One in four Spanish forgets to brush the teeth during the holidays

-The summer is one of the times of increased risk for oral health due to the abandonment of the habits of daily hygiene

– dental injuries increase 30% in summer due to the practice of sports in the open air and road traffic accidents

Barcelona, 2011-July of four Spanish stop brushing on vacationwhich, coupled with unbalanced diets and products with an excess of sugar intake, promotes the emergence of infections, gingivitis and tooth decay, according to a study by laboratories Lacer, expert in oral health. This circumstance, the increase is compounded in dental trauma, which in summer rises to almost 30% from the rest of the year, as a direct result of sports to the outdoors and the increase in road accidents.

According to Javier Mira, medical laboratories Lacer director, ‘ ’ the holiday season is one of the greatest risk to the oral health, it is very conducive to the temporary abandonment of the habits of daily hygiene by the alteration of the schedules, the forgetfulness of the brush or the impossibility of brush our teeth when we spent the day outside the home. Added to this abuse of drinks sweetened and iced; the increase in consumption of toxic chemicals such as coffee, tobacco and alcohol and an unbalanced diet, we are encouraging the proliferation of microorganisms in the mouth ’ ’.

In addition, during these months, the increase in temperatures can cause paintings of dehydration, with a direct effect on oral health: ‘ ’ when a person is dehydrated, salivation capacity decreases, so it can not drag food residues remaining in the mouth. At the same time, the saliva loses some of his ability as a disinfectant locally, resulting in gingivitis and periodontitis processes and, in extreme cases, canker sores, and xerosis (dryness) oral with sobreinfección by fungi ’ ’, ensures Mira. To avoid dehydration, it is recommended to drink between 1.5 and 2 litres of water daily.

Dental trauma

Sports and traffic accidents are the leading causes of dental injuries in summer, increase up to 30% compared to the rest of the year. For contact sports and other activities outdoors, such as biking, 80% of injuries occur in the upper part of the mouth, mainly in the Central and lateral incisors and are more frequent in children; While in traffic accidents, motorists are the group most at risk.

In most cases, is of dentoalveolary fractures and dislocations, which affected structures in support of the tooth, which causes their mobility or displacement.