It has been estimated that the average American chews 300 pieces of gum each year. All that chewing has led many of us -- and some researchers -- to wonder whether gum is harmful or beneficial to our oral health.Chewing gum has been popular since the time of the ancient Greeks, who chewed a tree sap called mastiche. Ancient Mayans chewed...
Strawberries definitely deserve their praise. Considered a "super-fruit," the strawberry is rich in antioxidants and extremely beneficial to heart health. Low in calories but high in vitamin C, potassium, fiber and folic acid, strawberries are a tasty part of a healthy diet -- but too much of a good thing can be bad for your teeth.Unfortu...
When you first visit a new dentist you will be asked to fill out some forms detailing your medical history. You may be tempted to gloss over certain conditions or medications because you can't see how they affect your dental health or why they would be important to your dentist. Don't.Although it might seem like the majority of non-oral...
We know that you can probably come up with multiple reasons to avoid going to the dentist. We've all been there! Sometimes a big part of the problem is that we take our own "bad" dental advice in order to justify what we know are really just bad habits. You can kick this negative cycle once and for all, but it requires changing your mindset. Si...
Root canal therapy has gone high-tech recently, making the procedure as easy as possible for both patients and dentists! Thanks to recent root canal technology, teeth can now be treated without invasive dental surgery. With modern dental instruments and advanced techniques, dentists have more resources than ever to complete successful root ca...
Feeling out of breath after running a few miles is normal. Being out of breath while you sleep is not. But millions of people with sleep apnea are literally out of breath every night, according to the National Institutes of Health.If sleep apnea sounds Greek to you, that's because it is -- apnea is Greek for "without breath." People...
Feeling out of breath after running a few miles is normal. Being out of breath while you sleep is not. But millions of people with sleep apnea are literally out of breath every night, according to the National Institutes of Health.If sleep apnea sounds Greek to you, that's because it is -- apnea is Greek for "without breath." People...
Trench mouth is a severe, painful form of gingivitis characterized by bad breath, bleeding gums and open sores. Also called acute necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis or Vincent's stomatitis, trench mouth is a rare sight in this day and age.Trench mouth gets its name from World War I, as it affected soldiers in the trenches who di...
Chances are, when you think of a "community," you probably don't think of dental plaque. But in scientific terms, dental plaque is actually a community made of about 400 different species of bacteria.In plain terms, dental plaque is the sticky invisible film that accumulates on your teeth -- on the biting surfaces, in the spaces betw...
Financing dental care is often tricky, particularly if you’re facing a large or unexpected bill and unable to pay for the full cost of your treatment up front. After all, insurance doesn’t cover everything, and sometimes we need the option of splitting up a big bill into manageable chunks. A healthcare credit card could end up being the best...
