Archive for December, 1969

Where can people with special needs obtain dental care?

December 31, 1969 at 9:00 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

Where can people with special needs obtain dental care?


  • Inform the dentist about your special health or
    financial conditions.
  • Ask if the dentist has training and/or experience in
    treating patients with your specific condition.
  • Ask if the dentist has an interest in treating patients
    with your specific condition.
  • Find out if the dentist participates in your dental
    benefit plan (dental insurance program.)
  • Ask if the dental facility is accessible to the
    disabled.
  • Call or write the dental director at your state department of public
    health.
  • Contact the nearest dental school clinic or hospital dental department, especially if it is affiliated with a major university.
  • Contact the Special Care Dentistry (Formerly
    Federation of Special Care Organizations in Dentistry, the
    Academy of General Dentistry and
    theAmerican Academy of Pediatric
    Dentistry for a referral.
  • Also, the National Oral Health Information
    Clearinghouse may have useful information.
  • Contact the National Foundation of Dentistry for the
    Handicapped(NFDH), a charitable affiliate of the
    American Dental Association since 1988. The NFDH, via
    several programs, facilitates the provision of comprehensive
    dental care for needy disabled, elderly, and medically
    compromised individuals.
  • Dentists and dental institutions organizing or
    participating in voluntary projects that care for uninsured
    and underserved patients will find information, and grant
    opportunities through http://www.volunteersinhealthcare.org/home.htm (VIH). VIH
    Program staff are available to assist you at the toll-free
    number 1-877-844-8442.

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Chewing Tobacco Linked to Tooth Decay

December 31, 1969 at 9:00 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

Chewing Tobacco Linked to Tooth Decay:



Individuals who use chewing tobacco have significantly more decay on the crowns and roots of their teeth than do non-tobacco users, according to a report presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Dental Research.



Dr. Scott Tomar from the University of California, San Francisco, and Dr. Deborah Winn from the NIDR evaluated caries data and interviews taken from the 14,807 participants in the Third National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES III). The investigators distinguished between users of chewing tobacco (the leaf and plug forms of spit tobacco), and other types of tobacco such as snuff (the finely-ground form of spit tobacco), cigarettes, and cigars.

There were 135 respondents who currently used chewing tobacco only. These individuals had an average of 40.9 decayed, missing, or filled surfaces in the crowns of the teeth (out of 128 possible surfaces) compared to an average of 36.9 similarly compromised surfaces in persons who had never used tobacco. The differences between the two groups were also significant when comparing the number of decayed or filled root surfaces-3.7 surfaces for tobacco chewers vs. 1.0 for non-tobacco users.



The study suggests that chewing tobacco may pose a cariogenic risk for all tooth surfaces and is potentially a two-pronged threat for tooth roots. There is good evidence, according to the investigators, that tobacco products in general can contribute to gum disease and therefore make roots vulnerable to decay. Furthermore, they say, chewing tobacco is processed to contain higher levels of sugar than other forms of tobacco, and the sugar can encourage bacteria to colonize and attack both the tooth crowns and exposed roots.

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Dental Sealants

December 31, 1969 at 9:00 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

Dental Sealants :



What are dental sealants?



Sealants are thin, plastic coatings painted on the chewing surfaces of the back teeth.



Sealants are put on in dentists' offices, clinics, and sometimes in schools. Getting sealants put on is simple and painless. Sealants are painted on as a liquid and quickly harden to form a shield over the tooth.



Sealants are clear or tinted. Tinted sealants are easier to see.



Are sealants new? No, sealants are not new. They have been around for a long time! Research by NIDCR and others led to the development of sealants in the early 1960s. But many people still do not know what sealants are. In fact, fewer than 20 percent of children in the United States have sealants!



How long do sealants last? Sealants can last up to 10 years. But they need to be checked at regular dental check-ups to make sure they are not chipped or worn away. The dentist can repair sealants by adding more sealant material. How much do sealants cost? Sealing one tooth usually costs less than filling one tooth.



Having sealants put on healthy teeth now will save you money in the long run by avoiding fillings, crowns, or caps used to fix decayed teeth.



But the most important reason for getting sealants is to avoid tooth decay. Healthy teeth can last a lifetime!



Does insurance pay for sealants? Many insurance companies pay for sealants. Check with your company for details.

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Dental Health

December 31, 1969 at 9:00 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

Dental health & More:

Despite decades of mass education around health issues in general, the importance of dental health remains poorly understood. Many people do not know, for example, that dental problems can be the cause of a range of conditions including migraines, long-term fatigue and neuralgia. Even a toothache can quickly turn septic, leading to blood poisoning and, if left untreated, death.

The truly amazing thing about dental health, however, is that it is so easy to maintain the health of your mouth and dental structures. Not counting accidents or trauma, the only thing that causes dental structures to break down is bad oral hygiene and poor diet (see plaque below).

For most people, the oral cavity (mouth) is a mysterious place. It is difficult to see and it changes throughout life's stages from childhood, to middle age and through into old age. Teeth seem to come and go in a bewildering pattern of events, giving rise to a number of popular myths that see some people convinced that their child had '12 rows of teeth like a shark'.

Overcrowding, bleeding gums, extra long teeth and 'black stumps' are perfectly explainable in terms of hygiene and heredity. Nevertheless, popular stories abound that are designed to excuse the condition on a range of grounds that deflect the blame from the family or individual who, most often, simply has poor oral hygiene.

The good news is that, notwithstanding some hereditary conditions, dental disease can be so easily prevented. Prevention requires daily brushing and flossing and a conscious effort to avoid sweet, sticky foods that lie around the teeth and gums.

Generally, the reason most people see a dentist is because they have toothache. This is much like locking the gate after the horse has bolted. If more people visited the dentist regularly, as part of their annual health plan, dental disease would not be the most prevalent disease in the world.

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Credits: Phil Wiley is the author of the best selling book Mini Site Profits www.minisiteprofits.comand writes the free weekly Letter from Phil at www.ozemedia.com

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Flossing Is Easy

December 31, 1969 at 9:00 pm · Filed under Uncategorized

Flossing is Now a SNAP:



Flossing while being considered as essential to preserving healthy gums and teeth, is still much neglected by most people, especialy males. According to previous researches, only 15% males floss their teeth daily. The difficulty inherent to wrapping a piece of floss around two fingers, which then turn all red due to blocked blood circulation, doesn't seem to promote flossing in spites of dentists' urgings.

Many dental floss aids help with the holding of the floss, but to the detriment of loss of tactile feedback essential for smooth flossing. Some only help with front teeth but not molars, other are mechanical marvels but do little to make flossing less aggravating.

A new floss aid is now available to overcome the red fingers problem and loss of tactile feedback when a floss holder is used: the SNAP floss rings. Each ring comprises two rings hinged together, with one ring open. Therefore the piece of floss can be wrapped 3-5 turns around the annular body of the open ring at a particular notch, then the two rings are snapped together, forming a single solid ring.

The pulling force on the floss actually increases the forces that the outer turns press on the inner turns of the floss to make it even more secured. Two taps facilitate the opening of the two hinged rings for easy removal of the used floss.

Given the floss is now well secured against the rings, flossing can be done with mouth still full of toothpaste foam, to benefit from the cleansing action of toothpaste, which also masks any unpleasant odor from plaque already accumulated around the teeth. A couple of passes of the floss on one's tongue complete the exercise of dental hygiene. Thus a same setup of 6' of floss secured by 2 SNAP (tm) floss rings can help smooth flossing and be used to clean one's tongue also.



Not counting on savings in floss, the SNAP floss rings can help people floss more frequently and effortlessly, thus saving them dentists' and oral surgeons' bills. Of course usual benefits of flossing also apply.



Credits: Tranh Nguyen ezflossring.com



Dental Plans

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