Bad breath, medically called halitosis, can result from poor dental health habits and may be a sign of other health problems. Bad breath can also be made worse by the types of foods you eat and other unhealthy lifestyle habits. How Does What You Eat Affect Breath? Basically, all the food you eat begins to [...]
Baby teeth are important because they allow an infant to eat a good diet, allow for proper jaw growth, give the face its form and appearance, assist in the formation of proper speech, and most important, act as “space savers” for adult teeth. Tooth decay in babies can lead to pain, infection, malnutrition, poor weight [...]
An oral and maxillofacial surgeon or your dentist can remove (extract) a wisdom tooth. The procedure often can be done in the dentist’s or surgeon’s office. You may have the surgery in the hospital, especially if you are having all your wisdom teeth pulled at one time or if you are at high risk for [...]
Gingivitis, commonly called bleeding gums, is often caused by poor dental hygiene. Healthy gums start with regular visits to your dentist, but how you take care of your teeth at home can make all the difference. If you see pink in the sink when you brush your teeth or floss, or you notice that areas [...]
Yellow teeth can detract from your appearance and make you look older than you are. The key to keeping teeth white is to avoid habits that stain and darken them. If that’s not possible, whitening products and procedures can help change your smile from dull to dazzling. We all want a sparkling white smile, but [...]
Only one of the following is true. Do you know which? Eating acidic things like lemons causes cavities. If you have a cavity, you’ll definitely know it. Once you treat a cavity, the tooth decay stops. To separate dental health myth from fact, WebMD talked with Kimberly A. Harms, DDS, an American Dental Association consumer [...]
Plaque. Since childhood, we’ve been trained to resist that dreaded enemy of teeth. Regular brushing and flossing are sure bets for dental health. What else could you be doing — or avoiding — to keep plaque off your knockout smile? “Keeping plaque off your teeth isn’t complicated, but consistency is key,” says Richard Price, DMD, [...]
Prickly Ash An aromatic shrub or small tree native to eastern North America, the prickly ash has prickly stems and feathery leaves. The bark has traditionally been used to treat the circulatory and digestive systems. Powdered bark is used as a poultice for wounds. Precautions and Recommendations • If taken when the stomach is irritable, [...]
Elderberry The small edible fruit of the elder-a plant that can reach twelve feet and grows in damp ground-elderberries are a rich source of vitamin C. The dark purple berries are often used to make wine or preserves and have traditionally been used to treat colic, diarrhea, rheumatism, coughs, and colds. Precautions and Recommendations Prepare [...]
An herb, botanically speaking, is any plant that lacks the woody tissue characteristic of shrubs or trees. More specifically, herbs are plants used medicinally or for their flavor or scent. Herbs with medicinal properties are a useful and effective source of treatment for various disease processes. Many drugs used in Western medical science-called allopathic medicine-have [...]
