Free Republic

When an orthodontist asked the reporter if he wanted a good story idea, the reporter, of course, said "yes." Jeff Donn, a national writer with The Associated Press and 2012 Pulitzer finalist, was doubtful, at first, about that tip from his son's orthodontist: There's no solid evidence that flossing actually works. "But when I started to look at research, I realized that it was a good tip — and definitely the best one I ever got from an orthodontist." As a reporter who's covered the dangers of aging nuclear power plants, drug safety and abandoned oil wells, Donn was attracted...

Walk up to as mirror and flash that Hollywood smile. See those teeth? You probably have no idea how much they tell about you. Because the appearance of those teeth is usually an indicator of how often you see a dentist and how often you do see that enamel driller and puller tells oodles about your behavior -- such as how you’ll probably vote [...] --SNIP-- Oral health, they found, is positively associated with states that voted for Obama for President 2008 –- meaning if you had good teeth, good oral health and went to the dentist when you should...

ADA Distributing Misleading Information on Two Federal Fluoride Reports, Says Fluoride Action Network New York -- In a statement released August 9, 2007, over 600 dentists, physicians, scientists and environmentalists urge Congress to stop water fluoridation until Congressional hearings are conducted. They cite new scientific evidence that fluoridation, long promoted to fight tooth decay, is ineffective and has serious health risks. (http://www.fluorideaction.org/statement.august.2007.html) Signers include a Nobel Prize winner, three members of the prestigious 2006 National Research Council (NRC) panel that reported on fluoride’s toxicology, two officers in the Union representing professionals at EPA headquarters, the President of the International Society...

Dentists Are Fluoride Misinformed New York – February 1 -- Bottled water does NOT contribute to tooth decay despite dentists scientifically unverifiable cautions disseminated through the media. Studies actually show the opposite. America’s children are fluoride-overdosed, it’s ruining their teeth and researchers advise cutting back. The Centers for Disease Control reports from 1/3 to 1/2 of U.S. schoolchildren sport dental fluorosis1 – white-spotted, discolored and/or sometimes pitted teeth, caused by fluoride over-ingestion. The Academy of General Dentistry advises against fluoridated water for infant formula or food preparation because many studies show this ups children’s fluorosis risk.2 The U.S. Surgeon General...

The robotic drilling system sends information on bone structure to a computer (Image: Tactile Technologies) A “robotic” dentist's drill is to be tested on humans in Europe and the US, and could represent the first step towards more automated dental procedures. The drill, developed by Tactile Technologies, based in Rehovot, Israel, is designed to take the complexity out of dental implant work. It could make operations cheaper, quicker and less painful for patients, its developers claim. A dental implant is a small metal pin fixed into the jaw to mimic a tooth's root. It is used to anchor replacement...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - We may not be very far away from a time when dentists offer to help people with damaged or missing teeth grow new ones, according to new research presented on Wednesday. A series of presentations at a dental meeting demonstrate that techniques using stem cells and gene therapy to regenerate teeth are producing promising results, suggesting this technique may not be far off. "I think it's looking like quite an exciting technology for the near future," said Dr. Tony Smith, editor of the Journal of Dental Research, who was not involved in any of the...

Put a guy in a dental chair, and he turns into a wimp.In a new survey of 171 Chicago area dentists, 49 percent said males are more anxious when it comes to dental appointments, while only 15 percent thought females were the scaredy-cats. The survey is being released at the Chicago Dental Society's annual meeting at McCormick Place. "The bigger they are, the more they fear," said Niles dentist Alice Boghosian, who recalled one man who came in with a broken tooth. CHICAGO'S TOP SMILES Dentists chose the best smiles from a list of five local celebrities. Oprah Winfrey: 49...