Scott Walker: Dr. Elizabeth Jackson is with us this morning from Murfreesboro Family Dentistry here in town on Old Fort Parkway. How are you today?

Dr. Elizabeth Jackson:  I’m doing just fine, thank you for having me.

Scott Walker: Now, this morning you are gonna talk a little bit about preventing some dental problems ahead of time, so we can kind of get a grasp on what we’re doing now so that it can help us out in the future.

Dr. Elizabeth Jackson: Yes, so a lot of people know they’re supposed to brush twice a day and floss once a day, however they don’t really realize that some of the habits that they have can dramatically affect what’s going on in their mouth.

Scott Walker: I know we were talking off the air about coffee drinking, soda drinking, and I drink probably two or three cups of coffee every single day, which is not good right?

Dr. Elizabeth Jackson: Well, it definitely is probably not the best for you, however people don’t really realize what actually can cause dental disease. There are basically two types of dental disease: cavities, which is a big concern, and then periodontal disease. The big thing that’s very, very preventable is preventing cavities. The only thing that causes decay is bacteria, however a lot of our habits can make those numbers of bacteria go up, or those numbers of bacteria go down. At Murfreesboro Family Dentistry we want to make sure that we educate people so they know what those things are, and drinking coffee is something that can help raise those numbers of bacteria based basically on the amount of time that it’s in contact with your teeth.

Scott Walker: So what if we drink the coffee black, no sugar, no cream, nothing like that, does that help out, or what?

Dr. Elizabeth Jackson: Kind of yes. So bacteria, the environment in your mouth that causes the numbers of bacteria to go up are basically things that cause those bacteria to have food, so things like sugars that help to feed the bacteria, but also the environment. With the environment, what I really mean by saying that, is the acidity level. So it usually takes about 30 minutes for our mouths naturally to produce enough saliva to get back to a normal level. So things like drinking coffee continuously throughout the day, help to lower level of pH in our mouth that basically create a perfect environment for the bacteria to have a beautiful sunshiny day at the beach. So if you drink three cups of coffee a day, but keep them at mealtimes, it has less effect on your teeth as if you constantly sip on a cup of coffee all day long.

Scott Walker:  Again, Dr. Elizabeth Jackson with us this morning. A local dentist here in Murfreesboro on Old Fort Parkway near the Gresham lane interchange, and I guess the best way to find you would be to look for The Blue Cactus Restaurant, because you’re in that little shopping center there.

Dr. Elizabeth Jackson: Correct, I’m in the middle of the shopping center there with The Blue Cactus, right on Highway 96.

Scott Walker:  Sounds good. Again, the website murfreesborofamilydentistry.com. Again, that’s murfreesborofamilydentistry.com, and you’ll be with us, I guess, next week as well.

Dr. Elizabeth Jackson: Yes.

Scott Walker: Sounds good. Again Dr. Elizabeth Jackson with us this morning from Murfreesboro Family Dentistry, and that’s online at murfreesborofamilydentistry.com. Thanks for joining us.

Dr. Elizabeth Jackson: Thank you.