“You can’t dry yourself off when you are still in the shower” – author unknown

Bleeding gums and cavities are caused by oral bacteria that enter the bloodstream and can harm vital organs.

If your gums bleed when you brush and floss, you are showering your body with bad bacteria and can aggravate chronic diseases: heart disease, diabetes, stroke, dementia, rheumatoid arthritis, and even pregnancy complications.

If you are someone with an autoimmune disease, having good oral hygiene is important for your healing process.

Chronic low-grade infections in the mouth elevates systemic inflammation and has an impact on all body systems.

The significance of these mouth-body and oral-systemic connections highlight the importance of preventing and treating oral disease which has mounting and profound medical impacts on “whole body” health.

Dr. Allyson Drew and Dr. Jason Drew are proud members of the American Academy of Oral Systemic Health, AAOSH.

Drs Drew pay special attention to emerging science, technologies and procedures which reduce health risk factors and assure better health for their patients.

AAOSH members include physicians, dentists, nurses, chiropractors, dental hygienists, and other health professionals, researchers and educators. It provides educational opportunities that help dentists practice with the best clinical judgment and clinical skills possible. This promotes excellent care for patients and encourages proper inter-disciplinary care when necessary.
A Gentle & Positive Dental Experience

Building a foundation of trust by treating our Aptos and Santa Cruz area patients as individuals is vital to our success. We strive to provide a relaxing, positive and gentle dental experience for all our patients. Drs. Jason and Allyson Drew and their entire dental team are dedicated to providing you with excellent, personalized care and service to make your visits to our Aptos dental office as comfortable and pleasant as possible.
We thank you for allowing us to take care of your dental needs and look forward to serving patients with dental work such as Invisalign, Dental Implants, Invisalign Clear Braces or any Family Dentistry.

Three Prevention Principles:

1. Eat every 2 to 3 hours. Not every 20 minutes.

2. Eat “tooth friendly” foods. Use the analogy: fresh fruit is better than dried fruit for teeth. Fresh bread is better than dried bread (crackers) for teeth. Crackers are incredibly sticky but nobody knows it until it’s too late. Eat toast instead.

3. If you focus on diet, then brushing can be for bacteria, not for food. There is nothing to brush after eating an apple!

Important Prevention Tips:

• Always try to have a sip of water after every meal or snack
• Have 4 to 6 organized mini meals a day with only water in between
• Disorganize eating or drinking will cause cavities even with healthy foods
• Only have water after the nighttime brushing • Fluoride application at your dentist every six months can also help reduce cavities by 20 to 30%
• Get vitamin D!
• If you have a child, help brush their teeth daily until they are six or seven years old. Brush for 20 seconds since you are focusing on tooth friendly diet now.
•Floss teeth if they are touching for additional protection.
•Schedule an infant screening exam with your dentist at age one or first tooth, whichever comes first. Never leave a bottle in bed with baby (unless it’s water)
•Saliva is the natural cleaner of the mouth. Saliva Flow slows down at night so brushing and flossing at night time is very important.

The most important variables that determine whether a snack food is going to cause cavities or not are:

1) Containing carbohydrates (flour is the worst)
2) How long the food stays stuck on the teeth (stickiness of the food)
3) How fast the food is usually consumed.

Let’s compare fresh fruit to dried fruit:

An apple

1) Contains carbohydrates
2) Doesn’t stay on the teeth for long because it is crunchy
3) Usually is eaten within 5 minutes

So, a fresh apple is on the “good list” for teeth, even though it contains sugar. Just don’t nibble on it 8 times a day, and your teeth will be fine.

A freeze-dried apple

1) Contains carbohydrates
2) Stays on the teeth for too long
3) Can be carried around for 30 minutes

So, dried fruit is worse for your teeth because it is stickier and will stick to the teeth for a longer period of time and you can carry it around and snack in it for 20 minutes or longer.
Please Consider these links for your information:

American Dental Association Mouth Healthy
Xylitol products to fight cavities between meals
Sonicare Electric Toothbrushes
Nimbus Toothbrushes
MI Paste for remineralizing teeth
Sensodyne Toothpaste for sensitive teeth
Fluoride Toothpaste Prescription
Flouride Treatments in the Dental Office