Oral Health Expert: Bad Mouth Health Can Cause Cancer or Even Death - Dr Michael Awua-Mensah

Unlock the secrets to a healthier life from the inside out; our conversation with Dr. Awua will change the way you view the simple act of brushing your teeth. Discover why pausing before you brush post-meal can protect your pearly whites from acid erosion and preserve your smile for years to come. Tackling the sometimes-awkward subject of bad breath, we offer tactful strategies to address this common issue and maintain not only your oral health but also your social well-being.

Brush twice, floss regularly, and don't forget to check in with your dentist—sounds simple enough, right? This episode goes deeper, revealing how these fundamental habits can be a game-changer for your overall health, especially if you have chronic conditions like diabetes or heart disease. Dr. Awua and I dissect the tools of the trade, from soft-bristled toothbrushes to mouthguards, and underline the critical role of preventive measures in warding off oral cancer. Hear about the stealthy dangers lurking behind a hard-bristled brush and learn how the right approach can safeguard your gums and enamel.

Ever wondered about the best path to a dazzling smile? We weigh the pros and cons of teeth whitening treatments and orthodontic options, such as the ever-popular Invisalign. This isn't just about vanity—aligning your teeth correctly can have significant health benefits. Wrapping up, we reflect on the mantra "never stop learning," a cornerstone of personal growth that resonates beyond dental care, encouraging you to continuously seek improvement in all aspects of your life. Tune in for this enlightening episode and join the journey toward a brighter, healthier you—both inside and out.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

We could have people who die as a result of 2DK. When you're done eating, there's something that happens in your mouth. We call it an acidic challenge and it's not advised that you brush immediately after eating. You wait for at least 30 minutes. Sore throats can cause bad breath. People with lung cancer could have bad breath. People with gastric ulcer.

Speaker 2: 0:21

Number one business and self-development podcast. Connected Minds podcast. Dr Uwa, I have a question, and my first question is you know, there are some people who like to eat first before brushing their teeth, and then there are people who brush their teeth first in the morning before they eat. What's the best way?

Speaker 1: 0:49

great question. So when you're done eating and there's something that happens in your mouth, it's called we call it an acidic challenge, where your, your mouth becomes really, really acidic and it's not advised that you brush immediately after eating. So both work, but I advise that those who want to brush after eating, you wait for at least 30 minutes. By that time, that acidic challenge or that acidic nature in your mouth would have calmed down a bit. So when you're brushing, you're not rubbing all the acids all over your teeth. So both of them are good schools of thoughts. But if you're going to brush after you finish eating, wait for at least 30 minutes before you do that.

Speaker 2: 1:26

Why 30 minutes? Why not 45 minutes?

Speaker 1: 1:28

So 30 minutes. Research has shown that after 30 minutes there's a graph that shows the acidity coming down on the graph.

Speaker 2: 1:40

So we realize that at least 30 minutes you're good to go, but this acidity is part of the normal flora of the mouth, right?

Speaker 1: 1:45

It's part of the normal flora. But also our diet has changed. The Western diet has a lot of processed sugar, so the germs feed more on the sugar and produce more acids as compared to you not taking foods that are ultra-processed, so the acidity is quite high.

Speaker 2: 2:02

We call it a Stefan's cave the acidity goes up and then it starts to dip down but then sometimes to say you brush your teeth right and then you have your meal and then, let's say, two hours after that, you could feel that you could feel this extra things beneath your gum. You know, it's not food left there, but it's just whitish stuff. What causes that?

Speaker 1: 2:27

exactly that's what we call a plaque biofilm. So it's this pellicle layer that forms, constantly, keeps forming on your teeth. So in a way it contains germs. Some also contain a little bit of some food remnants in your mouth, so they more or less cover. There's a layer that forms on the teeth and that layer can only be removed when you actually brush your teeth. But immediately you're done brushing your teeth, the layer starts to form again. So in a way it's protective. But if the type of bacteria in the plaque is a harmful type of bacteria then for instance the streptococcus mutans then it starts to cause all sorts of adverse effects in the mouth.

Speaker 2: 3:05

Right, because of that. So there's a lady I've heard this is a story. Someone was telling me that she actually takes her toothbrush with her. You know she takes it to work, so anytime she eats she goes to the bathroom and then brushes her teeth.

Speaker 1: 3:21

That's actually quite a good habit. I wouldn't say it's going to cause any bad effects on your teeth, but if she's brushing her teeth 30 minutes after she eats, it's going to help her, because you realize that there are certain foods, like onions and garlic. They have their own inherent smell to it. No matter the candy or the mint you take, you still perceive that. So what you do is that when you're done taking such foods maybe 30 minutes after you can brush. When you're done brushing, you use a tongue scraper to scrape the coatings off your tongue, because some of these food molecules get imbibed into the tongue. So, irrespective that you brush your teeth, you still have that smell in your mouth if you don't brush the tongue well. So you're not just brushing the teeth after 30 minutes after eating, but brushing the tongue and flossing, because the brush to cannot get in between the tight spaces of the teeth.

Speaker 2: 4:09

Hence you need to floss all those food remnants out flossing okay, um, now I have another burning question, which is if you have a friend or a family member who has got bad breath. One, how do you find a way to tell that person? And then, two, should we be telling them?

Speaker 1: 4:42

good. So when it comes to bad breath, I've realized that people have issues trying to tell their colleagues, depending on the relationship they have with their loved one. Some people may take it very offensive, especially those who go and buy toothpaste, brush it or package it and then leave it on their desk at work. Or maybe buy a mouthwash and say, oh, use this mouthwash. It depends on the rapport that you've built with the person.

Speaker 1: 5:08

But usually what I advise my clients is that if you have a colleague who has bad breath, or maybe a loved one that has bad breath, first things first. You could even tell the person that you know what I'm going to see a dentist. Could you escort me to go see that, or maybe could you drop me off here. You enter the clinic if there are certain vouchers where maybe you have these promos where it's like two for one. So when you're done seeing the dentist, you tell the person oh, I just finished, but the voucher I've purchased allows me for another person to also see the dentist.

Speaker 1: 5:39

So it's the job of the dentist for him to examine the mouth, see certain things in the mouth and advise the client that, oh, maybe I've seen some plaque in the tartar, this plaque in the tartar can cause gum disease. It can also cause bad breath. So we are the professionals who can see it without it feeling offensive, but you as an individual. It's like the person doesn't believe, or even if the person believes, it's ingrained in their heads that constantly, even if bad breath is going, they'll still have that in their mind. That oh this person told me I have bad breath.

Speaker 2: 6:10

Oh, it's still there. Even though we've actually treated it, it'll still be ingrained in your head, so it may actually affect your relationship. Yes, yes it does.

Speaker 1: 6:13

It does and I've had clients where I've treated them for bad breath but because of something that was said to them when they were younger before the bad breath is not good. I get all my nurses to smell their mouths but I'll tell you that, doc, it is still there, can't you smell it? And it's like what you've done is a cause. So even before I start I tell them that get a confidant, somebody who knows you, who can tell you that, oh, maybe I can't smell it. You come to the dental clinic, we do clean for you, it's gone. You go back, the person smells and say, oh, it's gone, I don't feel it. But if the person still believes that the bad breath is there, forget it. Everything you do for the person, the person would never appreciate it.

Speaker 2: 6:44

But do you also recognize that sometimes bad breath may not necessarily be a fault of something wrong in the mouth? I agree, I totally agree because I I know a gentleman. He has a big issue with that. He has an awesome oral health, I I must say. But there was an issue with the upper cardiac sphincter, so the smell was actually coming from the stomach, right right, right, right, I agree.

Speaker 1: 7:15

So when it comes to what we call genuine bad breath, it can be the pathological one. We can have intraoral and extraoral. So intraoral is courses pertaining to the mouth and the extraoral are the causes outside the mouth. So causes outside the mouth you can have your tonsils, the structures behind your tooth that gets infected and then cause sore throats can cause bad breath. Your sinuses, these air-filled cavities on the sides of your nose, can cause bad breath. Nasal blockade if there's a tumor or there the sides of your nose, can cause bad breath. Nasal blockade If there's a tumor or there's something blocking your nose that could result in bad breath. People with lung cancer could have bad breath. People with gastric ulcer can have bad breath.

Speaker 1: 7:54

People with this condition we call gastroesophageal reflux disease. Those people are also prone to bad breath. Sometimes even people with diabetes. They have this bad breath that tends to be a bit sweet. They have that type of bad breath. So, aside the mouth, there are some extra oral causes and even medications. Certain medications can cause a bad breath because when they are metabolized in the body, the gases that are released can also especially the antidepressants, can have the adverse effects, of course, and bad breath so the patient comes to your um, your practice, and you realize that, hey, it's got nothing to do with the mouth.

Speaker 2: 8:32

Then how do you then proceed from there?

Speaker 1: 8:34

yeah, so, um, we take a thorough history, examine, do our investigations and we try to keep all the possible causes in their mouth. Once that is done, we give them a referral letter to see their GP and the GP can do further tests and if he or she needs to refer to an ENT specialist, an endocrinologist, they take over from there. But we need to take care of the 80% of the courses in their mouth. Make sure we've attended to most of the courses.

Speaker 2: 9:03

Then we can go ahead to refer for them to also check the other courses since you're talking about percentages, um, in terms of bad breath, what percentage do you think will be attributed to what is in the mouth and then what would be the rest of the parts of the body that's causing it?

Speaker 1: 9:21

right. So inside the mouth is 80, outside the mouth is 80%. Outside the mouth is 20%. That's the main reason why they first come to the dentist before you go and see the other specialist. You go and see the other specialist, they will say, no, where's your dentist? First Let them sort out the 80% and then come back to us.

Speaker 2: 9:37

I see, wow, now let's really delve into now that I'm done with my questions, my first two questions. Let's delve into oral hygiene Because, you see, connected minds is about self-development and this is all part of it, right, holistically, um, you know, taking care of yourself, making sure you're in the right space, so you know what would be a good care for oral health right when we talk about oral health.

Speaker 1: 10:11

I'll give you a backstory to this. An average guinean would only visit the dentist when he or she is in pain. If there is no pain, forget it. They are not going to visit the dentist. And some of these oral diseases or oral conditions some tend to be a bit more silent. They don't cause you any pain and the results in maybe a terminal stage where you have to take out the tooth, you need to do certain procedures. That tends to be expensive. Other people say, oh, dentistry is expensive, but dentistry is expensive. But if you put preventive measures in place, then you you tend not to spend too much money. So I come to the why. Why do we need to take care of our mouth? And the mouth is linked to the general body.

Speaker 1: 10:52

As this year's world oral health day, the theme was a healthy mouth is a healthy body. If you don't have a healthy mouth, you're not going to have a healthy body because, bear in mind, the mouth is the gateway to the body. So there are certain things, for instance, um, if you have a, you have poor oral hygiene, you realize. Or gum disease, you may realize that you have a difficult uh difficulty in managing diabetes. Diabetes management becomes an issue. And one other thing too is respiratory diseases. If you have oral diseases or gum diseases, you're more prone to getting infections like pneumonia, especially in people who are immunocompromised or the older individuals, the elderly individuals.

Speaker 1: 11:35

One other thing is the heart. Some oral diseases have a link. There's been research showing that there's a link between severe gum disease and people with heart diseases, even stroke. There's been a link between the two, according to research. Also, the fact that pregnant women during pregnancy, because of the hormonal imbalances, if they don't take care of their teeth and their gum disease, they tend to give birth to preterm babies or babies with low weight, which is also an issue.

Speaker 1: 12:10

So, looking at all these issues, realize that none of these things I said had pain in them. They are all silent things that are happening. So there's a need for us to take care of our mouth. Taking care of our mouth. There are four highlights I'm going to dwell on. The first is brushing your teeth twice daily. The second is staying away from sugary foods and drinks. The third is maintaining a healthy lifestyle. And lastly, the fourth is visiting your dentist regularly. So when we talk about brushing your teeth twice daily, most guardians have the notion that we're supposed to use a hard-bristled toothbrush because if the hard-bristled toothbrush is able to clear the food remnants, the smokest toothbrush.

Speaker 1: 12:47

Yes, it's able to take care of the plaque and all that, but they are wrong. The hard-br toothbrush in as much as it's taking some of the food debris and the plaque of the teeth, it's also damaging the outer protective layer of the teeth. So you realize that you end up having these tiny crevices along the tooth towards the gum area. So it gets to a point you're taking cold water. You feel a lot of sensitivity on your teeth because the hard brush has damaged the teeth. It's caused gum recession. The gums have receded or moved away from the teeth because of the hard vessel toothbrush that you are using and also the technique that you're using to brush your teeth. So you realize that you, you grow up, you get to a certain age and your gums have all shifted away from the teeth. It's not any food that has caused that, but it's actually your your technique and also the texture of the brush that you're using. So it's advisable that you use a soft-bezel toothbrush and a fluoride-containing toothpaste to help reduce the incidences of tooth decay in your mouth.

Speaker 1: 13:42

You should also be brushing your teeth at least two minutes. Some people enter the washroom. They spend just a few seconds. They are done. They are late for work. You're going to have issues with that, and you should be flossing your teeth as well. So that has to do with the first highlight. I spoke about brushing your teeth twice daily. The second is cutting down or avoiding sugary foods and drinks. Would you be surprised if I told you that an adult is not supposed to take more than six teaspoons of sugar in a day?

Speaker 2: 14:11

I won't be surprised, because it's really bad for you.

Speaker 1: 14:15

Yes, and with kids too. They're not supposed to take more than three teaspoons of sugar in a day. But these teaspoons, somebody will be certain our audience will be there saying that, oh, I don't put that much sugar in my tea or in my coffee. This sugar is also found in drinks. The drinks we buy, the cake, all come together to form more than that six teaspoons of sugar that people take in a day. So we really need to watch our sugar because the bacteria in our mouth or the germs in our mouth feed on the sugar. They ferment the sugar and they produce acids and these acids now start to destroy the outer structure of the teeth, called the enamel, and gradually it moves into the innermost layer. Then it starts to feel pain. But if you avoid the sugar, it wouldn't even start in the outer layer for it to even move deeper in the tooth to cause pain.

Speaker 1: 15:04

And also it's important, talking about the sugary foods and drinks, it's important we don't snack in between meals, because snacking in between meals has an adverse effect in your mouth. It increases your chances of getting to decay. So that has to do with the highlight on avoiding sugar foods and drinks, maintaining a healthy lifestyle. When I talk about maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Um, people who engage in contact sports um, they are they. They tend to have a lot of falls people coming in contact with them football, basketball, rugby so it's important that such people always have mouth guards on so that they don't get damages to their teeth. Also, staying with that highlight, it's also important that people stay away from tobacco intake and smoking. It's really, really important Because, with tobacco yes, also shisha With tobacco intake what happens is that tobacco has been known to be one of the precursors for oral cancer.

Speaker 2: 16:02

Yes.

Speaker 1: 16:04

It's been noticed, and even combining tobacco with alcohol even increases your chances.

Speaker 2: 16:08

It's even worse. It's even worse. It increases your chances, but it goes so well together on the street. It goes so well together too.

Speaker 1: 16:13

So that's that. And the fourth one is visiting your dentist regularly and this part of our world, people don't prioritize going to see the dentist. It's, as I said, it's only when they have pain. So the fourth highlight is it's very important you go and see your dentist whether or not you have pain, go for your dental cleaning check for 2dk and all that. You're good to go. So these four highlights are something I thought the general population should know of.

Speaker 2: 16:36

So my auntie is probably sitting at home thinking this guy is saying you know a teaspoon, do we take it flat or we fill it up? You see what I mean? Yes, so which one is it which one would classify as a full teaspoon?

Speaker 1: 16:51

A level teaspoon Level right. A level teaspoon Right right, Gotcha, gotcha.

Speaker 2: 16:56

Now I've read somewhere that fluoride um and I know he's a dentist's best friend. I know quite a few dentists. They love to talk about fluoride and I'm sure you are no different. There's a video I saw of you on your on your Instagram, and as soon as I saw it I had to quickly go find an article Is fluoride good for us and what makes it good for us?

Speaker 1: 17:28

Great question. Back in school, when I was in medical school, we had a course in pharmacology. I remember one of the first lectures was by one of our pharmacology lecturers and he brought up this quote from one Swiss chemist and physician called Paracelsus. What Paracelsus said was that all things are poison, but the poisonous nature of something depends on the dose of it. So I would say Freud is a double-edged sword. In very extreme quantities it can cause issues, but in moderate amounts or the specified range that we are supposed to use, you're going to get the good effects from fluoride. Same with water. Too much water can cause issues. Too much bananas can cause issues because they contain a lot of potassium and all that. It's the same thing with fluoride.

Speaker 2: 18:19

If fluoride is not being used properly, it can cause adverse effects you know, um, I'm sure look, see whenever is good, right, we don't really focus on on that, so let's Focus on the extreme cases where you've taken it overload or overdose what can happen.

Speaker 1: 18:42

Great. So the overdose of fluoride. It's in two forms. The first is a short-lived one, the other one is a long-term one. So the short-lived one or the acute one.

Speaker 1: 18:52

For instance, if your child swallows excessive amounts of fluoride, it becomes an issue because he or she will start complaining of stomach issues, diarrhea and all that Because excessive amounts of fluoride being swallowed can cause that issue. But it's not something that can lead to maybe a serious infection or something, a condition where you need to Like death. No, you're going to have some tummy issues and with a long-term use of um, fluoride swallowing, keep swallowing excessive amounts of fluoride during childhood. When your baby teeth fall off and your adult teeth appear in the mouth, you would have these, um, shall I say, whitish flecks on the front surfaces of the teeth and that we call fluorosis. You can even have some yellowing of the teeth. That's if excessive amount of fluoride is taken.

Speaker 1: 19:45

For instance, if you swallow a lot of toothpaste when you're younger, or maybe you lived in a community where the groundwater contained excessive amounts of fluoride. For instance, take the Bongo district in the Upper East Region, where a study was carried out and they realized that the amount of fluoride in their water bodies was extremely high, so such individuals didn't have to decay, but the adverse effect was the fact that it had caused yellowing of their mouth because their water body had too much fluoride. The adequate amount of fluoride that should be in water should be one part per mil, but in their their case, it was way more than one. It was quite a lot and that could cause that adverse effect.

Speaker 2: 20:21

So it's a double-edged sword double-edged sword indeed, um, but you still say, as a dentist, that it is important to have fluoride in our toothpaste I agree for reasons for reasons being the fact that fluoride protects your teeth from decay.

Speaker 1: 20:41

It makes the outer shell of your teeth much more resistant to the acids produced by the germs in our mouth.

Speaker 2: 20:49

Do you think, though, in Ghana we have crisis? We do, we do.

Speaker 1: 20:56

When I was working at Rage Hospital, Greater Accra Regional Hospital, there were cases where we could have people who die as a result of tooth decay.

Speaker 2: 21:05

Wow, yes, or at least with sepsis.

Speaker 1: 21:07

Yes. So the tooth decay, especially in the immunocompromised people. The immune system doesn't mount a proper response to it. The decay, infection keeps moving from the jaw moves to the throat and when it gets to the throat it compromises on the airway because of the swelling, the abscess. We call it Ladwik's angina. It compromises on the airway and kaput takes over.

Speaker 2: 21:29

Wow, yeah, it got killed. I guess you know, when people hear you can die, then they'll probably say I'm taking it serious. Teeth whitening. Um, before I came to Ghana I always wanted to do it, but before I, you know, it wasn't as popular. But when I came to Ghana I realized that it's everywhere. It's so popular and I guess it's so cheap as well. You know, are we supposed to be doing that? Is it healthy for our teeth, our gums? Um, and how often? If it's good, how often should we be doing it?

Speaker 1: 22:17

I would use the teeth whitening analogy to going to wash a car. When you go to the car wash, yeah, you first have the car washed and all that, and when you're done you can decide to go for a waxing where they use a chemical to bring out the shine of the car. It's the same thing with going to see the dentist for a cleaning and later, if you want to widen, you do the widening. So the cleaning is to take care of the dirt, the plaque and tartar that forms on the teeth. So that's more of functional health, where you're trying to improve the health of your teeth and improve the health of your gums when that is done. As a human being, our teeth are not supposed to be extremely white. The actual natural color of teeth is yellowish, white or grayish white. It's as a result of how the layers of the teeth are structured we are not actually born with.

Speaker 2: 23:06

A4 sheet white teeth.

Speaker 1: 23:06

That's what we want, man. Hollywood has changed that perspective for us to feel that it's how extremely white teeth. So when you're done with taking care of the health of your gums and teeth and you want to improve upon the aesthetics of your teeth, that's when you do the cosmetic aspect of dentistry, that is, teeth whitening. It's a non-invasive procedure where called carbamide peroxide in very high quantities to try and lighten the color of the teeth.

Speaker 1: 23:28

There are certain instances where people use um over the counter, um whitening strips to get wider teeth at home, but those ones are not that effective. Yes, it can improve mouth stains, but it wouldn't be as massive as what we would do for you at the clinic because we use controlled high amounts of the chemical to get the white teeth that you desire. So I wouldn't say it's bad, but it's something just to improve the aesthetics of your teeth. But it should be done by a professional, a dentist, because we need to protect your gums, we need to be able to manage the sensitivity that comes along with the whitening yeah, because sometimes when I do it, it can be, it can be very sensitive yes even when I drink water, I can feel the tingling exactly, exactly that's why I asked the question how often are we supposed to do it?

Speaker 1: 24:14

right. So after your first or your first two sessions you could give a break, maybe um five to six months to do a top up for the widening, depending on how well you take off your teeth. You realize that after widening a set of distractions are given to you. Um, avoid, coffee, tea, wine. These things contain what we call tannins. These tannins naturally dye the teeth. So if you take more of that after having a session of widening you can go back to how your teeth was before.

Speaker 2: 24:42

But then in most cases, when you go and you lay in that widening dental seat, you could do three or four sessions. But how many sessions am I supposed to be doing in a time? Because sometimes I just feel like they just want their money. Do you know what I mean. How many sessions can I do at a time before I go and come back again?

Speaker 1: 25:05

So it depends solely on the percentage or the chemical that you're using. There are certain chemicals that tend to be a bit milder, so you need to do a lot of sessions. They are more diluted. You need to do about maybe three, four sessions before you get the effect. But there are other chemicals of the carbamide peroxide or the hydrogen peroxide. They're a bit higher than when you apply on the teeth. Within a matter of 10-15 minutes you've gotten the effect that you want. But bear in mind that the higher the concentration to the higher chances of getting the sensitivity associated with that can the whitening make your teeth brittle?

Speaker 1: 25:40

whitening on its own cannot make the teeth brittle. Yes, it doesn't.

Speaker 1: 25:45

Doesn't make the teeth brittle, okay because sometimes when I, after whitening, I see um whitest spots on some of my my, my tooth that's the impact it has on the outer layer of the teeth, because in as much as it's trying to change the color of the teeth, if there are any stains on the teeth it also dyes those internal stains on the tooth. So it's it's not making a brittle, but it's due to the, the mechanism of action of the teeth, widening chemical you.

Speaker 2: 26:20

You speak about invisalign um, but when I was growing up, it was always um braces um that. I used to see my colleagues, my friends in college wear them, but these days it looks like you talk about Invisalign a lot. What's the difference between the two?

Speaker 1: 26:40

Right. So Invisalign is a brand. The actual name of the plastic is what we call clear aligners, so we have different manufacturers who manufacture it. So Invisalign is more of a brand for clear align. The. The plastic is what we call clear aligners, so we have different manufacturers who manufacture so. Inverse Line is more of a brand for clear aligners. So with Inverse Line clear aligners there are these series of plastic trays that you fit on your teeth. It's custom fit for your teeth and your teeth only. So we may make about 20, 25 or 30 aligners, depending on how you want to align your teeth.

Speaker 1: 27:06

Some people present to us with spaces in between their teeth you want to align your teeth. Some people present to us with spaces in between their teeth they want to close their gaps. Maybe some people, their upper and lower teeth at the front don't meet when they bite. Some people have what we call overcrowding. Their teeth are not arranged properly. They are all jumbled up together. They are good candidates for having clear aligners.

Speaker 1: 27:25

So what happens is that the clear aligners you may wear it for maybe a year, a year and a half or two years. It has the same mechanism of action as you would if you're wearing braces, but the the whole clear liner movement came into light because of the fact that adults don't like to have the wires and brackets or their teeth. So I also want something. They want something more discreet, so that it doesn't look like they are still young and they are still trying to correct their teeth. Some also want something. They want something more discreet, so that it doesn't look like they are still young and they are still trying to correct their teeth.

Speaker 1: 27:52

Others who want something where they can eat properly. Bear in mind, with the brackets, the wires or the braces, there are certain foods you can eat your apapun, your goods, your pork and all that. If you bite into hard stuff, it can break the metal off your teeth and it means that you are delaying the time at which you finish treatments, whereas with the clear aligners you just have to take off the aligners, eat, brush, floss and put it back on. And with the clear aligners, too, you have a better gum health as compared to somebody who's wearing braces or the brackets and wires, because you have access in between your teeth, you can floss properly, you can brush all the nooks and crannies, all the corners of your teeth.

Speaker 1: 28:35

But people wearing braces they have difficulty maintaining a good oral hygiene because you have all that wire in your mouth, you can't clean all the surfaces well and you tend to have more of gum disease. But trust me, both of these methods are good methods to align your teeth, but depending on your comfort. Both of these methods are good methods to align your teeth, but depending on your comfort. Like we're moving from a crowd to come and say somebody can take a plane, somebody can take a bus, we'll still reach our destination. But you're looking at your comfort, you're looking at your convenience does one take longer to align your teeth?

Speaker 1: 29:04

um, I would say that both of them take almost the same time, but I've noted from practice that the clear aligners it takes a slightly shorter time as compared to the braces. Okay, yeah, depending on how you you use it, but bear in mind the teeth don't move faster if you're using clear aligners are compared to braces. It all depends on the movements that are happening spontaneously at the same time. That gives advantage that the clear liners has over the braces wow, I see you brought some tools yes, I shares how to keep a good oral health.

Speaker 2: 29:38

Yes, there's gonna be hello. You're gonna have to describe it a lot because we have a lot of audio listeners as well, right? So while you do your video demonstration, please speak a lot so that you know everyone can enjoy the experience I'll do that.

Speaker 1: 29:55

So when that's a big mouth, yeah, the very big mouth. So when it comes to brushing, as I mentioned, you're supposed to brush for two minutes, use a soft bristle toothbrush, not a hard brush, and also use a fluoride containing toothpaste as well. So the issue that a lot of people have is that whenever they are brushing their teeth, some tend to hold their brush and then they brush up and down vigorously. The disadvantage with that is that you have your gums receding away from your teeth if you brush up and down like this. The other thing is that those who also brush vigorously side to side, they also tend to have these tiny crevices that form at the top part of your teeth get into your gum area. You realize that there are these tiny, tiny crevices or tiny tiny holes.

Speaker 1: 30:39

It's not the key, but it's actually wear or abrasion due to the texture and also the technique that you use to brush your teeth. So evidence-based literature has showed us that whenever you're brushing your teeth, you angle the brush towards your gum Some may even add the value of the angle, let's say 45 degrees towards the gum area, and then you brush in short strokes, short circular strokes, and then you push down. So it's like you're brushing in the short circular strokes you are dislodging the bacteria of the teeth and you brushing down now pushes the jabs or the food remnants, off your teeth. That's the right way to brush the front surfaces of your teeth when you open your mouth while you're doing it, I kept smiling because I was just thinking that's a lot of work.

Speaker 1: 31:30

That's a lot of work, right, right, okay, and this is with the manual brush. Those who use the electric power toothbrush they don't have to go through all that. They bypass that whole 45 degrees and all that. So those have an advantage. And also the inner aspect of your teeth where your tongue touches. You also need to brush those areas with the same method. Angle it 45 degrees towards the gum area, brush in short circular strokes and then you swipe upwards, brush in short circular strokes, swipe upwards. When you come to the inner aspects of your lower front teeth and upper front teeth, you hold the brush vertically behind the teeth and with that one, you with them. For the lower teeth, for the upper front teeth, you still hold it vertically and then you brush downwards. You're flicking against the back surfaces of your front teeth. When it comes to the chewing surfaces what you used to bite into your apple, what you used to chew your meat you also need to brush on those surfaces as you brush normally. So with that one you don't have that 45 degree angle.

Speaker 1: 32:31

You do that for the lower teeth and you do that for the upper teeth as well. So this is going to take two minutes. So if we divide the mouth into four parts, so we put a line in the middle like a cross, so we divide it into what we call quadrants. Each quadrant you're supposed to spend 30 seconds. That comprises the two minutes that you need to brush your teeth. When you're done with that, you need to clean your tongue.

Speaker 1: 32:54

A lot of people brush their teeth, but not they don't brush their tongue. Their tongue is like a sponge. It picks up a lot of germs, food debris causes bad breath and it's important that you brush the tongue. Brushing the tongue, you take the brush to the back, push it to the front, take it to to the back, push it to the front, take it to the back and then push it to the front. When you're done with that, if you are privileged to have what we call a tongue scraper so there's a metallic tongue scraper with the tongue scraper to you, the whole construction work, the whole construction work.

Speaker 1: 33:22

So you hold the left side and the right side with two hands. You take the scraper to the back and you scrape for it, take it to their back and you scrape for it. It's really, really effective in keeping a very clean tank. There are certain brushes that have this gummy pad at the back. I don't know if you've noticed that.

Speaker 2: 33:37

Oh yes, yes, yes, yes, you know it's very designed.

Speaker 1: 33:40

It's for the tank.

Speaker 2: 33:42

Wow.

Speaker 1: 33:49

I tell you, tank, so those projections help to get into the deep pores of the tank to clean them. So if you have that type of brush, after brushing this way you take, turn it and then brush the same manner from back to front. You don't brush in any haphazard manner. If you're not too careful you push the gems in front to the back, so it's rather back to front. So unclean to clean, unclean so you're cleaning the surfaces like that and that's how to brush. When're done, you need to use a dental floss to floss your teeth. A lot of people brush their teeth and they don't floss. Because if you brush your teeth and you don't floss, the analogy I use is that it's like taking a shower but not cleaning your armpits. You've done that much so you really need to floss your teeth. That's a lot of work.

Speaker 1: 34:27

Really need to floss your teeth that's a lot of work, it is it's a lot of work.

Speaker 2: 34:29

You know, when you started describing how to brush your teeth, I was thinking I've done it like this all this while and then at some point, you know, my dentist must have told me I need to brush it in a circular motion, slowly. But now you're saying that you know it needs to go up closer to the, to the, to the, to the garment. It's just anyway, we'll see what we can do. We'll see what we can do, but yeah, no, that's amazing. We have a question from our previous guest and the question is would you change your brand name if you believed so much in it? So I think the context of this was that I was speaking to one of the twins in the previous episode and then Sammy was saying that when they first had the name Twins Don't Bake, they spoke to someone and the person said they should change the name, but they believed so much in it and it's worked. So that's why he gave you that question.

Speaker 1: 35:31

That's quite an intriguing question. I strongly believe that a brand is not highly dependent on the name. It's more than the name the brand. The brand tells your experiences. Um, a brand brand tells your core values and also the brand is way bigger than the name. But there are instances where, if you need to change the name of the brand, maybe because of the fact that maybe there's copyright or the trade, it's always trademarked that name. Yes, with that, you'd have to change the name of that. But I feel that the brand goes more than the name. You can have a very nice brand name, but if your core values don't align with what people believe in, you don't give your clients, don't have good experiences from you. No matter how nice your brand name sounds like, it's cost 90. So I feel that the brand goes more than right the name?

Speaker 2: 36:31

yeah, gotcha, gotcha. Well, I hope you have your answer there. Um, our questions will start now from connected minds. Um, since it's a personal development or self-development podcast, the first question is motivation or discipline?

Speaker 1: 36:50

right. Um, I feel there's a there's a misconception when it comes to, uh, motivation and discipline. People feel that, oh, I'll take motivation by discipline. Someone will say, well, I'll take discipline over motivation. But I feel these two are linked in a way. The reason I'm saying that is I believe that motivation is the spark that ignites you to start something. Once that spark ignites you to start something, you now need discipline to hold you through or help you to progress or keep doing what you're doing. These are linked in a way. One cannot go without the other. It's like an engine of the car yes, you need to spark it have that engine started and you need fuel in the engine for the engine to keep running. The two cannot stand alone. So I feel these two are linked and they lie side by side. When Jack supports the two, one is not higher than the other, so I would say both of them are equally important. Even when setting up your business, when it comes to life, family, these are really two key values that one should possess.

Speaker 2: 38:02

Wow, what's the best advice you ever received?

Speaker 1: 38:07

The best advice I've ever received was from my uncle, wafata. What Wafata told me when I was young he said it to me fancy. He was like my brother. I tried to recall the exact, but the English translation was that never stop learning. My brother enjoy addition Right. Yes, that, never stop learning my buffer enjoy addition, right, yes, never stop learning.

Speaker 1: 38:34

And when we were younger we never understood what is never stop learning. But we realize that in this global world, things keep changing. If you don't keep abreast with what is happening at every point in time, you'll be left behind. You see, some new form of technology? You go like, ah ai, ai, is not something I want to learn. No, no, no, no. But it'll get to a point. You'll be left behind if you don't have any firm foundation in it.

Speaker 1: 38:59

Years ago we never had the computer, we never had the internet. All those who thought like, oh, it's not going to work, and all that now, all those people who don't know how to even use the internet or use the computer, they're at a disadvantage. So I feel that in this world, whatever you find your hands doing, whatever comes your way, take the opportunity to learn in. As much as I am a clinical person I work in the, in the hospital, and all that I have I have I have a keen interest in information technology it that I've taken it upon myself to learn a bit of data analytics. Because I feel that I have a keen interest in information technology, it, that I've taken it upon myself to learn a bit of data analytics because I feel that it will get to a point in this world where now we have the data, we can't make use of the data. Everybody's collecting data.

Speaker 1: 39:43

I realized that I can tap into that aspect healthcare data analytics. For instance, maybe a hospital or a dental clinic. They are seeing a decline in the number of patients that come to their clinic. They have the data, but they can't make use of the data. You tap it into data analytics. You're able to interpret that data and make them find that data useful. So it's one thing that I came across. I was like you know what, let me try and learn something in IT that's data analytics. And across I was like you know what, let me try and learn something in it that's data analytics and see how I can apply myself in that field. So I feel that every individual shouldn't restrict their themselves in their niche. Try to think outside the box, go outside and learn certain things and improve yourself wow, that's, that's solid um.

Speaker 2: 40:23

Have you got a question for our next guest?

Speaker 1: 40:25

let me see, yes yes, I have a question for our next guest. My question to my to the next guest. Let me see. Yes, yes, I have a question for our next guest. My question to the next guest would be that if you had an opportunity to set up a billboard in your hometown for one month and this billboard could display any message at all, what would that message be and why?

Speaker 2: 40:49

Wow, this is so different.

Speaker 1: 40:53

yeah, wow, okay so the person can have a lot of things to say it's been such an awesome conversation with you.

Speaker 2: 41:03

I've enjoyed from the moment you walked in up until now. I coupled with the fact that you know you've produced for me before. You know it's amazing seeing you. Is there anything you want to tell our audience?

Speaker 1: 41:20

Right. I want to tell my audience that it's important that you brush your teeth your teeth twice daily. Floss at least once every single day. Cut down your sugar intake. Visit the dentist at least once every six months. It's really going to help to improve your oral health. Even if you can't go and see your dentist twice in a year, at least on your birthday, just try as much as possible to visit the dentist.

Speaker 1: 41:45

The other thing I would also want to leave with you guys is that you should never stop being the best version of yourself. Never say that you are at a level you are fulfilled at that level. Keep asking why, why is this happening? What can I do to improve this? Always try to learn and improve yourself. And I also want to thank Derek for having me on this podcast. It's been an honor being on this podcast. I really this podcast. I really love it. Connected minds. If you've not subscribed to this channel, please, please subscribe. It's on apple apple podcast. It's on youtube. It's even on instagram. You get shot except of that on instagram. So please do well to subscribe and you'll never regret it he's already done the job for me, so stay connected.