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It’s October! You know what…Halloween is coming.

It will be exciting to showcase again the customized scary vampire teeth that I did for a friend last October.

Upper left: lip closed with or without halloween teeth
Upper right: pre-op (not wearing vampire teeth)
Lower left: post-op (wearing removable vampire fangs with teeth biting down)
Lower right: Mouth open wide. Great results and tooth color. Shade matched well. Esthetic not compromised. Perfect fit to the adjacent natural teeth. Able to bite down and open the mouth without impinging/damaging/piercing the lip, gum, or surrounding soft tissue. Well fit along the gum line. Able to speak normally without worrying about custom-made fake fangs falling out. Lips are properly supported and not bulky. No adhesive is used to achieve retention. Just pop the fangs in by yourself and they are secured in placed.
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Cranberries may help prevent tooth decay and cavities, research suggests. Scientists have found a compound in the fruit can stop bacteria from clinging to the teeth, blocking the formation of damaging plaque deposits.

However, researcher Dr Hyuan Koo warned many cranberry-containing products were loaded with sugar and consuming large amounts could lead to tooth decay.

… … …

Cranberries can be enjoyed, they should be limited to mealtimes only to avoid potential problems

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Dr Koo said people should not eat or drink excessive amounts of cranberry-containing products in an attempt to improve their dental health.

He said many cranberry products contained large amounts of sugar, which is the leading cause of tooth decay.

In addition, the fruit contains a natural acid that can strip away essential minerals in the teeth.

… … …

He said: “Scientists believe that one of the main ways that cranberries prevent urinary tract infections is by inhibiting the adherence of pathogens on the surface of the bladder.

“Perhaps the same is true in the mouth, where bacteria use adhesion molecules to hold onto teeth.”

Dr Nigel Carter, chief executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, said: “Cranberries are naturally very acidic, while manufacturers also tend to add sugar to cranberry products.

“Every time you eat or drink something acidic the enamel on your teeth is softened temporarily.

“If given time to recover, then your saliva will neutralise this acidity in your mouth and restore it to its natural balance.

“However, if this attack happens too often the mouth does not have the chance to repair itself and tiny particles of enamel can be brushed away. This is called erosion.

Source: bbc.co.uk

Cranberry, anyone? Good stuff.

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Cooking vegetables in different ways could cut down on tooth decay, scientists have claimed.
Certain methods of cooking them can make vegetables as acidic as fizzy drinks, according to a new study.

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They found that, compared with stewing, oven-roasting significantly increased the acidity of vegetables such as green peppers, aubergines and courgettes.

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Dr Chadwick said: “The acidity of ratatouille prepared by oven-roasting is the same as that of some carbonated drinks that, when consumed in excess, are believed to contribute to the development of dental erosion.”

The research, published in the European Journal of Prosthodontics and Restorative Dentistry, came following claims that vegetarians are at higher risk of dental erosion because of the large quantity of naturally acidic fruit and vegetables they eat.

The researchers also found the cooking method had no impact on the acidity of tomatoes or onions, but roasting resulted in more acidic aubergines, green peppers and courgettes.

Red peppers, they also discovered, were more acidic when stewed.

Source: bbc.co.uk

Something good to know! Next time, avoid roasting veggies, in addition to drinking phosphoric acid-containing pops.

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Silver-coloured dental fillings containing mercury, a neurotoxin, do not appear to cause brain damage in children, two studies suggest.

Dentists have used amalgam fillings containing 50 per cent mercury by weight for more than a century.

The silver amalgam contains mercury, silver, tin, copper and zinc.

Use of amalgam fillings has dropped off after mercury-free white composite resin fillings came on the market.

More sophisticated testing developed over the years can now detect lower levels of mercury, raising concerns about health effects from continuous exposure to mercury vapours from fillings.

One research team in the U.S. and another in Portugal compared the neurological effects of giving children amalgam fillings versus composite ones.

Dr. Sonja McKinlay of the New England Research Institutes in Boston looked for changes in intelligence, memory and other mental functions, as well as kidney function, in 534 New England children ages 6 to 10.

The youngsters all had untreated decay in their permanent back teeth, and none had previously received amalgam fillings. Half received each type of filling, and they were followed up for about five years.

“In this study, there were no statistically significant differences in adverse neuropsychological or renal [kidney] effects observed over the five-year period in children whose caries [cavities] were restored using dental amalgam or composite materials,” the study concluded.

The Portugese team found similar results after conducting tests of memory and attention in 507 children aged eight to 10, who were followed for seven years.

“These findings … suggest that amalgam should remain a viable clinical option in dental-restorative treatment.”

Source: cbc.ca

Something good to know.

Recent Research Publication about safety & toxicity of dental amalgam restoration:

Neuropsychological and Renal Effects of Dental Amalgam in Children (A Randomized Clinical Trial)
David C. Bellinger, PhD, MSc; Felicia Trachtenberg, PhD; Lars Barregard, MD, PhD; Mary Tavares, DMD, MPH; Elsa Cernichiari, MS; David Daniel, PhD; Sonja McKinlay, PhD
JAMA. 2006;295:1775-1783.

Neurobehavioral Effects of Dental Amalgam in Children (A Randomized Clinical Trial)
Timothy A. DeRouen, PhD; Michael D. Martin, DMD, PhD; Brian G. Leroux, PhD; Brenda D. Townes, PhD; James S. Woods, PhD, MPH; Jorge Leitão, MD, MS; Alexandre Castro-Caldas, MD, PhD; Henrique Luis, MS; Mario Bernardo, DMD, PhD; Gail Rosenbaum, MS; Isabel P. Martins, MD, PhD
JAMA. 2006;295:1784-1792.

Mercury in Dental Amalgam—A Neurotoxic Risk?
Herbert L. Needleman, MD
JAMA. 2006;295:1835-1836.

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Ancient man used sophisticated drills to treat tooth decay, according to a French anthropologist who turned up evidence of fine dental work in ancient Pakistani cemeteries.

Writing in the respected British journal Nature, Roberto Macchiarelli of the University of Poitiers said Neolithic man used drills made of tiny pieces of flint up to 9,000 years ago.

The hole has been enlarged by another tool and shows smoothing, indicating it was drilled well before the death of the individual.

That means dentistry is at least 4,000 years older than first thought and far older than modern anesthesia.

Macchiarelli came to his conclusion after finding nearly perfect holes that had been drilled into the back teeth of nine skulls in a Pakistani graveyard. He carbon-dated the skulls and found the patients lived between 5500 BC and 7000 BC.

What surprised Macchiarelli was the sophistication of the dental work. The ancient dentists managed to drill holes into the large molars at the back of their patients’ mouths, a tricky job even with modern equipment.

Some holes were 3.5 millimetres deep.

“The holes were so perfect, so nice,” said David Frayer, an anthropology professor at the University of Kansas who co-authored the study. “I showed the pictures to my dentist and he thought they were amazing holes.”

Source: cbc.ca

Drilling holes 3.5mm depth. Impressive. If they can show the drilling tools, that will be awesome.

I think the tooth is a mandibular molar. There is a tiny hole prepared on buccal pit and another on distolingual cusp—the latter is almost like a Class VI restoration. Very nice.

The outline form of the cavity prep shown in the picture is amazing. Corners are rounded. Few places have sharp edges. It looks like there is medication or some sort placed in the center of the molar for pulpal protection. The prep doesn’t follow the pit & fissure, though. Rather, it is drilled directly under cusp tips, which is a no-no in nowadays dentistry, because you risk in pulpal exposure. There is sufficient enamel all the way round the prep to ensure the integrity of the tooth after the prep, lest tooth chipping occurs.

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