Have A Dental Related Question? Yahoo!

Have you ever wished that you could ask a question about almost anything and have a bunch of people that you don't know answer your question, even if their answers don't help you one bit?

Then you'll love Yahoo Answers.

I will spare you the boring details about this relatively new community at Yahoo.com where registered participants can both ask questions about any subject as well as answer other people's questions about any subject. The Yahoo Answers subject I choose to participate in is, naturally enough, Dentistry. Once there, I search for unresolved questions dealing with either the cost of dental procedures or about dental coverage in general.

How To Handle Sores On Your Mouth Or Tongue

Do You Have Recurring Sores In You Mouth Or Tip Of Your Tongue That Gets Tender & Sore?

The most common cause of recurrent sores on the tongue is aphthous stomatitis, or canker sores. These sores usually occur one or two at a time, last seven to 10 days, and are quite painful, especially when eating acidic foods. They may recur several times a year or even every month or two. The cause is unknown but they are otherwise harmless and are not clearly associated with any single nutritional deficiency or illness.

There are some research studies suggesting that up to 20 percent of canker sores are due to lack of folic acid, iron or vitamin B12, but other researchers have been unable to confirm this. A general medical evaluation to identify one of these problems should be able to determine whether your tongue sores are related to a nutritional deficiency. In addition, it might be wise to take a multivitamin (as is often recommended routinely, even for people without canker sores).

Alaska's Rural Dental Care Improving

Dental News

Alaska's efforts to deliver quality dental care to its underserved rural population via The Dental Health Aide Therapy program (DHAT) has been so successful that is being heralded as a model for other states according to a study done by RTI International of Research Triangle Park in North Carolina with funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and Alaska's Rasmuson Foundation and Bethel Community Services Foundation.

The study was an independent evaluation of the DHAT program in confirmed that dental therapists at work in five Alaska communities are providing safe, competent, appropriate dental care to children and adults. Based on the Alaska study, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation announced a $16 million initiative back in November to fund similar programs in Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, Vermont and Washington.

Flonase

Flonase

Generic Name: fluticasone nasal (floo TIK a sone)

Brand Names: Flonase, Veramyst

What is Flonase?

Flonase is a nasal spray containing the corticosteriod fluticasone. It prevents the release of substances in the body that cause inflammation.

Flonase is used to treat nasal symptoms such as congestion, sneezing, and runny nose caused by seasonal or year-round allergies.

Flonase may also be used for other purposes not listed in this medication guide.

Important information about Flonase

Before using Flonase, tell your doctor if you are using antifungal medications such as ketoconazole (Nizoral), or HIV medicines such as ritonavir (Norvir, Kaletra).

Tea For Two Is Good For You

Did you know that drinking either black or green tea is good for your teeth? Christine Wu, Ph.D. and associate dean for research at the University of Illinois, has conducted several studies on tea in oral health and her research has found that;

* Plant compounds found in both black and green tea prevent plaque from building up in addition to helping prevent the development of cavities.

* Tea has the potential to reduce bad breath as it inhibits the growth of bacteria that causes the odor.

* Many teas also contain fluoride which helps protect the tooth's enamel from decay.

Well, I guess it's goodbye to Coke and Pepsi for me from now on. Tea is my new drink of choice. If I'm lucky, it will save me at least one trip to the dentist.

Silent Enamel Eating Syndrome Not So Silent

Mysterious Dental Condition On Rise In USA

Cavities or not, your teeth could be in more trouble than you know because of a silent and destructive phenomenon called dental erosion, which is the steady loss of the teeth's protective enamel. The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio has found that the incidence of dental erosion is on the rise in the United States.

A study involving 900 middle school students was conducted in 2004 and 2005 at Indiana University, the University of California at San Francisco and the UT Health Science Center San Antonio discovered a 30 percent prevalence rate of dental erosion among 10- to 14-year-olds in the United States.

Flossing Increases Lifespan

Flossing Makes You Live Longer!

Regular flossing, long considered an essential part of daily dental cleansing, has been found to have a positive effect on your life expectancy, increasing it by up to 6 years.

The primary benefit of flossing is that plaque is removed from the sides of your teeth and gum line, resulting in fewer cavities and preventing you from developing gum disease.

If you have gum disease, you are 1.5-2 times more likely to die from a fatal heart attack and 3 times more likely to suffer from a stroke than someone with healthy gums.

Gum disease can be particularly dangerous to the elderly. Infected gums can contain pneumonia bacteria that can be transferred into the lungs. Furthermore, if bacteria from periodontal disease, a more serious form of gum disease, enters the blood stream, people with artificial joints or heart valves are more likely to suffer from a serious infection.

Dentist Puts Money Where Patients Mouth Is

DENTAL NEWS: Perhaps it's a sign of the economic times, but one California dentist is so concerned over the lack of dental care many senior citizens are receiving that he's putting his money where their mouth is... literally.

Dr. Doug Reams, a dentist in Lucerne, California, is offering a 10-percent senior discount to all seniors in September and October. "We all need to do what we can in today's economic downturn. Lucerne, being a small community, I want to give something back," explained Reams.

Dr. Reams has practiced dentistry in Lucerne for 32 years and recently has become quite concerned over the lack of proper dental care many seniors in his area receiving. "It is sad to see seniors unable to keep up with their dental needs because they live on a fixed income," Reams said. "Proper dental hygiene can aid in the prevention of many medical illnesses, such as Alzheimer's disease, heart problems, joint pain, stroke and a lot more."

Warning: How To Safely Prepare Ground Beef

On the heels of the USDA recall of almost 96000 pounds of beef from Illinois and reproduce or on Friday, it's important to check all hamburger meat before you fire up the grill this Memorial Day weekend. More specifically the US Department of agriculture's Food Inspection and Safety Service is recommending you take the following steps when preparing hamburger meat.

Wash hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds before and after handling raw meat and poultry. Wash cutting boards, dishes and utensils with hot soapy water. Immediately clean spills.

Keep raw meat, fish and poultry away from other food that will not be cooked. Use separate cutting boards for raw meat, poultry and egg products and cooked foods.

Smiles Are The 'Most Attractive' Physical Feature

Today is officially Valentine's Day and what do we find most attractive about our sweetheart(s)? Their smile! A national survey conducted for the American Dental Association, Crest(R) and Oral B(R) finds that Americans say that the smile outranks eyes, hair and the body as the most attractive physical feature.

Yet men and women differ when it comes to caring for their smile (i.e. taking care of their teeth and gums). The nationally representative survey of 1,000 Americans ages 18 and older found 86 percent of women brush their teeth twice or more a day, yet only 66 percent of men do so.

Sadly, all Americans need to do a better job of flossing their teeth. Only half of those surveyed (49 percent) say they floss their teeth once a day or more often. And 1 out of 3 people surveyed think a little blood in the sink after brushing their teeth is normal, yet it's not -- it could signal gum disease or another health problem.

Redheads Fear Dentists More Than Most

Reinforcing earlier research that redheads are more resistant to general and local anesthesia and therefore more sensitive to pain, Dr. Daniel Sessler, professor and chair of the Cleveland Clinic's Outcomes Research, and other researchers interviewed 144 people who were natural redheads and brunets about anxiety, fear of dental pain and whether they avoided dental care. The results were that 85 people with the genetic variant associated with red hair reported significantly more dental care-related anxiety and fear of dental pain than the others. Consequently, they were more than twice as likely to avoid dental care, even after researchers controlled for general trait anxiety and gender differences.

Mouthwash Myth

Contrary to common myth, mouthwash does not wash your mouth and certainly does not help create stronger gums like flossing does. Although many, such as Listerine, do help break down plaque, studies have shown that rinsing with plain tap water can be almost as effective.

Even if you and your kids really hate flossing, your best dental plan is to stick with the tried and true brush and floss combination, supplementing it with mouthwash if recommended by your family dentist.

Save Money With Homemade Mouthwash

Having trouble stomaching the cost of mouthwash? No dental insurance policy or discount dental plan out there will cover such routine daily oral hygiene treatments but, with a little ingenuity, you won't have to pad the wallets of Listerine's stock holders either.

Dental Health = Overall Health. One Insurer Gets It.

DENTAL NEWS: Aetna reports that in 2008, nearly 67,000 of its health insurance members who are considered medically at risk sought dental care they would otherwise not have gotten because of Aetna's DMI (Dental Medical IntegrationSM) program. Aetna's DMI program is offered at no additional charge to all Aetna medical plan members who are identified as "at risk" meaning those with diabetes, heart disease and pregnant women who will not see a dentist in a year or more. Introduced in 2006, Aetna's DMI program now standard issue.

DENTAL VIEWS: The optimist in me says that this DMI program is a win-win situation because it improves the health of chronically ill people without increasing the price they pay for health insurance. The cynic in me says Aetna isn't implementing the DMI program because they want to help people, they're doing it so they can save money in the long run by not having to pay out as much money for treatments of their chronically ill members.