You wake up with a mouth so dry your tongue sticks to the roof of your mouth, and it happens again the next night. Dry mouth usually means your salivary glands aren’t making enough saliva, most often as a side effect of a medicine or because of a health condition, and it’s worth getting checked … Read more
It’s easy to assume that swallowing mouthwash is either no big deal or a trip to the ER. Fluoride rinse labels draw the line at the amount used for rinsing: if more than that is swallowed by accident, they say to get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center right away. Past that, it … Read more
Maybe your breath isn’t as fresh as you’d like, your gums bleed a little when you brush, or there’s a zinc toothpaste in your cart and you’re wondering whether it’s worth it. Zinc is a useful supporting ingredient, not a miracle mineral. In toothpaste and mouthwash it’s added to help control plaque, slow tartar buildup, … Read more
Probiotics sold for the mouth come with big promises: healthier gums, fresher breath, fewer cavities. The research behind them is thinner than the packaging suggests: reviews so far find small, short-term effects on some measures, no clear effect on others, and no probiotic approved for any dental use. If you’re weighing one because of your … Read more
Burning mouth syndrome is a burning, scalding, or tingling feeling in the mouth that can come back every day for months, even though the mouth usually looks completely normal. It’s hard to treat because there’s nothing to see and no single test confirms it, so treatment starts with finding out whether something else is causing … Read more
Hydrogen peroxide is what whitens teeth in bleaching products, but that doesn’t make the bottle in your medicine cabinet a whitening treatment. Peroxide whitens by breaking stains into smaller, less visible pieces, and reviews find it effective and safe when products are used as directed, though temporary tooth sensitivity and gum irritation are common. Here’s … Read more
Drilling out healthy amalgam fillings because you’re worried about mercury can do more harm than good. Amalgam is strong, long-lasting, and the least expensive filling material, but it’s silver, takes more tooth to place, and contains mercury, and the FDA says the evidence doesn’t show it harms the general population. The FDA doesn’t recommend removing … Read more
It’s the first week with a new set of aligners: they feel tight, your coffee is going cold on the desk, and you’re wondering how anyone keeps these in all day. Aligners fit into daily life as long as they stay in for most of it, at least 22 hours a day, and a few … Read more
