Whenever talk turns to concerns about fluoride, the conversation usually centers on toxicity. That’s as it should be. Whenever any substance is to be put into the human body, questions about safety matter. Yet toxicity isn’t the only way a material can affect the...
A recent column in the Washington Post pulled zero punches about why its author believes that obesity in the US isn’t just about “junk food”: The reason people don't buy vegetables is usually not because they can't afford them (although, of course, that does happen)....
You walk past a cooler or a row of shelves. It’s hard to miss how much has changed. Bright labels. Clean design. Ingredient lists that read like a wellness checklist: electrolytes, adaptogens, probiotics. Each can or bottle promises a little something extra and good...
Your child wakes up in the middle of the night with severe tooth pain. The kind that makes it impossible to sleep, impossible to ignore. At that point, many families do what they have to do: They go to the emergency room. According to a recent CBS News report, the...
Plaque is usually framed as something you need to get rid of - PRONTO. Brush it away. Floss it out. Keep it from building up. But plaque isn’t just fuzzy, sticky gunk on your teeth. It’s a living biofilm - a live bacterial community - and how that biofilm behaves...
The usual story of gum disease is a pretty basic one. Straightforward. Harmful bacteria colonize under the gums. Inflammation follows. Tissues break down. Gums recede. Bone is lost. Teeth loosen in their sockets. Some may eventually be lost. The usual story of...
There’s a concept in medicine called “iatrogenesis.” It’s the idea that medical interventions, even beneficial ones, can create unintended consequences. It’s not about whether a treatment works or is worth doing. It’s just acknowledging that when you work on one...
If your Thanksgiving plans involve cracking eggs for pie, say, or bread pudding, you probably won’t think twice about just chucking the shells into your compost or trash can. But eggshells, being made mostly of calcium, can actually play a role in dental health - at...
We recently read about some interesting new research out of NYU, meant to solve a problem with a compound called silver diamine fluoride, or SDF for short. Used by conventional dentists, SDF can be painted onto teeth to reduce sensitivity and keep decay from...
For centuries, humans have found all kinds of practical uses for mercury, often without really understanding - or sometimes ignoring - its risks. In the Victorian era, mercury-based pigments created brilliant red colors for book covers and illustrations. But as people...
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