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.
Read MoreNo one human trait can stand alone as a benchmark of health and esthetics, but many fields of science have concluded that quickly identifying healthy perspective mates has an evolutionary basis. Indeed, most of us can assess attractiveness only after a few seconds. Age, symmetry, strength, and skin tone imply good genes and a lack of disease. Both sexes prefer physically attractive mates and have preferences for the level of attractiveness sought in a potential partner. Teeth Loom large in our sexual appraisals of each other. In a recent study by the Invisalign company, 94% of respondents noticed the other person's smile upon meeting them for the first time. In addition, 84% thought that an attractive smile is important for considering marriage. Additionally, one-third would not consider matching their friends with someone with crooked teeth. This post will discuss what constitutes a sexually attractive smile, the different preferences between males and females, how to have a naturally sexy smile, and what to do if you don’t think yours is good enough.
Read MoreI am a proponent of using botanicals to help treat numerous conditions. Allicin from garlic and sulforaphane from cruciferous are two great examples of botanicals that are effective in treating a variety of illnesses. Many websites cite them as home cures for dental abscesses. I did a quick search on the web and found 27 home cures for dental infections. I searched PubMed for studies supporting claims that any of the 27 could cure dental infections. The research, sadly, did not support these claims. Today I am going to give a short primer on the three types of dental infections to explain why I was not surprised by the fact that, in most instances, they will have little to no effect.
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