Considering how much time most women (and some men) spend making their hair look “Perfect”, you’d think that hair would be the first thing people would notice when they meet someone. However, according to a survey done for Phillips Sonicare of 1,008 American adults, the time would be better spent on enhancing their smile. The survey found that 47% of people notice a person’s smile first when they meet someone. The eyes are noticed first 31% of the time, smell 11%, clothes 7%, and hair 4%. I’m a bit biased since I’m a dentist, but it seems that people would get a lot more “Bang for the Buck” if they spent more time and expendable income on improving their smiles rather than on new clothes and their hair. Guess what, the beautiful smile lasts a lot longer than the new clothes or hairstyle too!
Doctor's Blog
Keep Your Gums Well Oiled
December 4, 2010Add this to the list of positives reasons to make fish oil an important part of your diet. Recent research at Harvard University questioned 9,200 patients about their consumption of foods containing omega-3 fatty acids. They were then given dental exams. Those patients who consumed above average amounts of food containing omega-3’s were up to 30% less likely to have gum (periodontal) disease.
Salmon and other fatty fish contain omega-3’s. Study author Dr. Kenneth Mukakal recommends eating salmon or other fatty fish twice a week.
Cavities Don’t Hurt Part 2
September 12, 2010Why do patient’s think that all cavities cause pain? I think you have to look at the history of preventative dentistry to understand how this myth got started. The prevention of dental disease is a relatively new science. Dental insurance wasn’t common until the ’70’s and fluoridation of drinking water was widely instituted at about the same time. Prior to the ’60’s or ’70’s, it was uncommon for patients to see their dentist every 6 months for cleanings and exams (preventative care). Patients rarely made an appointment to see their dentist unless they felt pain. And, in most cases, this pain was caused by a deep cavity. Extraction of the tooth was usually the treatment of choice at that time because root canals were not commonly done.
You notice I said the pain (toothache) was caused by a deep cavity. If the patient had seen the dentist before the pain started, the tooth could have been saved with a filling. But patients didn’t see the dentist”until it hurt”. When they saw the dentist, he/she said the pain was from a cavity. Thus the association of pain with a cavity. The fact is that patients in those days were walking around with millions and millions of painless cavities. The only ones they knew about were the deep, painful ones.
Of course, preventative dentistry is more widely practiced and utilized these days. Technology for the detection of small cavities has improved immensely. A patient who sees the dentist regularly should never suffer from a cavity so large that it causes pain. Of course, if a patient goes several years between dental visits, they may develop cavities large enough to cause pain. However, the type of cavity that we find on routine check up exams is painless and can only be detected using our newer detection tools.
It’s a little unfortunate that small to moderate cavities don’t hurt. If they did, patients would get them taken care of before they became large and costly. The sale of junk food would drop also because people would begin to associate junk food (a major cause of cavities) with pain!
In my next blog, I’ll explain a little of the physiology and anatomy that causes deep cavities to hurt but small to moderate cavities to be painless.
Cavities Don’t Hurt
September 6, 2010I’ve now been involved in Dentistry for over 35 years. For some strange reason, it has taken me that long to realize that 99% of all the patients whom I’ve had contact with over the years have been misguided in their dental decision making process by a belief based on an “old wife’s tale”. Their misguided belief is that CAVITIES CAUSE PAIN and, therefore, they will know when they have a cavity. Due to this belief, patients fail to follow up on preventative care, fail to take the advice of their dentist and treat cavities when they are small, and distrust their dentist when he/she tells them they have a cavity when they have no pain.
Most patients seem to trust their bodies to tell them when they have a cavity. So, many times, new or emergency patients come in to see me because they have a mild sensitivity in a tooth and they think they have a cavity. Most often, this mild pain is not caused by a cavity, but by some other minor problem. However, many times, a thorough exam to determine the cause of the pain reveals small to moderate cavities in other areas of the mouth which are absolutely painless.
For all these years, I really thought that it was obvious to most people that only “really big” cavities caused pain. Recently, I mentioned to my wife of 30 years that patients don’t understand that SMALL TO MODERATE CAVITIES don’t hurt! They don’t even hurt just a little- they don’t hurt AT ALL! Her own shock and amazement at this fact has finally made me aware of how widespread this false belief really is. After all, she is a highly educated woman who has been involved in a dental practice for 34 years. If she doesn’t understand the painless nature of most dental cavities, how can I expect a normal patient to understand this fact. And, after doing a random poll of several other friends and acquaintances, I realized how widespread this false belief is.
Of course, over the years, I have been continually asked by patients why they didn’t feel any pain from the cavities I had just diagnosed in their mouth. I always patiently explained that cavities usually do not cause ANY pain until they get huge! In fact, many patients have told me they thought their previous dentist “ripped them off” because he/she did some filling on teeth that they weren’t feeling any pain in. I only recently realized how common this belief is and how much extra money and time it is costing patients. It costs a lot less to treat dental decay when it is small vs when a cavity gets large enough to hurt!
Even though I was so slow to realize how widespread this false belief really is, I’m pretty sure I understand why it exists. I’ll elaborate on that in my blog tomorrow.
Gum Disease, Pregnancy, and Premature Births
June 26, 2010Many recent studies have linked gum disease to other health problems. Pregnant mothers are always very concerned with improving their chances of giving birth to a healthy baby. Here’s a simple way to do so.
A University of Pennsylvania study of 160 pregnant women with gum disease found that successful treatment lowered the rate of premature delivery from 23 percent to just 7 percent. In other words, expectant mothers with gum disease have a much better chance of avoiding premature birth if they keep their gums healthy.
Gum disease releases bacteria that can lead to early labor. Having regular professional cleanings removes these bacteria. It’s really that simple.
