A Look Back at…The Trouble with Starches
Originally posted September 13, 2018; updated You already know that sugars are bad for your teeth, but it’s not just about soda, candy, and other sweet treats. Starchy carbs are a problem, as well – bread, pasta, crackers, and other foods made with refined grains,...
Oral Systemic Links: Gum Disease & Alzheimer’s
Researchers have increasingly noted that poor oral health appears to be a risk factor for Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia (not to mention other chronic inflammatory conditions). What is unclear is whether gum disease is actually the cause. New research in...
Ozone at Home
There’s another reason ozone is such an important tool in our holistic dental practice: its versatility. It can be used as a gas, as we looked at last week, or in water or oil, allowing it to be used in a wide variety of dental applications. Ozonated oils are...
Another Role for Dental Ozone: Supporting Wound Healing
The supercharged form of oxygen called ozone is an essential tool in tending to our patients’ dental needs. Much of this is due to its antimicrobial power. That power is nicely shown in a case report by Dr. Robert Rowen published this past fall. The case involved a...
How We Look Out for Our Patients’ Safety When They Choose to Have Their Mercury Fillings Removed
It's a point that we feel can't be stressed nearly enough: If you choose to have your "silver" mercury amalgam fillings replaced with biocompatible restorations, it's crucial that you have them removed by a dentist who follows strict safety guidelines. It's...
Rethinking Your Relationship with Caffeine?
If you’re like most folks, around New Year’s, you find yourself reassessing things in your life – particularly with respect to your health. One common reassessment? Caffeine consumption. But while coffee is the number one source of this stimulant, you’ll find it in...
When Thinking about “Health,” Don’t Forget the Mouth
Most new year's resolutions are health-related, yet when most folks think about "health," they're usually not thinking about the mouth. Yet conditions in the mouth, as Dr. Reinhold Voll famously taught, may be implicated in up to 90% of all health problems. Suffice...
Hermey’s 2018 Toothy Holiday Gift Guide
Nothing quite speaks to us during the holiday season like Hermey, the elf who wanted to be a dentist rather than make toys. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=day3yvj3f7s He would also probably enjoy a toothy gift or two or more. But what to get a dental elf –...
Mindfulness & Your Mouth
By this point, you’ve probably heard something about mindfulness and how it may be beneficial to your health. So what is it? And what it have to do with your mouth? You might think that mindfulness is some mystical thing that only monks “om-ing” in some far-flung...
Brush First or Floss First? Here’s What Science Says
You know you’re supposed to brush and floss your teeth each day, but have you ever really thought about which you should do first? Conventional wisdom says that it doesn’t really matter so long as you do both. But research published earlier this year in the Journal...
Treating Sleep Apnea May Improve Stroke Outcomes
Imagine waking up dozens or even hundreds of times each night. Doesn’t sound very restful, does it? Yet that’s the reality for people with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) – about 25 million Americans at last count, if not more. And it’s a reality that puts them at...
Oral Systemic Links: Gum Disease & Cognitive Health, Heart Health, Metabolic Health
It’s great to see the mainstream catching up to what biological dentistry has long held: Oral conditions can have systemic effects – and vice versa. In fact, Dr. Reinhold Voll – one of the pioneers on the way to biological dentistry – taught that up to 90% of all...
Acidic Drinks Can Do More Than Just Damage Your Tooth Enamel
We’ve blogged a lot about the trouble that sodas, fruit juices, and other acidic - and often sugary - drinks can spell for your teeth. (See here and here and here and here, for instance.) They’re destroyers of enamel, and once that’s gone, it’s gone. While you can...
Making an Informed Decision When It Comes to “Silver” Amalgam Fillings
One question that often pops up when people are first learning about the hazards of "silver" mercury amalgam fillings is whether they should get them removed right away and replaced with metal-free, biocompatible alternatives - especially if they're not...
Metal-Free Implants & PRF: A Great Combo
While platelet rich fibrin (PRF) is an amazing support for healing after tooth extraction, this is hardly the only use for it. For instance, it can be used to enhance the stability of dental implants and encourage their integration with the supporting bone. For an...
Platelet Rich Fibrin (PRF): Supporting Faster, Better Healing – Biocompatibility
One of the aims in holistic dentistry is to prevent exposure to toxins. So we steer clear of things such as mercury amalgam and fluoride. At the same time, we want to support the body’s natural healing abilities. So we make tools such as ozone and PRF a regular...
How to Choose the Healthiest Options for Fish
One excellent protein source we didn’t mention last time is fish – which appears to be an increasingly popular choice. In fact, just after we published last week’s post, we stumbled upon a new survey which showed just how much more popular it’s become. Over the...
Americans Love Their Protein; They Also Don’t Quite Understand It
At least, that’s what a recent Nielsen survey found. While more than half of US households say high protein is important to them when choosing products, there are “some interesting knowledge gaps.” In fact, American consumer beliefs about protein content in common...
Guest Post: Mixed Metals in the Mouth Can Be Trouble
Our thanks to the office of Fremont, California holistic dentist Dr. Colin Yoshida for letting us share this post from their blog. The original is here. For all the amazing things modern dentistry has to offer, it still holds forth some pretty bad ideas. Filling...
A Look Back at…Thumb Suckers, Nail Biters, & the Hygiene Hypothesis
Originally posted July 14, 2016; updated It’s hardly surprising that research has found that thumb suckers and nail biters are exposed to more germs. After all, parents have lectured kids about those germs for generations. What may surprise you is that the research...
