ONE OF THE most prominent figures of the magic of childhood is the Tooth Fairy, but depending on where and when you are, the traditions around lost baby teeth are very different from what we have in our culture! Baby Teeth in Medieval Europe Centuries before the Tooth Fairy came along to swap teeth under pillows …
IF YOU’RE SHORT on fun topics of conversation for your next party, might we interest you in some weird mouth trivia? We’re sure you’ll be able to impress your friends. 1. The Bumps on Newly Erupted Adult Teeth Have a Name You might remember what it was like when your adult front teeth came in and …
NEXT TO BRUSHING, the best tool we have for preventing tooth decay and gum disease is daily flossing, which is why it’s important to help our kids develop a flossing habit early on. Here are some great tips for parents with kids who are learning how to floss: 1. Explain what flossing does for their teeth. …
SUGAR GOES BY MANY NAMES and hides where we’d least expect it. Molasses and maltose? Sugar. Corn syrup and sucrose? Sugar. Honey and agave nectar? They’re sugar too! We Consume a Jaw-Dropping Amount of Sugar Sugar in some form is added to 74 percent of packaged foods, and the average American consumes 57 POUNDS of added …
MENTAL HEALTH AND physical health are tied together in ways we don’t always expect. That even extends to the relationship between oral health and stress. Fortunately, there are a lot of tools we can use to protect our smiles from the effects of stress. Stress Could Be Behind a Teeth-Grinding Habit Habitual teeth-grinding and jaw-clenching are …
CANKER SORES MIGHT be small, but they tend to mean days of distracting discomfort. They are shallow ulcers that can develop on the insides of our cheeks or lips, and eating or even talking around them can be difficult. There are a few things that are common triggers of canker sores. The Major Canker Sore Triggers …
NOT MUCH WAS understood in Medieval England about cavities or gum disease, but they did care very much about keeping their breath fresh. They didn’t know about germs, and they believed that bad smells were infectious on their own, including bad breath. The Masters of Masking Dental Problems With Smell How did smell-based dental care work? Mostly …
PARENTS CAN DO a lot to help their child come into the dentist’s office feeling relaxed and positive. (We’ll take things from there.) 1. Start early. As soon as a child has teeth, they can benefit from dental care, and the earlier they see the dentist, the easier it is to build a trusting relationship. 2. …
THERE WON’T BE a pop-quiz later, but we still want our patients to be familiar with the anatomy of their teeth, starting with the crown and going down to the roots. Everything visible above the gums is the crown, which has three layers. Tooth Enamel On the outside is the enamel, the hardest substance in our …
LOSING BABY TEETH is a totally normal part of a child’s development, but what happens if an adult tooth gets knocked out? This counts as a serious dental emergency. If a whole tooth gets knocked out in one piece, there is a limited window (not much longer than an hour) in which the tooth has a …
