Oral Health & Hygiene 
5 Reasons to Be Thankful for Your Teeth(0)
It’s easy to take things that we use everyday for granted. When was the last time you thought about what your teeth do for you? Whether you think about it or not, your teeth do some pretty amazing things for you that you probably don’t even notice. 5 Reasons to be Thankful for Your Teeth [...]
Full Story»
What’s the Best Mouthwash for Bad Breath?
Did you know that as many as half of all Americans say that they suffer from bad breath? Many people have turned to mouthwash to try to curb their oral odor, but does mouthwash really help fight bad breath? If so, which one is the best? Mouthwash Can Fight Bad Breath Many mouthwashes used to [...]
Eruption Cyst: A Purple Blue Bump on Your Baby’s Gums
Many parents worry when they find that their young child or baby has a bluish purple bump on their gums. This is a fairly common development and is known as an eruption cyst or eruption hematoma. For uniformity throughout the article, I will simply refer to them as eruption cysts. What Are Eruption Cysts? The [...]
16 Dental History Pictures That Will Make You Love Your Dentist
As much as people don’t like the dentist nowadays, things used to be a lot worse! Take a look at the pictures below to see how far dentistry has come in the past few centuries. 16 Dental History Pictures That Will Make You Love Your Dentist A Jolly Man with a “Fixed” Missing Tooth It’s hard [...]
Why Do I Need a Filling? Six Reasons Why Dentists Do Fillings
Many people wonder why their dentist tells them that they need a filling. Although having a cavity is the #1 reason we do fillings, there are also many other reasons that people get fillings. Why You Need a Filling 1 – Cavities Cavities remain the number one reason that dentists give patients fillings. Even so, [...]
Halloween Candy and Your Teeth
I had a fun time trick or treating tonight with my son and daughter. The first thing my daughter wanted to eat when she got back was a bag of pretzels she was given. She eventually moved on to the candy. When I went to brush her teeth before she went to bed, I got [...]
The Tooth Drawer – The Dentist of Years Gone By
Imagine living in a remote village 300 years ago. After suffering with a toothache for weeks, you see an advertisement about a traveling dentist who will be performing in the village square next weekend. You feel relieved, but somewhat nervous. Who were these dentists that traveled around the countryside putting on loud, raucous shows whereever [...]
Dental Patient Rights
I got an email yesterday from a reader named Harris, who stated, “I paid $5000 to replace a broken crown. The dentist did not tell me what the cost would be until he had already started the procedure.” Harris wanted to know what kind of rights he had as a dental patient when you’re not [...]
Dental Antibiotic Premedication: 10 Common Questions
Many dental procedures cause bleeding in the mouth, which can allow the bacteria in the mouth to enter into the person’s bloodstream. Certain people are more susceptible to bacterial infections in their bloodstream than others. In order to prevent bacteria from living in your bloodstream and infecting certain high risk areas of your body, it [...]
Comments and Oral Answers Top 10 Lists
First and foremost, I would like to thank all of those who have left comments on this blog. I read each and every comment and am so grateful for your input and support. I have learned from your experiences and opinions. Also, your comments often help me develop ideas for new posts or explanations. So [...]
Why Dentists Take Dental X-Rays
Many people wonder why it’s so important for their dentist to take x-rays of their teeth. To understand why, let’s take a quick look at what x-rays do. You can think of x-rays as invisible light that passes through your mouth and is projected onto a sensor. As the x-rays pass through your mouth, they [...]
Should You Rinse After Brushing Your Teeth?
Are you supposed to rinse after brushing your teeth? That’s a common question that people have about brushing. At the Maine Dental Association meeting last year, a presenter was talking about the benefits of fluoride and asked his dental audience the following question: “Does anybody here actually rinse out with water after brushing so that [...]
Flossing In Public: Is It OK?
Did you know that about two months ago at a minor league baseball game in Lowell, Massachusetts an obscure dental world record was set? Over 3,000 baseball fans simultaneously flossed. Together. In public. In fact, you can see the happy faces of these world flossing record holders here. Reading this story reminded me of an [...]
Why People Hate the Dentist: My Theory, Part II
Three weeks ago, I wrote about why people hate the dentist. I promised a second installment that includes my other theory as to why people hate the dentist. In order to get the point across, I want to share a story about shopping for a new pillow. Bear with me, I hope it will make [...]
History of the Tooth Fairy
I’ve always found the tooth fairy rather fascinating. Why on earth would anyone in their right mind want to pay people for their discarded body parts? When I cut my fingernails, there’s no fairy out there waiting to swoop right in and pay me for my old nails. Nobody comes and takes away your hair [...]
OA Links: There Are Lots of Good Dentists
Lately, it seems like dentists have been getting a lot of bad press — which in turn casts dentists in a negative light. While there are certainly dentists that are less-than-ideal, I’d like to think that these recent stories are the exception and not the rule! We’ll start with the bad. There’s this dentist from [...]
Radiation from Dental X-Rays: How Much Radiation Do You Get from Dental X-Rays?
In order for dentists to see hidden problems in your jaws and in your teeth, it is necessary to take x-rays. It goes without saying that the more dental x-rays you get, the more radiation exposure your body receives. Extensive exposure to radiation can increase your risk of getting certain types of cancer — this is [...]
No Dental Work Is As Good As Your Natural Teeth
Pretend that you’re in your car driving on a freshly-paved road. Doesn’t it feel nice as your tires effortlessly glide on the smooth, even surface? Flash forward a few years and imagine driving down the same road. Due to the recent bad winters, the road is now lined with potholes that have been repaired. When [...]
Why People Hate the Dentist: My Theory
One of my professors told me that he has often been told, “Hey Doc, it’s nothing personal, but I hate dentists.” This professor also shared that he thinks statements like these just come with the job. I know of another dentist who reacts when his patients tell him that they hate dentists by asking the [...]
Cleaning Your Tongue Can Get Rid of Bad Breath
Before I started dental school, I never used to clean my tongue. I had always heard that it was good to brush and floss, but I thought that cleaning my tongue was overkill. A couple of years ago, I decided to start using a tongue scraper to clean my tongue every night before going to [...]
Which Type of Sports Mouth Guard is Best for Your Child?
Did you know that a recent survey by the American Association of Orthodontics found that “70 percent of parents said their biggest fear is that their child will get hurt while playing organized sports, yet 67 percent admitted that their child does not wear a mouth guard during organized sports including football, basketball, soccer and [...]
What Causes Cavities?
If you’re like most people, you may believe that sugar causes cavities. After all, candy is bad for our teeth, right? Sugar doesn’t cause cavities. In fact, this has been known for over 50 years! In 1954, a man by the name of Frank Orland wanted to see if sugar caused cavities. He conducted a pioneering [...]
How to Reduce Swelling After Wisdom Teeth Extraction
Nobody wants to look like a chipmunk after getting their wisdom teeth out, but when their cheeks get swollen, most people do end up looking like a chipmunk! While some swelling is normal after this procedure, the good news is that you have some control over your swelling. Here are a few simple things that [...]
Tooth Traditions from Around the World: It’s Not Just the Tooth Fairy!
Being the youngest child of seven, I’m not sure I really had a chance to believe in the tooth fairy. By the time I started losing my teeth, I think my parents had gone through this process so many times before that they simply gave me money for my lost tooth and then put my [...]
Dentistry and Prescription Drug Abuse
The United States’ biggest illegal drug problem is marijuana. Can you guess what the second biggest illegal drug problem in the United States is? Prescription painkillers. Did you know that dentists are second only to general practitioners in terms of the volume of pain medications they prescribe? A Story of Dental Drug Seeking Last week [...]
New Anti-Smoking Oral Cancer Warning on Cigarettes
I received my first anti-smoking education when I was in 6th grade in middle school. I remember learning about the different warnings that cigarette companies had to put on every pack of cigarettes. I remember thinking that if I ever manufactured cigarettes, I would use the warning “Cigarette Smoke Contains Carbon Monoxide.” That warning makes [...]
OA Links: Germs, An Eggsperiment, and Fluoride-Free Fairbanks
It’s been a long week, and I’m excited for the weekend! Two more weeks until the end of the semester, then we’re going to go exploring to find a place where we’ll end up after dental school. We’ve been to Maine and Vermont. We’re headed to Maryland in August. 10 more months and I’ll be [...]
What Is a Comprehensive Dental Exam?
Have you ever wondered how thorough your routine dental exams are? A dentist that I shadowed prior to dental school told me that he used to rush through patient exams trying to get as much done as he could. Eventually, he got tired of this because he really wanted to spend more time with his [...]
How to Get Better Teeth: Five Things You Can Do Today
Many people think they’re taking great care of their teeth. They brush and floss, but they still end up having problems. I wrote this post with those people in mind: the ones that want to have better, healthier teeth, but don’t know quite where to start. Even if you know that you’ll end up needing [...]
Preventing Tooth Decay, Acid Erosion
I got the following email from an Oral Answers reader asking about the difference between acid erosion and tooth decay. He writes: “What is the difference between acid erosion and tooth decay? How to I ensure that I minimise both of these. Also which is the best toothpaste to use to prevent this, I have [...]
25 Things That Make You More Likely To Get Cavities
Many people come into the dental school and tell us things like, “I just have bad teeth” and “My parents and grandparents all had soft teeth – and my teeth are soft too, so I get lots of cavities.” While it may be true that some people do have teeth that are more susceptible to [...]
More in this category
- Should You Floss Before or After Brushing Your Teeth?
- Dessert Gum – Chewing Gum for Dessert for Your Teeth
- Antibiotic Premedication: When Your Dentist and Doctor Disagree
- Can Chlorine in Swimming Pools Dissolve or Stain Your Teeth?
- Dental Fluorosis Treatment: How Dental Fluorosis Is Treated
- Top 12 Weapons of Plaque Destruction
- Do You Brush All Sides of Your Teeth?
- Dentist License Verification: Find Public Records Information on Your Dentist
- Do You Make These 10 Mistakes When You Floss?
- Tongue Piercing Procedure: How a Tongue Gets Pierced
- The Functions of Each Tooth In Your Mouth
- Where I Stand on Water Fluoridation
- How Your Teeth Affect The Length and Shape of Your Face
- Toothpaste Ingredients: The 10 Main Ingredients In Toothpaste
- Four New Years Resolutions that Will Improve Your Oral Health
- Tooth Decay: A Serious Disease
- The Risks of Tongue Piercing: 10 Ways It Hurts Your Mouth & Teeth
- Dental Crown Procedure: What is a Dental Crown / Cap?
- Meth Mouth: The Effects of Methamphetamine On Your Teeth
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