For David Sedaris, getting his teeth fixed increased his confidence and sense of belonging. Don’t we all want the same thing?

Before Cleopatra, there was Queen Hatshepsut. What can we learn about dental health from an Egyptian pharaoh? And what does mental illness have to do with infected teeth?

Do you know how much sugar is in a can of soda, sports drink, or energy drink? What about fruit juices? Versus what the experts recommend. Don’t drink your way to diabetes…

Have you ever noticed how dry your mouth gets when you’re nervous? Saliva is one of those things we take for granted, yet it serves many useful functions. And without it, problems arise…

I don’t know about you, but if my hairdresser moved an hour away, I would make the drive to see her. Maybe even two hours away. Even with six dollar a gallon gas. Same goes for my dentist. But not just any dentist – or hairdresser. It has to be someone special.

Stanley Tucci says in People Magazine, “I’m lucky to be alive,” after being treated for tongue cancer. Every hour, 24-hours-a-day, 365-days-a-year, someone dies of oral or oropharyngeal cancer. What can you do to prevent this? And how can you protect your children from oral cancer?

I once had an 80-year-old patient ask for a plastic surgery referral. He pointed to his nose – which looked fine to me – and said the tiny bump had bothered him since he was a young man.

Which leads to the question: Am I too old to undergo an extensive dental procedure?

Contrary to popular belief, pain in your mouth does not usually signal a cavity. For the average person, a small to medium sized cavity will produce no symptoms.

So where is the pain coming from?

While few things provoke more anxiety than getting a shot in your mouth, can you imagine what dental work would be like without anesthetic? Still, there must be adverse effects, however rare. And why do redheads have trouble getting numb?

What are all the separate procedures that go into dental implant treatment? The costs can add up quickly…

You’re going to lose a tooth and you’ve heard that a dental implant is the closest substitute to a natural tooth. But as a consumer, how can you accurately determine the cost of an implant? How do you begin to evaluate exactly what you’re getting when you don’t understand the terminology? Surely there must be the hidden costs…

The tooth wasn’t bothering you whatsoever before you had the filling done.

You know oral care is important and you religiously visit your dentist twice a year for a cleaning and check-up. You were surprised when he said you had a cavity but you followed his recommendation and scheduled an appointment right away to take care of it before it gets any larger.

And now you can’t even chew on that side…