tooth decay
kkrisberg | December 22, 2016As 2016 comes to a close — and 2017 looms with enormous uncertainty — let’s end the year with some encouraging public health news. This time it’s a study on one of the 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century: fluoridation.
Published this month in Health Affairs, the study is an update on a 2001 study that marked the most comprehensive examination to date of community water fluoridation benefits and costs. This new study found that in 2013, more than 211 million American residents had access to fluoridated drinking water. That fluoridation was associated with the prevention of…
kkrisberg | April 29, 2015The association between financial hardship and medical care isn’t new. Even in wealthy countries such as the U.S., medical bills contribute to a large percentage of personal bankruptcies. Now, a new global study finds that dental care can also contribute to families falling into poverty and being left with fewer financial resources for basic necessities.
In a study published today in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers found that up to 7 percent of households surveyed in 41 low- and middle-income countries had experienced catastrophic dental care expenditures in the last month. To conduct the…
dr. dolittle | February 20, 2013
Image of rat teeth from Scienceline (credit: The International Rice Research Institute, flickr.com)
What does tooth decay have to do with rats? For Neandertals, tooth decay was a rare occurance. Research suggests that tooth decay became more prominent with the development of agriculture. Dr. Ordaz, Stanford School of Medicine, and colleagues analyzed common strains of bacteria (Streptococcus mutans) responsible for causing cavities. They found that the bacteria began expanding exponentially around 10,000 years ago, similar to the dawn of agriculture. The authors suggest that as humans…