Dental Disorders & Disease 
Odontogenic Keratocyst: Overview and Treatment(10)
I’ve gotten a few questions about odontogenic keratocysts lately, so I figured it would be good to write an article detailing what we know about them. Before I get started, let me say that in 2005, the World Health Organization actually changed the name of odontogenic keratocyst to keratocystic odontogenic tumor. It had been known as odontogenic [...]
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Congenitally Missing Teeth: Why It Happens and How to Treat It
Most people have thirty two permanent teeth that develop in their mouths. Failure of any these teeth to fully develop is called congenitally missing teeth or, in scientific terms, hypodontia. Congenitally missing teeth is actually one of the most common dental developmental abnormalities, even more common than double teeth and having an extra tooth. In [...]
Extra Tooth: Mesiodens and Other Supernumerary Teeth
Has your child ever come up to you and told you that they have an extra tooth growing out of their upper jaw behind their permanent teeth? It’s probably more likely that you’ve been told that your child has an extra tooth, or supernumerary tooth (we try to make up complicated words!) as dentists like [...]
Oral Cancer and Nutrition: Can Plant-Based Diets Prevent Cancer?
37,000 people are diagnosed with oral or pharyngeal cancer every year. That’s more than 100 people per day. Only an estimated half of those diagnosed with oral or pharyngeal cancer will be alive in five years. Guess how many people die from oral cancer every single day. 24 (Source: American Cancer Foundation.) Guess how many [...]
Tooth Pain and Sinuses: Can A Sinus Infection Cause a Toothache?
This past weekend, my wife told me that she was having the worst toothache of her life. When she came in for her checkup a few months ago, her teeth were in great shape. She told me that the pain was constant and that it got worse when she stood up. I told her that [...]
The Real Cause of Canker Sores
Ben, an Oral Answers reader, recently asked about what really causes canker sores (also known as aphthous ulcers.) He’s heard that sodium lauryl sulfate in toothpaste can cause canker sores, but not everyone who brushes their teeth gets canker sores. To be honest, there isn’t any one thing that can cause canker sores in everyone. [...]
Six Main Causes of Xerostomia or Dry Mouth
Dry mouth, or xerostomia to medical professionals, occurs in 25% of older adults and has even been reported to occur in 10% of adults in their 30′s. Dry mouth is a condition that can have a negative impact on your oral health. It also impacts your ability to eat food and speak, and has been [...]
Tetracycline Tooth Staining: Its Cause, Prevention & Treatment
I want to thank Dr. James R. Donley, DDS for kindly allowing me to use his photos in the article below. When I was a little boy, I remember seeing my brother in the bathroom trying to bleach his teeth. He tried many different formulations of bleaching agents to try to remove the staining on [...]
Hi, I'm Tom. I'm currently a 4th year dental student in the USA. I started this blog to help people take better care of their teeth. You can