Oral Health Connected with Head/Neck Cancer
September 8, 2009 by Marijke Durning, RN
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
It’s already known that your oral health – the condition of your gums, in particular – can have an effect on your heart healthy, but now researchers are finding that there may also be a connection with head and neck cancers.
Chronic periodontitis, progressive bone loss and loosening of soft tissue surrounding the teeth, was to add to the risk of head and neck cancers, in particular, cancers in the mouth. In a study published in the most recent issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, researchers came to this conclusion after after studying 463 patients (207 control patients).
“Although …read more
Interesting Connection: Teeth & Arthritis
June 12, 2009 by Marijke Durning, RN
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
Although we see a separate group of health professionals when it comes to our mouth (dentist, orthodontist, endodontist, oral surgeon), our oral health is far from being separate from the rest of our body. Often, the condition of our teeth and gums is reflective of the condition of our whole body.
Doctors have known for a while that there’s a connection between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and oral health and now research has put the two together, according to two separate studies presented at a medical conference in Denmark this week.
The first study found that 56% of people who had RA also …read more
What are wisdom teeth and why do we have them?
June 16, 2008 by Marijke Durning, RN
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
Your wisdom teeth are the last teeth to break through, or erupt. Usually, they erupt in the late teens or early twenties. According to the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS), “Anthropologists note that the rough diet of early humans resulted in the excessive wear of their teeth. Normal drifting of the teeth to compensate for this wear ensured that space was available for most wisdom teeth to erupt by adolescence. The modern diet, which is much softer, and the popularity of orthodontic tooth straightening procedures produce a fuller dental arch, which quite commonly doesn’t leave room …read more




