Featured Articles

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Bad Breath – Causes and Cures. Halitosis. The Listerine Company coined this name in 1921 to sell more mouthwash.  The scientific term is oral malodor, but we all know the condition as” Bad Breath”. We have all been exposed to its unpleasant symptoms any time we are in large groups of people or in the presence of one of the unfortunate many who suffer from this condition.

Xerostomia is not a disease, but rather a condition.  Drawn from the Greek roots “xeros,” meaning dry, and “stoma,” meaning mouth, it simply denotes a circumstance in which a person has decreased saliva flow.

A few weeks ago, in another local newspaper, an article was published on dental caries, or cavities, for which several local pediatric dentists were interviewed.  The article correctly pointed out that there is currently an upsurge of dental caries in the children of our mountain region. 

If you are over fifty, you may recognize the term “pyorrhea.”  (And no, it is NOT an intestinal disorder!)  If you are older yet, you may be familiar with the condition known as “Trenchmouth.”  Both of these rather archaic labels refer to a very common health problem in our society:  periodontal or gum disease. 

Thanks to reality television shows specializing in extreme makeovers of every description, there has been an increase in the interest in porcelain veneers.  Some people even come in to the dental office asking for certain laboratory-produced veneers as if they were brand names.

There are several key components to a thorough dental examination. They all work together to obtain as much information about the patient and their potential problems as possible. In a previous article, we addressed the oral cancer exam. Another component essential to a dental evaluation is the radiographic (or x-ray) survey.

By now, the use of the dental implant is a well respected and successful therapy that is part of every dentist’s list of alternative treatments for patients with missing teeth.

Most oral cancers are completely painless. And therefore diagnosis does not occur until the disease has spread to other areas, such as the lymph nodes of the neck.

“Exactly what is a root canal?” This is a question most dental professionals answer every day. It seems everyone has a “war story” about root canals gone wrong. Even the stand-up comedians treat the subject as fair game and use root canal therapy as an example of the worst fate one could ever encounter.

There are two types of operative restorations, commonly called “fillings,” which are used to restore teeth in the practice of dentistry.

If you are a heart patient, have ever had rheumatic fever or a joint replaced, you have probably had to pre-medicate with an antibiotic prior to most dental appointments.  As research opens new doors of understanding for medicine and dentistry, new knowledge is challenging some of our long held beliefs about prevention and protocols which have been in place for over 60 years.

“I’m afraid you’re going to need a crown on the tooth”.
Probably most adult patients have heard these words come from their dentist.
But, what is a crown?  Why do we, as dental professionals, recommend and perform this expensive, relatively invasive procedure?

For most of history, caries (or decay) detection has depended upon visual inspection and mechanical exploration.  More simply said, the dentist looked for dark spots in the tooth, stuck a sharp instrument into it, and if it was sticky, the diagnosis of caries was made.  A rather inexact, archaic, and subjective method, I’m sure you will agree.

Orthodontics is the specialty of dentistry concerned with the study and treatment of poor or irregular bite relationships.  In most cases, the offending condition results from a discrepancy between tooth size and jaw size and shape, usually causing tooth crowding.  The word comes from the Greek words “ortho” (straight) and “odons” (tooth).

Stress seems to be a constant in our modern, fast-paced world.  Many patients report to the dental office at times of particularly high stress with a condition known as TMJ.