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Check out Men’s Health’s Interactive Map of Where the Teeth Bite

Our analysis includes stats from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the number of people who visit their dentists for annual checkups, the number of no-shows whose choppers are dropping out, and the number of households with fluoride on tap. And since warding off gum disease is key to keeping your smile, we also factored in who’s flossing, from Mediamark Research. When the computer spit out the results, it became clear that some drilling is needed in Texas, and we don’t mean for oil.

The Acid Bath

On the surface it makes sense: Brush your teeth after breakfast. Problem is, cereal, bananas, and OJ are acidic, and if you eat them and then brush right away, you’ll remove some of the temporarily softened tooth enamel. The remedy? Wait 20 minutes before you brush, says David Bartlett, B.D.S., Ph.D., a British expert on dental erosion.

Scan for Stroke

After your dentist checks for cavities, ask him to eyeball your arteries. The panoramic dental x-ray not only offers a 180-degree window into your oral health, but also reveals whether the other plaque is piling up in your carotid arteries—plaque that might otherwise go undetected until you stroke out. Unfortunately, only 10 percent of dentists bother to look. “Many dentists miss the bigger picture of health,” says Laurie Carter, D.D.S., Ph.D., president of the American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology. Nudge your dentist to examine your x-ray. If he sees anything suspicious, ask him to send the film to your physician.

Cities with the Best Teeth

Cities with the Worst Teeth

Cities with the Most Households Using Floss in the Past 6 Months

Cities Where the Most People Visited the Dentist Within the Past Year

Cities Providing the Highest Percentage of Fluoridated Water

Lowest Rate of permanent teeth extractions

100 Cities: From Worst to Best

URL: http://health.msn.com/health-topics/oral-care/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100199710>1=31017

Where the Teeth Bite* from Men’s Health « Dradeledoherty’s Weblog

APRIL MYTH:

When a baby tooth falls out, a child is expected to put the tooth under his/her pillow.  It is believed by children that a tooth fairy would come up in the night while the child is sleeping to “steal” the tooth away and would leave some money under the pillow.  Of course, there is no such person but children do find money under their pillows. Who has been leaving money under the pillow?  It is not a tooth -fairy.  No pixie, just we parents doing the placement and we love doing that anyway!

The Teen-Age Years

As females reach puberty, the production of the sex hormones progesterone and estrogen increases. This hormonal increase can exaggerate the way dental tissues react to the irritants in plaque. Gums may become red, tender, swollen and likely to bleed easily when chewing or brushing teeth. After the early teen years, women may notice less inflammation and bleeding.

Reaching Menopause You may notice a number of physical changes when you reach menopause, including some that occur in the mouth. These may include a burning sensation, altered taste sensations (salty, peppery or sour), a decrease in saliva flow that can result in dry mouth, and greater sensitivity to hot and cold foods or drinks.

Talk with us if you experience any oral problems that you think might be related to menopause. Be sure to mention any medications you are taking (both prescription and over-the-counter products), because many drugs can have dental-related side-effects, including dry mouth. Dry mouth can increase your risk for tooth decay, halitosis (bad breath) and mouth sores. Saliva substitutes may be prescribed to reduce any mouth dryness. Vitamin C and B complexes may be helpful, as well. For good overall health, eat a balanced diet and discuss with your physician how to get the calcium you need to prevent osteoporosis (“porous bones”), the risk of which increases after menopause.

Remember that it is plaque not fluctuating hormone levels, that is the major cause of periodontal disease. Here are ways you can help prevent periodontal disease: Be sure to brush your teeth thoroughly twice a day and clean between your teeth daily with floss or another interdental cleaner.  If you need extra help in controlling plaque and gingivitis, we may recommend antimicrobial mouthrinse. Regular dental visits and professional cleanings are essential. Plaque that is not removed can harden into a rough, porous deposit called calculus, or tartar. Tartar can only be removed by a professional cleaning at our office or any other dental office. 

Eat a balanced diet for good general health and limit snacks.

*From American Dental Association 

It is all about myths, tall stories, horsetails, long nose stories! LOL

SOME BELIEVE THAT A WOMAN LOSES A TOOTH FOR EVERY PREGNANCY

ANS.: It is not true that a woman should expect to lose a tooth for each pregnancy but some women are prone to developing swollen gums during pregnancy called PREGNANCY Tumor or Epulis.  This is generally due to irritation of the gums and a professionally cleaning of the mouth may prove useful in its management.  For most females, the swelling goes away after delivery and for others, they may require gum treatment.  Be happy, it is not the end of the world, you are not going to lose those teeth, get with it.  You know in 2007 Russia, people were even encouraged to take a national holiday for making babies!!!!!! 

February 27, 2008*

An Ohio CBS-TV affiliate is airing today an investigative report about outsourcing dental lab work offshore-and the story’s hook is that one of the crowns received from a Chinese lab contained lead. The reporter worked with a local dentist to order eight dental crowns (porcelain and full metal) from several labs in China, which were then sent to NSL Analytics in Cleveland for testing. One of the crowns tested positive for lead at 210 ppm. The story also will include information about a woman from Kent, Ohio, with a partial bridge that apparently tested positive for lead at 160 ppm. The woman apparently filed or will be filing a lawsuit, alleging that the bridge caused infection and swelling, which she attributes to the lead. Product danger and contamination stories are big in the media these days-witness the recent pet food and toy stories from 2007-so it’s important for you to be armed with the facts. Here’s what we know ·         No dental prosthetic device should contain lead.·         It’s the quality of work and safety of materials that matter most to dentists and patients, not where the dental lab work is done. The underlying concern should not be where dental lab work is done (because there are offshore labs that do great work) but rather how you, the dentist, and your patients can be assured of the quality of the work and safety of the materials used.  That said, we suspect that the China angle will be played up, especially after the scare over lead paint in toys. You may need information on what to ask your dental lab supplier(s) to be assured that the products you are purchasing from them are safe. View our tip sheet on questions to ask your labs. This will help you talk with your patients, too. ·         Some of your patients will ask where you send your lab work and whether their own crowns or bridges might contain lead. To help you prepare for these questions, view these talking points. Of course, you will want to customize these to fit your needs, but these are basic points you can start with. ·         Rather than waiting for the FDA or state legislatures to take some action, we are going to have our own labs do some random, objective testing of prosthetic devices, some from U.S. labs and others from offshore labs. This will take some time (we’re still evaluating and don’t know how long) to prepare for and execute, but we believe it is important that the ADA do this type of objective testing to gather additional intelligence on whether the Ohio testing was an isolated incident or cause for greater concern. As always, we’re going to let science show the way. We’ll keep you informed of what we learn and the next steps that result from the testing.·         The tip sheet refers to ISO or ANSI compliance. The standards for dental prostheses address the safety and quality of the metal-ceramic dental restorative system (ANSI/ADA Specification No. 3 and include a requirement for the manufacturer to test for the metal alloy composition and concentrations of the materials. There also are standards for noble metals.·         Some state legislatures (for example, Florida and South Carolina) are considering legislation to tighten up the regulation of dental laboratories. Provisions under consideration include requirements that dental labs disclose information such as where devices are made and the materials used. Be on the lookout for future legislative alerts from your state dental society on this topic.·         We made a strong statement to the press that we do not believe any lead should be in dental prosthetic devices. We have been advised by industry experts that there are no FDA-approved materials used in dental prosthetic devices that contain lead, which again points to the importance of your lab adequately assuring you that they use only FDA-approved materials.·         Labs fill the order that you give them based on what you request. The more detailed your request is in terms of what materials you expect them to use (or not use), the more assurance you will have about what they are providing. It is important to specify the exact materials that you want used in the prosthesis.Here’s what we don’t know ·         We don’t know whether this is an isolated incident or indicates a larger problem. We were surprised to learn that any dental prosthetic device might have lead in it. ·         We understand that the lead was found in the surface of the crown, so our scientists suspect (but do not know for sure) that it could have come from the pigment. It’s also theoretically possible that the lead could have come through a soldering process or as a contaminant from the lab environment. Again, as noted above, lead should not be in any FDA-approved materials.We would like to hear from you if you have already experienced a problem with a dental prosthetic device containing lead. We also want to know of any other questions that we may not have outlined in this eGRAM or in the linked documents. Please send your comments and inquiries to: dpdfeedback@ada.org. We will continue to share information with you as we continue to understand this better, so watch ada.org and be on the lookout for possible follow-up eGRAMs.Needless to say, this is a very delicate issue. No one is more concerned about the possibility of lead contamination of dental products than dentists. On the other hand, we don’t want to overreact to what could be an isolated incident. For now, be armed with the facts, communicate with your patients and stay tuned, because this story has the potential to evolve rapidly. Finally, we hope this information helps you understand why it’s very important for us to have your most current e-mail information. Please share this information with your colleagues, and ask them to let us know (dpdfeedback@ada.org) their current e-mail address if they did not receive this eGRAM directly from us. As always, thank you for your support of the work of the American Dental Association. It’s through the strength of our membership that we are able to be helpful and responsive on critical issues like this one. 

* From American Dental Association eGRAM received today and passing this info from ADA to you! 

This volume will discuss the monthly cycle and pregnancy.

Menstruation:  During menstruation, a woman of child-bearing age may observe several changes in her mouth, including canker sore, swollen gums, lesions and swollen salivary glands.  Some women don’t even notice any changes at all.  For others, particularly those for whom dental plaque of gum pockets are a problem, the gums my bleed in days before the period begins.  These symptoms should be attended to promptly.  Your dentist may prescribe some special cleanings, treatment or topical anesthetics to ameliorate any discomfort and/or pain.

Pregnancy and A Woman’s Dental Health: During pregnancy, a woman’s hormone levels rise exponentially.  Gingivitis (inflammation of the gums) , especially common during the  second to eighth month of pregnancy, may cause red, puffy or tender gums that tend to bleed readily when brushed.  This sensitivity is an exaggerated response to dental plaque and oral irritants and is caused by an increased level of ah hormone called progesterone in the system.  Your dentist may recommend more frequent cleanings during the second trimester or early third trimester to help avoid the problems.  Occasionally overgrowths called “pregnancy epulis or tumors,”appear on the gums during the second trimester. These localized growths or swellings are usually found between the teeth and are believed to be related to excess dental plaque.  They bleed easily and are characterized by a red, raw-looking mulberry-like surface.  They are often surgically removed after the baby is born.  If a woman experiences pregnancy epulis, she should call her dentist promptly.

It is especially essential, then, to maintain good dental health during pregnancy.  Research suggests that the pregnant women who have periodontal disease may be at increased risk for delivering a pre-term and/or low birth-weight baby.  If a woman notices changes in her mouth during pregnancy, please call your dentist immediately.

*Courtesy of the American Dental Association and for more info, pls visit http://www.ada.org

Dental amalgam was recently banned throughout Norway. The AGD has resources available to help you with questions from your patients. You can read the AGD’s position on dental amalgam   or  read the consumer article on the ban. Also, a fact sheet focusing on amalgam will be published in the March issue of AGD Impact.  We will bring it to your attention.

* Courtesy of Academy of General Dentistry (http://www.agd.org).

FDA Warns About Electric Dental Handpieces*
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) issued a Public Health Notification late last year, on Dec. 12, 2007. The notification prompted dental healthcare providers of patient injuries that may result from poorly maintained electric dental handpieces. If you want to know more click here FDA Web site.

*Courtesy of Academy of General Dentistry (http://www.agd.org)