| What's cooking? For Calcium and Vitamin D |
One of the ways you can keep your teeth strong and healthy is by making sure you get the right amount of calcium and vitamin D. Some people think the way to get vitamin D is from the sun or from vitamin capsules. And that dairy products are the only way to go for calcium.
You can also increase your intake of both calcium and vitamin D through some delicious food choices.
Did you know that shiitake mushrooms have vitamin D when grown in ultraviolet light? One serving contains about a fourth of our recommended daily intake of vitamin D. Blackstrap molasses is a great source of calcium. A single tablespoon of it contains 172 mg of calcium. Try it on your morning oatmeal, spread it on toast, add it to spice cake, or drizzle it over tart fresh fruits.
You'll enhance your calcium intake and add zip to your cooking with the addition of cinnamon, dill weed, peppermint, basil, thyme, parsley, oregano, rosemary, and fennel. You can get a big calcium and vitamin D bang for your buck with fish: sardines, salmon, tuna, perch, clams, trout and crab. Experiment with sardines on toast, crab cakes, clam chowder, poached salmon and tuna sandwiches. Grilled trout can make a quick and easy main course for the hurried household.
And if you serve up your meals with regular helpings of beans, you'll increase your nutritional edge. Beans are one of the most versatile calcium-loaded foods around. Incorporate them in casseroles, slow-cooker recipes, as a garnish on salads, or simply on their own with a little chopped fresh herbs and olive oil.
Bon appetit!
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| How Many Teeth Were YOU Born With?
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Summertime, summertime, summer summer summertime! Yay! It's June! Father's Day is just around the corner and when thinking about Dad I think about my teeth. I love genealogy and looking up my ancestors and discovering who they were, I just wish there was a way I could look up how many teeth they were born with. Did you know that there is a term in dentistry called "congenitally missing teeth?" This phrase refers to permanent teeth that a person was born without.
Did you know that congenitally missing teeth are fairly common? The most common missing teeth (other than wisdom teeth) are the second premolars and upper lateral incisors. How common? More than 5% of the population is congenitally missing at least one of these teeth. The scientific term is Hypodontia. More than 20% of the population is missing one or more third molars (wisdom teeth).
What causes people to be born without these teeth? Environmental factors play a role (like virual infections, radiation therapy, etc), but genetic factors definitely have the front seat on this one. So if you were born without some of the teeth mentioned, most likely, someone in your lineage was missing them as well.
-Jocelyn Codington RDH
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| Did You Know? Dentistry Then and Now |
Dentistry has come a long way. Consider the following:
Around 4000 BC, a Sumerian text described "tooth worms" as the cause of dental decay.
Around 200 AD, the Etruscans developed dental prosthetics including gold crowns and bridgework.
In the Middle Ages, dentistry was practiced by monks until a series of Papal edicts prohibited them from doing so. Barbers, with useful tools such as knives and razors at their disposal, took over.
In 1770, Paul Revere advertised his services as a dentist.
In 1790, John Greenwood adapted his mother's foot treadle spinning wheel to rotate as a drill.
In the 1880s, the development of the collapsible metal tube revolutionized toothpaste manufacturing.
In 1911, the U.S. Army Dental Corps was established.
In 1997, the Food and Drug Administration approved the erbium YAG laser for treating tooth decay.
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