A Bad Bite Can Mean More Decay, Gum Disease
Sure, straight teeth and a good bite look nice, but when they’re lacking, it’s hardly just a cosmetic concern. As we’ve noted before, crooked teeth and a misaligned bite can lead to problems, such as TMJ and other pain disorders. And as a new review of the...
Oral Systemic Links: Gum Disease & Depression
Gum disease isn’t just a problem affecting the mouth. Science has linked it to a wide range of health problems, from diabetes to cancer, heart disease to Alzheimer’s, hypertension to rheumatoid arthritis One lesser known link was the focus of a...
Do Naps Help Make Up for Lost Sleep?
So if you’re not getting enough quality sleep at night - for whatever the reason - you might think that squeezing in a little nap might at least help you stay sharp through the day. But if the results of a new study in the journal Sleep pan out, that may be...
Got Sleep Apnea? Why Treatment Is a Must: Beyond CPAP
Sleep apnea isn’t pretty. Here’s what it sounds like: And here’s what that struggle to breathe can look like. (The video owner has disallowed embedding, so you'll have to check it out directly on YouTube. Don't worry. We'll wait for you to come back.)...
Guest Post: How Turmeric Can Help with Your Oral Health
Last week, we looked at the role of omega-3 fatty acids in gum health, so when we agreed to exchange posts this week with another biological dental office - Rehme Dental Care in St. Louis, MO - we thought it would be great to follow up with their recent post...
Omega-3s for Healthy Gums
There are lots of benefits of fish oil, from supporting heart health to improving mental health to reducing chronic inflammation. Inflammation, of course, is a hallmark of gum disease, not to mention the ever-growing list of systemic health problems linked...
Mouth & Throat Cancers Still on the Rise – Ways You Can Lower Your Risk
How about some good news? According to a new report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, between 2014 and 2018, overall deaths due to cancer dropped for men and women alike. Death rates decreased for 11 of the 19 most common cancers among males...
Is There a Difference Between “Holistic” & “Biological” Dentistry?
Spend enough time online, and you’ll likely start to notice that a lot of folks seem to use the words “holistic dentistry” and “biological dentistry” interchangeably. Truth be told, though, they mean two different things. While biological dentistry is...
Sticking with Healthy Eating, Even as Food Costs Soar
It’s probably not news to you that food prices have risen a lot over the past year or so. Compared to early- to -mid-2020, you’re now paying 18.7% more for seafood. There has been a 7.5% increase for fruit, 5.1% for fresh meat, 3.1% for vegetables, 2.4% for...
Just How Good Are Zirconia Crowns & Other Restorations?
For years, one of the most common defenses of filling decayed teeth with amalgam was that mercury fillings were stronger and more durable than tooth-colored composite. But that’s just not the case anymore. As one recent scientific review puts it, Research...
A Look Back at…Why X-rays Are Needed (& How We Take Them Safely)
Originally posted February 13, 2020 Radiation is literally everywhere. A good amount of it is actually natural radiation, like that found in soil and rocks, cosmic rays from space, and even within your own body. But nearly half of human exposure to...
Two New Studies on How Fluoride Affects the Brain
If you were to ask the average dentist about the risks of overexposure to fluoride, at most, they might mention dental fluorosis - a condition in which the teeth become discolored and pitted. In fact, this is how fluoride even came to dentistry’s attention,...
Do Over-the-Counter Tooth Whitening Products Really Work?
Smile brightening is one of the simplest ways of looking younger. This is because teeth tend to darken with age, not just from stains but because enamel tends to thin. More of the darker dentin below it shows through, making teeth look gray or yellowish....
Why You Need to Replace Missing Teeth (It’s Not Just About Appearance)
If you’re missing teeth, your first concern is probably with the appearance of your smile. After all, people do tend to be judgy, and judginess around missing teeth is seldom kind, let alone positive. It can make you self-conscious, less confident -...
Xylitol, Sorbitol, Sugar – Oh, My!
Another day, another study exploring whether sugar-free gum might actually protect against cavities. Regular readers of this blog may remember that earlier studies have suggested as much. The latest, recently published in BMC Oral Health, looked specifically...
What Kind of a Difference Can Tongue-/Lip-Tie Release Make?
Pop dental quiz: What is a frenulum? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GcBGhV047A If you said the thin bit of skin that connects your tongue to the floor of your mouth or your lips to the gums, you are correct. Sadly, we have no prize to give you, though...
A Look Back at…Great Athletes, Poor Oral Health
Originally posted September 5, 2019; edited Exercise Is Essential for Mouth/Body Health, but Sports Drinks Sure Aren’t Research in the BDJ reveals that high-performance athletes have high rates of cavities and gum disease even though their oral hygiene is...
Ozone Can Mean Better Dental Implant Outcomes, Too, New Research Shows
As if we needed any more reason to sing ozone’s praises, new research in International Immunopharmacology finds that ozone - like another tool we use, platelet rich fibrin (PRF) - may improve outcomes in implant surgery. The study involved 60 healthy adults...
The “Zoom Boom” Inspires More People to Get the Smiles They’ve Always Wanted
Back in the early months of the pandemic, plastic surgeons reported surging interest in cosmetic facial procedures - a side effect of so much more time spent on Zoom. Seeing our own faces much more than usual, every little imperfection can come to seem huge...
The Vicious Cycle of Dental Fear – & How to Break Out of It
Sure, we all know the cliche that nobody likes going to the dentist - well, except this guy - but that shouldn’t be confused with actual dental fear or anxiety. Those can keep a person from getting even the preventive care that could lower their risk of...