dental health news stories on Newser

In Florida, Get Limo Rides, Botox, Booze at ... Dentist

Dustin Lushing — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 14:59:05 CDT

Who said going to the dentist had to be boring and/or terrifying? A dental office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has turned getting your teeth inspected into a luxurious event, complete with champagne, massages, and a personal concierge who will make you limo and dinner reservations, reports the Sun Sentinel . Dr....

More People Going to ER for ... Toothaches

Dustin Lushing — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 17:41:37 CST

More and more people are showing up to the emergency room to deal with teeth problems. According to a new report, more than 800,000 people in 2009 alone bolted straight to the ER with dental troubles such as toothaches that could have been avoided with proper care. Part of...

Cavities Are Contagious

Matt Cantor — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 14:53:00 CDT

Candy and cookies aren’t the only cavity culprits: tooth decay can actually be contagious, scientists have found. That’s because cavities result from bacteria hanging around in your mouth—and these germs can be passed from person to person, the New York Times reports. It’s a noted problem in young children;...

Cracked Tooth Delays Lil Wayne's Jail Start

Nick McMaster — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:08:59 CST

Lil Wayne will wait until March 2 to begin serving his one-year term for a weapons charge. The rapper won a postponement today so he could have dental surgery on Friday. The prosecution agreed that Wayne, who has a cracked tooth, would get better care from his own dentist than...

White Wine Hurts the Choppers

Rob Quinn — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 05:07:32 CDT

White wine is a lot worse for teeth than red, according to German researchers who studied human teeth soaked in various kinds of wine. The acid content of white wines like Reisling destroys enamel much faster than reds like Rioja, say the researchers. They recommend white wine fans drink while...

Dentist Dropoff Leaves a Cavity

Harry Kimball — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:06:00 CDT

The number of dentists graduating from dental school is plummeting just as the first generation of Americans with their full set of real teeth hit their golden years. And those graduates are much more likely now than in the past to be specialists in things like orthodontics and oral surgery....

Heart and Gum Disease Linked by Gene: Study

Matt Cantor — Tue, 26 May 2009 15:25:01 CDT

Scientists have identified a link between gum disease and heart disease, the BBC reports, finding the same genetic variation in a group of patients with heart disease and a group with severe periodontitis. “Now we know for sure that there is a strong genetic link, patients with periodontitis should try...

Lab-Grown Teeth Could Kill Need for Fillings

Matt Cantor — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:14:01 CST

Scientists have identified a gene that grows tooth enamel and could be the missing link needed to grow teeth in labs—perhaps rendering fillings and dentures obsolete, the BBC reports. Researchers had already figured out how to grow the insides of animal teeth, but not enamel, which can’t grow back...

Preschool Kids Get Socked In the Mouth

M. Morris — Tue, 01 May 2007 11:00:00 CDT

Young children are developing more cavities in their baby teeth than kids were a decade ago, the CDC reported yesterday, a worrisome development that reverses a 40-year trend. Preschool children—"thousands and thousands of kids," in the words of one researcher—were the only age group in which the incidence...