A retainer does its job invisibly, which means most people don't think about cleaning it until something goes wrong. That usually means a smell that wasn't there when it was new, a cloudiness that didn't used to be there, or a yellow tint that no amount of rinsing seems to fix. All of these are preventable with the right routine. There's also a fair amount of bad advice floating around,...
Read MoreYou already brush twice a day. You know you should floss. And somewhere in the middle of all that, there's a nagging question: would a water flosser just be easier — and is it actually better? It's a fair thing to wonder. Water flossers have gotten significantly more popular, they're recommended by dentists, and they look a lot more satisfying to use than a piece of string you keep forgetting...
Read MoreTMJ pain has a particular quality to it. It shows up as jaw soreness, ear pain that isn't actually your ear, headaches that radiate from your temple, a jaw that clicks or locks. Sometimes all of the above on the same morning. It's distracting, it's persistent, and it has a habit of being misdiagnosed as something else for months before anyone connects the dots. If you've been told you have...
Read MoreIf you'd told most people five years ago that sticking tape over their mouth before bed was good for their health, they'd have looked at you sideways. Then a Stanford study on nasal breathing got attention, a few prominent podcasters started talking about it, and suddenly everyone's searching for sleep mouth tape. The concept isn't actually new. Breathing specialists and sleep researchers have discussed the downsides of chronic mouth breathing...
Read MoreHere's the frustrating thing about teeth grinding: most people have no idea they're doing it. You fall asleep, grind your teeth for hours, and wake up with a dull headache and a jaw that aches, with no memory of any of it. Your partner, though, has a very vivid memory. Bruxism, the clinical term for teeth grinding and jaw clenching, affects around 10% of adults and up to 15% of...
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