• Your Dental Knowledge Test and Answers

    Thank you for taking the test, your first step towards taking care of dental health. Now compare your “answers” with explanations given below.

    1. True or False: The leading cause of tooth loss is Cavities.
    2. True or False: You can thoroughly clean your teeth simply by thoroughly brushing them.
    3. True or False: Eating sweets and candy causes tooth decay.
    4. True or False: You can destroy tooth enamel by sucking on a lemon.
    5. True or False: Chewing on ice cubes will make your teeth stronger.
    6. True or False: The presence of gum disease can lead to conditions like pneumonia or diabetes.
    7. True or False: You should brush your teeth immediately after eating.


    1. False: The leading cause of tooth loss is gum disease.
    2. False: The brush does not reach 100% of all tooth surfaces, it reaches only 2/3 of the tooth’s surface. Dental floss can reach the remaining1/3 of tooth surface. Unfortunately, only 1/3 of the general population do flossing.
    3. Both True and False: Although sugar is bad for you, it is not the cause of tooth decay provided it is immediately flushed from the mouth. It is not the sugar but how frequent the exposure and how long it is retained in your mouth that causes damage by sugar. The sugar feeds the bacteria which produces acid and eventual tooth decay. Sugar is addictive and in general a toxic substance, so avoid it as much as you can.
    4. True: Yes, you can destroy the tooth enamel by sucking anything acidic. Acid affects the enamel of teeth.
    5. True: The force required to chew ice cube may crack your teeth. The cold temperature of ice contracts the enamel and the mouth’s warm temperature expands it causing cracks, this is more pronounced if you have amalgam fillings.
    6. True: As discussed in Chapter 1, gum disease has far more implications on other conditions than what we normally believe.
    7. True. If the food contains acidic and citrus fruits, which may erode the enamel and dentin, then brushing immediately can drive the acid deeper into your teeth. In that situation, just rinse with a mouthwash and wait for 20 minutes before brushing. The Mayo Clinic suggests waiting 20 min after an Acidic meal such as citrus fruit.
    The acidity of citrus only is a problem if the person eats a lot of acidic citrus ant then uses a hard brush. A soft brush used correctly will not brush enamel away. The average person will not remember to wait 20 minutes after an acid meal and not after a sweet meal. To me it is more important that they brush correctly with the correct brush. Not that they have to remember exceptions to the rules every time they eat something different.
    Dr. Oksana Sawiak, DDS
    As someone who is interested in taking charge of your dental health, we are prepared to offer you a bonus eBook “Seven Essentials to Make Your Food Alive” at no charge, if you purchase our book 7 Steps to Dental Health: A Holistic Guide to a Healthy Mouth and Body.
    To buy the digital version of this book online with secured PayPal, please visit at http://7stepsdentalhealth.com/?page_id=2.