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Can anyone recommend a good dental discount plan? And are there any plans out there that should be avoided?

Groucho Marx once said that Abscess make the heart grow fonder, but now it means that I will be losing a troubled molar and am looking at getting an implant to replace the tooth. Have any of you had an implant? Do you have any Stories or Advice to pass on to your fellow freepers?

Athletes may have some of the fittest bodies in the world but a new study has found they also have really bad teeth. Tests were carried out on 302 participants at the London 2012 Olympics and found athletes had poorer dental health than people in other occupations of the same age. Just over half of those examined had signs of cavities, three quarters were suffering from gum disease and 45 per cent showed evidence of tooth erosion. ‘Our data and other studies suggest that, for a similar age profile, the oral health of athletes is poor. It’s quite striking,’ said...

Angler nabs ‘vegetarian’ piranha SEATTLE — Angler John Denton was surprised to catch what he believes to be a pacu, a relative of the piranha at Lake Ki over the weekend. According to The Everett Herald, Denton was fishing for perch and bluegill on Sunday when he cast his line into the lake near his home and came up with the unusual catch. One of his neighbors identified the fish as a pacu, a native South American freshwater fish that are related to the piranha. “Bang, there it was,” Denton told the Herald. “It’s a pretty big fish, a big...

Scientists have grown rudimentary teeth out of the most unlikely of sources, human urine. The results, published in Cell Regeneration Journal, showed that urine could be used as a source of stem cells that in turn could be grown into tiny tooth-like structures. The team from China hopes the technique could be developed into a way of replacing lost teeth. Other stem cell researchers caution that that goal faces many challenges. Teams of researchers around the world are looking for ways of growing new teeth to replace those lost with age and poor dental hygiene. Stem cells - the master...

An international team of scientists led by Prof Cheng-Ming Chuong from the University of Southern California has discovered unique cellular and molecular mechanisms behind tooth renewal in American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis).Their findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, pave the way for tooth regeneration in people. “Humans naturally only have two sets of teeth – baby teeth and adult teeth. Ultimately, we want to identify stem cells that can be used as a resource to stimulate tooth renewal in adult humans who have lost teeth. But, to do that, we must first understand how they renew...

Researchers in China have shown that the organic component of mother of pearl can help repair damaged teeth, by acting as a template for the mineralisation of tooth enamel.Tooth enamel is made up of rod-like crystals of hydroxyapatite, a calcium phosphate mineral. It is the hardest tissue in the body, but is susceptible to erosion by food and bacterial acids. Once gone, it never naturally reforms, and cavities must be fixed using manmade materials. Methods of artificially rebuilding enamel often involve extreme temperature, pressure or pH conditions that make them impractical for clinical use.Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences...

A team of researchers led by the UAB has found the first ancient remains of a calcified ovarian teratoma, in the pelvis of the skeleton of a woman from the Roman era. The find confirms the presence in antiquity of this type of tumour -- formed by the remains of tissues or organs, which are difficult to locate during the examination of ancient remains. Inside the small round mass, four teeth and a small piece of bone were found. Teratomas are usually benign and contain remains of organic material, such as hair, teeth, bones and other tissues. There are no...

Some dentistry work on a 70-million-year-old tooth has provided an insight into the evolutionary success of duck-billed dinosaurs. Hadrosaurs' unique tooth structure is now a vital clue in the mystery of how the billed herbivores, dubbed "the cows of the Cretaceous era", spread so far and lived for so long. The ancient monsters survived until the very end of the dinosaur age, roughly 65 million years ago. Biologist Gregory Erickson, of Florida State University in Tallahassee, led a team of scientists who rubbed diamonds on the ancient tooth, provided by the American Museum of Natural History, to simulate the processes...

A man who Davie police say exploited the fears of illegal immigrants and practiced dentistry without a license was arrested on Wednesday in the same warehouse district where he saw patients.

AFP - Scientists in Japan have created a microscopically thin film that can coat individual teeth to prevent decay or to make them appear whiter, the chief researcher said. The "tooth patch" is a hard-wearing and ultra-flexible material made from hydroxyapatite, the main mineral in tooth enamel, that could also mean an end to sensitive teeth. "This is the world's first flexible apatite sheet, which we hope to use to protect teeth or repair damaged enamel," said Shigeki Hontsu, professor at Kinki University's Faculty of Biology-Oriented Science and Technology in western Japan. "Dentists used to think an all-apatite sheet was...

A new chemical could make human teeth 'cavity proof' - and do away with the need for visits to the dentists forever. The molecule has been called 'Keep 32' - after the 32 teeth in a human mouth. The chemical was designed by dentists in Chile, and wipes out all the bacteria that cause cavities in just 60 seconds in tests. The chemical could be added to any current dental care product, turning toothpaste, mouthwash and chewing gum into 'super cleansers' that could get rid of the underlying cause of tooth decay. The chemical targets 'streptococcus mutans', the bacteria that...

Dentures of two of the world's most famous composers have allegedly been stolen from their graves by a Slovak man who boasts of his crimes on YouTube saying he intends to use the purloined choppers to start a museum. Ondrej Jajcaj, the self confessed thief, says the teeth he extracted from the tombs of the famous 19th century composers Johann Strauss and Johannes Brahms will be part of an exhibition of hundreds of objects plundered from more ordinary graves. The man was identified in Austrian media reports simply by his initials, O.J. But a search on the internet reveals Ondrej...

Sixty-five years ago, on January 25, 1945, the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, added fluoride to its municipal water system and community water fluoridation began. Since that day, this simple, safe, and inexpensive public health intervention has contributed to a remarkable decline in tooth decay in the United States, with each generation enjoying better oral health than the previous generation. After fluoride’s oral health benefits were discovered in the 1930s, the next step was to achieve optimal levels in community water supplies. Four communities had agreed to undertake community studies, but Grand Rapids was the first to begin implementation. After...

The eyes may be the window to the soul, but the mouth provides an even better view of the body as a whole. Some of the earliest signs of diabetes, cancer, pregnancy, immune disorders, hormone imbalances and drug issues show up in the gums, teeth and tongue—sometimes long before a patient knows anything is wrong. There's also growing evidence that oral health problems, particularly gum disease, can harm a patient's general health as well, raising the risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, pneumonia and pregnancy complications. "We have lots of data showing a direct correlation between inflammation in the mouth...

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...

A dental salon in Tokyo’s Ginza district has become very popular with girls after it advertised a cosmetic procedure that lengthens and sharpens canines to enhance a feature Japanese call “yaeba”. Crooked teeth are seen as imperfections in many western countries, and particularly in America, where braces are practically a God-given gift to man, but in Japan, a country where almost everything is different, they are considered cute, even adorable. Yaeba means double tooth in Japanese, but it doesn’t describe major dental deformities, but rather the vampire-like look obtained when the two molars crowd the canines pushing them forward to...

Researchers from Japan recently published a paper in PLoS One describing their successful growth and transplantation of new teeth created from the stem cells of mice. In order to create these teeth, Takashi Tsuji from Tokyo University of Science and his team removed two different stem cells from the molar teeth of mice. They took these stem cells to grow in the laboratory. In order to control how the teeth grew, as far as shape and length, the stem cells were placed in a mold to grow. Once the cells grew into full tooth units, the researchers then transplanted them...

The SoundBite Hearing Aid system has received it’s second clearance by the USA Food and Drug Administration. The device provides a unique and innovative alternative for the hearing impaired. The new FDA clearance allows use of the SoundBite system for patients with conductive hearing loss. SoundBite is a non surgical solution for the hearing impaired. It is a cost effective alternative to existing surgical procedures that yield similar results. The device is a removable prosthetic that uses bone conduction through your teeth to amplify and transmit sound clearly to your inner ear. “We are pleased that the uses of the...

PORTLAND, Ore.- Finding that teeth are not a dangerous weapon, The Oregon Court of Appeals Wednesday overturned a first-degree assault conviction. The case grew out of a 2008 fight, The Oregonian Fellow reported. The two Marion County men involved in the incident were "both incredibly drunk," said Mark Obert, attorney for 30-year-old Scott Russell Kuperus II, who bit off a chunk of his neighbor's ear. Convicted of first-degree assault and second-degree assault, Kuperus was sentenced to 90 months in prison. One requirement for a first-degree assault charge is use of a dangerous weapon, defined by state law as any weapon...

I see Oregon is really putting some "teeth" into their laws... Biting your opponent during a brawl may violate the rules of what's considered a fair fight, but it doesn't turn the attack into first-degree assault. The Oregon Court of Appeals has ruled Wednesday that teeth cannot be considered dangerous weapon in a case that grew out of a 2008 fight between two Marion County men. During the fight, 30-year-old Scott Russell Kuperus II, clamped down and took out a chunk of his opponent's lower ear. He was arrested and later convicted of first-degree assault and second-degree assault and sentenced...

And in the "Is there anyone more outrageous than Charlie Sheen" category, we have Tina Belinda Masta. Witnesses say a drunken Tina Belinda Masta, 46, cursed at three men, threw rocks at them, pulled her clothes off and threatened to beat them up in Naples on Saturday evening, reports the Naples Daily News.

I found all of these on my first outting in one creek. I was told the large teeth are from a mastodon but they don't look like the ones I've seen on the web. The vertabra I was told, are maybe from a mosasaur.

A British man who endured agonising earaches for 33 years says he can finally sleep easy after doctors removed a tooth from his ear canal. Stephen Hirst said he went to hospital for one final attempt to diagnose the source of the pain when the nurse made the discovery, the Daily Express reports. "The nurse put a suction tube in my ear and cleaned it, then she had a go with a microscope probe and finally used some tweezers," Mr Hirst was quoted as saying. "She said she couldn’t believe what she’d found in my ear and showed me the...

Could this new gel be the biggest dental breakthrough since the introduction of fluoride? THE GIST A new gel could soon eliminate painful fillings and root canals. The technology doesn't prevent cavities; it heals teeth by regenerating them. Although this is good news for teeth, the research could also be applied to heal bones and other tissues in the body. Dentists could soon hang up their drills. A new peptide, embedded in a soft gel or a thin, flexible film and placed next to a cavity, encourages cells inside teeth to regenerate in about a month, according to a new...

Open wide: Thanks to a new gel, soon this won't hurt A gel that can help decayed teeth grow back in just weeks may mean an end to fillings. The gel, which is being developed by scientists in France, works by prompting cells in teeth to start multiplying. They then form healthy new tooth tissue that gradually replaces what has been lost to decay. Researchers say in lab studies it took just four weeks to restore teeth back to their original healthy state. The gel contains melanocyte-stimulating hormone, or MSH. We produce this in the pituitary gland, a pea-sized gland...

One of the most requested new dental procedures that has become very popular over the past few years is dental implants. All the young hip kids are talking about it, and dentists. Dental implants are artificial tooth replacements used to counter tooth loss, according to YourDentistryGuide.com. The procedure is categorized as a form of prosthetic (artificial replacement) dentistry, though it also falls into the category of cosmetic dentistry as well. Although you have a number of restorative options for the treatment of missing teeth, none have proven to be as functionally effective and durable as implants. In many cases, dental...

Researchers have discovered the fossilised remains of an ancient whale with huge, fearsome teeth. Writing in the journal Nature, the scientists have dubbed the 12 million-year-old creature "Leviathan". It is thought to have been more than 17m long, and might have engaged in fierce battles with other giant sea creatures from the time. Leviathan was much like the modern sperm whale in terms of size and appearance. Continue reading the main story At the same time in the same waters was another monster... they might have fought each other Dr Christian de Muizon Natural History Museum, Paris But that is...

Conventional dental implants are typically screwed into the patient’s jaw bone, require visits to several types of clinicians, take two to six months to heal, and are still subject to failure. Not exactly an ideal solution to missing teeth. A professor of dental medicine at Columbia University Medical Center, however, has devised a technique wherein implants could be grown in the empty tooth socket, right inside the patient’s mouth. Dr. Jeremy Mao started with a tooth-shaped scaffold made of microchannelled natural materials, infused with a growth factor. In an animal-model study, he placed that structure in a recipient’s empty tooth...

Pacu fish, cousins to the piranha and known as "frugivores," have human-like teeth that can crack nuts and fruits.

The lower half of George Washington’s dentures is on display at Mount Vernon. Msnbc.com’s Becca Field reports.

1. Biloxi, Miss. 2. Huntington, W.Va. 3. Mobile, Ala. 4. Tulsa, Okla. 5. Baton Rouge, La. 6. Bristol, Tenn. 7. Greensboro, N.C. 8. Houston, Texas 9. Atlanta, Ga. 10. Las Vegas, Nev. 11. Miami, Fla. 12. St. Louis, Mo. 13. Little Rock, Ark. 14. Albuquerque, N.M.

I have seen no less than a million of these "Housewife discovers teeth whitening secret ads on facebook and just about every single website with any advertising content on it. I refuse to pay any money to these shills by clicking on their ads, but my curiosity is getting the better of me. Has anyone out there actually found out what this stupid thing is and want to share so I can stop being freaked out by all the teeth on my computer screen? Is anybody else experiencing these ads, or is it just targeting me and my aging, yellowing...

Gordon Taylor got a surprising answer when he asked for a dentist's daughter's hand in marriage – 'Yes, as long as you get your teeth fixed.' The 32-year-old was told he must have a series of fillings and cosmetic surgery before he could walk down the aisle with Sarah Lewis, 26. Her father, Dr Philip Lewis, even made him wear a 'snap-on smile' cosmetic denture for the wedding in Cowes, the Isle of Wight. 'I didn't mean to neglect my teeth, I guess it was just the lifestyle I was leading,' said Mr Taylor. 'When I met Sarah, I guess...

Somali Islamists pull out gold teeth of 'sinners' REUTERS 11 August 2009, 12:32am IST MOGADISHU: Residents of a coastal town in southern Somalia are living by the skin of their teeth, quite literally. Somali Islamist group al Shabaab is forcibly removing gold and silver teeth from residents in southern Somalia because it says they contravene the strict law of Islam, residents said on Monday. Residents in Marka say al Shabaab has been rounding up anyone seen with a silver or gold tooth and taking them to a masked man who then rips them out using basic tools. "I never thought...

The researchers used a fluorescent protein to track gene expression Researchers in Japan have successfully grown replacement teeth in mice, according to a report in PNAS journal.

Lol...

Records, Writings Reveal Sotomayor's Background, Shape Confirmation Debate The five boxes of files delivered to Capitol Hill gave senators a fuller picture of Sonia Sotomayor's background and record, as well as of how President Obama came to nominate his first Supreme Court choice ### Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has sent a Senate panel a massive portfolio of personal details and writings that lawmakers will pore over with a fine-tooth comb to shape the debate on her confirmation. The five boxes of files delivered to Capitol Hill gave senators a fuller picture of Sotomayor's background and record, as well as...

The glittering "grills" of some hip-hop stars aren't exactly unprecedented. Sophisticated dentistry allowed Native Americans to add bling to their teeth as far back as 2,500 years ago, a new study says. Ancient peoples of southern North America went to "dentists"—among the earliest known—to beautify their chompers with notches, grooves, and semiprecious gems, according to a recent analysis of thousands of teeth examined from collections in Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History (such as the skull above, found in Chiapas, Mexico). Scientists don't know the origin of most of the teeth in the collections, which belonged to people living...

Tom Cruise has bad teeth. His smile is all gummy, his gums are all red and irritated, his two front teeth are like Chicklets, and they are off center. Steve Buscemi has bad teeth, but he is a great actor. He has that one awful snaggle tooth. It's like that one tooth is British. The rest of his mouth isn't pretty, but that one makes me nauseous. More on site

Teeth are able to heal themselves. That's how traditional cultures such as the Inuit can wear their teeth down to the pulp due to chewing leather and sand-covered dried fish, yet still have an exceptionally low rate of tooth decay. It's also how the African Wakamba tribe can file their front teeth into sharp points without causing decay. Both cultures lost their resistance to tooth decay after adopting nutrient-poor Western foods such as white flour and sugar. ... When enamel is poorly formed and the diet isn't adequate, enamel dissolves and decay sets in. Tooth decay is an opportunistic infection...

Cheat hubby's willy severed   Pain ... angry wife bit off hubby's manhood  Published: 23 Mar 2009     A FURIOUS wife bit off her hubby's manhood after waking up to find him in a clinch with her best friend. Katya Kharitovonova, 36, was jailed for two years for the wounds she inflicted on hubby Mikhail, 40, and his lover Liza Dmitriyeva, 33. The Russian couple had gone for a walk when they met Katya's pal Liza and invited her home for a meal. After eating, they settled down to watch HG Wells movie The War of the Worlds...

FALMOUTH – What’s in your wallet? A Walmart customer shopping around for a new wallet found 10 human teeth while looking through a wallet he was about to buy on Saturday night, police said. More Times Breaking News Police said the man was shopping in the Teaticket Highway store at 9:58 p.m., when he unzipped one of the wallet’s compartments and discovered what police have identified as 10 human teeth. One tooth – which police said are from an adult – had a filling, police said. The male customer turned the wallet and the teeth over to Walmart employees, but...

WASHINGTON – Ever wonder why sharks get several rows of teeth and people only get one? Some geneticists did, and their discovery could spur work to help adults one day grow new teeth when their own wear out. A single gene appears to be in charge, preventing additional tooth formation in species destined for a limited set. When the scientists bred mice...

A breakthrough by scientists could see dentures bite the dust. Researchers have pinpointed the gene that governs the production of tooth enamel, raising the tantalising possibility of people one day growing extra teeth when needed. At the very least, it could cut the need for painful fillings. Experiments in mice have previously shown that the gene, a 'transcription factor' called Ctip2, is involved in the immune system and in the development of skin and nerves. The latest research, from Oregon State University in the U.S., adds enamel production to the list. The researchers made the link by studying mice genetically...

Neurological disorders are among the most difficult disease for patients and their loved ones to deal with, as the root of what makes an individual, their mind, is attacked by disease or affected by injury. Scientists have now discovered a new stem cell therapy for Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease initially, that could have implications for neurological disorders as wide ranging as Alzheimer's, dementia, epilepsy and stem cell therapy for stroke. Adult stem cell cures via the new source, dental pulp, could be personalized and easily available, as they can be harvested during simple visits to the dentist. We look...

calling for the banning of flouride and the dangers of poisoning -

ADELAIDE, Australia, September 19, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Researchers within the University of Adelaide's new Centre for Stem Cell Research are aiming by the end of this year to show repair in stroke-damaged brains using stem cells taken from adult teeth. The world-leading research using dental pulp stem cells from extracted human teeth and stroke-affected rat brain tissue will be outlined as part of the launch of the Centre for Stem Cell Research. The focus of the new Centre will be on turning novel basic research into potential life-saving treatments and cures for serious conditions and diseases. The Centre will draw...

Japanese scientists said Friday they had derived stem cells from wisdom teeth, opening another way to study deadly diseases without the ethical controversy of using embryos... (AFP articles cannot be republished)Click here for the article.