When you’re a kid, Halloween usually means only two things: costumes and candy! Lots and lots of candy! So. Much. Candy. It’s not just all the sugar that can be a fright. Many treats also come packed with artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, and other...
It’s hard to overemphasize just how much the food you eat affects oral health. A diet that’s 1) centered on whole food with lots of fresh produce, lean meats and fish, and healthy fats, and 2) low added sugars and refined grains (think white bread, pasta, cookies -...
Not news: Sugar contributes to tooth decay. After all, sugar is the favorite food of harmful bacteria and other microbes that live in your mouth. And it’s not just the white crystal stuff you may be envisioning, but all foods that are digested as sugar, such as...
By Michael G. Rehme, DDS, NMD, CCN During a patient's first visit to our office and at their hygiene appointments, we always use pH test paper to test the saliva. This very simple test provides us with valuable information. It helps us evaluate both an individual's...
By Michael G. Rehme, DDS, NMD, CCN A recent dental journal article I read described, at length, the oral/systemic connection, i.e. the influence the teeth and gums have on the whole body (the "system") and vice-versa. It referred to the overwhelming attention this...
Most dentists will tell you that when it comes to candy, plain chocolate is the best choice. It doesn’t get stuck between your teeth and along the gum line like chewy sweets can. It doesn’t expose your teeth to sugar for as long as hard candies do, nor is it acidic...
One of the challenges of gum disease is that it’s so easy to ignore - at least in its early stages. Then gingivitis (early gum disease) evolves into periodontitis (advanced gum disease) and the gradual destruction of tissues that support your teeth, including bone....
Healthy eating is simple. Michael Pollan put it most famously: “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” Healthy eating can also be hard - at least if it involves pivoting from the standard American diet to real food. After all, the ultra-processed products that...
Halloween can be a pretty scary time, especially if you have kids at home. It has nothing to do with terrifying clown masks, fake blood, or even the thorny question of how-old-is-too-old to trick-or-treat. Nope. It’s that Sugar Season is here once again. It’s...
By Michael G. Rehme, DDS, NMD, CCN In my biological dental practice, I focus on the oral cavity as well as the rest of the body in relation to it. After all, mouth and body are intricately connected. The illness of one affects the other. Over the years, hundreds of...
Although dietary fat has been pegged as the bad guy for years, the truth is that your body needs it just like it needs protein and non-refined carbohydrates not just to survive but to thrive. This is no less true for the health of your teeth and gums. For instance,...
Originally posted April 14, 2021 “Avoid nitrates,” we’re told, as if all nitrates were alike. But plenty of perfectly healthy foods contain them naturally: beets, radishes, turnips, leafy green vegetables, onion, garlic, apples, watermelon, grapes, and more. No,...
There are lots of reasons why so much sugar gets added to ultra-processed food products. Adding sweetness is only the most obvious one. Sugar is also used as a preservative and to help fermentation along. It can act as a coloring or bulking agent. It can modify...
Now that summer is here, lots of us are spending more time outdoors in the sun - the ideal way to get the vitamin D you need for good mouth/body health. In post below, originally published a little less than a year ago, we look at one way in which a lack of this...
Ask a random person how to keep their teeth and gums healthy, and chances are they’ll say little more beyond “brushing and flossing.” Sure, those are important. Yet as with whole body health, it’s good nutrition that really comes first. This was emphasized by a...
Probiotics have an important role to play in your oral health. As a new [2020] paper in the Journal of Functional Foods notes, Recent studies including clinical trials strongly suggest the active role of probiotics in prevention and treatment of oral infections,...
But let’s get back to the subject of real sugar, the favorite food of harmful oral bacteria (as well as something craved by many of the humans who host them!). They love the stuff - and, of course, what goes in must go out. Their metabolic waste is incredibly...
Kicking a sugar habit is hard, especially since we humans are hardwired to love the stuff. It doesn’t help that sugar is so prevalent in so many products. Many wind up turning to artificial sweeteners to get the sweetness they crave minus the health risks that come...
Good nutrition is key to mouth/body health, and that means opting for real food, not the ultra-processed junk that continues to dominate many Americans’ diets. Lab-made creations such as chips, hot dogs, enriched bagels and American cheese have been a staple of the...
We all know that spinach is what gave Popeye his amazing strength. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxO758l7JVM But have you ever wondered why spinach and not some other vegetable? Back in 1870, Erich von Wolf, a German chemist, examined the amount of iron...