You're in luck... the worst offenders are on strike (ahem, boycott) at
the moment... unfortunately, most of the regular dentists have joined
in. As a non-dentist, the first question I'd ask is, have you had a
professional cleaning yet?

Looks like a professional cleaning is in order.
--

Whamatus
Take out the G'RBAGE
wubbabubbazG@RBAGEyahoo.com

You should be congratulated for quitting smoking, starting to eat
healthfully and inquiring about your oral health.  Your desire to avoid
destructive "cosmetic" treatments is an intelligent attitude as well
(IMHO).

Seek professional care  and continue good homecare. I think you are
starting down a good road now.  Keep up the good work!!

Best,
Sue (patient)

PS Check out the health benefits of certain teas (particularly green &
white teas).  Some evidence has been put forth claiming these may
actually promote gum health

Subject: "u know how Coke is bad for ur teeth cuz of the sugar... does
this mean diet coke is ok" (thread started  on Jan. 9)

Letsconnect posts:
Anyways - tea has been found to be beneficial for dental health...
(apart from potential staining, which is more of a cosmetic issue).

Stephen D posts:
Some of the most healthy teas don't have a whole lot of caffeine in
them, at least not as much as colas or coffee. White tea, for example,
has more antioxidants than other types of tea, even more than green
tea, and it only has about 15-20mg of caffeine per cup. (White tea
isn't very common though, but sometimes you'll see it around.) Green
tea has about the same amount of caffeine as white tea, averaging
slightly higher. Next highest is oolong
tea, and black tea is the highest with about half as much caffeine as
an average cup of coffee.

Darker teas, such as black teas, also have certain chemicals in them (I
think they are called tannins...) and one recent study was done to see
if drinking beverages with high amounts of tannins (black tea) is
effective in reducing the amount of... *gasp* mercury in the human
body. (Two groups ate a lot of fish with a known amount of mercury in
it, and the control group didn't drink tea but the experimental group
did.) At the time that I heard
about this study, they were still compiling the data, so I don't know
how the study turned out. Sorry! I'll let you know if I run across
anything...I'm a big fan of tea, and I'm a dental student, so if you
have any more information about tea's benefits to dental health, please
let me know of any specific references!

--Stephen Daniels