Tuesday, March 6, 2012

How to beat bad breath odor? Here are some useful tips!!!

There are several terms to describe halitosis: bad breath, morning breath, breathe odor, but they all usually mean the same, an unpleasant odor exhaled on the breath.

Breath odor is not a serious problem by itself, except in cases when it is caused by some other dental disease(s,) it is not however something that will improve our interpersonal relationships.

Most breath odor is caused by food particles left in our mouths.  These remains are the breeding grounds for the halitosis bacteria.  Among other causes there is poor oral health, periodontal disease, improper cleaning of dentures, and of course smoking.  Sometimes it can be caused by stomach, lungs or bloodstream disease.


Tuesday, February 14, 2012

What Are Direct and Indirect Pulp Caps?


An indirect pulp cap is usually done to take  the place of a root canal in very decayed teeth.  It is made when most of the decay on the permanent tooth is removed.  When a dentist finds extensive decay very close to the pulp (nerve,) the risk of the pulp exposition by the infected decay is high.  This infection will result in the need for a root canal.  In this case dentists leave the last little bit of decay in there and place a sedative temporary filling.  Usually Intermediate Restorative Material (IRM) is used as a temporary filling material until the patient is ready for a proper, more permanent restoration. 

Friday, February 3, 2012

Researches proved: professional tooth scaling reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes

Professional tooth scaling was associated with fewer heart attacks and strokes in a study from Taiwan, presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2011.

More than 100,000 people took part in the seven year study. Gender, age, and health conditions were all considered when accepting the participants. One half of them had their teeth professionally scarped and cleaned at least once a year, the other half had no tooth scaling.
None of the participants had a history of heart attack or stroke at the beginning of the study. Weight, smoking, and race were not adjusted in this research as they were not included in the Taiwan National Health insurance data base – the source of the information for the analysis.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Mannitol Increases Effectiveness Of Dental Nerve Block Anesthesia


A necessary part of the dental process is to allow a patient to feel comfortable and pain-free during surgical and restorative dental procedures.  The most widespread local anesthetic injection for lower teeth is the inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) block.  Despite this, the rates of ineffectiveness range from 10 to 39 percent.

A study testing the efficacy of adding of mannitol to the typical anesthetic used in Ian blocks was presented by the journal “Anesthesia Progress.”

The participants were forty adult patients, who received an IAN block at each appointment at least once a week.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Surprising Hypothetical Mechanism Warrants Further Investigation

According to a recently published study, a probiotic treatment has mitigated pancreatitis in an animal model.   This leads to a new hypothesis of how probiotic's may act.

“Severe acute pancreatitis is a critical illness that is characterized by intestinal barrier dysfunction.  While it is usually self-limiting, in 20% - 30% of cases patients develop serious disease, including systemic inflammatory response syndrome, sepsis, and/or multiple organ dysfunction, which frequently cause death,” says the study.