Dentistry News

Canadian seniors can't afford dental care.

When she called a dentist in 2001, she found out it would cost $2,500 for her first visit.

“I can afford $300 to $400,” said Ms. Burke. “I can’t afford $3,000 to $4,000.”

So she travels to the University of Toronto to get her teeth cleaned by students at a reduced cost.

Ms. Burke used to drive to Newcastle and take the GO system into Toronto. Now she does not drive and has to take a VIA train, which costs much more but is still cheaper than visiting a local dentist. Ms. Burke leaves at 9 a.m. for her 2 p.m. appointment and does not get back into town until 7 p.m. that night.

“I’m able to get out and go there but there are so many seniors who are unable,” She said.

“It’s a very sad situation.”

A mad dash began before sunrise on Friday as several hundred people, some of whom had been standing in line since 3 a.m. or earlier, raced to position themselves to get to the front of the line for free dental care

108 million Americans lack dental insurance and 80% of dentists refuse Medicaid patients.

Patients should know that, at present, there is no specialty in “cosmetic dentistry” recognized by the American Dental Association (ADA). There are no standards, criteria or testing required before a dentist can say that he or she is a specialist in cosmetic dentistry. A prospective patient can be fooled into believing that her dentist has, in fact, passed some stringent qualifications set up by the ADA. A patient may mistakenly rely on a dentist’s representation as a specialist as an indicator of competency.

You should know that many dentists calling themselves experts in cosmetic dentistry have only completed a short course. Often, these courses are completed in a single weekend. Some programs last just a few hours, and are frequently sponsored by the manufacturers of equipment and supplies used in cosmetic procedures. The instructors at such courses may have only performed the procedures a few times themselves.

Who is at risk? * Tobacco users, any age and any type. * Those who consume alcoholic beverages, at least two ounces three times per week.

In light of the shaky economy, people are stressed about spending - and under stress, many resort to poor eating habits with diets high in sugar.

A Superior Court judge Wednesday slapped a restraining order against everyone involved in an alleged dental scam in this city and elsewhere in Massachusetts, freezing all assets and barring its practitioners from working on people's teeth.

Attorney General Martha Coakley said she obtained a preliminary injunction against 15 individuals and corporations that operated high-volume dental clinics allegedly through a web of corporate fronts designed to exploit patients and obtain large sums of money from finance companies and insurers.

Despite decades of fluoridation, thousands of Rochester-area children enrolled in Medicaid have not seen a dentist in years, and there's no easy way to find the few pediatric dental offices that will accept them as patients.

"There is so much unmet need in these children," said Dr. Cyril Meyerowitz, director of the University of Rochester Medical Center's Eastman Dental Center. "You find very few children who don't have (tooth) decay in that population, and it's very alarming."

You know those messy, gunky impressions you get at the dentist's office? Well thanks to new technology that may soon become a thing of the past.

A A 21 million dental school has been officially opened and hailed as a major step in reversing long-term decline in oral health care.

Talk about your captive audience. Advertising is coming to the dentist's chair in the form of personal video goggles that patients wear while getting their cleaning or root canal.

Many dentists do not accept patients on Medicaid, she said, because they say it pays too little money

Many people cringe at the thought of sitting in a dentist's chair, but Penny Hancock has had four dental implant procedures, and she's game for more if she ever needs another.

Fluoridation is widely accepted as a public water treatment, but a Broadway resident wants to change that.

Despite decades of fluoridation, Philadelphia children are the most likely in the state to suffer from tooth decay.

A study conducted between 2005 and 2007 in Northeast Philadelphia found that a third of 2- to 3-year-olds had dental disease, as did more than half of 4- and 5-year-olds and an astounding 80 percent of 7- and 8-year-olds.

Smokers who give up are much less likely to lose their teeth prematurely than those who do not kick the habit, research shows.

An Oakland County man has been stopped from illegally practicing dentistry, following a lawsuit filed by the Michigan Dental Association .

Hundreds of people are being treated at a free dental clinic in Waterloo that will continue Saturday.

A new 1m state-of-the-art dental centre giving patients on-the-spot emergency treatment in Midlothian is to have trained "phobia" dentists.

Radiation from X-rays in dentist surgeries and hospitals causes 700 people in Britain to develop cancer each year, researchers say today.

My son had unexplained mouth sores for six months. They broke out every three weeks. He saw a dentist and periodontist, who were both unable to help. He was then referred to a dental school. Once there, the dentists immediately knew what the problem was. He was diagnosed with idiopathic cyclic neutropenia (low white blood cell levels). He underwent weekly blood tests for a few months to confirm the diagnosis, but it was reassuring to know that the sores were not caused by lack of dental hygiene, as we thought.