It’s been nearly a 100 years since J. Kilian Clarke of St. Mary’s Hospital in London first described one bacterium he found to be “fairly constantly present in early carious lesions.” He called it Streptococcus mutans. S. mutans is “an extremely active producer of...
A healthy lifestyle - including great oral hygiene - is invaluable for reducing your risk of the chronic diseases so prevalent in the 21st century. That includes cancer, which a recent editorial in Harvard Public Health notes is poised to overtake heart disease as...
Over the years, research has shed light on the link between gum disease and certain cancers, not to mention other conditions marked by chronic inflammation: heart disease, diabetes, stroke, rheumatoid arthritis and more. One kind of cancer that’s been implicated?...
We could blame the anticipation of fall weather turning our thoughts to the savory delights of cheese, but, truly, is it that hard to find an excuse to talk about the delicious stuff? Cheese has long been praised as an excellent source of protein, essential...
We’ve looked before at some of the ways your own microbiome affects your health, but this week, we’re shifting to the amazing apple microbiome. Yes, just like humans have microbial colonies in our mouths and guts, even plants have their own little worlds of...
Once upon a time, people thought Diet Coke was something healthy. After all, it didn’t have all that added sugar. Of course, today, we know synthetic sweeteners cause problems of their own. Now a new study in JAMA Open reminds that another drink many think of as...
When you get right down to it, you don’t really need toothpaste to clean your teeth. It’s the mechanical action of brushing – and flossing – that breaks up the bacterial biofilm (plaque) that forms on your teeth between cleanings. Oh, toothpaste can make the job a...
Conventional mouthwashes tend to be indiscriminate. Like many an antibiotic, they kill lots of helpful bacteria right along with the harmful ones. And that can have ripple effects throughout the body. Consider the small but compelling study just published in...
If you’re using a conventional over-the-counter mouthwash on a regular basis, you could be raising your risk of diabetes – or so research suggests. Consider, for instance, the 2017 study in the journal Nitric Oxide. For it, researchers tracked health data from 1206...
Sometimes, a person can develop a raging bacterial infection that can only be controlled with antibiotics. When this happens, it makes good sense to use them. Unfortunately, we live in an age in which antibiotics have been severely overused. Sometimes, they’re...
Tea is infamous for staining teeth. It’s also slightly acidic – even more so if sugar or lemon is added. Yet there’s also a good amount of evidence that it could help support your oral health. The latest is a study just published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers...
You hear more and more these days about probiotics – friendly bacteria that promote good health. One of the more important things they do is help keep harmful bacteria from taking over, essentially by crowding them out. In the mouth, this helps prevent gum disease...
Many of us have been conditioned to think of bacteria as the enemy. Antibacterial products are big business, as folks strive to keep their environment and body as antiseptic as possible. But is this the right approach? After all, not all bacteria are harmful. A...
We’ve known for a long time that diabetes and gum disease often occur together. Now new research continues to show just how strong that association is. For instance, one recent study of more than 300 dental patients found that those with gum disease were more...
A new study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal offers the latest confirmation of an irony: “Diet” soda won’t help you keep weight off. But wait. It gets worse. As the Washington Post reported, "The study found that not only were artificial sweeteners dodgy...
Biological dentistry has a lot in common with naturopathic medicine – health care that emphasizes prevention and the use of nature-based remedies to treat the whole person. It encourages the body’s self-healing process through the use of natural therapies, drawing...
Recently, news of “smart” insulin made international headlines. It’s a fascinating development that may change how often diabetes I patients need to take insulin. To be clear, there are two kinds of diabetes. Type I is when the body’s immune system kills off...