1 IN EVERY 8 Americans (including kids) has sensitive teeth. To understand why, we’ll need to take a look at dental anatomy. Erosion and the Layers of a ToothEvery tooth has nerves at the center. When the tooth is healthy, the nerve is protected by the outer layers. If the tooth enamel erodes enough, it […]
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WE’VE BEEN HEARING for decades how dangerous smoking is to many aspects of our health. As dental professionals, our focus is particularly on the dangers to oral health, including unsightly stains on teeth at the less serious end of the spectrum, to a massively increased risk of tooth decay and gum disease, to life-threatening oral […]
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OUR JAWS GET a pretty constant workout between all the talking, chewing, and yawning we do, but those simple activities become more complicated for those with temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD or TMJ). There’s a small, fibrous disk that serves as a cushion between the ball and socket of the joint. If it shifts out of […]
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2 OUT OF EVERY 5 KIDS have at least one cavity by the time they finish elementary school, and the main reason is sugar. Bacteria Love Sugar As Much As We DoHarmful bacteria living on the surfaces of our teeth love eating the leftover sugar after we enjoy a sweet treat or drink. Then they […]
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UNLESS THE DENTIST is an active TikTok user, it’s not a good idea to get dental health advice from social media. We’ve noticed a lot of dangerous DIY ideas popping up so let’s take a minute to nip them in the bud. 1. “Healthy Soda”No soda is truly healthy for teeth, as the bubbles in […]
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40% OF KIDS WILL have at least one cavity by the time they start school, usually due to poor oral hygiene and eating and drinking lots of sugary things. It’s critical to teach kids good oral health habits early on and to help them brush their teeth until they are able to do it themselves, […]
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FOR AS LONG AS there have been people, there has been tooth decay, but people in past civilizations didn’t have as many answers about what caused their tooth problems as we do now. That led to some very strange beliefs about dental health. One of the most common was the “tooth worm.” Ancient Well-Intentioned ErrorsAs […]
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“MOUTH-BREATHER” HAS made the rounds as an insult in recent years, but breathing primarily through the mouth instead of the nose can actually have some pretty negative effects on health, including oral health. Mouth-breathing should only be done as an emergency backup, not the main way to breathe. The Nose Is a Built-In Air FilterThe […]
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WE CAN SEE a hint of the state of dental health in Shakespeare’s England from a sonnet in which he describes his lady love’s reeking breath. The lines “black contagious breath” and “his breath stinks with eating toasted cheese” make it into two of the history plays. This was likely because dental health in England […]
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YOU PROBABLY HEARD the line “it takes fewer muscles to smile than to frown” when you were growing up, but the pedantic dentist might point out that it technically isn’t true. At least ten muscles are involved in smiling, while as few as six are required for frowning. But that’s no reason to frown more; […]
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