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Gateway to the Body: The Oral Cavity and Dentistry

It is a common saying among many health practitioners that the body begins at the tonsils. Yet before reaching that boundary between the primary realm of the dentist and the physician, there are conditions and diseases in the mouth that have a major impact on overall health, comfort, and self-image. The health practitioner and patient may often ask questions such as: Are there new approaches to prevent tooth decay for myself or for my children? Is that red or white spot in my mouth something to be concerned about? Does the health of my gums affect my overall health? How effective are lasers for my dental treatment? What determines the shape of my child's, face, mouth and teeth? And what is the best type of dental implant for me? In this six part series, these current topics in dentistry and dental research are presented by some of the leading experts in these fields at UCSF. (from uctv.tv)

1. Gums to Guts: Periodontal Medicine
Mark Ryder, DMD, looks at conditions, diseases and medications that may negatively impact your oral health and oral conditions that may affect the rest of your body.

2. Can Lasers Fix Teeth?
Drilling without a drill? Peter Rechmann, DMD, talks about the world of laser dentistry, what it can do and how it works.

3. Dental Implants: Teeth with Titanium
Loss of teeth has many associated problems. Arun Sharma, BDS, explores the implications of lost teeth and different implant strategies that might help.

4. Prevention of Tooth Decay is Worth Everything
John Featherstone, Dean of UCSF's School of Dentistry, explores how to prevent and stop existing progressions through clinical intervention things you can do every day to help keep your teeth healthy.

5. How Get A Head in Life: The Development of the Craniofacial Complex
Richard Schneider looks at how individual components of the face and skull achieve their proper size, shape, and functional integration during development and evolution.

6. Oral Medicine or Dermatology of the Mouth: Oral Diseases Beyond Teeth
Caroline Shiboski, Department of Orofacial Sciences at UCSF, explores what an oral medicine specialist does and shows some oral conditions and how they are diagnosed.