About Dental

Sure, perfectly aligned and white teeth are great. But if you have halitosis, then people would be sure to stay away from you because of your bad breath. But don’t worry, dental professionals have determined and proven that an old Chinese medicine, called the magnolia bark extract, can make your breath smell better. Not only that, the magnolia bark extract eliminates bad odor by killing the source bacteria altogether.

Halitosis starts when bacteria breaks down proteins in the mouth. This causes smelly sulfur compounds to be emitted, which is quite malodorous. Even though brushing and after-dinner mints can mask the bad smell, it remains there, until the mint’s effects are gone. The effect of halitosis is reportedly difficult to counteract, until now.

There are now reported plans of producing tree-bark chewing gum in the US this year for anti-halitosis purposes.

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Posted May 25, 2008 Comments(0)

Losing a tooth during childhood is usually considered normal. Some parents think that a child losing a tooth (or more) is a part of the childhood experience, and that they’ll get over it soon. However, research is saying that the child’s oral health may be in trouble if not treated early.

The Academy of General Dentistry, also known as AGD, has stated taht if teeth fall out too early, this could have a bad effect on alignment when permanent teeth come out, and this will prevail through adulthood. In this case, re-implantation of a tooth that has fallen is suggested.

Dr Mark Donald, a spokesperson for the AGD, said: “The chance for success is directly related to the amount of trauma and the length of time the tooth is outside of the oral cavity. The tooth should be placed in a moist solution like milk.”

This would, of course, mean putting back teeth that have fallen off due to accidents. For natural causes (like milk teeth falling out at the right age), then the best thing to do is let them be.

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Posted May 23, 2008 Comments(0)

Some people will go to great lengths (and distances) to get savings. For example, would you belive someone would travel from half a world a way for a tooth extraction? Yes, welcome to the world of dental tourism.

The prices draw in the tourists. For example, one person went to Costa Rica to have 27 crowns, 9 tooth implants, and jaw bone surgery. In the US, it would’ve cost him $40,000 and up but he just paid half of that, $10,200; that’s a $29,800 savings right there! Although we haven’t accounted for the airline tickets and accommodations yet, but it’s still a heck of a whole lot!

It seems that this is the next phase of tourism.

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Posted May 18, 2008 Comments(0)

The success of your dental implants depends on where you place them: upper or lower jaw. According to studies, lower jaw implants have a 95% rate of success and only 90% for the upper jaw. The reason for this being that the upper jaw is less dense compared to the lower jaw.

The remaining 5% or 10% failures are due to various reasons. The most often cited reason is the failure for the implant in the osseointegration process. If the tooth was placed in the wrong position, the implants might break, the implant may get loose, or worse get infected.

Posted May 14, 2008 Comments(0)

So you just had a dental procedure done and are now preparing to go home. You say good bye to the dentist, but all you say is, “phubh vhy.” Next thing you know you’re tongue’s right out in the open and you’ve been drooling since you got back from the dentist. These are just one of the after effects of taking anesthesia. However, things are going to change for the better.

Novalar Pharmaceuticals just got a go signal from the Food and Drugs Administration to market OraVerse, a drug meant to undo the effects of anesthesia. According to them they’ll start selling the drug for $12.50 a shot.

The drug is not recommended to children below 6. Their target market most likely will be children (older than 6 of course) because they tend to accidentally bite their tongue when it’s numb. Another market to tap are those who just got some cosmetic dental work done and who would wish to look great when they leave the dentist’s office.

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Posted May 13, 2008 Comments(0)

The discovery of high concentrations of lead in dental supplies that have come from China have sparked panic in the dental world. Dentists are flooded with calls from patients wanting to know if the materials that have been used on their teeth are lead free. Many are indeed lead free or have approved levels but some have been found. This joins the growing list of products that have been found to have excessive levels of the toxic element and other contaminants such as in toys, toothpaste, shampoos and many more that are now being made in China due to cheaper labor. The toy industry suffered a lot from the recalls and the impact on the Dental industry has not been so much due to the fact that there are a lot of sources of dental materials. China may be the biggest and cheapest but they are not the only suppliers of dental supplies and many dentists have reassured their patients that they are safe.

Posted May 9, 2008 Comments(0)

Finland kids are having dental problems. Dentists say that the main culprit are round-the-clock snacking and poor dental hygiene.

The international study reports that boys have more dental problems because just one-third brushes their teeth twice a day. According to Oral surgeon Veikko Tuovinen of the Central Hospital of Central Finland there’s been a higher rate of children getting general anesthesia for dental treatments compared to previous years.

Possible reasons? Candy and sweets consumption has skyrocketed and less money has been allocated for dental care due to recessions. This causes less dental checkups and dental hygiene education gaps.

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Posted May 9, 2008 Comments(0)

For anyone who has a sweet tooth, but con’t want to go the dentist, then this candy may be the one for you.

Candies were always thought to be bad on teeth, but according to this new experimental candy, BasicMints, it actually cuts down the risk of getting cavities! This particular candy has a compound named CaviStat that copies human saliva components that neutralizes acid that erodes tooth enamel. These soft mints were designed to be dissolved and chewed into biting surfaces of the teeth where most cavities appear.

The study showed that children who took four BasicMints candy daily and brushed their teeth had 61.7 percent fewer cavities that kids who just brushed their teeth.

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Posted May 8, 2008 Comments(0)

The practice has the dental patient taking a Valium the night before and a hallucinogenic drug sold under the name Halcion that is taken before the procedure. The practice is hailed as the cure for dental phobias and dentists say it has the ability to almost allow the patient to forget anything ever happened, no pain just a blur of activity that you know was all about your teeth. The practice is getting criticism due to the use of the drug combination for it may become addicting and the dangers for those who have underlying health problems are immense. Many who have dental phobias have benefited from the course of sedation saying that the dreaded visit to the dentist has become a pleasurable one. Many Health experts are unconvinced that the process is totally safe though many have already experienced the treatment and got their perfect smiles without knowing it was even done.

Posted May 5, 2008 Comments(0)

People with dental implants have a hard time when dealing with bacteria growing around the area where they’re implant is located.

Now, thanks to scientists who were inspired by mussels who attach themselves to rocks despite the violent urgings of the sea, bonding titanium dental implants to jaw bones that keeps out bacteria may now be possible. Researchers in Germany are developing an ultraviolet hardenable adhesive to bond implants to the human body.

For medical applications, there is an additional need for a growth protein, which can also be made synthetically, in order to stimulate cell growth. A third polymer component is added as a carrier.

According to them, their inspiration came from mussels who stuck to rocks despite the tugging of the sea. Expect the product to be out in five or ten years.

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Posted May 5, 2008 Comments(0)