Category: Oral Pathology
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Busting Wives Tales: Crushed Aspirin for a Toothache
Aspirin is a Non-Steroirdal Anti-Inflammatory or NSAID, commonly used for everyday aches and pains. Some people are also prescribed this drug to manage the risk of heart attack. So besides taking this over-the-counter drug for cardiovascular reasons, it might make sense to take it for a toothache. For some reason the myth of crushing up…
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What to do Before a Patient Starts Cancer Treatments
This guide can be useful for patients who will be undergoing radiation to the head/neck area, beginning to take myelosuppresive drugs, or going to begin chemotherapy. Step one involves getting the patient in for examination at least a month before treatment begins. Coordination with the Oncologist is helpful here to determine where the proposed radiation…
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Check the Lips!
Importance of Evaluating the Outer Lips for Actinic Keratosis: A.K.A Actinic Cheilosis, Solar Keratosis of the lips, Farmer’s Lip and Sailor’s Lip. Potentially unremarkable lesions with consequences. Have you ever noticed little scaly plaques on someone’s face, neck, top of their head, or lips? Commonly mistaken for chapped lips, Actinic Cheilosis are 1-2 millimeter or…
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Dry Mouth Relief
If you, someone you know, or one of your patients is suffering from dry mouth; here is a list of options for potential relief options to try. This is not an exhaustive list, and if you are suffering from dry mouth you should consult with your dentist or physician to determine underlying conditions. Some of…
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What Are These White Spots On My Child’s Teeth?
Those are white spot lesions! Let’s talk a bit about why they happen and what we can do about them. What Are White Spot Lesions (WSLs)? White spot lesions are simply areas of decalcification of our enamel. Before we have a true cavity (a cavity results from decay entering the inner layer of our tooth,…
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Dental Calculus and National Geographic?
Andrew Curry from National Geographic has published a history article1 from 2019 highlighting the role Dental Calculus is playing in deciphering the mysteries of the histories. Reading through the article we learn that scientists, archaeologists, paleogeneticists, microscopists, and chemists, are studying dental plaque found on teeth from skeletal remains. The Nat Geo article is a…
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Basics Of Obstructive Sleep Apnea
More than just snoring, Obstructive Sleep Apnea has been shown to be associated with several other health issues including heart problems, diabetes, and of course sleep issues/tiredness5. This post was written to describe some of the terms used with OSA A diagnosis from a Medical Doctor is needed for OSA, but dentists can help direct…
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Three Major Plaque Theories for Caries(Cavities)
Dental Caries, also known by the general public as cavities in teeth, is still one of the most common diseases globally. The World Health Organization estimates that 2.3 billion adults and 560 million children are affected by dental caries. The WHO also notes that caries is to a great extent preventable with a diet very…
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Turner Tooth, Not Timmy Turner
This blog page has tried diligently to advocate for oral health and the prevention of dental cavities. This post will reiterate again why good hygiene is important even during the younger years. A Turner Tooth is an enamel defect, a type of hypoplasia, on the outside of the tooth that results from either inflammation(caused by…
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External Root Resorption
Hopefully everyone knows that cavities can destroy tooth structure from the crown down. But there are two different types of tooth resorption that can destroy teeth below the bone level, internal and external resorption. Internal resorption is much more rare and usually occurs after some type of injury to the pulp. External resorption of a…
Teeth & Chiefs 