Warfarin

Warfarin

Generic Name: warfarin (WAR far in)

Brand Names: Coumadin, Jantoven

What is warfarin?

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Warfarin is an anticoagulant (blood thinner). Warfarin reduces the formation of blood clots by blocking the formation of certain clotting factors.

Warfarin is used to prevent heart attacks, strokes, and blood clots in veins and arteries.

Warfarin may also be used for purposes other than those listed in this medication guide.

Important information about warfarin

Warfarin can harm an unborn baby or cause birth defects. Do not use warfarin if you are pregnant or may become pregnant. Never take a double dose of this medication or take it together with other products that contain warfarin or coumarin. You should not take warfarin if you have a bleeding or blood cell disorder, blood in your urine or stools, an infection of the lining of your heart, stomach bleeding, bleeding in the brain, recent or upcoming surgery, or if you need a spinal tap or spinal anesthesia (epidural).

Americans Get Failing Grade On Oral Health Knowledge

The American Dental Association, in collaboration with Crest and Oral-B recently revealed findings from a national public opinion survey on oral health care. If you go to nobody's surprise that Americans labor under many misconceptions, and they do so at the risk of their own and their children's health.

Here is a sneak peek at the key findings of the national survey:

1. While eight of 10 Americans say taking care of one's mouth, teeth and gums is "absolutely needed," only one-third of them say they do an "excellent" job taking care of them.

2. One parent in four says his or her kids do only a "fair" or "poor" job taking care of their own mouth, teeth and gums.

Piercing Your Tongue Can Cause Gapped Teeth

Dental News

The Journal of Clinical Orthodontics has published a case study involving a 26-year-old woman who needed braces -costing thousands of dollars- to correct a gap in her teeth caused by a tongue piercing she received 7 years early.

The case study is considered to be common among those with metal studs inserted into their tongues according to dental researchers at the University of Buffalo which collected photos from the patient that showed she had no diastema, or space, between her upper central incisors prior to receiving the tongue piercing.

A previous survey by the university's dental school found that tongue piercings caused high school students in Buffalo to pick up this habit, which the students called "playing."

Musical Toothbrushes? Are You "Kid"ding Me

Dental News

The San Diego-based company Plackers has introduced the first line of musical toothbrushes aimed at getting kids to brush their teeth more by making the experience both fun and educational.

Called Brush & Learn, these new types of toothbrushes utilize original melodies and upbeat, catchy lyrics, each toothbrush plays an entertaining, educational song that encourages healthy dental care habits by making brushing fun for children. Parents can choose from four Brush & Learn toothbrushes with songs that help teach children their ABCs, 123s, farm animal sounds, as well as proper teeth brushing techniques for children.

Texans To Get Free Dental Services

DENTAL NEWS: Thousands of South Texans are expected to receive free medical and dental services this week during Operation Lone Star. Currently in its eleventh year, Operation Lone Star is a free medical and dental treatment program offered by the military along with state and county officials. The two-week event expanded to include more cities this year after providing health care to more than 11,000 South Texans last year. Laredo, Rio Grande City, Hebbronville and Zapata will host the event this week.

DENTAL VIEWS: Like most free dental care events, it's a good idea to show up early so you won't be shut out from receiving services. Is not uncommon --in fact, it's usually the case-- that there are so many people seeking these services that many are turned away. Forewarned is forearmed.

Halloween Tips For Health-Conscience Parents

Halloween tricks may scare you and the kids, but the holiday's treats can cause their fair share of trouble as well. The sugar in those Halloween goodies can fuel caries, the disease that causes tooth decay and cavities, says Julie Jenks, a pediatric dentist and assistant professor with the USC School of Dentistry. "When sugar sticks to teeth, the caries bacteria eat it and produce acid, which can wear away the teeth," she says. "It's important to limit the amount of time that the acid spends on teeth."

Did you know that not all candy is created alike when it comes to causing cavities? Sticky candies stay in between teeth a longer period of time and are not so easily removed by saliva, which means that the longer those sweets stay in your mouth the more prone you are to bacteria converting the sugars into acid and getting tooth decay. Sticky sweets like fruit rolls, gummy bears, Laffy Taffy, Starbursts and hard candy like lollipops, jawbreakers, Sweet Tarts or anything that stays in your mouth for long periods should be avoided.

Having A Baby? See Your Dentist, Advises Doctor

Ready to have a baby? It's time to pencil in a checkup... with your dentist. Oral care is probably not first on the priority list when it comes to planning a pregnancy. But ask a doctor who has helped about 6,500 women bring their new bundles of joy into the world - including his fair share on camera - and he'll tell you that taking care of teeth is key in helping ensure overall health.

High-risk pregnancy specialist Dr. Charles Hux, featured on the television series "A Baby Story," on TLC said if a woman has had dental problems in the past, she definitely should see a dentist prior to the start of pregnancy. "Even if she hasn't had problems with her teeth, it's important to have them checked to ensure there isn't any work that needs to be done, as dental problems and decay can result in high risk of premature labour and delivery," said Dr. Hux.

Fight Plaque With... Gummy Bears?

The tooth-protecting sugar substitute xylitol has been incorporated into gummy bears to produce a sweet snack that may prevent dental problems. Research published in the open access journal BMC Oral Health describes how giving children four of the xylitol bears three times a day during school hours results in a decrease in the Plaque bacteria that cause tooth decay.

Xylitol is a naturally occurring sugar alcohol that is frequently used as a sweetener. It has been shown to reduce levels of the harmful mutans streptococci (MS) bacteria that are known to cause tooth decay. While xylitol chewing gums are available, they are not considered to be suitable for younger children. This research was led by Kiet A. Ly from the University of Washington. He says, "For xylitol to be successfully used in oral health promotion programmes amongst primary-school children, an effective means of delivering xylitol must be identified. Gummy bears would seem to be more ideal than chewing gum."

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.

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.

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.

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.