You Can Stop Smoking

You have probably thought about it before. Maybe it was harder than you thought. There is one thing you know, it is worth it. It is worth it for yourself, your family and your friends. November 2010 may be the month to help you to take the plunge? Maybe the Great American Smokeout is for you. It's an opportunity to unite with literally millions of other smokers in saying "no thanks" to cigarettes for one day. The one day that can start you on a course of better health and lowering your risk for heart disease and many cancers.

Held once a year on the on the third Thursdays of November, the day was designed to underscore the dangers of smoking. Additionally this day delivers a challenge to smokers to cease using tobacco.

Behind the festivities of the Great American Smokeout are the often unheralded volunteers of thousands. These are the hard-working American Cancer Society volunteers who call on schools, malls and workplaces to promote the events and distribute information about abandoning cigarettes and other forms of tobacco use. They also enlist nonsmokers to "adopt" smokers for the day, supporting them with assistance and snacks. The support continues for those who determine not to return to smoking after the Great American Smokeout is over.

Why Quit Smoking?

Cigarettes have more than 4000 chemical compounds and at least 400 toxic ingredients. Here are FIVE of the most toxic.(1) Acetone - A flammable, colorless liquid used as a solvent. It's one of the active ingredients in nail polish remover. The tobacco industry refuses to say how acetone gets into cigarettes. (2) Ammonia - A colorless, pungent gas. The tobacco industry says that it adds flavor, but scientists have
discovered that ammonia helps you absorb more nicotine - keeping you hooked on smoking.(3) Arsenic - A silvery-white very poisonous chemical element. This deadly poison is used to make insecticides, and it is also used to kill gophers and rats.(4) Benzene - A flammable liquid obtained from coal tar
and used as a solvent. This cancer-causing chemical is used to make everything from pesticides to detergent to gasoline.(5) Benzoapyrene - A yellow crystalline carcinogenic hydrocarbon found in coal tar and cigarette smoke. It's one of the most potent cancer-causing chemicals in the world.

Generally individuals recognize that smoking can instigate lung cancer, but it can also initiate many other cancers and disorders.

The number of persons under the age of 70 who die from smoking-related diseases surpasses the total figure for deaths caused by breast cancer, AIDS, automobile accidents and drug addiction.

Cardiovascular disease is the main cause of death due to smoking.

Hardening of the arteries is a process that develops over years, when cholesterol and other fats deposit in the arteries, leaving them narrow, blocked or rigid. When the arteries narrow (atherosclerosis), blood clots are likely to form. Smoking accelerates the hardening and narrowing process in your arteries: it starts earlier and blood clots are two to four times more likely.

Cardiovasular disease can take many forms depending on which blood vessels are involved, and all of them are more widespread in folks who use tobacco.

Coronary thrombosis*- development of a thrombus that blocks a coronary artery, commonly causes myocardial infarction and death. Coronary thromboses commonly develop in segments of arteries with atherosclerotic lesions. Simply stated this is a blood clot in the arteries supplying the heart, which can lead to a heart attack. Over 25 per cent are triggered by smoking.

Cerebral thrombosis*-A blockage of blood flow through a vessel in the brain by a blood clot that formed in the brain itself.: the vessels to the brain can become blocked, which can lead to collapse, stroke and paralysis.

*ref. Mosby's Medical Dictionary, 8th edition. © 2009, Elsevier.

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Is Morning Breath an All Day Problem

This process of putrefaction in the mouth accelerates during sleep. Why? During the day, the mouth is constantly rinsed with oxygen-rich and slightly acidic saliva, washing bacteria away. However, the hourly production of saliva is reduced to about 1/50 the normal rate during sleep. As one magazine puts it, a dry mouth “becomes a stagnant pond of more than 1,600 billion bacteria,” creating the well-known “morning breath” with its accompanying bad taste.

Reduced salivary flow can also be triggered by stress while you are awake. For example, a nervous public speaker may get a dry mouth while speaking and finish up with a bad case of halitosis. Oral dryness is also a side effect or symptom of a number of diseases.

But bad breath is not always a result of bacterial activity in the mouth. In fact, oral malodor is often a symptom of a variety of conditions and illnesses. For this reason, in cases of unexplained persistent bad breath, it is best to seek medical attention.

Bad breath may also originate in the stomach. However, contrary to popular belief, this happens rarely. More often, some unpleasant odors reach your mouth from the lungs. How? After some foods, such as garlic or onions, are digested, they enter the bloodstream and are transported to the lungs. The associated odors are then exhaled through the respiratory tract into and out of your mouth and nose. According to the magazine Health, “studies have shown that people get garlic breath even when the cloves are simply rubbed on the soles of their feet or swallowed without chewing.”

Drinking alcoholic beverages will also charge your blood and lungs with the odor of alcohol. When this happens, there is virtually nothing you can do to correct the situation other than wait. Some food smells will linger in your body for up to 72 hours.

Bad breath cannot be corrected by simply chewing on a candylike breath freshener. Remember that bad breath is often a result of bacterial activity in the mouth. One must always keep in mind that tiny pieces of food that remain in the mouth provide a banquet for millions of bacteria. Therefore, one important way to fight bad breath is to keep your mouth clean, hence reducing its population of bacteria. This is done by regularly removing food particles and plaque from your teeth. How? Brushing your teeth after meals and at bedtime is important. But brushing is only one of the steps.
There are tooth surfaces unreachable with a brush. So flossing at least once a day is vital.

Experts also recommend gently brushing your tongue, which is a favorite hiding place and breeding ground for bacteria. Periodic examinations and teeth scaling by a dentist and a dental hygienist are also necessary. Bypassing any of these steps can result in bad breath and, in time, in serious tooth and gum diseases.

There are some temporary measures that can also be taken to freshen your breath. Take a drink of water, chew sugarless gum—do something that will increase your salivary flow.

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Source July 1995 AWAKE magazine

Avoid Tooth Decay - With Good Daily Habits

Good dental health starts on the inside. A balanced diet that includes calcium and vitamins A, C, and D will help the teeth develop, from the womb to the time that they are fully formed. Good eating habits will help you maintain healthy teeth, but beware of a diet rich in sugar! It will increase the risk of cavities. Despite repeated warnings linking sugar consumption to tooth decay, the average North American reportedly eats 100 to 130 pounds [50 to 60 kg] of sugar each year! Why does sugar have the potential to harm our teeth?

Tooth decay is caused by two kinds of bacteria—“mutans streptococci and lactobacilli”—that become a part of plaque, a sticky film of bacteria and food debris that forms on the teeth. Plaque bacteria feeds on sugar and converts it into harmful acids that begin decay. Certain types of sugar are more easily turned into acids or are more likely to adhere to the teeth, giving the plaque more time to begin tooth decay. Plaque that is not removed can harden into calculus, or tartar, around the gum line.


Controlling the plaque and especially the mutans streptococci bacteria is essential for preventing the spread of tooth decay. So if you want to preserve your smile, daily oral hygiene is a must. The Columbia University School of Dental and Oral Surgery states: “Combined with flossing, [brushing the teeth] is the single most important thing that you can do to maintain the health and vitality of your teeth and their supporting tissues.” Effective methods of brushing and flossing are illustrated on this and the following page. Your dentist may recommend other tools and techniques that will help you to clean your teeth effectively and thus protect your smile.

Repeated acid attacks cause demineralization, or softening of the tooth’s enamel surface. However, such lesions are being remineralized every day. How? It has been shown that fluorides continue to help prevent decay by helping the remineralization process. Thus, while decay is an infectious process, it is also reversible if certain factors, such as fluorides, are present.

Having your teeth cleaned by a dental professional once or twice a year will aid in keeping your teeth free of plaque. Dental Hygienists have special instruments designed to remove plaque buildup and flush out bacteria under the gums.

If you wish to minimize tooth plaque, good oral hygiene is needed. Brush and floss regularly and visit your dentist for your cleanings. Follow some simple daily steps and plaque, tooth decay and bad breath will no longer be an issue.

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6 Good Reasons to Floss Your Teeth

The Embry Hill Dental Care team always insists on the importance of flossing, and recommend doing it twice a day.

Here are 6 very good reasons why you should listen to them:

1. To prevent tooth decay

Dental plaque can cause cavities if it's left between teeth. When mixed with sugar, the bacteria that live in plaque can start the process of tooth decay. This is why it's bad for plaque to be left in your mouth. Brushing alone does not clean in between teeth, only dental floss can remove plaque in those areas.

2. To prevent gum disease

Gingivitis (inflammation of gums) is the first stage of gum disease (periodontal disease). It is caused by an accumulation of plaque around gums and between teeth. Plaque also contains bacteria that are harmful for the gums. Flossing is therefore important to remove all plaque accumulated after a meal.

3. To prevent halitosis

Dental plaque is one of the causes of halitosis, and if it's left between your teeth, it will generate a bad smell in your mouth. This odour comes from the metabolism of the bacteria contained in plaque. Bad breath can also be caused by gum disease and tooth decay which are also primarily caused by plaque.

4. To prevent tartar build-up

Tartar is actually dental plaque that has become hard from the saliva's calcifying action. Good oral hygiene measures, which include brushing and flossing, can slow down the accumulation of tartar, but does not actually remove it. Some people produce tartar more than others. Regular dental cleanings are recommended to remove tartar.

5. To reduce the risk of heart disease

As mentioned earlier, the mouth is an entry point to harmful bacteria that may eventually reach the body organs, including cardiac tissue. Dental plaque, which contains dangerous bacteria, must be therefore eliminated to prevent those micro-organisms to reach the heart through the blood stream and cause heart disease complications.

6. To avoid the complications of diabetes

There is scientific evidence that people who suffer from diabetes can have their condition complicated by gum disease. Diabetics usually have a weaker immune system and take more time to fight inflammations and infections, including the ones that start in the mouth. That's why oral hygiene, which includes daily brushing and flossing, is very important to prevent diseases, or disease complications, such as diabetes


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I'm Going to the Dentist - What is local anesthesia?

Topical anesthetics are applied to mouth tissues with a swab to prevent pain on the surface level. At Embry Hills Dental Care we generally use a topically anesthetic to numb an area in preparation for administering an injectable local anesthetic. Topical anesthetics also may be used to sooth painful mouth sores.



Injectable local anesthetics prevent pain in a specific area of your month during treatment by blocking nerves that sense or transmit pain an numbing mouth tissues.


They cause the temporary number often referred to as a "fat lip" feeling. Injectable anesthetics may be used in such procedures as filling cavities, preparing teeth for crowns or treating periodontal (gum) disease.



Dr. Robinson is a fantastic Atlanta dentist. Call 678-383-2622