If you are a follower of social media influencers who promote health and beauty trends, you may be aware of the charcoal toothpaste trend that has taken over social media. The black paste has gained popularity with social media influencers as a cool way to whiten and brighten teeth “naturally.” But ever since the first tube hit the marketplace, dentists everywhere have cried foul on this trend. That’s because, according to dentists like Dr. Raul Garcia of Miami, Florida, these so-called natural products don’t always yield the best results. “Just because something claims to be all natural doesn’t mean it’s …
Formerly Incarcerated Americans Struggle With Oral Health
With an estimated 77 million Americans having some sort of criminal record, reintegration into society following incarceration is an important process. But many formerly incarcerated Americans struggle to live a “normal” life following their prison or jail time. Unfortunately, this includes the area of oral health, but until recently, there wasn’t much data to explain this. That’s why researchers Alexander Testa, Ph.D., and Chantal Fahmy, Ph.D., from the department of criminology and justice at the University of Texas at San Antonio wanted to take a closer look at the oral health among the formerly incarcerated population. What they found was …
New Study Links Oral Health to Diabetes
An estimated 34 million Americans have the blood sugar disease diabetes, with nearly 95 percent of those cases thought to be Type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes has many causes, but, according to researchers, one cause could be poor oral hygiene. A research study out of South Korea published in the March 2020 issue of Diabetologia found that patients with gum disease had a 9 percent higher risk of developing diabetes than those without gum disease, and those who were missing more than 15 teeth had a 21 percent higher risk of developing diabetes. So, what’s the connection between diabetes …
Even Nicotine-Free Vaping Fluid Is Bad for Oral Health
Let’s face it: Quitting smoking is hard. After all, if it were easy, everyone who wanted to quit would simply do it. But due to the addictive nature of nicotine, quitting for many is quite a challenge. Thankfully in recent years many products have been introduced to help people stop smoking, like nicotine patches, pills and gums. But one product that was not intended for smoking cessation seems to be helping some swap out one behavior for another. It’s called vaping, or the use of e-cigarettes. Though not intended as a smoking-cessation product, some people have switched to vaping to …
Is a Pediatric Dentist Necesesary?
As parents, we all want to do what’s best for our children, whether that’s feeding them nutritious foods, making sure they have an education or taking care of their teeth. One of the questions we get a lot is, “Do my kids need to see a pediatric dentist?” It’s a great question – after all, they do specialize in the care of children’s teeth. But is it really necessary? Here are some reasons why it may not be. General Dentistry Works A general dentist is trained to care for teeth of all ages and sizes – including children’s. Just because …
