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Tongue Tie

Tongue Tie Tongue Tie: There are seven frena (also called frenula) in the mouth, found in the top, bottom, sides of the mouth, underneath the upper and lower lips, and below the tongue. A frenum (singular for frena) is a fleshy piece of soft tissue comprised of elastic and striated muscle fibres attached between the gums and the other tissue…
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Moderate Sedation with Nitrous Oxide and Benzodiazepine

Moderate Sedation with Nitrous Oxide and Benzodiazepine Moderate sedation: Dentistry has long been associated with pain, fear and anxiety. Fortunately, most of the general population in North America are slightly to somewhat afraid of dentistry, but over 5.5% are highly phobic about dental treatments. 15% of the people are interested in having sedation during a dental visit. We all know…
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Gum Disease Treatment

Gum Disease Treatment The goal of gum disease treatment is to control the infection and restore the health of the gums and bones. There are two approaches to it – allopathic and holistic. The two approaches are not mutually exclusive and can be employed together to achieve "wholistic" results. When I say holistic approach, I do not narrowly mean detoxification…
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Gum Disease Risk Factors

Gum Disease Risk Factors Gum disease risk factors could affect your overall health. Gum disease is classified by stage and grade – like cancer staging. After conducting a thorough assessment of your gum health and bone status, dentists/periodontists assign a stage ranging from initial to severe, localized to general, that describes the acuteness of the disease. We also give a…
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Gum Disease

Gum disease is a general diagnostic term used by the public referring to diseases in the gum tissues. We have gum disease when we see our gums are swollen, red, bleeding (when touched or during brushing), receded, enlarged, purulent or painful. Indeed, gum disease does not only refer to the pink or red gums that are readily visible; it also…
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Holistic and Wellness Dentistry

Holistic and Wellness Dentistry: Dentists were traditionally regarded as teeth doctors. However, I believe dentists are oral and maxillofacial physicians for the following reasons: We have education in general medicine, surgery and pathology in dental school. We have training in recognizing (and sometimes diagnosing) diseases in the said areas. At the same time, we can see manifestations of some illnesses…
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Omicron Sar-Cov2 versus Influenza

When the world started to regroup and gather together, as the number of COVID cases dropped, in late November 2021, there was news about the new Omicron variant first reported in South Africa that this variant has been shown severely contagious.  At the start of the COVID province-wide lockdown on March 23, 2020 (right after the march break), there were…
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Manual or Electric Toothbrushes

Toothbrushing is the most effective way to remove food debris and plaque from the teeth, which helps prevent cavities, gingivitis, periodontitis, candidiasis and bad breath. There are manual and electric toothbrushes. Within each type, there are a few options available. So, what kind of toothbrush is best? Let’s look at manual toothbrushes first. There are two major types of manual…
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Management of Stressors in Dentistry

Last week, I blogged about dentists' stress in their clinical lives. Stress can never be eliminated from a dental practice. However, it must be minimized as much as possible to avoid the many stress-related physical and emotional problems that it causes. The key to successfully managing stress is recognizing and understanding its causes. Once the causes have been identified and…