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So we visit the dentist to have our teeth cleaned, maybe a cavity filled, sometimes even to affix a crown. But did you know one day sitting down at your dentist  could result in more than even a doctor might be able to tell you? A new study says dentists one day soon may be required to get a detailed look at how genes in a patient's body are being switched on or off. That means which genes are activated, and which are shut down.    It's called  epigenetics and researchers are now studying how it relates to oral health, newswise.com reports.  "Our genetic code, or DNA, is like an orchestra - it contains all of the elements we need to function - but the epigenetic code is essentially the conductor, telling which instruments to play or stay silent, or how to respond at any given moment," the Web site quotes study author associate professor Toby Hughes, University of Adelaide. Epigenetics has had an increasing role in biological and medical research, newsw...

I had to read this news story twice to be sure it wasn't a joke.  But it's the truth.  There's been some concern that nitrous oxide -- or what the dentist gives you to put you out, laughing gas -- might be responsible for causing heart attacks during surgery or soon afterward. Well, sometimes they combine it with anesthesia during surgery, too, because by itself, the drug isn't strong enough to keep patients unconscious.  And previous studies had found that patients with certain genetic abnormalities had a much higher risk of heart attack during or after surgery. But the good news is, there now doesn't seem to be a connection, according to newswise.com Participants in the study reported at newswise.com received nitrous oxide anesthesia during heart surgery and were divided into two groups -- those who received a vitamin and folic acid to prevent homocystine levels from rising, and those who did not. Homocystines are an amino acid found in the blood suspecte...

It's a surprising fact (to me) that pregnant women don't go to the dentist.  Probably because we get tired of going to the doctor every month and then every week in our last trimester.  But it's important, and here's why. Regular trips to the dentist can prevent gum disease and inflammation, which up to 70% of women experience during pregnancy. So big deal, you say?  Actually it is. Gum disease leads to infection and infection can spread from your gums to the rest of your body. According to Catherine Saint Louis, not going to a dentist when suffering active tooth decay can pass bacteria from a woman's saliva to her fetus, endangering the baby's oral health as well as risking other more serious forms of infection. Fear is behind a lot of this.  Not from pregnant women.  But dentists. “A lot of dentists still fear treating pregnant women, and think, ‘What happens if I have to do an X-ray ?’ or ‘What happens if I give antibiotics or local anesthesia ?’” Dr...

Thumbing through The New York Times this afternoon, I came across a story about how hair salons are becoming the new "seats of power." Hair stylists have known for years the intricate, intimate facts of their clients' lives.  What else are you gonna do, sitting in that chair for an hour? I've heard that that's how many women finally wind up telling about domestic violence in their lives. It made me think of my husband, a dentist, who also finds himself hearing stories about divorce, estranged children, fatal diseases, run-amok kids, and truly tragic stories, almost every day. I'll admit, it's hard to talk with those tools in your mouth, but somehow people still confide the most amazing things to him. One of his toughest patients, a burly, brusque NYC transit worker, told him how his heart was breaking because his girlfriend's 5-year-old grandson was moving with his mom and dad to Florida and he would never get to see him. Another, one he's ha...

No, it's not to talk about how much you fear the dentist. These people are now filling teeth, performing crowns and bridges -- and just about taking the last scraps of business for dentists, according to my dentist husband.  It's all, of course, to save money. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/21/dental-therapists-minnesota/1731979/

My husband's afraid of the dentist.  But then, he is one.  Now there's a new reason for him to be scared. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/dentist-drill-comes-unstuck-falls-1508759