Archive for the ‘Dental Interest’ Category

On November 8, 1895, German physics professor Wilhelm Röntgen stumbled on X-rays while experimenting with Lenard and Crookes tubes and began studying them. John Francis Hall-Edwards was a pioneer in the medical use of X-rays in the United Kingdom. He took the first radiograph to direct a surgical operation, on 14 February 1896.

In the future … possible use of T-rays (read more, click here).

The origins of Halloween go back to pre-Christian times, to when Celtic groups celebrated their New Year’s Day on November 1. This day was called All Saints’ Day, and October 31 was called All Hallows’ Eve or Hallow e’en, which we today call Halloween. A great fire festival called “Samhain” (pronounced sow-in) on All Hallows Eve signaled the close of the harvest and the initiation of the cold and dark season of winter. Read the rest of this entry »

New evidence from NYU College of Dentistry supports link between gum inflammation and Alzheimer’s disease. – August 3, 2010, NYU Today*

Remarkably, results from this study show that, “periodontal inflammation at age 70 was strongly associated with lower DST scores at age 70 [Digit Symbol Test, or DST, a part of the standard measurement of adult IQ].  Subjects with periodontal inflammation were nine times more likely to test in the lower range of the DST compared to subjects with little or no periodontal inflammation.“

Effectively combatting gum disease means thinking in terms of bacteria. If you can remove bacteria (plaque) effectively by brushing and flossing you’re almost there, but here’s the key, not just brushing and flossing – doing it effectively. When you’re done brushing your teeth should feel as smooth as if you’ve had them professional polished – that takes quite some time (see about dry brushing). We’ve all been taught to floss once daily, but to be really effective you’ll want to floss every time you brush.

Health gums do not bleed when brushing and flossing. Try rinsing with salt water daily to kill the germs – it’s a lot more effective than commercial mouthwash, free and comfortable (it’s important to rinse long enough with a concentration to kill the bacteria).

* Thanks to M. Kahn for alerting me to this article.

We’ve known for decades that dental disease (cavities, gum problems) is contagious. Cavities and gum problems are caused by bacteria that are transmitted from person to person. When children are born they’re sterile – no bacteria, but right away they pick up bacteria for their skin, mouth, intestines.

In a recent article in Pediatric Dentistry (Volume 32, Number 3, May / June 2010 , pp. 205-211(7), published by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry) researchers concluded that “mothers are an important source of infection [with Streptococcus mutans – the primary bacteria causing cavities in children] for the child at an early age.”

What this means is that they dental health of the mother is more responsible for the risk for cavities in their children. Cavities need three things: a tooth, food and bacteria. What can be modified to prevent cavities is straight-forward: a healthy diet, effectively cleaning teeth (brushing and flossing), sealants, and fluoridated water and toothpaste. In addition, moms can work towards a very healthy mouth for their own benefit, but also for their children. Children will further pick up on what their parents do (or don’t do), and will model their behavior after them: if parents brush and floss regularly and go to scheduled dental checkups this will not be lost on what the kids perceive about the importance of dental health.

Yep, it’s Shark Week again on Discovery Channel, and as much as it makes me nervous to go ocean swimming after seeing these episodes it definitely is entrancing to watch.

Here is some information about shark teeth to go along with Shark Week:

Shark teeth are some of the most unusual aspects of a shark. They are very sharp, wedge-shaped, serrated and can grow as long as five centimeters (1 inch = 2.54 centimeters). It’s very common for a shark to have more than four sets of teeth during its lifetime, some even have as many as five or six sets of shark teeth throughout their lives. 

The shark teeth are arranged in rows, most sharks have about five rows of teeth at any time. As the shark teeth are worn out and fall out, they are replaced by the next row. Shark teeth are replaced very quickly, some sharks can wear out a full set of teeth in less than six months. In a lifetime some sharks can grow and lose between ten thousand and thirty thousand teeth.

The xylitol gum I’ve recommended for many years, Xylimax, is no longer available. In it’s place you can now get a comparable gum, Xponent gum from GlobalSweet.com.

 In addition, the xylitol mints, Smints, have been discontinued, and a Fragmints from GlobalSweet.com are a great replacement.

Xylitol is a naturally derived sweetener that does not cause cavities. Bacteria grow on other widely used sugar alternatives used by manufacturers, such as sorbitol and mannitol. You’ll notice that the commonly available “sugarless” products never say cavity-free. They’re sugarless because they don’t contain sucrose (sugar).

I’ve updated the links on for the gum and mints throughout my site.

Recently a patient asked my about the cavity-free xylitol gum I recommend, and in checking the link on my website I was amazed to find the link was down. The company that imported the gum from Finland is apparently no longer in business, and in fact the Finnish manufacturer was acquired by another larger confectionery company in 2008.

Well I guess I should be offended, but I grew up with a great dentist and I always had an easy visit – even when I got a filling.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey about doing your taxes: given the choice, 40% say filing out income tax paperwork is worse than going to the dentist. Forty-one percent (41%) view going to the dentist as worse.

I hope that visits in my office are FAR better than this, and if there is anything we can do to make your dental visits better please let me know.

There are times I hear people say “I hate the dentist”, and when I ask them if they actually liked their dentist most often they did. What they usually are referring to is everything surrounding a dental office experience, not so much their dentist personally. I certainly work to make sure you are comfortable and treat you as if I’m the patient, everything from the reception desk to paying your bill.

For those who truly have “issues”, a couple suggestions:

• people who have not had a dental visit in years because of anxiety and really won’t go unless they are asleep – I have a referral for a dentist I’ve known a long time who does every procedure with general anesthesia,
• people who are always a bit anxious, but tend to go less often do well to consider a mild anti-anxiety prescription AND rather than go less, go more often – at least every three or four months (much easier cleaning, catch problems in an early and small stage); in addition, be an absolute maniac about cleaning your teeth to reduce risk for cavities or gum problems (dry brush, floss every time you brush, rinse with salt water daily).

3D imaging is now for dentistry (at selected imaging centers). It has real significant uses for implants and impacted teeth. It can also be helpful in diagnosing otherwise difficult situations with sinuses and jaw joint problems. Here a is new use – veterinary dentistry: zoo finds high-tech tools to see aardvark’s teeth!

As you can imagine this technology is very expensive. The scanner that the Loyola Medical Center gave to the zoo was worth a million dollars new. Human dental 3D imaging machines cost a couple hundred thousand dollars, but an actual scan runs only about $600 currently. When needed it is definitely worth it.

Video of the aardvark CT scan, click here.