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AARP Purpose Prize Alumni Newsletter

Post author By Adele Della Torre
Post date August 24, 2020
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Dr. Adele Della Torre was invited to write a newsletter article for The AARP Purpose Prize Alumni Newsletter:

Ready Set Smile is a community-based organization whose mission is to improve the oral health of children through school-based onsite dental services and classroom education. RSS partners with 27 Minneapolis schools (preschool through 8th grade) that serve high numbers of children without access to dental care.

Our work has been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic, but this health crisis has also given us clarity on the importance of our mission. The pandemic has amplified the racial inequities throughout our nation and my home city, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Further, the site of George Floyd’s killing is just blocks from Ready, Set, Smile’s office and so we are acutely aware of the heightened issues resulting from racial tensions in the community. We are pleased that Minneapolis has become an epicenter of a growing wave of racial justice awareness. I cannot help but connect the health disparities that our nonprofit fights with the hope that rises from our community’s actions to combat COVID and racial injustice.

Most people are unaware that dental decay is the most prevalent chronic childhood disease and is concentrated in children who lack access to preventive dental care. In fact, research shows that 80% of decay occurs in 15-20% of our children, almost all of whom live in poverty. Although children rarely die from dental infections, dental decay is one of the most common reasons for missing school and is therefore a disruptor of an afflicted child’s education. Our data confirms these facts, as 56% of the children seen in our schools have active decay at their first visit with us. Dental decay is a disease that is 100% preventable, but the systemic barriers to access dental care make good oral health difficult to achieve.

What does a school-based portable dental clinic do when schools are closed? We pivot.

● We are seeking alternative sites in institutions such as community centers, daycare centers, congregations, teen-parent programs and teen homeless shelters.

● A local orthodontist has loaned us his office to serve children on the two days each week it is not in use.

● We are piloting setting up our portable clinic in our current office space for the children in our immediate neighborhood.

● We are pursuing designation as a Telehealth provider in order to provide oral health education to families and schools.

● We will modify our traditional clinic schedules to accommodate school hybrid scheduling.

Although these alternatives require a dramatic shift from our school-based model, we believe that the spirit of our mission requires that we continue to bring dental care to children in locations where they feel comfortable. A child’s oral health is critical to their self-esteem, their ability to thrive and to have a future of good health. Each of us do what we do best to purposefully improve our world.

The pandemic has forced innovative solutions. We are an organization that heals our community. Our solutions to this health disparity are simple. Good oral health impacts a child’s ability to learn, to smile, to nourish and improves the future of their overall health. Focus on what you do best to purposefully improve the world.

Tags AARP, children, clinic, community, Covid-19, dental, dental care, kids, minneapolis, minnesota, mission, newsletter, nonprofit, oral health, pandemic, ready set smile, schools

If you search online, you would find that daily flossing is one of the key activities to increase your life expectancy. Yes, flossing! In fact according to the Living to 100 Life Expectancy Calculator daily flossing gives you 6 additional years. Then why did the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services quietly drop flossing from the latest dietary guidelines for Americans? Their reasoning: lack of reliable scientific evidence.

As a dentist since 1981, I can assure you that I have seen the clinical evidence of the importance of this daily routine in practice. But let’s take a step back and answer a few questions.

First, is there any sound scientific data that flossing increases life expectancy?

A longitudinal clinical study to show direct causation between flossing and life expectancy has never been done. Who would do it and at what expense? But I bet folks who floss daily have lifestyles where they are able to care for themselves holistically. They understand to eat well, exercise, get adequate sleep, and don’t smoke. They see their health care team regularly, including their dentist who reminds them to floss. There is likely an indirect correlation between flossing and longevity.

How damaging is chronic inflammation to the body?

Inflammation is your body’s protective mechanism to heal wounds and fight disease. It’s necessary to keep you healthy. But chronic inflammation, which is inflammation out of control that goes on for months or years, is associated with many disease processes. Here’s a fact: Chronic inflammation is not healthy for you.

Periodontal disease is chronic inflammation. Your gum tissues are responding to the presence of plaque which it perceives as an irritant and it is trying to protect itself. This creates an oral cavity with chronic inflammation. Gums bleed and swell, and bone melt away from the irritants of plaque and calculous, leaving the teeth unsupported. Flossing removes the plaque the toothbrush cannot reach. Reducing this inflammation in your mouth by removing as much plaque as possible, stops the progression of this disease and prevents chronic inflammation.

Does reducing the inflammation of periodontal disease help your overall health?

The only disease where there is definitive clinical evidence in, is diabetes. Diabetics who control their periodontal disease improve their A1C levels. There has been research on other diseases, most notably, cardiovascular disease, kidney failure, and low birthrate babies born to mothers with gum disease. This data have been mixed, at best, on a direct correlation. But inflammation in your body should be kept to a minimum and no one wants periodontal disease, so flossing will help.

Does flossing help prevent decay?

This is a more difficult question because of less scientific evidence. In areas of food impaction, regular flossing to remove the presence of food is critical to prevent decay. And where there is recession resulting in exposed roots, it helps to keep roots free of plaque to prevent decay. No clinical studies are necessary to demonstrate this, because we see it every day. But in the healthy dentition, without periodontal disease, there are no studies that show that flossing directly prevents the cavities between the teeth. But it makes empirical sense as a healthy activity.

How important is being an effective flosser?

Well here is the rub. Flossing takes dexterity and practice. Just snapping the floss between your teeth in quick succession is fruitless. After you snap through where the teeth touch, you must gently wrap the floss around each tooth on either side of the floss. Gently shimmy the floss down as far as it will go below the gum, rubbing the teeth with the floss. The white stuff that you find on the floss, is a colony of bacteria you have just disrupted. As soon as you’re done, they’ll start their process of rebuilding. That’s why daily is important. And by the way, the most pathogenic ones need sugar, so starve them by cutting back on sugar.

So, should you floss?

Yes, in our humble opinion the Feds got this wrong. We’re so proud of the patients of ADT Dental, because many of you have showed up after hearing this news with the strong conviction that this health update was just plain silly.

And we agree.