Do you snore? Do you have high blood pressure? Is your neck size bigger than 17 (men) or 15.5 inches (women)? Have you had anyone tell you that they heard you stop breathing for several seconds in the night and then take a gasping breath?

If you answered yes to 3 or more of these questions then you are very likely to be suffering from Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). In fact, 50% of snorers (over age 35) have OSA. This is a serious sleep disorder that can have enormous implications to your daily health and safety.   People with OSA are 23 times more likely to have a heart attack, 24% report falling asleep at the wheel at least once a week. Read on for more....

If you are one of the millions of Americans taking medicine to improve your bone density and stem the tide of osteoporosis, then you may have heard that there is a dental component to this equation. The link between dental health and osteoporosis came up when oral surgeons (dentists who extract teeth) found that small percentage of people taking bone density medicines did not heal well after routine tooth removal. We have had questions about this topic so I thought I would do some homework for you in order to pull some “bottom-line” information out of the confusion.

Twenty years ago when I graduated from dental school there was significant speculation that tooth decay would eventually cease to exist due to the prevalent use of Fluoride in the public water systems, toothpastes, bottled water, mouth rinses and vitamins. At that point (1987) no one would have guessed that school districts would allow soft drink companies to market and sell directly to students from within our schools. We would never dream that things would progress to the point that average Americans drinks 53 gallons of soda per year, per person. I was shocked to learn that 20 years ago teens drank twice as much milk as soda, but now they drink twice as much soda as milk. And now we have sports drinks and bottled teas. Are they safe for your teeth? Read on......

If you are concerned about the recent news reports regarding the chemical BPA in plastic water bottles, then you might also have concerns about BPA in all sorts of other “plastics” that have become ubiquitous in modern life: the lining of soup and baby formula cans, plastic dinnerware and many refillable drinking containers that we all send with our kids to the soccer field.  Should you worry about BPA in baby bottles and sippy cups? What next?...  How about our plastic dental fillings? I got my first question on that subject the other day from a patient who is trying to be a conscientious consumer and it inspired me to look into this whole problem. Here’s a little of what I found…..

 The Heart and Gum Disease Connection

How are you? No really,  Are you watching what you eat? Exercising regularly?Feeling at the top of your game?   Do you have a terrific primary care physician? How about your teeth and gums? No complaints?  Do your gums ever bleed when you brush or floss? They shouldn’t. That’s a sure sign of problem. How about bad breath? Are your teeth shifting slightly? Are your gums receding faster than your hairline? Is the gum tissue, right next to your teeth,reddish instead of very light pink? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then all may not be well. Unfortunately, any of those things can be signs of gum disease, and the point of this article is to tell you about this common condition and its recently discovered to heart disease.