Back in 2007, a research team from Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, MA, were the first to report strong evidence on a link between gum disease and pancreatic cancer. The type of gum inflammation associated with pancreatic cancer in the study was periodontitis, which affects the tissue that support the teeth and can cause loss of bone around the base of the teeth.

The other main kind of gum disease – gingivitis; where the tissue around the teeth becomes inflamed – was not linked to increased cancer risk. However, gingivitis can lead to periodontitis if persistent. The follow-Up study, which involved a cohort of more than 51,000 men and began collecting data in 1986, the Harvard researchers found that men with a history of gum disease had a 64% increased risk of pancreatic cancer compared with men who had never had gum disease.

According to a 2010 study in the Journal of Food Science published by the Institute of Food Technologist (IFT), researchers from the department of Food Science and Technology at The Ohio State University discovered that drinking milk while eating garlic-heavy food can reduce the malodorous breath associated with garlic consumption.

Both fat-free and whole milk lowered the concentration of volatile odor-emitting compounds from garlic in the nose and mouth. Due to its higher fat content, whole milk was found to be more effective. Although drinking milk after eating a garlic-infused meal can still help, the study found that drinking it during the meal will have better results.

New evidence that fluoride also works by impacting the adhesion force of bacteria that stick to the teeth and produce the acid that causes cavities. The experiments – performed on artificial teeth (hydroxyapatite pellets) to enable high-precision analysis techniques — revealed that fluoride reduces the ability of decay-causing bacteria to stick, so that also on teeth, it is easier to wash away the bacteria by saliva, brushing and other activity.

In an advance toward solving a 50-year-old mystery, scientists are reporting new evidence on how the fluoride in drinking water, toothpastes, mouth rinses and other oral-care products prevents tooth decay. Their report appears in the ACS journal Langumir.

Research established long ago that fluoride helps to harden the enamel coating that protects teeth from the acid produced by decay-causing bacteria. Newer studies already found that fluoride penetrates into and hardens a much thinner layer of enamel than previously believed, lending credence to other theories about how fluoride works.

Dentists treating patients with chronic periodontitis, a severe form of gum disease that can lead to tooth loss, are advised to use scaling and root planing (SRP), deep cleaning of the teeth, as initial treatment, according to new guidelines from the American Dental Association (ADA). The guidelines, based on a systematic review and meta-analysis of treatment of periodontitis, were published in the July issue of the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA).

A study is calling on dental teams to alert parents to the oral health risk of sharing spoons with toddlers at mealtimes. It coincides with the latest figures from the Health and Social Care Information Centre that show nearly 26,000 children, aged five to nine, were admitted to hospital in England in 2013-14 with tooth decay. Now dental therapists are warning that children’s oral health must begin at home, with parents and caregivers given a comprehensive education if preventive measures are to be successful.

Education about flossing is important and we need to be clear about the benefits regular dental flossing can have. Alongside dentist visits and brushing twice a day the message of proper cleaning technique needs to be learn and practice by everyone. Cleaning between your teeth is a critical part of good oral hygiene as it helps to prevent gum disease by helping to remove plaque from these areas.

Flossing is a key part of your daily dental care habits that helps you maintain your oral health care. Studies show that in addition to problems inside the mouth, in recent years gum disease has been linked with general health conditions such as diabetes, strokes, cardiovascular disease, poor pregnancy outcomes and even dementia.

Question: My son is one and I do not have dental insurance on him yet. I am planing on taking him to see the dentist in the next few weeks.  I would like to know about how many times does a baby need to go to the dentist a year? I see the dentist once a year for my dental check up and cleaning. Would that be the same for my son?

Answer: Well it is advise that you should see your dentist at least twice a year. That would be the same for a child unless advise by the dentist to come in more or less then twice a year. I would advise buying a low cost dental insurance plan like an HMO to cover for the basic dental needs

Question: My son is thirteen and I was told by his dentist that I should be looking into getting him braces. He has a big over bite that the dentist said I should have fixed. I do have dental insurance though my job but it really does not cover much for braces only $200.00 a year so that is not much at all. I am wanting a dental insurance plan that covers more for the cost of braces that I could buy just for my son. Is there anything like that I could get for him? 

Answer: You may want to review our dental HMO insurance plans that have set cost for braces which you may want to review and see if that way is more affordable for you. Either that or review our dental discount plans that will save you 20 percent off the cost of any type of braces. This should work out to more then just $200.00 and both plan types have no waiting periods for braces.

Question: My wife and I have a one year old daughter and she already has ten teeth some on the top and bottom. We have yet to take her to see the dentist though she is listed on our family dental insurance plan. When should we take our daughter to see a dentist? Do we wait until all her baby teeth come in?

Answer: It is advise that a baby should see a dentist by their first birth day or when they cut their first tooth whichever comes first. Since you already have dental insurance on your daughter why not take her in as soon as possible since she has cut more then just a few teeth already.

Question: I am self employed, and do not have dental insurance currently. I am wondering if a buying a family dental plan is really worth it or not.  I have two teeth that are starting to bother me and would like to see a dentist.  My wife and son are okay, but I would like for them to go in for a dental check up. The few dental discount plans I have reviewed do not seem like they are really saving you money when a crown still can cost up to $300–$400 that does not seem like a big saving to me. I have looked at a few dental insurance plans as well, but with the waiting periods and cost of those plans being much higher, they too do not seem like I would be saving anything by buying them. So what should I be looking for to help me with my dental cost?

Answer: On average the cost of crowns can run $500-$800 without insurance so I would say that the discount plans are saving you between $100-$300 dollars on a crown based on your post. When you take into account that our dental discount plans run between $7.95-$9.95 a month for an individual that savings seems pretty good. I suggest calling a few dentist for crown rates without insurance so you can compare if the savings are truly there for you.

Depending on what state you are in we may so have dental HMO insurance plans. Our HMO insurance plans do not have waiting periods for their dental services to be covered and will normally have lower cost for their covered services then the dental plans do. So you may want to compare these plans as well. With regards to our Dental PPO and Indemnity plans, I would agree that they may not be the best way for you to go due to the waiting periods. In this case for crowns waiting period can be up to a year or more.

In a prior post we talked about how not all younger children can go to a general or family dentist and when buying a dental insurance plan you want to make sure it provides coverage’s for Pediatric dentist. PPO plans may be the best choice for this. As they have a broader range of in network providers and in most cases provide benefits for out side network providers.

This is helpful when having to go to a Pediatric dentist. However, PPO plans are not a plan type you buy for short term use as they normally come with waiting periods. Therefore you want to buy a PPO plan in order to be prepared for your babies future dental care needs. Read plan terms and conditions carefully before buying any dental insurance so you will be able to pick the best plan for you and your family.

Question: My 13 year old needs to have braces. I been told this by our family dentist. Right now I been paying cash for our family dental care needs since all we normally have going on is our twice a year check ups and cleaning’s. If I get dental insurance will it help to cover braces?

Answer: We do provide many plan options for orthodontic services. I would suggest reviewing either our HMO dental insurance plans and or our dental discount plan for saving on braces. We do have some PPO plans that provide limited benefits for orthodontic services but they would have a year waiting period before benefits would be effective for braces.

When buying a dental insurance plan, many insurance plans do provide some limited benefits/coverage for orthodontics services. However it is important to read the plans terms and conditions with regards to orthodontics coverage’s. Some may only cover orthodontics services for children under the age of 19 where as others have restrictive maximum limitations per year and life time pay out.

When reviewing dental HMO’s plans, one important part of having the plan work the best for you is having a dentist within the plan network you will want to go to. HMO’s dental insurance plan do not provide any benefits/coverage’s for dental offices that are not a provider of the plan. There for choosing a plan provider is very important.

I suggest when choosing an in-network provider of an HMO insurance plan make sure to call the dental office up prior to buying the plan. Verify that they are still accepting the plan and new members. Confirm anything that may be important to you in picking a plan provider. Such as business hours, how far booked up they may be, location, years in practice, that they are doing the type of dental care services you may feel you need and anything else that would be important to you.

When buying a PPO plan using the plan network of providers is normally going to provide you greater value. Although most PPO plans do provide benefits for outside net work dentist (dentist not a provider of the plan) they will in some cases reduce the coverages provided under the plan for non provider use. Such as maybe the plan pays 100 percent for preventive care with plan providers but only pays 80 percent when you choose a dentist not in the plan network of providers.

Even if the PPO plan you are reviewing dose not reduce their benefits for out of network dental providers, you still run a risk of having a greater chance of UCR(Usual, Customary and Reasonable) fees. Since inside network providers have mostly agree to reduce their cost to stay within the plan UCR rates and non provider have made no such concession.

Did you know even if you are the type of person that is lucky enough to never have any large dental care needs, having dental insurance will still save you money? That right. Most dental insurance plans provide preventive dental services such as your twice a year checks, cleaning’s and X-rays for free to very little cost.

When you take into account that low cost plans such as HMO’s run around $8.00 – $20.00 dollars a month for individuals (and not that much more for families.) Your saving for preventive services alone for the year can be up to a couple hundred dollars. If you do not currently have dental insurance now is a good time to think about buying some and saving money off your dental care needs.

Regardless of how good your dental insurance plan may be, it only really benefits you if you use it. Do not wait to use your dental insurance until you have dental pain and or other issues. Most dental insurance plan provide free to low cost preventive dental care services.

They do this in order to help prevent you from having larger dental care needs in the future. Yet many people still but off their route office visit and check ups. This dose not only increase your risk of having to have larger dental care services in the future but do to delay dental care it can cost your more money in the long run.

With the increasing cost of dental services, having dental insurance is key in keeping your dental care cost more affordable. Depending on the type of dental services you need or dental provider you may wish to go to can effect the type of dental insurance and or plan that will work the best for your needs.

Each type of dental insurance and plans have their pro and cons therefore it is important to read though them carefully so that you chose not only the most affordable plan, but the plan that will best work for your dental care needs.

An abscessed is a painful infection at the root of the tooth or sometimes it is in between the gum and the tooth. You can get an abscessed tooth due to untreated tooth decay. However you can also get an abscessed if you have trauma to your tooth, such as braking or chipping your tooth, or if you have gum disease or gingivitis. If you think you have a abscessed tooth it is very important that you see your dentist right away. The abscessed or an infection may spread from the tooth root to the bone causing a much large oral health issue.