzzsprou... 
My linktree: linktr.ee/kerryrellermd
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerryrellermd/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClearwaterFamilyMedicine
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clearwaterfamilymedicine/
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kerryrellermd
Clearwater Family Medicine and Allergy website: https://sites.google.com/view/clearwa...
Podcast: https://gethealthytbpodcast.buzzsprou...

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

Kerry:

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

Valerie:

Thank you having me again.

Kerry:

So everybody will have to listen back to episode 64 on what we talked about last time and to find out more. But I think today we're gonna have another fun conversation, but can you remind us like who you are and what you do?

Valerie:

Yes, I'm Dr. Valerie Mukanga. I am the CEO of Healing Wings Dental. I'm a general dentist and we've been in business for almost nine years. I'm

Kerry:

Wow.

Valerie:

excited and I am located in the big Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex in Texas.

Kerry:

Awesome. I love having people from like other specialties and things like that, and definitely other disciplines like dentistry, so we can have, bring more information to all of our listeners on how they can be, you know, healthier and better. So thank you for coming back to share your wisdom

Valerie:

you. Thank you for having me again.

Kerry:

Yeah. So I know we probably touched on it a little bit in the last episode that we did, 64, and people can go back and listen, but I wanted to focus more on, you know, what gum disease is and why is it important to talk about.

Valerie:

So gum disease is pretty much having infection at the level of your gum. It can it can stop at it's twofold. So you have gum being affected and also the bone that's under the gum affected as well. So when it affects the bone, it has been a progression of a lingering infection over the gum that was not resolved, but it's basically inflammation of your gum tissue, inflammation of your bone tissue that supports your, your teeth. So that's what gum disease is.

Kerry:

And what are the fancy terms that we might hear that describe this?

Valerie:

Okay, so you would hear gingivitis and you would also hear periodontitis. So gingivitis is when the infection is at the gum level. And then periodontitis is the progression of gingivitis that has now affected the supporting bone of your, the bone, supporting your teeth. And so when that is affected now it's called periodontitis. And usually when you have periodontitis, it also has gingivitis as well.

Kerry:

Yeah, that was gonna be my next question. Like, does the gingivitis lead into periodontitis typically?

Valerie:

That is correct. So gingivitis is going to be the precursor and then it leads to periodontitis over time.

Kerry:

Okay. What are some sort of signs or symptoms that a patient might, you know, feel or experience to think that they might have something wrong with their gums?

Valerie:

Okay. So yes, there are some telltale signs of having inflammation of your gum tissue. You would see, and many people can see that when they are brushing their teeth, the gums are bleeding. That is a sign, a sure sign that you have gum disease. Okay? So when you see that, you bleeding on brushing because it's like if you scratch your skin, you won't have any bleeding. But if you have a problem and you scratch, then you see bleeding. So anytime you see bleeding. It's a sign that there is something going on on your gum. It's a sign that something off is happening. And most of the time it would show that unless you have, you know, you hurt your gum or you ate something and a kernel, maybe like, you know, got stuck, then you bleed. That's different. Or say you ate something hot and you got burned or something, then yes, that's different than when you have that bleeding or you know, infection. But usually when you brush your teeth and you see that you're bleeding. Bleeding on of your gum is a tell sign that you actually have gum disease. That's number one. You will also see that your gums are more swollen or like more red in pigmentation. Most people have like pink looking gums. You know, depending on your ethnic groups, sometimes you would see people who have darker gum with darker pigmentation or sometimes more brown, but you will notice that it is swollen. So instead of being kind of like nav edge, it's kind of like you have like more of a rolling of the gums. So it's kind of fatter. That's also showing that you have inflammation of your gums. Okay. And also as I say, you know, it becomes more red in pigmentation. Then you would also know that, your gums are inflamed. Some people experience some itchiness. Also, sometimes that's very rare, but it can also happen where you know, your gums are starting to feel itchy. That can also show that yeah, you have gum disease. But number one is when you have bleeding gum. When you brush, yes, you have gum disease. More than likely

Kerry:

What about with bleeding just with flossing, because I feel like sometimes that can be not always a problem. I don't know. Like it could happen anytime. What

Valerie:

You are right. So, yeah. So when you, when you floss and you bleed, that's also a sign that you have gingivitis for the most part. However, it's also technique sensitive. If you just like wedging your floss right on the gum, yes, it's gonna cause bleeding. If you actually aggressing, you know your gums. So yes, that's kind of like if you're not using the proper technique, you may not necessarily have, you know, gum disease. So that's why you need to actually know how to properly floss. But yes, usually though it will be gum disease, but sometimes it's just that you're not, you do doing it the right way. You're not flossing properly.

Kerry:

Okay. Yeah, I've definitely been at the dentist where I feel like they're a little more aggressive than me flossing and sometimes I get a little blood, but I don't think they've told me I had gingivitis yet,

Valerie:

Okay.

Kerry:

I'm safe.

Valerie:

Well that's good.

Kerry:

Yeah. Okay, so obviously don't ignore if you are having bleeding gums, it's very important right.

Valerie:

Absolutely.

Kerry:

Yeah. What are, what are the major causes of gum disease, including maybe genetic predisposition or anything like lifestyle stuff?

Valerie:

So the number one reason why you would actually have gum disease is poor or hygiene. That's number one. So you're not brushing properly. You may be brushing every day, but are you brushing properly? That's the key. Just like flossing, are you flossing properly as well? So basically what you wanna do is, I mean, sometimes people just brush the surfaces, the enamel of their teeth, and they don't really address areas between the gum and the teeth. Okay? So that's where you need to go. Yes, you need to brush really well the surfaces of your enamel to remove plaque. However, you wanna make sure that you address those surfaces where food actually gets lodged, right? And where bacteria also like hiding there under the gum. So that's why when you use. Your toothbrush, you wanna go in circular motion, but usually you want, but you wanna make sure that you're ang angling or angulating your toothbrush at a 45 degree angle. And if you're brushing like your top teeth, so let's say, I'm sorry, I should have brought a toothbrush, but let's say this is your tooth and this is the gum area, right? So you want to angle your tooth in a manner where you kind of like sweep away the food that can get stuck there. Okay, so that's what you want to do. You wanna do that for all the surfaces of your teeth, for your top teeth, for your bottom teeth on the outside surface, the surface close to your cheek and your lips also on the inside surface, close to your tongue and your palate. And then you wanna make sure, obviously, that you're brushing the chewing surfaces of your teeth. So where we see sometimes you have people who come. To the office for their dental cleaning or their exam, and you do the cleaning, you'll see that their, their enamel is super clean, right? But you know, areas between when you kind of pass your instrument close to your gum, it starts bleeding or sometimes even gushes. That means. Maybe that the person just brushed before they got there to the dentist or that they don't do a proper job. They do brush their teeth, however, they don't focus on areas between the gum and the teeth. That is where food gets stuck. That is where, you know, also bacteria lodge there and hide. So the other thing is you also wanna make sure that when you floss, you floss in a C motion. So you want the floss to actually hug your tooth. Make, oh, it's hard to tell, to show, but it's gonna make like a c. So you're not gonna go at your floss just straight up and down, but you want to kind of shift the floss toward the surface of the tooth that you actually cleaning. So say for example, you, you are flossing this area of this tooth you want to make the floss curve this way and brush that area. And on this area, on this area, the other side, you want to actually shift the the floss that way. So it's gonna scrape along, you know, the curve area of the tooth. If you only go up and down, it's going to miss so many areas. And the reason why flossing is important too, is because the bristles of the toothbrush are too thick and they're not gonna go between your teeth. And that being said, if you miss those areas, it's kind of like a, I liken it to like, areas that are so tight. Say for example, the little area between your fridge and the countertop. It's hard to reach there, you know, you wanna sweep, it's hard to reach. So that's the same thing. The bristles of the toothbrush typically don't go between the teeth. That's the reason why you use floss'cause I remember seeing an article, or I think it was an article saying that flossing was overrated. Well, if you think about the fact that you know, your toothbrush, bristles are not going between the teeth, it's not overrated. And many times, you know, when we take x-rays, we see people who have super clean surfaces of the teeth, the chewing surfaces, no cavities there, but you have so many cavities between the teeth because they're not reaching with the floss. So that's number one thing as far as trying to avoid gingivitis, you want to also make sure that you go to the doctor. You go to the dentist at least twice a year. You know, if you, if you're just a person that have a relatively healthy gum or just gingivitis, but if you have periodontitis, then at the discretion of your doctor, the dentist will let you know when they want you to come back, because then you need more. More professional cleanings. There's also the type of food that you can eat that can also reduce gingivitis. You have some, some food that are anti-inflammatory, you know, like milk, you want to drink eat leafy greens like broccoli and kale and foods like carrot, celery. That have a lot of fibers because they're also cleansing. Also lots of vitamin C. It's also very good for, for your gum as well. So those kind of things are what is going to help you limit or decrease or prevent as well. Gingivitis, so gum disease and periodontitis.

Kerry:

So with the toothbrush, you're saying go at an angle, right? And then so most, not most, but a lot of people use the mechanical one. And you can still maybe get that at an angle, right? And then it has a timer of two minutes. Do you think that's sufficient to like get all those areas, the surface of the teeth and the you know, the gum lines too?

Valerie:

Two, two minutes is recommended. Obviously, if you do more, it's not gonna hurt, but, but you wanna do at least two minutes. Okay? minutes. And you wanna make sure that you address every single tooth surface. And if you know. It's, it's more like the technique. Are you sweeping away, like the food away from the gum because and so some people say even go in circular motion versus just going like that horizontally or vertically. So two minutes is, you know, typically is what the a DA recommends. But if you feel like you want to go longer, that's also good.

Kerry:

Mm-hmm.

Valerie:

okay. Yes.

Kerry:

I had accidentally had it on the clean mode of my setting and I was going way longer than two minutes. And I was what is going on with Like, I'm ready for bed. It was too long. And then, so my kids they tend to just do this so. They are not on the electric toothbrush yet, so maybe I need to make sure that they're doing the circular motion like

Valerie:

Correct. Correct.

Kerry:

then also the, I think the angle is like gonna be a pretty important thing. And then the flossing, I think you were just saying it really hugging the tooth Right. And, and all the sides for as well. Yeah. That's And then flossing, you recommend once a day?

Valerie:

Yes. The, the a DA recommends at least once a day. At least once a day, yes.

Kerry:

Then You mentioned the, well, the healthy foods, right? So eating like an anti-inflammatory diet is, you know, very helpful for gums and stuff as well. Unfortunately, some of the things you mentioned are the, some of the things I get stuck in my teeth, so I have floss like right after eating that.

Valerie:

Correct. Yes. So, you know, if you are able to floss right after to floss food out, that helps as well because obviously even so, you know, when food gets stuck, not only does it, is it uncomfortable, it, it can hurt. But you, you don't want to have food stuck between your yeah. So if you are one of, like, for example, me, whenever I had, I had gone undergone an orthodontic treatment, meaning I had braces and there was one area that didn't close right away. I always had to. Floss between, because when food would get, you know, lodge between mat teeth impacted in there, it was so painful. So I use for that kind of person, if you are that person, you can use floss. Sometimes floss doesn't really help if it's a. Got a bigger gap. You can use those in there's some little brushes that you can found. Find those incidental brushes, the tiny brushes that they use, kind of like, you know, those big brushes that you clean your baby bottles with, but very tiny. And you can go between your teeth removing food, and that helps as well. And that's also beneficial for people who actually have braces, then they can really go ahead and remove food and clean areas between the wire and the teeth and also under the gum. Yeah.

Kerry:

Yeah, that's helpful. I think, you know, thinking back, I might have even had one of those little brushes that you're talking about when I braces many years ago.

Valerie:

Yes. That came in so handy for me.

Kerry:

Yeah. One thing you mentioned was pain, and you didn't bring that up with the, you know, the sign of the gum disease. So, is pain also like a sign of it? I mean, I would assume maybe with the swelling and the redness and the, you know, bleeding, that pain could come with that, but is it sometimes painless?

Valerie:

Most of the time it's gonna be painless. That's the reason why like people don't really realize that they have any issues. So if it's actually painful, that means that in addition to just, you know, that, that means it's a very severe infection. At that point, perhaps, you know, it's so severe that you have maybe like posts there and things like that. Those are rare cases, but for the most part, people don't know they have it because it doesn't hurt.

Kerry:

Mm-hmm. Okay.

Valerie:

Yeah.

Kerry:

And then you mentioned like using xrays and stuff, so how do you actually diagnose you know, gum problems during, you know, your dental checkup, checkup?

Valerie:

Okay, so the two ways that we recognize that somebody has gum health one is that whenever we do our exam, we use some tools like we use a probe. It's it's an instrument that scan that has some measurements, and we are able to measure if you have pockets. So sometimes say you go to your dentist and you hear, since your dentist has not yet told you that you had gum disease, probably when they measure things it's probably between one and three. So you sometimes will sit there and you hear the doctor go, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, something like that. Those are the measurements that we are taking to measure if you have gum disease. So if you have just gingivitis, which is again, the infection of your gum, typically it's going to be just between rarely zero, but one and three. So once you start having like higher numbers, that's showing that you're starting to have some attachment. So your gum is attached to, to the bone. And so you're starting to have attachment loss in what we call pockets, that's more like periodontitis. So we take those measurements we see also like the bleeding. We look at the quality of your gum, if it's swollen, if it's red. That's how we are able to tell. But also on the x-rays, you can also notice so for somebody that has, periodontitis, you are able to see that the, the level of bone has decreased. So normally you have bone up until almost like the beginning of your crown. But if it's starting to be lower to where it's more like around the roots, you know, or you see that the, the level has decreased you or can also say that the person has periodontitis. So that's how we are able to tell.

Kerry:

So the x-rays also help. I was going to ask, and you may not know this answer because I don't know when you did your training or anything, like, I don't remember ever hearing these numbers called out, like in my prior experience with dentists until more recently. So is this something new or maybe they just didn't do it, or do you have any idea?

Valerie:

I'm not really sure because for the entire courses of my studies and beyond, we've always, you know, measured. So I graduated in 2011, so I can't really, I don't really know what happened prior to that, but from the time that we were in school, we were always measuring. So I, I'm not able to answer that question, but that's, that's an interesting question.

Kerry:

Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. It's just probably me not paying

Valerie:

Or maybe, you know, they measured and just didn't necessarily call out the numbers. I'm not sure that's possible too, but,

Kerry:

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. It might be that. I mean, now that everybody has like an assistant that's putting in the numbers and things like that, I feel like, mm-hmm. Okay, so while you find this, you know, gingivitis or periodontitis, so then what do you do?

Valerie:

Once you find it definitely you're going to let the person know. You're gonna let your patient know. We go over all hygiene instruction, just like I told you or explained you, share with you. Tell them how to actually go about, you know, conducting the oral hygiene at home. We do the cleaning and depending on. Whether the person has gingivitis or periodontitis. If the person has periodontitis, then you would need what is called a deep cleaning. But if you know it's just healthy gum or gingivitis, we just, we just do a regular cleaning. Okay. And then we also polish the teeth, so we let them know. We advise them as well on how to floss, what to eat, you know, they can use a mouthwash. Sometimes we may prescribe chlorhexidine, which is a medicated mouthwash that's going to decrease the bacterial load. It just depends on what, you know, the findings are but those are pretty much things that we will do in order to address that. Gum disease at the

Kerry:

Yeah, I was gonna ask if you needed to use any like medications or anything like that, or antibiotics or anything like that.

Valerie:

Yes, sometimes you, you may need to use, like, if you see that somebody, if I see that somebody has a whole lot of bleeding, I would definitely recommend a medicated over, not over the counter, but a medicated prescribed. Antibiotic sometimes, you know, a patient may need some antibiotic placed in different pockets. It just depends on what the person would need at that point. In some cases say if the periodontitis is very severe, we may need to refer them to a specialist because they may need gum surgery, they may need gingival graft. It just depends. For the most part, you know we will do it in-house. If it's too severe, then we send it to a periodontitis. There are with a periodontitis. Sometimes teeth are so mobile that you may lose some teeth and then we will, may need to extract the teeth. But it's so, it depends. It varies.

Kerry:

Yeah. Okay. So general dentist doesn't do that. They would send you to the periodontal.

Valerie:

For, depending on the dentist, if they have enough training, you know, undergo, to do gum surgery, they may be able to do it. But typically in our office, we'll send it to a periodontist, which is a specialist for gums and all the structures that actually support teeth.

Kerry:

So we mentioned a bunch of, you know, lifestyle things that can contribute to having gum disease, like especially the nutrition. Is there anything that having gum disease can have an effect to the rest of our body?

Valerie:

Absolutely. So having gum disease is, is problematic in that it can for sure affect the rest of your body because if you think about it there's the same blood that goes through your gum, goes through, you know, your, your bone and all of that goes through the rest of the body, right? So you can end up, and that's the reason why we, we stress upon that. You can end up having different problems because if the inflammation that's, that, that stay that's in your gum does not just stay at your gum and travels in the rest of your body, it can go affect your brain, it can go affect your heart. I. Tell the story of my uncle, for instance, him, he had an infection that stemmed from him having cavities, and that was back home in Congo where, you know, we don't really have, or we didn't have the habit of going to the, to the dentist on a regular basis unless something truly, truly ended up hurting like crazy. So he didn't go to the doctor, but when he did go he ended up having unfortunately, a stroke the same day stemming from mouth infection. So that's why, you know, it's, it's very important to address that. I remember as well, one of my patient that came in hysterical, she was so scared because she. Prior, or long time ago, she went to the doctor and she had a cleaning. And she said that the day the day, the same day, I believe it was, if I remember correctly, she ended up having sepsis. So it's very direct. I mean, your entire body is connected. Right. So infection in your mouth can affect the rest of your body, so that's the reason why you want to not neglect, you know, your oral health, because even gingivitis or lingering periodontitis can affect the rest of your body.

Kerry:

Yeah, so sepsis, you know, for the listeners is like an infection in the blood that can mess with every organ system in the body and can land you in the hospital, in the ICU, even if it's, you know. Affecting you where it's shutting down organs. So very big deal that that could, you know, happen from just having, you know, problems with your mouth. It's crazy. And I know I just a random question and just'cause I don't know, listeners might be interested, but why do some patients have to take an antibiotic before their dental cleaning?

Valerie:

Okay. So guidelines are always changing, but they, they used to be, you know, patient that would have maybe like a heart murmur or somebody that has just had like some organs replaced, like knee replaced or something like that. I. Then the theder physician might recommend, you know, having antibiotic before the treatment. That way, you know, because there are bacterias that we are actually re dislodging by doing the cleaning, so it doesn't end up affecting those areas causing problems. So that's the reason why sometimes, you know, we may or your physician, the physician may require for the, for the patient. Two, first have antibiotic before any dental there are other instances where we do give antibiotic before, and that's not necessarily before treatment, but say for example, somebody had like a big infection and maybe a tooth needing to be treated with a root canal or maybe, you know, a tooth extracted. Or maybe an implant placed, dental implant placed. Then with those, in those cases, we may depending on the level of the infection that's there, prescribed first an antibiotic to get like the, the, infection in check are more contained or decreased. Because if you don't, by the time we give you anesthesia, the anesthesia is just gonna get diluted. And when we try to do the treatment, the patient is still in pain because he's not able to be, or she's not able to be anesthetized accordingly. So in those instances, then we will give you antibiotics prior. You take it for at least three days, and then we can do the treatment to continue.

Kerry:

Yeah, I think patients, especially with heart valve and joint replacements and things like that, the, the, the. The bacteria that is in our mouths is supposedly very sticky and can stick to those things. And I think that's what can lead to, you know, worse cases like sepsis and things like that. And I think those are some of the reasons why we do it. I mean, you, it's kind of what you said, but you know, for those particular cases in general too.

Valerie:

right,

Kerry:

Cool. Well, anything else to add on gum disease that we might have left out?

Valerie:

I did leave out that you need to make sure you drink lots and lots of water because water is helpful. We are so majorly made out of water, but also if you think about it, water is. Going to kind of dilute things. If you're drinking things that are very acidic, it is going to dilute, you know, the acidity. It's also going to wash out a lot of, you know, the food debris that gets stuck on your teeth and help with that. So drinking lots and lots of water is very, very essential. And it helps also with your gum

Kerry:

Plain water.

Valerie:

Yes,

Kerry:

Yeah.

Valerie:

yes.

Kerry:

So I have a personal question. How long do you spend with your dental routine? Like, let's just say before bedtime, not all day.

Valerie:

Yeah, so definitely make sure I make sure that I brush, you know, my teeth before I go to bed. And even when we say brushing, because say for example, you are eating food in the evening, you definitely don't want to eat brush your teeth right after have finish eating because you may, there's still a lot of acid on your teeth and if you brush right away, you can actually start causing erosion. So you wanna wait at least 30 minutes. After that you wanna make sure that you do brush for at least two minutes as recommended and that you floss. I prefer flossing at night because then I have a clean surface because at night we have a decreased salivary flow and the saliva helps a lot as far as making it a little bit more difficult for bacteria to adhere to your teeth. So at night, since we produce less saliva your bacteria are more, have a easier time actually adhere to your teeth. So flossing during those times to me is also very, very helpful to floss at night. Obviously where, as we say, it's at least once a day. So if you're able to floss in the morning as well, it won't hurt. Yes.

Kerry:

What is your take on flossing before you brush or vice versa?

Valerie:

I think it's, to me, I think it'll be more helpful to do it after, because that's, you know, after, well obviously I do brush before, right? Because when I wake up. I brush my teeth or even in the evening flossing. But I think that it's be, it's gonna be more beneficial to do it after, because then you would actually remove the food that you have just eaten as well, that would be maybe stuck also between your teeth. So I think, I think evening, you know, but it's

Kerry:

Yeah. Yeah. So I meant

Valerie:

I mean, I after eating, mm-hmm.

Kerry:

You floss after you brush.

Valerie:

I do. I floss after I brush, but some people say to floss before I do like to floss after.

Kerry:

I think I used to do that, and then I have, you know, tight teeth, so I get things stuck. So I feel like I need to floss before so I can actually brush those surfaces. Otherwise, it's just stuck.

Valerie:

Right,

Kerry:

Awesome. Yeah. Well,

Valerie:

the way, there was a question that asked me last time that I had to go and check and it was about mechanical toothbrushes or electric toothbrush for kids. When was, or what was the age. And it's three years old is what is recommended.

Kerry:

okay. I'm way behind then. Time to upgrade my kids' toothbrushes.

Valerie:

Yes.

Kerry:

That's gonna be a pretty penny. Okay. Actually, are the cheaper ones that they sell at like Walmart and the bins like that spin for kids good enough? Or do they need like a advanced one, like

Valerie:

mean, I think, I think that the thing with, electric toothbrush is helping as far as you know because the children don't really have good dexterities. I think that if you can, if you can get that, that's good, but if you can get one that's more, that's better, why not? Right? But that's what I think because a mechanical, a manual one will help as well. So if you go with an electric one, it's only gonna just be better as far as, you know, helping and especially. If you are able to get one, because you know kids, they rush really quickly. So if you are able to get one that has a timer or that has a song, they become more interested in actually using it. So,

Kerry:

That's a good idea. Yeah. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for all of your, you know, expertise again, on CO and coming in on the podcast today. I definitely learn something every time, so it's so fun. Thank you so much.

Valerie:

Thank you so

Kerry:

everybody, Yes. Yeah, everybody, you know, tune in next week to see what we bring for you and please, you know, subscribe, like, and all that stuff too. All right.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Dr. Kerry Reller

Host