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> Tooth Whitening - introduction
By sedron | November 10, 2007
Tooth whitening is becoming a popular trend in our culture. The appearance of teeth is very important to patients of all ages and is often associated with perception of health and fitness. The reduction in frequency and severity of caries has led to preservation of natural teeth in older patients. Since white teeth are conceived to be associated with health and beauty, lighter-colored teeth have become desirable. There are several methods of tooth whitening. Before jumping right into any of the methods, it is beneficial to first discuss your oral health needs with qualified professionals (ie, your dentists) so as to achieve your goals safely and correctly!
In the next few weeks, please join us in learning and discussing in this information series:
All That You Need To Know About Tooth Whitening
- What affects tooth color, anyway?!
- What options are available to modify tooth color?
- What is dental bleaching?
- How does it work?
- Is it safe to the teeth?
- What bleaching systems work and what not?
- Which part of tooth structure does dental bleaching act on?
- What aspects to be aware of when reading tooth whitening advertising?
- Are there any contraindication to dental bleaching?
- …and more
These are just a few topics that will be discussed. We welcome you to join this information seminar. Stay tuned. Bookmark this article if interested.
Tooth Whitening 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
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Tags: Cosmetic Dentistry, Dentistry, Health & Well Being | No Comments »
> BNP Blood Test Predicts Heart Attack
By sedron | November 10, 2007
Wanna know if you’ll get a heart attack? Simply take a blood test.
BNP (Brain-type natriuretic peptide) may be useful as a indicator to identify heart patients at high risk of heart failure within the next 4 years. Its production is elevated when the heart muscle is damaged or under excessive stress (ie, the muscle becomes over-stretched due to inability to pump the blood out of the heart chamber efficiently and timely enough). Each time some blood remains inside the heart chamber, the heart has to pump extra harder next time to get rid of it. If not, more and more blood becomes trapped inside the heart. As the vicious cycle continues, the heart eventually undergoes fatigue and the blood accumulates inside the heart, leading to the so-called “congested” heart failure or heart attack.
Predicting whether someone will have a heart attack or stroke within the next four years could be as simple as taking a blood test.
A study of nearly 1,000 people with stable coronary heart disease found those with the highest levels of a protein linked to stretched or stressed heart muscle were nearly eight times more likely to die or to have a heart attack, stroke or heart failure than those with the lowest levels.
The findings held after all other risks factors, such as high blood pressure, were taken into account. As well, the blood test identified people at high risk even when other routine tests assessing heart function came back normal.
“That was what was so amazing,” said principal author Dr. Mary Whooley, an associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Her team’s research is published in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association.
Tags: Medicine, Health & Well Being | No Comments »
> The Frog in the Well
By sedron | November 10, 2007
One day, lumbering up from the ocean, a tortoise passed by a well. Curious at the music coming from the well, the tortoise took a look and saw a frog in the well.
Tortoise: “Do you live in this well?”
Frog: “Yep. I live like a king here! When I leap into the water, it supports my weight and keeps me afloat. When I dive below the surface, I relax and let the mud massage my legs. And, in the evening, if I don’t want to stay in the well, I jump up and stretch out in a chink in the side of the well, where I sleep and dream curious dreams. In the morning, I jump down and play all around the well. I’m happy like this every day. I see crabs and tadpoles in the well, too, but I don’t think they’re as happy as I am. Well, come on in and take a look.”
Tortoise: “I can’t fit. Your well is too small.”
Frog: “But it’s so big. How can you say it’s small?
Tortoise: “If you want to talk big, the East Sea is big.”
Frog: “Bigger than my well?”
Tortoise: “The East Sea is so big that a thousand miles isn’t enough to measure the distance across, and a thousand yards isn’t enough to measure its depth. You know, there was a time long long ago when 9 years out of 10 there were continuous rain and floods, yet the East Sea didn’t get any bigger. And another time, 7 years out of 8, there was a continuous drought, and yet the East Sea didn’t get any smaller. Now that is BIG. Your well is nothing in comparison”
Frog in a disgruntled mood: “Liar!”
In summary, the frog tries to convince the turtle to join him in his wonderful well. After trying to get in and getting stuck, the turtle withdraws and tells the frog instead of how deep and wide the sea is. The frog is left dumfounded. This Chinese fable has come to represent a state of limited vision and even ignorance ? of not being able to see outside one?s own immediate environment.
The frog was limited by his well, just like people are limited by knowledge. Knowledge can make us great, but it can also make us small, so we have to go beyond mere knowledge.
Tags: Reader's Digest | No Comments »
> Good Wine, Bad Wine
By sedron | November 7, 2007
Long long ago, a country named “Chu” threw a magnificent feast and invited noblemen from its neighboring countries. Country “Lu” and “Zhao” brought gifts of their most famous wines to the King of Chu.
The Chu wine minister heard that Zhao’s wine is of a most excellent vintage and asked the Zhao wine minister if he could have a taste before the wine was presneted to the King of Chu. However Zhao wine minister rejected his request. This curt rejection angered the Chu wine minister, who then switched the Zhao wine with the inferior Lu wine.
When the wine was presented to the King of Chu, the Chu wine minister told the King, “Your Majesty, Zhao intentionally sent us inferior quality wine.”
After the feast, the Chu King sent an army out which surrounded and captured the capital of Zhao.
Wine can not only bring happiness and good times, but it can also bring death and destruction. And…how often do people end up failing because of focusing on material goods, such as fame, monetary gains, etc? The higher a person climbs, the deeper he will fall. Often time, isn’t this the case?
Tags: Reader's Digest | No Comments »
> Eruption Sequence of Baby Teeth
By sedron | November 6, 2007
What is the eruption sequence of baby teeth? Which tooth comes out first? Which tooth comes after?
To get started, let’s first learn the names of the baby teeth, so that you know which tooth is which.
The following time table indicates the average eruption time (in months after birth) of each tooth among the general population. They are average values, so the variation can range ±6 months.
| Eruption Sequence of Deciduous Teeth (Baby Teeth / Primary Teeth) in months after birth |
|||||
| central incisor |
lateral incisor |
canine | 1st molar | 2nd molar | |
| Upper | 10 [2] | 11 [3] | 19 [7] | 16 [6] | 29 [10] |
| Lower | 8 [1] | 13 [4] | 20 [8] | 16 [5] | 27 [9] |
The data is based on the Journal of American Dental Association: 1974; 89:872-879.
The number in bracket indicates the “order” of eruption.
The number beside bracket indicate the “month” of eruption on average.
General Trend & Cheat Sheet
- central incisor > lateral incisor > 1st molar > canine > 2nd molar
- First molar comes out during the First year of age.
- Second molar comes out during the Second year of age.
- By age of 3, all 20 deciduous teeth should be present.
- With full eruption, babies have 20 teeth, whereas adults have 32 teeth.
- If you’re really picky, you can remember the “order” of eruption sequence. See the red number in the above time table. You’ll notice the order goes clockwise, then counter-clockwise, and finally kinda half clockwise. Easy?
First Dental Visit for Kid
When should a baby start seeing a dentist?
It’s recommended by American Academy of Pediatrics that every child should begin to receive oral health risk assessment by the age of 6 months (ie, when the first tooth starts to come out) from a pediatrician or a qualified pediatric health care professional. [Pediatrics 2003; 111:1113-1116]
Tags: Pedodontics, Dentistry, Health & Well Being | No Comments »
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