Bluffdale Dental

ORAL CANCER           Oral cancer kills one American every hour of every day, according to the National Cancer Institute. The death is higher than many better known cancers such as melanoma. Only 50 percent of those diagnosed with oral cancer will survive more than five years. Early detection of oral cancer offers the best chance of survival, yet only one-third of oral cavity cancer is found in the earliest stages when treatment is most effective. Men and women are both at risk. In the 1950s, men older than 40 were six times more likely to be diagnosed with the disease than women. By 1997, this male-to-female ratio was 2 to 1. One-third of oral cancer now occurs in patients younger than 55. One in seven people newly diagnosed with oral cancer were younger than 40, according to recent Johns Hopkins studies published in The New England Journal of Medicine. 25 percent of this group had no traditional risk factors. Strong ...

        Dental Facts & Myths   * Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the human body; however, we do NOT recommend that you use your pearly whites to open bottles! * The plaque found on your teeth is home to more than 300 different species of bacteria. Listerine, anyone? * The average person spends about 48 seconds per day brushing their teeth, but dentists recommend at least 2 or 3 minutes. * 6 is the magic number–magic number of feet away from your toilet you should store your toothbrush in order to avoid airborne particles from toilet flushing making their way to your bristles, yuck! * In 1994, a West Virginia prison inmate braided dental floss into a rope, scaled the wall, and escaped! We suggest that you use it to clean the 35% of your teeth’s surfaces that you are missing when only brushing, rather than to escape from any prisons (better yet, just don’t go to prison, ok?)   * The common practice of placing a cap on y...

                What Causes Baby Bottle Tooth Decay? And How To Prevent It! Even though they are temporary, your child's baby teeth are important, and are still susceptible to cavities. Tooth decay in infants and toddlers is often referred to as Baby Bottle Tooth Decay, or Early Childhood Caries. Children need strong, healthy teeth to chew their food, speak and have a good-looking smile. Their first teeth also help make sure their adult teeth come in correctly. It’s important to start infants off with good oral care to help protect their teeth for decades to come. What Causes Baby Bottle Tooth Decay? Baby Bottle Tooth Decay most often occurs in the upper front teeth, but other teeth may also be affected. There are many factors which can cause tooth decay. One common cause is the frequent, prolonged exposure of the baby’s teeth to drinks that contain sugar. Tooth decay can occur when the baby is...

                  IS IT SAFE TO GET DENTAL WORK DONE DURING PREGNANCY?  Pregnant woman don’t need to have any qualms about undergoing a dental procedure that requires anesthesia, according to a new study. The Journal of the American Dental Association study showed no evidence that dental treatment with anesthesia causes harm during pregnancy. Despite this finding, many women don’t visit the dentist when they’re pregnant. The research team analyzed the pregnancy outcomes for a group of women exposed to dental treatment with anesthetics and a control group that did not have any treatment. The study showed that exposure to dental care and local anesthetics during pregnancy did not cause an increased risk for medical problems in newborns. Some of the problems they looked for were cerebral palsy, cleft lip and heart defects. This study also explored the rates of miscarriages, premature deliverie...

Soda and fruit juice are 'biggest culprits in dental erosion'     Soft drinks are the most significant factor in severity of dental erosion, according to a new study published in the Journal of Public Health Dentistry . The most severe cases of dental erosion in the study were among people who regularly drank sugary soft drinks and fruit juices. Dental erosion is when enamel - the hard, protective coating of the tooth - is worn away by exposure to acid. The erosion of the enamel can result in pain - particularly when consuming hot or cold food - as it leaves the sensitive dentine area of the tooth exposed. The enamel on the tooth becomes softer and loses mineral content when we eat or drink anything acidic. However, this acidity is cancelled out by saliva, which slowly restores the natural balance within the mouth. But if the mouth is not given enough time to repair itself - because these acid attacks are happening too often - the surface of the teeth is ...

        Is Your Dentist Ripping You Off?   A person near and dear to me came home from the dentist with an ugly diagnosis. He has two cracked crowns and needs replacements. I'm not sure what's more painful -- what's been going on in his mouth or the bite out of the family finances. Cost of the crowns: $1,395 apiece. Cost of foundation fillings, or "cores" to put the crowns on: $326 apiece. Total bill, if you're scoring at home: $3,442. His dentist sold him membership into an office savings plan for $319 for the year. So that saves him 20% on all dental procedures and gives him two free cleanings. Knock off 20% (but add back in the $319) and we're down to $3072.60 on this bit of drilling. When I look at this bill, I wonder why I obsess about the weekly price fluctuations of Cheerios or the shrinking size of a can of tuna. All the economical choices a family makes in a year can be wiped out by a trip to the dentist. No wonder ...

Dental amalgam or resin composite fillings?  Thanks to technological advances, dentists and patients today have several choices when it comes to selecting materials to fill cavities. Among the choices are natural tooth-colored materials such as resin-based composite fillings and more traditional dental fillings such as those made of metal amalgam. The advent of new materials for fillings has been beneficial, especially in terms of aesthetics, but does not eliminate the appropriateness of traditional dental materials that are stronger, more durable and less expensive. These materials are best in situations where restored teeth must withstand extreme forces that result from chewing, such as in the back of the mouth. What is dental amalgam? Most people recognize dental amalgams as silver fillings. Dental amalgam is a mixture of mercury, silver, tin and copper. Mercury, which makes up about 50 percent of the compound, is necessary to bind the metals together to provide a strong,...