Many people view dental surgery the way Tom Hank's character must have in Castaway when he removed a bad tooth by bashing it with an ice skate and a rock.  Fortunately, there are professionals who can help us avoid such extreme measures. Dramatic movie scenes aside, dental surgery isn't just about removing teeth.  Often the purpose of the surgery is to prevent the loss of a tooth.  The dreaded root canal removes infected pulp from the interior of the tooth but leaves the rest of the tooth intact.  Dental implants are artificial teeth … [Read more...]

The bad news: Everyone has bad breath at one time or another. The good news: There's something you can do about it. Bad breath or "halitosis" may be caused by a number of factors.  It could be as simple as the foods you eat, in which case you may wish to skip the garlic and fish the night before that big job interview or that romantic date. Bad breath can also be caused by certain medical conditions or by medications that alter the body's chemistry.  Smoking and oral tobacco are also culprits, since they carry their own unpleasant … [Read more...]

It's well known that problems with one part of the body can manifest themselves elsewhere. This is certainly true of the mouth; there's evidence that poor oral hygiene can either cause or contribute to such maladies as heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and even pre-term and low birth weight babies. The link seems to be bacteria. Our mouth is a haven for bacteria. Most of it is harmless and our bodies are able to deal with it, so long as we take reasonable efforts to keep it in check. Problems arise when the bacteria count grows or when the … [Read more...]