According to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, a division of the US National Institutes of Health, "oral health in general has improved significantly over the past several decades in all population subgroups." However, despite the improvement in oral health among adult Americans, "significant disparities are still found in some population groups."

Keeping your body healthy involves more than eating nutritious foods and getting the occasional bit of exercise. In fact, research has been done which increasingly reinforces the relationship between oral health and body health.

It goes without saying that losing your teeth can affect your bite. What few mention however, is that tooth loss can also take a bite out of your social life.

In a report from March this year at ScienceDaily.com, evidence is presented of a "potential association of tooth loss with depression and anxiety." The information was taken from a report presented by R. Constance Wiener, from West Virginia University, Morgantown, at the 43rd Annual Meeting & Exhibition of the American Association for Dental Research (AADR). The report was entitled, "Association of Tooth Loss and Depression and Anxiety."

Total tooth replacement is not the most popular subject to talk about with friends or family members. However, if you’ve lost most, or all, of your teeth – for whatever reason, getting the best dentures you can is an important step to regaining your smile, eating a healthy diet, and improving your self-esteem.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), dental caries (or tooth decay), "affects children in the United States more than any other chronic infectious disease." When left untreated, tooth decay in children can cause more than eating problems, leading to difficulty speaking, playing with others, and learning. Yet, this type of oral infection in children is largely preventable.

According to the website, WebMD, the best foods for oral health and strong teeth are "cheeses, chicken or other meats, nuts, and milk." Not only do these feed your body, they also "feed" your teeth, providing "the calcium and phosphorus needed to re-mineralize teeth," or rebuild the surface where tooth enamel has been removed by acids.

Sure, we know that keeping your dentist happy is not the #1 item on your list of priorities. However, we also know that, if you do manage to keep your dentist happy, your teeth will remain healthy and strong for life. In an effort to help you do just that, the Dental Health Blog would like to offer 7 Tips for Healthy Teeth that most of our patients are surprised to discover.

Since our goals here at The Dental Health is to educate, inform, and provide guidance, and since most people visit their MD far more often than their dentist, we think it’s time to talk about the amount of oral health education that takes place in medical schools. After all, if you're seeking medical advice on any subject, it makes sense to ask your MD, right?

While the thought of total tooth replacement therapy is frightening to many, it need not be so.

Dentures are, and long have been, an important and effective tooth replacement therapy for partial and/or total tooth loss. In fact, as the US population continues to live longer and grow older, more than 30 million Americans are currently wearing full dentures or partial dentures; with estimates rising to nearly 40 million denture wearers by the year 2020. As these numbers continue to grow, new technologies and applications are being devised to make dentures more comfortable, more natural in appearance, and easier to wear and care for, such as dental implants for anchoring dentures.

While diabetes offers a range of health problems, most of which are well known, the least discussed and understood problem for diabetics is probably oral health problems as a result of diabetes. Since it is our goal at the Dental Health Blog to help you understand oral health more fully, while not trying to reinvent the wheel so to speak, we would like to share this piece from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.

In 2008 the American Dental Association (ADA), in collaboration with Crest and Oral-B, published a study of oral hygiene in the US. Titled, "The Public Speaks Up on Oral Health Care," the study surveyed a random sample of 1,000 Americans on their understanding of their own dental health; their knowledge of effective dental care; oral health habits among youth; and the importance of a healthy smile.

It’s not at all unusual for patients to experience slippage in their dentures over time. This can be more than embarrassing and annoying, it can also lead to problems with eating, which can actually cause patients to become under-nourished. A great solution to such problems is using dental implants to anchor dentures.

We’ve written about this subject before, here at the Dental Health Blog, more than once. However, thanks to the relentless advertising on television and radio of a certain "national chain" of dental offices, we’re asked about the practice of one day tooth replacement on an almost daily basis. Plus, we now see pernicious advertising for "teeth in an hour," or "All-on-4" tooth replacement therapies hammering the airwaves and the internet.

According to an article at the Wall Street Journal online site, wsj.com, there were more than 350 types and brands of toothpaste available in early 2011, which were the latest numbers we could find. Not surprisingly, with commercial floor space being so expensive, retailers are working to reduce the number of units they offer. Yet, with so many types and brands to choose from, many consumers still have questions about which is the "best" toothpaste to buy and use.

With a little bit of help from one of our favorite online resources, Wikipedia, today we hope to help you understand the differences between a general dentist and a prosthodontist. We believe this information will help you make a more informed decision when you are considering your choices for tooth replacement therapy, cosmetic dentistry, or any oral specialty.

If you’re considering tooth replacement therapy using dentures, it would be a good idea to understand what you can expect as you begin to get used to your new dentures.

A new dental health website has recently gone live. Sponsored by the American Dental Association (ADA), MouthHealthy.org offers helpful, up-to-date oral health information for your entire family.

Have you begun to use probiotics recently? They are incredibly popular today, for people who wish to increase the amount of healthy bacteria in their stomachs. Now, The Dental Health Blog would like to introduce you to dental probiotics; a product designed to increase the amount of healthy bacteria that occurs naturally in your mouth, improving dental health.