Tag Archives: Dentists

DentistUSA’s Spooky Smile Contest

09 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by in DentistUSA.com, Photo Contest, Smile, Spooky Smile Contest

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Contest-h-1Oh the joy of autumn. Trees turn into a kaleidoscope of yellow, orange and brown; sweaters make their way out of trunks and pumpkins start their iridescent grins.

Kid’s smiles turn to frowns with the school year starting, but once you tell them Halloween is right around the corner, that frown turns into a mischievous smile, thinking of what character they might dress up as and of course, all the candy that comes along with all hallows eve.

This year to help encourage us all to smile mischievously, DentistUSA is holding the Spooky Smile Contest.  To enter, post a picture of you and/or your family enjoying the spooky holiday. It can be a picture of your family trick-or-treating, all of you dressed up in your costumes, anything that brings a smile to your face! Then tell us how the moment makes you smile and then get your friends and family to vote for your photo. The person with the most votes wins! Fans can vote once a day. So encourage people to vote for your photo everyday!

DentistUSA’s Spooky Smile Contest starts October 9th, 2013 and runs through October 25th, 2013. Winners will be notified October 28th, 2013. One grand-prize winner will receive a $50 Amazon gift card. One 2nd place winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift card. To enter follow the steps below. We will also have another winner that we will randomly draw from all who enter. That person will receive a $25 Amazon gift card.

CLICK HERE to enter and then follow the steps below.

1. Fill out the entry form and upload a photo showcasing your spooky smile!

2. Tell us about your photo in the photo description box.

3. Get your friends and family to vote.

4. The photo with the most votes wins!

Remember, your friends and family can vote once a day. So get them to like, share and vote as often as possible!

Thanks and we hope you have a spooky Halloween!

-The DentistUSA Team

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*This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. You are providing your information to DentistUSA and not to Facebook. The information you provide will be used to contact you in case you win one of the three (3) prizes. No purchase necessary to enter. Must be 18 or older, living in the 50 United States or Washington, DC. Must confirm within 48 hours of winning prize. The use of fake Facebook profiles for votes is prohibited and will result in your entry being deleted. Incomplete enteries will be deleted.

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The Power of Mona Lisa’s Smile

25 Thursday Jul 2013

Posted by in DentistUSA.com, General Dentistry, Smile

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One of the most famous and talked about paintings in history is the Mona Lisa. For centuries, the portrait of Lisa Gherardini, painted by the great Leonardo Di Vinci, has captivated people from all walks of life. It was sought after by Kings and Queens, and even hung in Napoleon Bonaparte’s sleeping chamber. It has been acclaimed as “the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world.”

But why is this painting so fascinating? Her SMILE! Or half smile, as the case may be.

At the right corner, the Mona Lisa’s mouth is turn up, in a smiling manner. In the left corner, her lip is flat, conveying no feeling whatsoever.  When we view the painting, our eyes send mixed signals to the brain.

“Different cells in the retina transmit different categories of information or ‘channels’ to the brain. These channels encode data about an object’s size, clarity, brightness and location in the visual field.” Wrote Ewen Callaway in Mona Lisa’s smile a mystery no more, his article about the study done on the Mona Lisa’s smile.

“Sometimes one channel wins over the other, and you see the smile, sometimes others take over and you don’t see the smile,” says Luis Martinez Otero, a neuroscientist at Institute of Neuroscience in Alicante, Spain, who conducted a study of the Mona Lisa’s smile, along with Diego Alonso Pablos.

Did Leonardo Di Vinci intend to cause confusion in the brains of his audience? Absolutely, Martinez Otero contends. “He wrote in one of his notebooks that he was trying to paint dynamic expressions because that’s what he saw in the street.”

So, next time you are in the street, make sure your smile is at it’s best! Because the power of a good smile can captivate us, inspire us and make us fall in love.

A Healthy Smile is a Healthy Body

31 Thursday Jan 2013

Posted by in Adult Dentistry, General Dentistry, oral hygeine

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“Did you know there are more than 6 billion bacteria present inside the mouth?” Asked Dr. Kay Judge and Maxine Barish-Wreden in their article Oral health can be the key to overall health. “In essence, you have more bacteria in your mouth than the Earth’s human population!”

Now before you go freaking out and spraying your mouth with Lysol, you should know, there are a lot of different kinds of bacteria in your mouth. Some of these are good. Like Veillonella, that slows the development of caries. But (and seriously, don’t spray Lysol in your mouth) there are a lot of bad bacteria, like Streptococcus mutans, a significant contributor to tooth decay and Streptococcus gordonii.

Researchers from the Royal College of Surgeons published a study in March showing that Streptococcus gordonii can produce a molecule that helps blood to clot. This molecule can slip into your blood stream and cause blockage of the blood supply to the heart or brain, resulting in a heart attack or stroke. In fact, studies show that having gum disease can quadruple your risk of stroke and spike your risk of a heart attack up to a dozen times higher!

Some bacteria can even lead to cancer. A Swedish study found that poor brushing can increase cancer risks by 80%!

Dr Paul Pharoah, reader in cancer epidemiology at the University of Cambridge, said the results of the Swedish study suggested higher levels of plaque (bacteria) are associated with ‘higher all-cause mortality.’ In other words, the worse your teeth are, the worse your overall health is and the more risk you are to serious illness and even death.

So, what can you do to help prevent bacteria growing? Try some of these tips:

– Brush your teeth twice a day for a full two minutes each time.

– Floss your teeth and scrape your tongue daily.

– Wash out your mouth after every meal. An over the counter mouthwash is best but most of us don’t carry around a bottle of Scope everywhere we go. You could use these but water is a good substitute if nothing else is available.

– Cut out the sugar. Sugar promotes bacteria growth. So stay away from high sugar foods and beverages (e.g. candy, soda and fruit juices).  If you are a candy lover like myself, try to find some sugar free alternatives

– See your dentist twice a year and get your teeth cleaned. “The cleaning done at the dentist is a special ‘deep’ dental cleaning, where all the harmful plaque and tartar is removed professionally.” If you need to find a dentist to help get your smile back in shape, use DentistUSA.com.

Following these tips may not only get you a brighter smile; it might save you from something more deadly!