Posts tagged Flossing
The Six Things We All Need to Know About Oral Health

This post will discuss six dental care basics that your dentist may not be aware of but you should know about. I want to start by saying that if it was just about brushing twice daily, flossing, having two cleanings per year, and adding fluoride, why do so many patients suffer from cavities, gum disease, crooked teeth, no room for wisdom teeth, breathing problems, obesity, high blood pressure, and GERD? This post will explain it all.

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Diet, Functional Medicine, Oral Health, PaleoScott Solomons, DDSDental Care Basics, Dentist, Brushing, Flossing, Fluoride, Dental Cleaning, Amylase, Salivary Amylase, Teeth, Cavities, periodontitis, Gingivitis, Pretzel, Cracker, Bread, Pasta, Processed Carbohydrates, Complex Carbohydrates, PH, Farming, Paleolithic Era, Saliva, Biofilm, Lipopolysaccharide, LPS, systemic inflammation, Inflammation, Chronic Inflammation, Facial Profile, Intermolar Distance, Western Diet, Hard Food, Wisdom Teeth, Breastfeeding, Weaning, Crooked TeethComment
Improving The Foundation for the Practice of Dentistry

When I started out as a dentist, I believed that if people would simply avoid sugar, brush twice daily, floss once a day, come in every six months for their cleaning and check-up, and use fluoride, they would be fine. I was wrong. I had good company; many dentists believe that the problems our patients suffer are their fault. There is much more to understand, and it has been omitted from dental education curriculums, leaving dentists and their patients bewildered. This post will explain why this is so, why it happened, and what we can do to solve the problem. 

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Diet, Functional MedicineScott Solomons, DDSDentistry, Dental School, Sugar, Paleolithic Era, Neolithic, Farming, Agricultural Revolution, Brushing, Flossing, fluoride, Dental Cleaning, Jaw, Jaw Size, Jaw Development, Jaw Growth, Breastfeeding, Tooth Decay, gum disease, Impacted Wisdom Teeth, Crooked TeethComment
Why Use Toothpaste

Brushing twice and flossing once daily is a smart idea if your diet contains processed carbohydrates. Toothpaste always comes along for the ride on our brushes. Did you ever stop and wonder how necessary it is? I have. I say no. I will explain my rationale in this post.

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Diet, Functional Medicine, Oral Health, PaleoScott Solomons, DDSBrushing, Flossing, Processed Carbohydrates, Toothpaste, Toothpick, Toothpowder, Primal Life Organics, Tooth Decay, Agricultural Revolution, Carbohydrates, Sugar, Flour, Starch, fermentable carbohydrate, Acid, Gingivitis, gum disease, Impacted Food, Dr. Levi Spear Parmly, Peabody, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, fluoride, Ancestral Health, Titanium Dioxide, Triclosan, Paraben, Propylene Glycol, Saccharin, Carrageenan, Aspartame, DiethanolamineComment
The Incredible Human Part Five: Toothpick Use

Welcome to part five. The use of toothpicks is uniquely human. The famous dental anthropologist Peter Unger discovered tiny striations in teeth that could not be caused by chewing. He concluded that the marks could only have been caused by the overuse of toothpicks made of hard materials like bone. He also drew a parallel between tool use and the introduction of meat to humans' diets. Ungar said toothpick use is one of the first lines of evidence from the hominid fossil record that shows our genus consuming significant amounts of meat in the ancient past. Tooth picking likely served to remove food, especially meat, but it caused visible damage. To quote him, "Teeth are not well designed for eating meat, so our early ancestors had to use toothpicks." This post will cover the evidence and discuss the proper use of toothpicks.

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Diet, Functional Medicine, General Health, Oral HealthScott Solomons, DDSToothpick, Neanderthal, cavities, Caries, periodontal infection, Broken Hill Skull, Interdental Groove, Interproximal Groove, Toothbrushing, Leakey, Peter Unger, Carnivore Diet, Mary Leakey, Olduvai Gorge, Homo Erectus, Homo Habilis, Homo Neanderthalensis, Cleaner Wrasse, ADA, American Dental Association, Floss, FlossingComment
Dentistry and Longevity: Having fewer Teeth Is Linked To Shorter Lives

After 31 years of practice, I have seen a correlation between my patients with higher numbers of missing teeth and their failing health. Research largely bears my observations out. Today I am going to discuss five papers that give a little more clarity to the subject of dental health as it relates to overall health and mortality.

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Scott Solomons, DDSLongevity, Occlusion, Missing Teeth, cardiovascular disease, Stroke, Plaque, Calculus, Flossing, Brushing, Dental CheckupComment