Grizzly bear’s root canal highlights specialized care for Grand Rapids zoo animals
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Dr. Lynn Happel’s patients usually consist of cats and dogs. However, on special occasions, she works with more exotic animals from the John Ball Zoo, such as Yogi, a 560-pound grizzly bear, or Nika, a female tiger. A local veterinarian, Happel…
Is having root-filled teeth removed necessarily the right decision?
Dentist Lucy Stock of Belfast, Ireland says people with root canal treatment are having their teeth removed. Most root filled teeth heal and don’t give any more bother. Root canal treatment techniques and the equipment used to do modern root canals have massively improved. SHOULD…
How El Paso zookeepers perform root canals on tiger
EL PASO, Texas – How do you perform a root canal? It’s a delicate and even risky medical procedure, and it’s only one of many extreme procedures happening at the El Paso Zoo. In 2017, the El Paso Zoo made headlines after it was showcased on…
Dentists Are Prescribing Far Too Many Antibiotics
The B.C. Dental Association says increasingly complex work could be why antibiotics are overprescribed While antibiotic prescribing by doctors is dropping, the opposite is true in the field of dentistry. The B.C. Centre for Disease Control says dentists are prescribing too many antibiotics — and…
How to Beat Your “Dentaphobia”
A phobia is an extreme and possibly unreasonable fear. And according to the National Institute of Mental Health, about 9.1 percent of U.S. adults experience specific phobias that impact their lives. Maybe it’s a fear of flying or a type of social anxiety. Maybe you…
Top notch endodontic care for patients with dental anxiety
It’s no secret that vast majority of Americans don’t look forward to a visit to the dentist. According to the American Association of Endodontists, a striking 80% of US adults experience dental fear or anxiety. On some levels, fear of the dentist is understandable because…
What is “Endodontics”
The term endodontics is derived from two Greek words – “endo” meaning inside and “odons” meaning tooth. Taken together, these words mean – “study of the inner part of the tooth or the dental pulp”. Endodontics specialists are familiar with a number of diseases that…
What is a Dental Abscess? And How do I Know I Have One?
An abscess is a pus filled, swollen tissue. It is caused by a bacterial infection. The body’s response to the infection is sending white blood cells to fight the bacteria. This results in the formation of pus in the location. A dental abscess is a…
Root canal treatment: Everything you need to know
Whose knees do not quake at the thought of a “root canal?” Pain and cost spring to mind. But how many of us even know what a “root canal” really is? Root canal therapy, also known as endodontic therapy, is a dental treatment for removing…
Only 47% of dentists use dental dam during root canal treatment
A large national study of dentists conducted by the National Dental Practice-Based Research Network has found that only 47 percent of dentists always use a dental dam during root canal treatment, with an additional 17 percent using it 90-99 percent of the time, according to a…