/oss/taxonomy/term/3821/all en /oss/article/history/hal-healer-and-others-his-ilk <p>A large crowd surrounded Hal the Healer's platform in the middle 1800s. Before beginning, Hal signaled his band to strike up a lively tune. Why? Because Hal was preparing to pull a tooth and the music was needed to drown out the screams of the unfortunate patient!</p> Sat, 31 Jul 2021 01:32:02 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8795 at /oss /oss/article/health/drill-or-not-drill-question <p>Aaah, those leisurely Saturday mornings. More recently, mine began over coffee while perusing through the latest edition of the OSS weekly digest. Being a dentist, I’m always on the lookout for articles featuring dentistry related topics, and my interest was piqued by a <a href="/oss/article/did-you-know-health/did-you-know-dentists-can-treat-cavities-without-using-drill">recent feature</a> on treating cavities without drilling. This approach comprises a chemomechanical method, whereby cavities are simply dissolved and scooped away.</p> Wed, 01 May 2019 14:40:09 +0000 Mark Grossman BSc, DDS, Contributor 7740 at /oss /oss/article/did-you-know-health/did-you-know-dentists-can-treat-cavities-without-using-drill <p>What if your dentist could apply a gel to your cavities (or dental caries) that would soften necrotic tissue but leave your healthy dentin alone, allowing the affected tooth tissue to simply be scooped out?</p> <p>So-called chemomechanical methods of removing cavities are not new. They were initially marketed in the 1970s, but their original designs had some serious problems. Caridex was one of the first, but it required heat, specialized equipment, large volumes of product (200-500 mL) and tasted bad.</p> Wed, 10 Apr 2019 20:12:49 +0000 Ada McVean B.Sc. 7715 at /oss /oss/article/health-you-asked/how-does-peroxide-whiten-teeth <p>Ancient Romans, for example, used urine and goat milk to whiten their teeth. This concoction is not as far-fetched as it might first appear. Urine, contains ammonia which is a cleaning agent found in many household products. But today there’s no need to rinse the mouth with urine, which incidentally is usually sterile. Chemistry has given us more effective products.</p> Mon, 21 Jan 2013 02:00:49 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 1862 at /oss