Hill Country Backpack Connection

FEBRUARY 2018

Hill Country

Backpack Connection

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Dr. VandeBerg on Cavity Prevention

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FABRA • KENDALL • CURINGTON • FAIR OAKS • ELLISON CIBOLO CREEK • AUE • LEON SPRINGS • MCANDREW

Connecting Our Families, Our Schools and Our Local Businesses Backpack Connection

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CONTENTS

Distributed into the Backpacks of 6000 Boerne / Leon Springs Area Students

February

Fabra • Kendall • Curington • Fair Oaks • Cibolo Creek • Aue • Leon Springs • McAndrew • Ellison Elementary Schools Art Direction Susie Fluckiger Sales Audra Miller Publisher BP PUBLISHING LLC

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BOERNE AND NORTHSIDE NEWS

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THE SCIENCE AND TRUTH BEHIND YOUR KIDS’ CAVITIES

Content for the Elementary School pages contributed by each school. Backpack Connection magazines are published every six weeks during the school year by BP Publishing LLC. The advertisements in this magazine are paid for by the advertisers, which allows this magazine to be distributed free to the families of the elementary students. Unless specifically noted, no advertisers, products or services are endorsed by the publisher, BISD, or NISD, or any districts employees. The publishers (BP PUBLISHING LLC) are not responsible for omissions, errors or misinformation within this publication. All real estate advertised within this publication are subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act, which make it illegally to advertise any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin or intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination. We will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings adverting are available on an equal opportunity basis. Reproductions of this magazine in whole or part without written permission is prohibited.

By James VandeBerg DDS, MS

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Encouraging, Supporting and Loving the Children We Share...

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ENTER OUR CONTEST! Count the Which Wich logos for a chance to win $20 Gift Card

Count the Which Wich logos in this issue (including this one!). Submit to: contest@backpackconnection.com

by February 20 for a chance to win a $20 gift card to Which Wich. Include name, email, and phone number so we can contact the winner!

Correct answers will be placed in a drawing to win.

Only one winner will be chosen.

LAST ISSUE’S WINNER Congratulations to Rayson Tomlin, our winner of the Which Wich $10 gift card, who is now in the drawing for the $20 gift card. Rayson is in kindergarten at Cibolo Creek Elementary. Good job; enjoy your Which Wich winnings!

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The Science & Truth Behind Your Kids’ Cavities

By James VandeBerg DDS, MS Orthodontist at Boerne Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry After running the carpool, cooking a good dinner, and checking homework somehow you are able to get the kids to brush their teeth. Maybe they even floss. You take them to the dentist every six months or so. You and your child are doing your part but why do they still get cavities?

It can be very frustrating and confusing why some kids get cavities and some don’t. Even siblings can have dramatically different patterns of tooth decay. What’s the deal?

It comes down to a simple equation:

Bacteria + Sugar

ACID on Teeth

Acid dissolves enamel and if left unchecked, it will dissolve enough to form a hole in the tooth (a cavity). You are probably looking for the toothbrush in that equation and thinking that brushing your teeth will remove the bacteria and prevent cavities.

The truth is you cannot brush and floss your teeth enough to effectively remove the cavity causing bacteria. They have always been there and always will be there. So we’re all doomed to have cavities? Obviously no.

Some people have weaker teeth while others have “stronger” bacteria but those can’t be altered.

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The only part of that equation we have control over is SUGAR. Kids are growing rapidly and crave the calories that sweets can provide.

As a parent of three I know how tough that battle can be.

Improving your child’s likelihood of avoiding cavities can be as simple as not stocking the pantry and fridge with the foods most likely to contribute to cavities like soda, Gatorade, fruit roll-ups, fruit gummies, chocolate foods, etc. I’m not advocating putting them on a kale and water diet tomorrow but swapping the sweets for crackers, cheese, chips, or even diet soda

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Cavities in Teeth

may be all it takes to have a better visit to the dentist next time.

If brushing our teeth isn’t preventing cavities, why do we do it?

The leading cause of tooth loss is gum disease.

To Brush or Not to Brush Your kids probably aren’t at risk of their teeth falling out (at least not their adult teeth), but healthy brushing and flossing habits formed at a young age prevent those issues later in life.While brushing is certainly an important part of oral hygiene and keeps your kid’s breath minty fresh, it isn’t doing much to prevent cavi-

ties. In fact, the only component of brushing that will reduce your risk of cavities is the fluoride in the toothpaste.

Without fluoride in toothpaste, brushing your teeth has NO impact on the prevention of cavities. Yes, you read that right.

While fluoride will help repair the parts of the enamel that have dissolved, and even make the healthy enamel a little more resistant to acid, it is in such mild concentrations in toothpaste to have a dramatic impact.

So you’ve cleaned sweets out of the pantry, dumped the soda, and your kids are brushing twice a day. Is that enough? Unfortunately no. It is imperative to see a dentist regularly (recommended every six months) for many reasons.

There are many things that can go wrong in your kids’ mouth that need to be routinely checked by a dentist in addition to checking for cavities, but we will only focus on cavities here. Cavities in their early stages can be detected by your dentist and sometimes reversed with a treatment of a high concentration of fluoride so that a filling is not necessary.

Fluoride varnishes or foams that the dentist recommends at every visit will repair any weak areas the dentist can’t see and makes the healthy enamel more resistant to the acid that causes cavities.

Early Detection If your child does develop a true cavity, it can be detected and filled before it rapidly spreads inside the tooth and leads to extensive (and costly) dental treatment that is no fun for the child or parents.

When you take your child to the dentist for a “cleaning,” the actual teeth cleaning part of the appointment is only a small part of what’s really happening. The dentist is preventing cavities, fixing them when they’re small, and counseling your child on healthy habits that they won’t always listen to their parents about.

To prevent cavities in your child keep the sweets to a minimum, visit their dentist every six months, and for good measure build good brushing habits for their long term dental health.

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