You have seen them everywhere. Formerly snaggle-toothed stars suddenly have perfectly aligned, gleaming white teeth all due to Porcelain Veneers. Is it true? Can they correct any and all dental defect? This thin sliver of tooth colored material layered over your tooth can actually be used to address a wide array of problems, like:
- Cracked or chipped teeth
- Crooked or misshapen teeth
- Misaligned teeth or gaps between teeth
- Stained teeth
The caveat is choosing your dentist wisely.
One might say there are good and bad veneers (see photo above). The truth is that it is not the veneer, but rather the technique, which is important. Common complaints of a procedure gone wrong include:
- Bright white is not always right – When done correctly, your new teeth should complement your skin color and eye color. Teeth that or too white or those that have different colored top and bottom rows, make it easy to point out a faux smile.
- Uneven Steven – Poorly installed veneers can cause an uneven bite. Forget esthetics, this can lead to problems with chewing or worse, jaw problems. Your newly sheathed teeth should feel natural in your mouth and fit without effecting the bite or smile.
- Chunky Chiclets – Your specialist needs to pay special attention to your natural tooth shape AND texture during the creation process. Too smooth, too shiny and too white are all indicators of poor workmanship.
Creating the perfect Porcelain Veneer is a very involved process that needs personalization to achieve a realistic-looking smile. Your specialist needs to consider a list of factors to achieve the perfect smile, including each patient’s mouth structure, the patient’s face shape, lip fullness, as well as, the texture and size of the teeth. Prosthodontists are highly trained in state-of-the-art techniques and procedures for treating many diverse and complex dental conditions and restoring optimum function and esthetics. Choosing a Prosthodontist, like Dr. Omar Abdo to be the architect to your luminous, natural looking new smile will safeguard you from the pratfalls of poor installed veneers. We welcome an opportunity to meet with you and discuss the smile of your dreams.
Lately, coconut oil is everywhere you turn. Dr. Oz is saying it will help us lose weight, cure skin ailments and treat ulcers. The Huffington Post boasts many uses; such as being an excellent skin moisturizer, leather shoe cleaner, sticker remover and insect repellent, to name a few. The New York Times claims that, despite being a saturated fat, coconut oil is not a harmful fat and it just plain tastes good. The benefits of coconut oil are seemingly endless. However, one claim that piqued my interest was that coconut oil could combat tooth decay.
Back in 2012, researchers at the Athlone Institute of Technology in Ireland discovered that coconut oil that had been treated with enzymes, similar to digestion, displayed some antibacterial properties. Most importantly, the enzyme-modified coconut oil strongly inhibited the growth of most strains of Streptococcus bacteria, including Streptococcus mutans, a significant contributor of tooth decay. The team of scientists tested the impact of coconut oil, vegetable oil and olive oil and found that only the coconut oil showed an ability to slow or stop the growth of most strains of Streptococcus.
Dr Damien Brady, along with his Masters student, Patricia Hughes, led the research at the Institute and believes that the breaking down of the fatty coconut oil by the enzymes turns it into acids, which are active and effective in destroying bacteria. Researchers will next investigate how coconut oil interacts with Streptococcus bacteria at the molecular level. Potentially, incorporating enzyme-modified coconut oil into dental hygiene products will translate into less chemical additives in such products. This is great news for those of us who are interested in a more organic way to keep our mouths clean.
This recent study provides positive news for denture wearers as well. Additionally, it was reported that enzyme-modified coconut oil also attacks the yeast, Candida albicans. Candida albicans causes thrush; an infection of the mucus membrane lining of mouth and tongue, which creates painful mouth sores. Denture wearers are more susceptible to thrush than those sporting their natural teeth.
So, it looks like we all must continue to brush our teeth. Brushing twice a day, flossing daily and biannual visits to your dentist for exams and a professional cleaning are the only proven methods of avoiding tooth decay. However, perhaps we can look forward to more effective and organic oral hygiene products. Maybe we can also keep the mosquitoes away and burn fat just by brushing our teeth!!!
Speaking of oral cancers: Why everyone should listen to Michael Douglas and Jim Kelly
By Steve Dorfman – Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Most of us go to the dentist to keep our pearly whites healthy and gleaming.
But, as we’ve been reminded from two recent high-profile cancer cases — those of actor Michael Douglas and Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly — our mouths are vulnerable to more than cavities.
The good news, though, says West Palm Beach dentist Dr. Mihran Asinmaz: “Many cancers and pre-cancers of the oral cavity — including the lips, cheeks, teeth, jaw and oropharynx (throat) — can be found early, during routine screening exams by a dentist.”
Learning from Michael Douglas
Douglas, 67, of course, made worldwide headlines last month when he was quoted in the British newspaper The Guardian as saying the throat (or “oropharyngeal”) cancer he successfully battled in 2010-11 was caused by a certain form of the sexually transmitted virus human papillomavirus (HPV).
While many in the non-medical community were made uncomfortable by the discussion of HPV transmitted via oral sex causing oral cancer, Douglas’s revelation did engage the public in an effective and important way.
Consider: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says that the 40 varieties of HPV make it the most widespread sexually transmitted infection. In fact, reports the CDC’s website: “HPV is so common that nearly all sexually active men and women get it at some point in their lives. This is true even for people who only have sex with one person in their lifetime.”
And now cases similar to Douglas’ are being seen far more frequently.
Dr. Eric Genden, professor and chair of otolaryngology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City, recently told CBS News, “There’s an epidemic of HPV-related throat cancers.”
Indeed, according to the National Cancer Institute, there are now more than 13,000 new HPV-related oral cancer cases diagnosed annually in the U.S. — with some 80 percent being men.
What’s more, that makes male HPV-related oral cancer more commonplace than HPV-related cervical cancer is now in women.
Jupiter prosthodontist Dr. Omar Abdo says he had a number of patients present with HPV-related oral cancer — including an 80-year-old woman whose complaints about throat and mouth discomfort were dismissed by both her primary physician and an ear, nose and throat specialist.
The octogenarian credits Abdo’s astute diagnosis with saving her life.
Kelly’s condition
As for Jim Kelly, 53, who starred at the University of Miami in the early 1980s and led the Buffalo Bills to four consecutive Super Bowls (all defeats) in the early 1990s, he revealed in early June that he’d been diagnosed with squamous cell carinoma in his jaw.
This necessitated surgery on June 7 to remove a significant portion of the left side of his jaw. At the end of the month, he announced that his doctors believed all of the cancerous cells had been removed, and no subsequent radiation or chemotherapy would be required.
Kelly can consider himself fortunate that his carcinoma was of the squamous cell variety, and located in the jaw (as opposed to the neck or throat) because, as Dr. Michael Kaplan told ESPN on the day of Kelly’s surgery, it tends not to be a “bad actor” in terms of metastization.
Kelly, of course, will be rechecked by his oncologists for the next several years, but his prognosis is excellent.
The widening American waistline may be feeding an epidemic of sleep apnea, potentially robbing millions of people of a good night’s rest, a new study suggests.
Study author Paul Peppard believes the findings show a big spike in sleep apnea cases over the past two decades — as much as 55 percent — and may translate to the entire United States.
“There are probably 4 million to 5 million people who are more likely to have sleep apnea due to the obesity epidemic,” estimated Peppard, an assistant professor of population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “It’s certainly an uncalculated cost of the obesity epidemic, an epidemic of its own.”
The researchers looked at adults aged 30 to 70 who were monitored as they slept. About 600 to 700 underwent sleep tests between 1988 and 1994, with some continuing to take part along with hundreds of new participants from 2007 to 2010.
The study considered the participants to have moderate-to-severe breathing problems if they had trouble breathing 15 or more times an hour while sleeping.
Sleep apnea is the main cause of breathing problems during sleep. People with the condition often have trouble staying in deep sleep because their throats close, blocking their airways and requiring them to partially awaken to start breathing properly. They don’t realize they’re waking up and may become very sleepy during the day.
Besides sleepiness, sleep apnea can contribute to heart and other health problems if untreated and increase the risk of work- and driving-related accidents, according to the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
The researchers extrapolated their findings to the entire United States and estimated that 10 percent of men aged 30 to 49 currently have symptoms of sleep apnea. The study estimates the number is 17 percent of men aged 50 to 70. For women, the estimate is 3 percent among those aged 30 to 49 and 9 percent among women aged 50 to 70.
The study estimates that these numbers have gone up by 14 percent to 55 percent from 1988-1994 to 2007-2010. Peppard estimated that 80 percent to 90 percent of the increase in symptoms is due to the growth in obesity.
The good news is that sleep apnea is treatable. One treatment, known as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), is a machine that blows air into the throat to keep it open while people sleep. “It’s very effective, but some people don’t like to use it,” Peppard said.
There’s another option that will help in many cases, he said: Weight loss.
Joyce Walsleben, an associate professor of medicine at New York University who studies sleep problems, agreed. “Obesity has to be addressed and controlled,” said Walsleben. “That is a message for doctors and patients.”
You want a healthy, bright smile, but you have been warned about the effects of coffee, alcohol and soda.
It is true; all soft drinks contain enamel-eroding acids. Iced-tea, once placed in a bottle or can, loses its bacteria-busting properties to flavor-enhancing organic acids that can erode your chompers, while your latte can stain your pearly whites and leave them sticky. Booze, after metabolizing with your saliva, instantly turns into plaque. Let’s face it, after a few cocktails what are the chances you will remember to brush your teeth? By morning, simple brushing won’t do the trick.
How can you impede the decay?
1) Use a straw and don’t swish – Bypass the teeth by sending the offending liquid through a straw to the back of the mouth. Unless you are an oenophile, there is no point in swishing liquid through your teeth. This compounds the effect of both sugars and acids.
2) Use water as a mouthwash – Water makes the perfect rinse to clear sugars and acids after eating or drinking.
3) Wait 20 minutes to brush – Brushing is recommended after every meal, but doing so after consuming an acidic food or beverage introduces more acid leaving enamel vulnerable to damage. Let saliva take over and re-mineralize your teeth first. Then it should be safe to brush.
Whereas the negative impact of these dubious delights cannot be eliminated, we do have some control in slowing them down. However, nothing beats a proper dental routine of daily brushing and yes, DAILY flossing, along with bi-annual visits to your trusted dental care provider.
OMAR S. ABDO, DDS, MS, FACP board certified prosthodontist
WWW.DENTAL-IMPLANTS-ONLINE.COM
Through our involvement with sleep apnea public awareness discussions, we’ve met various sleep apnea sufferers. After communicating the sleep health information, we have found that individual responses can be quite different. Some people appreciate and embrace the information. Others are overtaken by fear.
The panic-stricken group typically quickly identifies with many of the symptoms, such as weight gain, depression, high blood pressure, heart issues, and/or Type 2 Diabetes. They are shocked by the medical findings and reports, and in some cases, contemplate driving to a nearby emergency room! Their next thoughts revolve around life wills and funeral details. We wish we were joking. So, what do we say to this unnerving group?
“You’re actually very lucky,” is one of the first things we say. Knowing of the possibility that a sleep breathing disorder may exist is something to celebrate and not be fearful of or run away from. As medical reports indicate that approximately 90% of sleep apnea sufferers are undiagnosed in this country, knowing you may have the disorder means you’ve already beaten the high statistics. Most people keep trucking through life and have no clue they suffer from it. Many also don’t understand the impact of what it does to their bodies and overall health.
The next things we like to share are the testing and treatment options that are available. Dental appliances and CPAP machines can both be successful options for treatment. In some cases, surgery is also an option. Unfortunately, often times patients are not always presented with all of the treatment or screening options.
Testing and screening for sleep apnea can be done through an overnight stay at a sleep lab or at home by using a home-testing kit. The sleep lab test can be a more detailed view of sleep issues. However, sleeping in your own bed can be an overall more accurate observation of a normal night of sleep.
People ask if treatment is necessary when the sleep apnea diagnosis is evaluated as “mild.” Our simple answer: ABSOLUTELY. Even mild sleep apnea leaves people to feel tired throughout the day and can have a significant impact on the quality of people’s lives and their overall health. Unfortunately, we have heard of sleep technicians telling people they are okay to live with a diagnosis of mild to moderate sleep apnea. No one should be okay to live in an ongoing state of fogginess and sleepiness. Even after one night of treatment, a person can start to feel substantially better.
We hope this information provides encouragement to those who believe they may be suffering from sleep apnea. If you would like to take a quick, online preliminary screening for sleep apnea, please visit SleepTest.com or call us immediately at 561-745-5550.
Question: What do sleep disorders, craniofacial pain, child growth and development, chronic inflammation, academic and work performance, snoring, high blood pressure, Type II diabetes, and cardiovascular disease all have in common?
Answer: An AIRWAY Problem!
What if we could address a potential problem early in life rather than spend years and resources treating a much more serious problem later in life? Let’s take a look at the children in
our country. Many people realize that more than ever before, the current generation of children are facing health issues like obesity, diabetes, and learning challenges.
What parents also need to know is that correcting unhealthy airways in children minimizes the risk of obesity, poor growth development and behavioral issues like ADHD. Yes, we said obesity and ADHD. According to Dr. Stephen Sheldon, D.O., from Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, (see http://www2.luriechildrens.org/ce/powerpoint/sheldon/sheldon.html), ADHD in children is highly linked to sleepiness and obstructive sleep apnea.
Recommended treatment for children ranges from early orthodontic to myofuctional (tongue posture) treatments that ease breathing passages, train proper muscle movements, and aid in the growth of the jaws. Taking care of obstructions to proper breathing, like swollen tonsils and adenoids, or removing physical restrictions to tongue movements, are also on the list.
How about adults? What would happen if we followed a child with a compromised airway through adulthood? The story would look something like this:
- Joe, a tired, sleepy child (whose airway is the size of a number two pencil) has problems focusing in school. His school performance suffers and he gets in trouble often.
- Diagnosed with ADHD, Joe is given medication and shuffles through middle school, while his body fights to adapt to a lower oxygen saturation level.
- Despite his parents’ push for good nutrition, Joe’s body and mind obsess over carb and sugar cravings, and obesity unwillingly develops.
- In high school Joe is diagnosed with depression, in addition to ADHD and obesity.
School attendance is poor and the risk of dropping out is much higher. - In his twenties, and now an adult, Joe is diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. His weight gain continues, depression is increased, and Joe struggles keeping a job and a healthy relationship.
- By the age of 30 Joe’s shocked to be diagnosed with hypertension and high blood pressure. By Joe’s 35th birthday, he is at a huge risk for heart failure.
This story isn’t far-fetched. We’ve seen it happen and the outcome is fatal. What’s even more alarming is that the quality of life during Joe’s 30+ years is less than ideal. It’s one of fatigue, frustration, depression, anxiety, chronic inflammation, and a laundry list of other failing health issues. From an early age, Joe suffered from a significant disadvantage in life, stemming from the fact that his airway was the size of a number two pencil.
By working together with parents, dentists, and physicians to identify potential issues of poor airway health in children and adults, we are able to prevent serious health issues that unfold later in life. If you, a family member, or a loved one, express signs of fatigue or snoring, please contact us immediately to take the necessary next steps to achieve better overall health.
Breathing properly makes all of the difference in a person’s quality of life. In severe conditions, a compromised airway and untreated sleep apnea can be life threatening. Please call us today for more information.
Question: What do sleep disorders, craniofacial pain, child growth and development, chronic inflammation, academic and work performance, snoring, high blood pressure, Type II diabetes, and cardiovascular disease all have in common?
Answer: An AIRWAY Problem!
What if we could address a potential problem early in life rather than spend years and resources treating a much more serious problem later in life? Let’s take a look at the children in
our country. Many people realize that more than ever before, the current generation of children are facing health issues like obesity, diabetes, and learning challenges.
What parents also need to know is that correcting unhealthy airways in children minimizes the risk of obesity, poor growth development and behavioral issues like ADHD. Yes, we said obesity and ADHD. According to Dr. Stephen Sheldon, D.O., from Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, (see http://www2.luriechildrens.org/ce/powerpoint/sheldon/sheldon.html), ADHD in children is highly linked to sleepiness and obstructive sleep apnea.
Recommended treatment for children ranges from early orthodontic to myofuctional (tongue posture) treatments that ease breathing passages, train proper muscle movements, and aid in the growth of the jaws. Taking care of obstructions to proper breathing, like swollen tonsils and adenoids, or removing physical restrictions to tongue movements, are also on the list.
How about adults? What would happen if we followed a child with a compromised airway through adulthood? The story would look something like this:
• Joe, a tired, sleepy child (whose airway is the size of a number two pencil) has problems focusing in school. His school performance suffers and he gets in trouble often.
• Diagnosed with ADHD, Joe is given medication and shuffles through middle school, while his body fights to adapt to a lower oxygen saturation level.
• Despite his parents’ push for good nutrition, Joe’s body and mind obsess over carb and sugar cravings, and obesity unwillingly develops.
• In high school Joe is diagnosed with depression, in addition to ADHD and obesity.
School attendance is poor and the risk of dropping out is much higher.
• In his twenties, and now an adult, Joe is diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. His weight gain continues, depression is increased, and Joe struggles keeping a job and a healthy relationship.
• By the age of 30 Joe’s shocked to be diagnosed with hypertension and high blood pressure. By Joe’s 35th birthday, he is at a huge risk for heart failure.
This story isn’t far-fetched. We’ve seen it happen and the outcome is fatal. What’s even more alarming is that the quality of life during Joe’s 30+ years is less than ideal. It’s one of fatigue, frustration, depression, anxiety, chronic inflammation, and a laundry list of other failing health issues. From an early age, Joe suffered from a significant disadvantage in life, stemming from the fact that his airway was the size of a number two pencil.
By working together with parents, dentists, and physicians to identify potential issues of poor airway health in children and adults, we are able to prevent serious health issues that unfold later in life. If you, a family member, or a loved one, express signs of fatigue or snoring, please contact us immediately to take the necessary next steps to achieve better overall health.
Breathing properly makes all of the difference in a person’s quality of life. In severe conditions, a compromised airway and untreated sleep apnea can be life threatening. Please call us today for more information.
February 04, 2013|By Crystal Schelle
Doctors and researchers at George W. Comstock Center for Public Health Research and Prevention in Hagerstown as well as Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore are seeing if glucose metabolism might be affected by the disruption of sleep that sleep apnea causes. Their work is part of the SOMNOS Study of sleep apnea and metabolism.
“There are a lot of bad things that happen in your body when you have sleep apnea and that affects your metabolism,” said Melissa Minotti, research program coordinator. “And if left alone, they believe that could turn into insulin resistance, sort of the next step to diabetes.”
Punjabi is the principal investigator for both the Hagerstown and Baltimore studies, which have been conducted for the last year. He said the goal of the study “is to determine whether treatment of sleep apnea in individuals who have not previously been treated improves how patients handle glucose.”
Specifically, he said, researchers are looking at the metabolism of glucose in the body. “As we now know, that if you have sleep apnea and it’s untreated, there is a propensity for developing insulin resistance, developing glucose intolerance and maybe type 2 diabetes,” he said.
Punjabi noted that there have been numerous studies over the last decade that sleep apnea, may, in fact, be related to these conditions.
“And the question we are asking now is if you treat sleep apnea, can we potentially decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes,” he said.
“When all of us sleep there is a decrease in muscle tone particularly in the throat region. When that muscle tone decreases there is a propensity for the throat to close up, and in some patients, it completely collapses,” he explained. “So the fundamental characteristic of sleep apnea is a disorder with breathing pauses during sleep. Now when breathing stops during sleep or decreases during sleep, there is
a tendency to develop hypoxemia or decrease of oxygen levels in the blood.” This decrease of oxygen can lead to serious health concerns, he said.
“It is potentially related to an increase risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke,” Punjabi said. “Sleep apnea also leads to destruction of sleep …. So this is a common condition that often goes unnoticed and it’s often spouses or bed partners who complain (about) the loud snoring or breathe pauses, the snorting or gasping during sleep that really bring these effected patients to our clinical setting.”
“The risk factors in women include being post-menopausal, being overweight and age,” he said. “Similar risk factors exist in men, men that are overweight and obese, that are older, that have the typical symptoms of snoring, stopping breathing episodes, are the most at risk for having sleep apnea.”
Minotti said the study designers estimate that
at the end of the study, they would have seen between 200 and 250 participants.
To read the full article visit: http://bit.ly/UFImT4
According to a current medical study being conducted in Chicago, in some relationships, the honeymoon stage can be over before it even begins. The aftermath of second hand snoring can bring a whole new perspective to the vow “until death do us part.” Just ask any wife who’s ready to rip out the throat of her snoring husband. At that point, it will take more than marriage counseling to amend the relationship.
Let’s take a look at the troubled relationship a little more extensively. The husband snores like a bat out of hell, his wife pokes him throughout the night to flip over, and this happens anywhere from a few times a night, to a few times an hour throughout the night. The process starts off gentle but after months (or years in the making) the tender nudging can turn into something much more aggressive. Formerly recognized as the mattress of love, a couple’s bed can quickly turn into a warzone of hostility and resentment.
This leads us to a few questions: Is there a link between quality of sleep and marital contentment? What are the effects of sleep deprivation on both the snorer and the bed partner? Furthermore, is the snoring an indication of a greater health issue?
In monitoring one couple’s nighttime sleep, the husband’s snoring was arousing the wife out of sleep over 8 times an hour! Recent medical studies indicate the significance of the snoring spouse’s sleep deprivation and the effect it has on his/her health. Therefore, when additional surveys came back indicating that couples in these situations have a higher divorce rate, we weren’t surprised.
Even bigger than the troubled, increased divorce rate are the consequences of untreated sleep apnea on a person’s health. We now know that snoring is a large indicator for sleep apnea but what is sleep apnea? According to the American Sleep Apnea Association, “sleep apnea is an involuntary cessation of breathing that occurs while somebody is asleep. Episodes without breathing can last 10 seconds to 2 minutes or longer and a person can have up to hundreds of episodes per night.”
Sleep apnea is a serious health issue. It lowers the oxygen level in the blood, which leaves a person susceptible to major health problems like high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and many others. Symptoms of sleep apnea can range from: waking up feeling un-refreshed problems with memory or concentration, feeling tired or fatigued, experiencing personality changes, headache, heartburn, sweating or chest pain while sleeping, and depression.
If the troubled marital relationship sounds like one you know and you’re wondering about the first steps for treatment, start thinking about testing. A sleep test (either in the lab or at home) is needed along with a physician’s diagnose to determine if sleep apnea is at play.
When a person is diagnosed with sleep apnea, it’s important to understand the treatment options, such as weight loss, surgery, CPAP mask, or an oral appliance (similar to a mouth guard). With proper treatment for sleep apnea, snoring is also minimized. In addition, the spouse’s sleep deprivation lessens significantly along with the feelings of hostility, aggravation and many times marital distress.
If you or a loved one experience any of these symptoms, (or a consequently troubled relationship), please seek testing and medical help immediately!
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