Sleep Apnea May Cause Childhood Obesity

According to a recent study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, sleep apnea during pregnancy could pose significant risks to more than just the pregnant mother. The study found that expectant mothers who had sleep apnea had higher levels of blood glucose, which in turn affected infant growth patterns both in and out of the womb.

Unfortunately, these growth patterns often resulted in problems later in the unborn baby’s life, such as childhood obesity.

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Eye Pain? It Could Be Temporomandibular Joint Disorder

If you ever experience pain around the eye sockets but can’t quite figure out where it’s coming from or why it’s happening, you could be experiencing temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder pain without even realizing it. But wait - isn’t the temporomandibular joint in your jaw? How could that possibly be causing pain in your eye socket? Believe it or not, it’s quite common.

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Apple Cider Vinegar and Teeth

It’s soaring in popularity among celebrities and developing a cult following among the rest of the population. It’s supposed to do everything from suppress appetite to lower cholesterol – and it's affordable and available over the counter. So, what’s this miracle substance? It’s none other than apple cider vinegar - and it’s definitely got some cool uses.

Naturally derived from apples, apple cider vinegar develops via the process of fermentation, when the sugar in apples turns into alcohol. When mixed with a bacterium called acetobacter, the alcohol then turns to something called acetic acid, and then to what we know as apple cider vinegar. There are a lot of claims out there about what apple cider vinegar can do. But how much of that is true? Read on to learn more about this natural wonder product.

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Why Do Patients Wear Headgear?

You may have seen friends, family or television characters wearing devices on their face that connect to their braces and wondered what on earth they were wearing. Well, chances are it was something called orthodontic headgear, or more commonly referred to as simply headgear.

So, what is headgear, anyway - and why do doctors and dentists prescribe it? Here’s all you ever wanted to know about this beneficial orthodontic device.

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Physical Therapy Can Complement TMJ Treatment

 

If you have temporomandibular joint disorder, you know the pain and frustration that usually goes along with it: stiff neck and jaw, headaches, back aches and ringing ears, just to name a few. It can often feel like neuromuscular dentistry treatment isn’t working fast enough, and there’s nothing you can do to ease the pain in the interim. But there’s a treatment you may not have considered, and it works concurrently with your neuromuscular dentistry treatment: physical therapy.

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Are Mail-Order Orthodontics Safe?

We all lead busy lives. Between work, family commitments and social activities, it can be difficult to add another activity to your already-full plate - even if that activity will improve your health and appearance. Take braces, for example. In addition to wearing aligners or wires and brackets, braces require extra care and extra time for orthodontic appointments. That can be difficult for some people to squeeze into a packed schedule, so they put it off or simply never do it.

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Ace That End-of-Year Oral Health Checkup

It may not seem like it’s time to start thinking 2019 just yet, but when it comes to your oral health, it is. Now is the time to start thinking about what you have left on your 2018 oral health benefits, and what you should add in 2019.

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Arthritis Could Be Cause of Jaw Pain

Arthritis is a disorder that causes painful inflammation of the joints. An estimated 350 million people worldwide suffer from some form of arthritis, with 40 million of those cases right here in the United States. But despite its frequent occurrence, you may not realize that arthritis can sometimes be responsible for another painful joint condition: temporomandibular joint disorder, or TMD. That’s because TMD is a disorder of the joints too – the temporomandibular joints. Though TMD can be caused by many different things, many people don’t realize that arthritis could be the culprit.

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How to Get the Best Care Despite Dental Phobia

Odontophobia. It’s kind of a funny word, but it’s no laughing matter. Odontophobia is the fear of going to the dentist - a fear that an estimated 10 percent of the population have so severely that it keeps them from attending routine dental exams. The danger in this, of course, is that if you don’t go to the dentist, you could be missing some very harmful oral health problems, like cavities, periodontitis or abscesses, all of which, if left untreated, can easily worsen and wreak major havoc on your mouth.

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Having Many Children May Negatively Affect a Mother’s Teeth

Moms today have a lot on their plate. From juggling the family agenda to working and raising children, there’s a lot to be done, and sometimes it seems like not a whole lot of time to do it. Perhaps that’s why a new study in The Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health found that the more children a woman has, the more teeth she may end up losing as an indirect result.

"The working theory is that between the toll pregnancy takes on the body and the amount of time mothers spend caring for everyone but themselves, they are more likely to let their oral health slide, and ultimately end up losing teeth," says Bellmore, New York, dentist Dr. Gary Lederman.

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Don’t Try This at Home: Five Dental Treatments to Leave to the Pros

 

We all take pride in accomplishing tasks ourselves, but there are some things in life that are best left in the hands of the professionals. Nowhere is this truer than in dentistry. That’s because while some treatments may look easy enough, they can leave you with permanent and irreversible damage to your teeth and gums – or leave you spending all your savings repairing the damage. While some DIY treatments are harmless, some are absolutely a bad idea. Here’s a list of five of the worst treatments to try at home.

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Healthy Habits to Help With TMD

 

For temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) sufferers, doing everyday things like speaking and chewing can be a real pain. The good news is that if you have TMD, neuromuscular dentistry can help. The bad news is that it’s not a quick fix, and you could still experience interim pain between treatments. If you’re being treated for TMD, hang in there. If you’re still experiencing pain from your TMD and don’t want to rely on painkillers to get you through, here are some natural treatments you can try at home that have been shown to lessen symptoms and reduce pain.

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New Study Links TMD to Migraine Headaches

For people who suffer from both migraines and temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD), the two conditions can seem so bad they’re related. Now, a new study by the National Institute of Health (NIH) has discovered they might be.

An estimated 12 percent of Americans suffer from debilitating migraine headaches - headaches that in addition to causing agonizing pain can cause everything from nausea to light sensitivity and dizziness. But while for some of those migraine sufferers, the pain stops there, the NIH has revealed that those who suffer from migraines are three times more likely to suffer from another debilitating condition: TMD.

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Surprising Symptoms of TMJ Disorders

 

If you’re one of the 10 million Americans suffering from temporomandibular joint disorder, or TMD for short, you’re probably already aware of the many different types of pain TMD causes. In addition to the jaw pain that is synonymous with TMD (after all, the temporomandibular joint is in the jaw), you may experience pain in other areas of the head and body. But for the millions of estimated undiagnosed TMD patients, their pain may not be an obvious clue. That’s because as TMD sufferers are probably already aware, every case of TMD is different, and the pain isn’t always in the jaw.

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Should New York City Teachers Brush Their Students' Teeth?

 

When the New York City Board of Health recently announced a proposal to require preschool teachers to brush students’ teeth after meals and snacks, many people thought it was a brilliant idea - but others were left scratching their heads. How can we ask a teacher to provide this type of personal care to a student, especially when many teachers are already stretched for time, space and resources? But is this a good reason to not require this program? Here are the reasons why this proposal could - and should - work.

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ADA Takes Aim at Opioid Crisis

With growing cries from as high up as the White House for America to tackle the growing opioid addiction crisis, the American Dental Association announced it will now take a hardline approach to dentists prescribing the drugs. ADA President Dr. Joseph Crowley has asked that all 161,000 member-dentists "eliminate opioids ... if at all possible." While the move is a noble attempt to help reduce addiction and cull the sale of opioids from the secondary market, many are left wondering what it could mean for the comfort of patients undergoing painful procedures like pulled teeth, dental implants and root canals.

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Protect Teeth from These Internet Challenges

 

Even if you haven’t seen the videos yourself, you’ve probably heard about those trendy YouTube "challenge" videos that surge in popularity every few months. It started a few years ago with the ice bucket challenge, a noble campaign to help raise money and awareness for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or ALS. The videos were fun and funny, and they did an excellent job achieving their goal, raising over $115 million for ALS research. Since then, many other video challenges have been issued, but most have not been for raising awareness - rather, they have been issued for internet fame. And therein lies the danger. When impressionable kids see a way to get quick fame and popularity, it can be a dangerous combination.

If you are considering attempting one of these challenges, or if you have children who may be, read up on how these seemingly innocent competitions could wreak havoc on your oral health.

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Five Foods to Avoid Before a Dental Appointment

 

With so many healthy dietary choices out there, most Americans have no reason to eat junk food if they can help it. But just because a food is good for you doesn’t mean it’s a good choice to eat before your dental or orthodontic appointment. If you’re wondering what to avoid before you hit the dental chair, check out this list of the top five offenders, and what makes them such a bad mix with your exam.

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Startling Oral Health Data from Ireland Raises Important Questions in America

According to a new study by Queen Mary University in London, parents in Ireland are failing to bring their children to the dentist at appropriate times. The study found that only 30 percent of parents brought their child to the dentist when the child was suffering from dental pain, while the rest visited either general practitioners to address the pain or the pharmacy for over-the-counter pain medication.

"The problem with this, obviously, is that a general practitioner isn’t a dentist and can’t fix a dental problem," says Bellmore, New York, dentist Dr. Gary Lederman. "Even if a general practitioner could diagnose a dental problem, they would still end up referring the patient to a dentist."

The problem is increasingly troubling because Ireland and the entire United Kingdom are facing major budget shortfalls due to cuts in their National Health Service (NHS) medical care program - shortfalls that have had a significant impact on the dental services the NHS provides U.K. residents.

"The NHS was in the news recently because they have charities that normally provide free dental care to children in Third World countries coming to the United Kingdom to work on children in England. That’s how short they are on funding. The program cannot even pay for routine dental care for its own participating children," says Lederman.

The other problem, which Lederman says is a far bigger issue, is that some parents are completely bypassing the general practitioner and heading straight to the pharmacy.

"Treating your child’s dental pain with over-the-counter pain medication instead of addressing the problem is just asking for trouble," says Lederman. "They might find temporary relief, but meanwhile the problem could be getting worse, which will only end up causing more pain and costing more money down the road."

While there appears to be no viable solutions on the horizon for the NHS budget crisis, Lederman says that domestically, parents can learn a thing or two from the United Kingdom situation.

"This should really show us just how vital it is to take care of our children’s teeth, and how urgent it is to be seen by a dentist if your child is complaining of discomfort," says Lederman. "We are fortunate here in America to have government programs like the NHS program, so if your child needs dental care and you are uninsured or cannot afford it, I absolutely encourage you to look into Medicaid programs in your community."

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Is It OK to Brush Teeth in the Shower?

 

You may or may not remember a very interesting interview with actress Jennifer Aniston that was published back in 2008, in which the actress claimed to be eco-friendly because she limited her showers to three minutes and during that time also brushed her teeth. That’s right. She brushes her teeth in the shower. For some of us, that admission came as a total shock - not because an actress would want to conserve water, but that someone would actually brush their teeth while they were showering. But for others, this admission was not remotely surprising, as this is common practice for some people.here aren’t any data on just how many people brush while showering, but there are enough of them out there that it has become somewhat of a subject of debate between dentists and patients over the years.

When it comes to brushing your teeth in the shower, there are a few questions we need to ask ourselves when trying to determine if this is a good idea or not. First of all, why are you brushing your teeth in the shower? If you are doing so like Aniston to save water, this is not a good idea. Why? Because if you are in the shower, you are using a lot more water than you would if you brushed at the sink. Unless you're doing other tasks - like shampooing or scrubbing your back - at the same time, you're not really doing much good. And if you are standing directly under the water, you may be getting some of it in your mouth as you brush, causing your toothpaste to dilute or run down your face.

Bottom line: If you want to save water, take your shower as quickly as you can, and brush your teeth before or after with the faucet off while you brush.

Another reason people brush in the shower is to save time, or to multi-task. This is a good idea in theory, but it can have its drawbacks, too. First of all, where are you storing your toothbrush when you’re done? Is it staying in the shower? Do you share the shower with another person? If you have a hook in the shower for your brush, can you be 100 percent sure it's not getting sprayed with soap or oils from someone else when you’re not using it?

Furthermore, how clean is your shower? Do you regularly scrub the tiles for mold, mildew, hard water scale and soap scum? Leaving your brush in a space that is susceptible to any of those contaminants could mean you’re getting them in your toothbrush, too, and by proxy brushing that onto your teeth. Showers can be a hotbed of all kinds of nasty bacteria - not exactly something you want to be putting into your mouth. For this reason, if you truly must brush your teeth in the shower, it is highly recommended that your toothbrush be stored outside of the shower when not in use.

Another question you have to ask yourself about shower brushing is: Where does all that foam go when you’re done brushing? Do you spit out your toothpaste onto the floor of your shower? Do you step out of the shower to spit it into the sink? Many people would argue that the idea of stepping in their own used toothpaste during the shower is not a pleasant one.

Finally, there’s one more reason that brushing in the shower isn’t the best idea. Accuracy. Yes, you’ve probably been brushing your teeth for longer than you’ve been showering, so chances are you know what you’re doing by now. But how can you be sure you’ve gotten all the plaque and debris from your teeth if you’re not brushing in front of a mirror? It makes more sense to brush at your sink, so you can see exactly what you’re doing and make sure you’re not missing any particles that are on your teeth. Furthermore, you still need to floss, which is very difficult to do without a mirror. If you’re going to floss in the mirror, shouldn’t you just brush there too?

Ultimately, it's up to you when and where you brush your teeth, but brushing in the shower is definitely not recommended. The time it may save is negligible, and the water it may save is debatable. If you’re short on time or worried about your water consumption, set your alarm a few minutes earlier in the morning so you don’t have to rush, and make sure you and your family are shutting the faucet off while they are brushing in the sink. These little changes can make as big of, if not a bigger, impact than shower brushing, and they’re a lot better for you, too.

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