Dental Hygiene Care: Not Just In Dental Offices

New dental care in Canada allows hygienists' to practice independently from dentists at a lower cost

Access to more affordable dental hygiene care is easier in Ontario since dental hygienists are now able to practice independently from dentists. Seeing a dental hygienist in his/her own practice will cost you roughly 10-30 per cent less than if you saw a dental hygienist in a dental office.

For many dental hygienists being his/her own boss means being able to spend more time with each individual client. There is no time constraint like in dental offices where you are given a limited amount of time to see each client. You are now able to spend the time educating each client on his/her oral health and personal needs and develop a rapport with them.

NY Dental Offices Can Administer Swine Flu Shots

DENTAL NEWS: In an effort to get more people vaccinated against the H1N1 virus or swine flu, New York State is now allowing dentists, dental hygienists and podiatrists to administer flu shots.

New York Governor David Paterson issued the executive order on Thursday that will increase the number of health care professionals that will now administer the vaccine. "Local governments are reporting that the current public health workforce is not sufficient to thoroughly execute a vaccination campaign of this magnitude," Paterson said. "Those local governments and health care providers specifically requested that we issue this emergency order to give them flexibility to use additional personnel and resources in New York's vaccination campaign." At least 75 deaths in New York have been attributed to the swine flu.

How To Tell A Good Dentist From A Bad One

Have you ever had to find a new dentist on your own or been asked by a someone if you... "Know of any good dentists around here"? Chances are, you probably know, few if any dentists in your area, let alone the good ones.

Well, now there's some help from Consumers Research by way of eight ways you can judge the good dentists from the bad ones. More importantly, you'll feel confident when recommending -or not recommending in some circumstances- the dentists to someone who asks you.

Consumers Research offers these questions for judging a dentist's skills after you have received treatment:

How does your bite feel?

Eating Yogurt Reduces Childhood Tooth Decay 22%

Dental News

New research published in the Journal of Dentistry, about a young children who consumed yogurt or times a week or more reduce the chances of developing cavities by 22% compared to those who needed less than once a week. The report came from a Japanese study which was investigating earlier claims that dairy foods generally could ward off dental decay in children.

The research, by experts at Fukuoka University and the University of Tokyo, supports earlier work by Australian scientists who exposed extracted teeth to yogurt and found it kept decay at bay.

Only Yogurt, Though

The results showed a clear link with yogurt but not with other popular dairy products as butter, cheese and milk appeared to have no major benefit, high consumption of yogurt did have a protective effect in young children.

Dental Trick-or-Treats From Around the USA

One Massachusetts dentist is taking an innovative approach in helping his young patients avoid developing dental caries. Dr Thomas Pushak of Lexington, Massachusetts has been collecting Halloween candy from local children for the past 15 years. What's his secret? He pays them for it.

Pushak offers to buy up to five pounds of Halloween candy from trick-or-treaters at $2 a pound. This means if a child had a particularly successful night, they can make up to $10 from the dentist and the children selling their candy to him don't have to be current patients and that his aim is to improve the dental health of young people.

Do-It-Yourself Dentistry? Give Me A Break!

3 Million Get Their Teeth Into DIY Dentistry

Around 3 million people in England have resorted to DIY (Do It Yourself) dentistry, with a further 3 million knowing someone else that has, according to new research by WHICH?. 3 million represents roughly 8 per cent of the British population.

People would rather check their bank balance, go to the gym or face a packed Ikea on a Saturday afternoon instead of going to the dentist so it's easy to see why so many people are having a crack at it themselves with DIY Dentistry.

Of those trying DIY dentistry, 26 per cent have tried to pull a tooth using pliers and 12 per cent have tried doing this using a piece of string tied to a door handle. Three in ten DIY dentists (30 per cent) have tried to whiten their teeth with household cleaning products.

Oral Piercings Cause Dental Problems In Teens

Skin piercings might be the rage among teens, but researchers from Tel Aviv University have found good reasons to think twice about piercing one's tongue or lip.

Dr. Liran Levin, a dentist from the Department of Oral Rehabilitation, School of Dental Medicine at Tel Aviv University has found that about 15 to 20 percent of teens with oral piercings are at high risk for both tooth fractures and gum disease. Resulting tooth fractures as well as periodontal problems, he says, can lead to anterior (front) tooth loss later in life.

Only Teens Are Affected

High rates of fractures due to piercings are not found in other age groups, and cases of severe periodontal damage in teens without oral piercings are similarly rare, says Dr. Levin, who conducted the study with partners Dr. Yehuda Zadik and Dr. Tal Becker.

Break Your Child's Bad Dental Habits

Put Your Child on the Path to Good Oral Health

While it is important to maintain good oral habits in children, it is equally important to understand and break the bad habits. Going to bed with a bottle, thumb / finger sucking and swallowing toothpaste are some examples of bad dental habits in children.

Going to Bed With a Bottle

The result of sending a child to bed with a bottle of anything other than water is severe tooth decay (cavities). The sugar from the fluid in the bottle stays on the teeth for long periods of time causing the bacteria on the child's teeth and the sugar to mix. This mixture forms a type of acid that eats through the enamel and makes cavities. Dentists sometimes use the term "bottle Mouth" to describe the mouth of a child that has been sent to bed repeatedly with a bottle. This is not an easy habit to break, but it can be done. If your child is taking a bottle to bed, try diluting the liquid down a little each night until the end result is just water.

Every (Bad) Breath You Take

Test Yourself For Halitosis (IE. Bad Breath)

No one wants to be that person that other people talk about behind their back saying how bad their breath is. Therefore, here are three simple methods to help you test yourself for "stinky breath" / chronic halitosis:

First take a piece of un-waxed, un-flavored white dental floss and floss between your upper and lower back molars. Examine the floss. Is it red or brown? Wait about 45 seconds and then smell it closely. Does it have a bad odor?

The next test is to take a clean washcloth and then pull your tongue forward with one hand grasping the tongue with the washcloth. With the other hand and a clean white washcloth rub or scrape the furthest back portion of your tongue two or three times. Again, wait for about 45 seconds and then smell the portion of the cloth that was rubbed on the tongue. Does it have a bad smell?

Nutritional Supplements Improve Periodontal Health

Dental News

The periodontists in both of Dr. David DiGiallorenzo's Pennsylvania dental practices have recently began offering two lines of nutritional supplements to patients as a means of promoting the connection between good nutrition and improved periodontal health.

DiGiallorenzo, a dental implants specialist, introduced nutritional supplements called Isagenix Cleanse and NuVerus's Euphoria because studies have shown that nutritional supplements can help patients improve their immune systems and fight gum infections.

"We use the Isagenix and NuVerus to strengthen immunity, improve digestion, build proteins, reduce inflammation and remove toxins from the body," said Dr. DiGiallorenzo. "All of these factors are crucial when dealing with chronic inflammatory diseases such as periodontal disease, cardiovascular disease, rheumatoid arthritis and a variety of other conditions."

What Is Fluoride and What Does It Do?

What is Fluoride

Fluoride is a chemical ion of the element fluorine (from the Latin fluo meaning "to flow"), in that fluoride has one extra electron that gives it a negative charge. Fluoride is found naturally in water, foods, soil, and several minerals such as fluorite and fluorapatite. However, it is also synthesized in laboratories where it may be added to drinking water or used in a variety of chemical products.

Fluoride is most commonly associated with dental hygiene products and tooth protection. Most people are exposed to fluoride through treated drinking water or products such as toothpaste and mouthwash.

Sugarless Gum Can Help Prevent Cavities

If you chew gum, you are not alone. It has been estimated that more than half of all Americans are gum chewers. But is chewing gum hazardous to your dental health? It depends upon the type of gum you chew.

Chewing gum that contains sugar is reportedly associated with the promotion of caries or dental decay. But chewing sugarless gum with the artificial sweetener Xylitol is not associated with causing dental decay and has even been shown to help prevent decay.

The xylitol in sugarless gum also plays a role in preventing caries. A recent study showed that syrup containing xylitol given orally to children age 9 to 13 months had significantly fewer cavities than the children who did not receive the xylitol syrup.

New Link Between Pregnancy And Tooth Loss

The old wives tale "for every child the mother loses a tooth" has some validity, according to a NYU dental professor.

Women who have more children are more likely to have missing teeth, according to a nationwide study of 2,635 women by Dr. Stefanie Russell, an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology & Health Promotion, which was published on the Web site of the American Journal of Public Health.

Dr. Russell's conclusions are based on information on white and black non-Hispanic women ages 18-64 who reported at least one pregnancy in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a representative study of the U.S. population.

Increased Death Among Toothless Diabetics

Dental News

According to the journal Diabetologia, a recent study revealed that people with diabetes who have lost all of their teeth have a 50% greater risk of death than similar-aged diabetics who have most of their teeth. The study was conducted by researchers at The George Institute for International Health (Sydney, Australia) using data from almost 11,000 people, ages 55 to 88 who have type 2 diabetes.

People's teeth were counted at the start of the study. They also answered questions about how often their gums bled. Researchers kept track of the people for 5 years and recorded deaths and the causes of death. Bleeding gums were not linked with an increased risk of death. But compared with people who had at least 22 teeth, diabetics with no teeth had greater risks of:

A Dentist On Reducing Your Dental Bills

Select a dentist that is interested in Prevention. The key to reducing dental costs is prevention. There is a lot that you can do to avoid serious dental problems.

Regular dental checkups are an essential part of any prevention program. If you see your dentist regularly, any dental problems you have can be treated in their early stages. If you see a dentist only in an emergency, when you already have a serious problem, treatment may be much more costly. In the long run, nothing is more economical than the regular dental checkup.

Periodically, your dentist may ask you to have an X-ray examination. X-rays help your dentist find hidden conditions that can threaten your oral or general health. Treating these conditions at an early stage often prevents more serious damage and the need for more expensive treatment later.

11 Alternative Uses For Dental Floss

There are so many more ways to use dental floss than just to keep your teeth and gums healthy. Because it's made with nylon or Teflon fibers, floss is stronger than string or thread, easier to work with than wire and you can get it cheap at most dollar stores. Here are just a few of the many alternative uses for dental floss:

Hang Time - Use dental floss to hang pictures, sun catchers or Christmas ornaments. In fact, you can use it to hang just about any smallish object in need of string or wire.

Sew Neat - I love this one. If you've ever had a coat button that keeps coming off, and who hasn't, try dental floss instead of thread the next time you sew it on. Floss is also strong enough to repair tears in mess on things like playpens, beach bags and laundry bags.A cut above - If you wrap a length of dental floss around one finger on each hand, you can cut perfect cake slices. It's cleaner and neater than using a knife. You can cut fruit, soft cheese, bread and hard-boiled eggs this way, too.