Best Dentist News

It’s the middle of the day and you’re hungry. You could eat that apple you brought for an afternoon snack, but there’s also that box of cookies in the break room. And not just any cookies—homemade double fudge cookies.

That apple’s lookin’ pretty dinky now, isn’t it?

But before you go hog wild on those cookies, stop and think about all that sugar you’ll be eating. You’ve always heard your dentist say sugar is bad for your teeth, but do you know why? It’s because sugar energizes bacteria and leads to the production of acid, which destroys the enamel protecting your teeth from decay.

Brushing can help protect you, of course, but that happens just twice a day—if that much. So what can you do in the meantime?

How about having a little Xylitol?

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It’s that time of year. Allergens permeate the air we breathe, irritating our sinuses and making us feel all sick in the head. Viral infections, allergies, pollution… all can trigger sinusitis, which often leads to the dreaded sinus infection.

The painful pressure behind your eyes and cheekbones. The constant need to grab for a tissue (or five). The sore throat and irritating cough. The pain in your teeth. Wait… pain in… what? That can’t be right. (more…)

You know that fuzzy feeling on your teeth at the end of the day? Well, it’s not fuzz (phew!), it’s actually plaque (oh no!).  What is plaque? It’s a sticky biofilm attached to your teeth containing hundreds of bacterial species. Before you run for the mouthwash, you should know those bacteria occur naturally. And it’s not just you, everyone has them!

What Causes Plaque?

Those little germs on your teeth use ingredients in saliva to flourish, namely sugar. As the bacteria metabolize tiny sweet particles, they produce acids that erode tooth enamel, cause cavities, and lead to gum disease and tooth loss. A diet full of candy, soft drinks, and carbohydrate-rich foods ups the ante. (more…)

Dental museums are few and far between. Merely a handful of dental schools and private organizations devote resources to preserving our toothy beginnings. And yet dental products, remedies, and prosthetics have been around for hundreds of years. In a fascinating exploration of dentistry and advertisements, the University of Michigan’s Sindecuse Museum of Dentistry currently displays vintage print ads for everything from pink toothpastes  to powdered-glass dentifrice!

Explore the collection of 22 vintage images on their Flickr page or the Sindecuse Museum’s website.

If you’re not in Michigan and would still like to saturate your brain with obscure dental knowledge, consider visiting these other dental museums:

• National Museum of Dentistry (Baltimore)
• Pierre Fauchard Museum (College of Southern Nevada)
• Henry Forman Atkinson Dental Museum (The University of Melbourne)
• The British Dental Museum
• Macualay Museum of Dental History (Charleston)
• Harris Dental Museum (Bainbridge, Ohio)

Drink your milk! How many of us immediately revert to childhood memories of sitting around the dinner table with mom and dad upon hearing these words? What if, instead, our moms had insisted, “Eat your cheese!”? I imagine we’d all have fonder dinnertime memories, for one.

Well, it turns out Mom would have been doing us all a great favor if she’d been a little more generous with the cheese. Evidence indicates that eating cheese is beneficial for your teeth because it is low in carbohydrates and high in calcium and phosphate. Research over the past decade suggests that cheese is not only an excellent source of calcium, which (as we all know) strengthens bones and teeth, but can also help balance the acidity levels (pH) in your mouth preventing decay. (more…)

How many of you out there have a pet? Raise your hand. Whoa, that’s just about everyone! Pets are a huge part of our lives and we love them like family members, which means that we provide them with more than just a place to sleep and an occasional bowl of grub. We give them a safe and loving environment, lavish them with attention, teach them, and maybe even buy them a sweater or two for the winter (okay, we’re pretty sure they don’t like the sweaters, but we do!).

Today, we are also more conscientious of our pet’s health and dental care needs, and since February is Dental Health Care Month for pets, too, we thought we’d give you a heads up on how to handle your furry family member’s toothy needs. (more…)

We can all use a little jumpstart in the morning, and coffee, America’s drink of choice, gets the job done. We know it stains our teeth and contributes to the abominable coffee breath syndrome, yet Starbucks continues its worldwide reign. What if I told you that ditching the coffee and switching to green tea could improve your oral health and reduce your trips to the dentist? Incentified?

Green Tea’s Got Roots

Hundreds of millions of people drink tea. It’s second in popularity only to water. Ancient Chinese and Indian cultures have consumed green tea for ages, and it’s been used for such medicinal purposes as healing wounds, improving heart health, regulating body temperature, promoting digestion, and improving mental processes. (more…)