You are currently browsing the archives for October 2009

Implants – The Most Natural Way to Replace a Missing Tooth

  • Posted on October 30, 2009 at 4:42 pm



Over the years, you may have had to have a tooth pulled, or lost a few due to accident or gum disease. Most likely you have been wearing a partial denture, or even a bridge appliance to substitute for the missing teeth. Now, due to advances in dentistry, you can actually replace those using dental implants for missing teeth.

People have had a great deal of satisfaction with their dental implants. No more do they have to remove their teeth to clean them, don’t have to deal with messy pastes or getting sticky gums all over themselves. Dental implants, when used to replace missing teeth have been found to be extremely durable and very functional. In fact, many times they are the only alternative to replacing missing teeth that will continue to help the remaining teeth stay healthy.

The recent advancements, such as the smaller titanium tooth-roots that are used to place the teeth permanently in the bone, show dental implants for missing teeth to be one of the most effective and the strongest alternative for many people. Even people who have had all of their teeth removed for many years, and have severe bone loss have been found to be able to have dental implants for missing teeth.

The thin titanium tooth-root simply fits right into even the thinnest bone, or right next to it. As the bone is rejuvenated, the metal tooth-root is actually grown into the bone resulting is stronger, healthier bone and gum tissue. Originally the smaller diameter titanium tooth-root was used solely while the bone tissue built up in order to replace it with the thicker, more durable screw. It has been found that the thinner titanium tooth-root may be just as durable and long-wearing as the thicker one, and is easier to place within the bone.

The entire appointment for dental implants for missing teeth is very simple after the initial consultation where you may have had a mold taken of your mouth so a guiding stent can be made. The dentist will numb you in the general area, and place the titanium tooth-root in place. After a period of healing, a crown can be placed on the implant which will look very much like the original tooth. Multiple teeth can be placed in this manner at one time, giving you a great, natural looking smile very quickly with virtually no discomfort.

Continue reading Implants – The Most Natural Way to Replace a Missing Tooth

Care to leave a comment?

Dental Implants Vs Bridge – Which is Best?

  • Posted on October 26, 2009 at 4:32 am



When you need dental work and your choices are dental implants or a bridge, you will need to know everything there is to know about each of them in order to make an informed decision. Consider the pros and cons of each. Let’s discuss the cons first, so we can end on a positive note.

The Cons

Bridges require that perfectly healthy teeth to be shaved down and covered. This can cause the roots to rot away which will put you right back in the chair, either getting a new bridge or implants. Another issue that comes up with having your teeth decay away is that the jaw starts to wear away as well. This is not only a cosmetic concern, but a health concern as well.

Rotting teeth can cause infection and periodontal disease. Bridges are also more apt to be noticeable – looking slightly different than your other teeth.

Implants are more expensive and are not covered by most insurance plans. They usually require more work than having a bridge put in. It can take months to have your implants finished. You may have to have bone taken out and essentially rebuilt. These can range in price from $2,000 to $30,000, depending on how many teeth need to be done and how much work it takes to do it.

Pros

Bridges are usually covered by insurance plans. Compared to implants, bridges are a low cost treatment in the short term. Even if you don’t have insurance, bridges are a cheaper alternative. You can have your bridge work taken care of in just a couple of visits.

Implants look more genuine than bridges. They are literally implanted into bone and you won’t have to worry about having dental surgery to take out rotting roots. They preserve what you have and are not a cause of periodontal disease. In the long term, they are more reliable than bridges.
Implants are recommended for anyone under the age of 70 because of their reliability.

It seems that implants are the way to go if you have a choice between the two. If you don’t have the money to cover the treatment, there are many specialists out there who offer payment plans. This may be a valid consideration for you.

Continue reading Dental Implants Vs Bridge – Which is Best?

Care to leave a comment?

Drug Scare – Link Between Femur Fractures and Bone-Loss Drugs

  • Posted on October 25, 2009 at 3:27 am



Jeanette, a resident of Warren, Michigan has recently stopped taking her bisphosphonate drug due to reports of a link between femur fractures and bone-loss drugs. According to an ABC News report, on March 10, 2010,the 66 year old retiree was prescribed hormone replacement therapy to reduce her risk of heart disease. But after 15 years of taking that drug, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. In 2002, Jeanette learned that HRT actually increased the risk of not only heart disease, but also of breast cancer. That was a very difficult time for her.

After that experience, Jeanette used a bisphosphonate drug for her osteopenia, for 7 years before she recently learned that bisphosphonates may actually weaken bones instead of making them stronger. Jeanette is understandably “confused”. She said her doctor wants her to take another bone drug, but she is afraid that these very drugs that she thought were helping her may have made her bones weaker than they were before she took them. She is terrified of having a bone fracture.

Do you feel like Jeanette? It is definitely not necessary for most people to take bisphosphonates, especially with such serious side effects, or any other drug to have healthy, strong bones. It is always wise to pursue the natural methods before using drugs for any condition, unless it is a severe emergency case.

I am very thankful that I was able to strengthen my own weak bones with all natural methods. One concern many have these days is that the FDA seemingly responds to pressure from the pharmaceutical companies to approve new drugs quickly before they have been thoroughly tested for long term use. A conscientious doctor may sincerely want to help his patients, but he doesn’t have time to do the research himself, so depends upon the company literature to inform him about the drugs, when often the literature may be slanted in favor of the drug, without any emphasis upon the side effects or complications.

For Jeanette, doctors have twice prescribed medications with great certainty only to second-guess the outcomes. Is it any wonder she is confused? Just this past week, after NBC news investigated and reported their findings concerning the bone drug, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it will look into whether or not a link exists between the bisphosphonate drugs and a strange type of leg fracture. In many cases, women who have taken the bisphosphonate drugs for long periods of time have had their femur bones snap while doing little more than just taking a walk.

Dr. Kenneth Egol, professor of orthopedic surgery at NYU Langone Medical Center stated. “We are seeing people just walking, walking down the steps, or patients who are doing low energy exercise have their femur snap. He said this is very unusual as the femur is one of he strongest bones in the entire body.”

I am anxious for the FDA to recognize this problem that has already caused many women a great deal of pain. And I hope this article will serve as a warning to some who have not been aware of this side effects of the medication they are taking.

Continue reading Drug Scare – Link Between Femur Fractures and Bone-Loss Drugs

Care to leave a comment?

How Physical Therapy for Osteoporosis Helps

  • Posted on at 2:40 am



Osteoporosis affects millions of people and is the second biggest health problem worldwide. Osteoporosis is the condition wherein the bones lose mass and the bone tissues deteriorate. Osteoporosis makes bones thin, fragile, and highly susceptible to fractures.

How does osteoporosis occur? The body continuously eliminates and creates bone cells. As a person grows old, usually starting in the 30′s, the body’s process of creating bone cells becomes slower than the process of removing them resulting in a great deficit in bone mass. In addition to aging, other factors that make a person at risk of osteoporosis are smoking, sedentary lifestyle, early menopause, and family history.

Known as a silent disease, osteoporosis manifests itself only when the condition is already serious. Most people who suffer from osteoporosis had no idea they had the disease until they experience a fracture or severe pain in the back. What most people are not aware of is you can prevent this disease early in life through exercise and daily calcium intake.

For those at risk of developing osteoporosis or already diagnosed with it, physical therapy for osteoporosis is one of the best ways to fight this disease. Many qualified physical therapists specialize in the treatment of osteoporosis. Physical therapy for osteoporosis begins with a thorough physical evaluation where the therapist identifies restrictions, imbalances and, specifically, what activities and movements the patient is capable of or is limited to doing. The evaluation serves as the basis for the creation of a customized physical therapy program

Physical therapy for osteoporosis patients without a fracture includes strengthening exercises and resistance exercises intended to increase bone mass and make bone-supporting muscles stronger to help prevent fractures. To ease the stress on your bones, your physical therapist will also teach you about body balance, body mechanics and posture. Your therapist will also work with you to find out if there are any risks to you at home and at work such as specific activities that can lead to bone fracture.

Physical therapy for osteoporosis patients suffering a fracture involves specific exercises and other treatment methods designed for pain relief and bone strengthening as well as prevention of fractures in the future.

In addition to exercises, physical therapy for osteoporosis may also include massage, manual therapy, exercises such as Pilates, tai chi and yoga and heat and cold therapies for pain management.

Physical therapy for osteoporosis seeks to strengthen bones, increase flexibility and manage pain. It also increases the patient’s awareness of the body and develops responsibility for their own health.

Continue reading How Physical Therapy for Osteoporosis Helps

Care to leave a comment?

Air Pollution From Urban Soot

  • Posted on October 22, 2009 at 9:22 pm



Soot, by any other name, would still be an unexciting pollutant, lacking the panache of more highly publicized environmental contaminants such as PCB, dioxin, and lead. But for all its commonplace associations, soot may turn out to be a serious contender in the world of health-threatening substances. A new study has made it so.

A few years ago, a comprehensive study on the health risks of breathing soot was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The lead author of the study, C. Arden Pope III, an epidemiologist at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, was careful to eliminate weaknesses that had plagued the credibility of previous studies. The effort involved tracking, during a 20-year period, more than 500,000 volunteers recruited by the American Cancer Society.

The study confirmed what many environmental scientists had suspected for years: Breathing soot at concentrations found in large and mid-sized U.S. cities increases the risk of dying from lung cancer and heart disease by 4 to 8%. According to William Becker, head of a Washington, D.C. group that represents state and local air-pollution regulatory agencies, the problem of soot, without exception, is the most serious within the jurisdiction of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Soot, which results from incomplete combustion processes of power plants, automobiles, and factories, in and of itself, is nothing more than microscopic particles of carbon in a sheet form, like the graphite used in pencils. In the atmosphere, however, where soot can adsorb a large variety of airborne environmental contaminants on its irregular surfaces, soot becomes a carrier of lung-penetrating, toxic chemicals.

As long ago as 1775, soot exposure was linked to scrotal cancer in London chimney sweeps. Coke oven workers have also been documented to have increased levels of lung and kidney cancer. While the health risks from breathing soot in urban environments are small when compared to those from smoking, the effects are spread over so many millions of Americans living in cities across the country that the seriousness of the problem can no longer be denied.

The impact of this study, testimony to both its integrity and credibility, is likely to shape environmental decisions made in Washington. Any discussion of loosening air emission standards for coal-fired power plants is dead on arrival, as that position may no longer be politically feasible. In addition, emissions from trucks and buses could be tightened, while those from off-road vehicles such as farm tractors and construction equipment, currently unregulated, could face restrictions for the first time.

Continue reading Air Pollution From Urban Soot

Care to leave a comment?

Strengthen Immunity Part I – How to Boost Your Immune System – With Foods

  • Posted on October 21, 2009 at 12:45 pm



We know the immune system, which is the set of cells and their activity against antigens, or infectious agents that comprises of the body’s defense system against diseases. The immune system does a great job of keeping people healthy and preventing infections. However, sometimes problems with the immune system can lead to illnesses and infections.

Therefore, in oder to strengthen the immune system, we must know what foods in our diet can nurture our defense system to defend against any virus attacks.

Here are some foods can help in strengthen our immune system

1. Mushroom

Mushrooms have an immune substance that enhances immune response by helping the production of white blood cells. It brings vitality to the cells by increasing cellular metabolism, removing toxins and preventing free radical damage. Also mushrooms have been reported to significantly reduce stress and has shown beneficial in relieving joint pain and strengthening the skeletal and neuro-muscular systems of the body. The best kind of mushroom is shiitake.

2. Yogurt

Yogurt has great protective anti-infection agents. Increased yogurt consumption may help increase one’s resistance diseases such as cancer and infection, particularly gastrointestinal infection. This increase in resistance is in part because of the live and active cultures (LAC) found in yogurt.

3. Broccoli

Broccoli contains the properties of 3,3′-diindolylmethane (DIM), a chemical produced from the compound indole-3-carbinol when broccoli is chewed and digested. DIM is effective in augmenting the immune response for our body, and we know that the immune system is important in defending the body against infections from many kinds of cancer and virus.

4. Blueberry

Blueberry is known to boost the effectiveness of vitamin C, a major strengthener of the immune system and reduce inflammation production. Blueberries also can help manage the stress on the immune system by being a free radical scavenger, leaving the immune system to help protecting your body from the formation and growth of cancer cells.

5. Fax seed

Flax seed is a great source of both soluble and insoluble fiber which may reduce the risk of developing hormone-sensitive cancers, such as prostate and breast cancer. Also flaxseed helps to better regulate blood sugar levels, eases inflammatory tissue conditions, controls attention deficit disorder and enhanced immune system.

6. Green tea

Green tea is loaded with powerful antioxidants which may protect against cell damage that leads to aging, and helps prevent heart disease and cancer. Study shows that the anine in green tea may help the body’s immune system respond better when fighting infection, by boosting the disease-fighting capacity of gamma delta T cells.

There are other food sources can help to strengthen our immune system such as garlic, ginger, and etc. I hope this information will help. If you want more information on this subject, please visit my home page:

Continue reading Strengthen Immunity Part I – How to Boost Your Immune System – With Foods

Care to leave a comment?