iBy Dr. Joseph D. Lim Poor oral health may cause or worsen heart disease and diabetes conditions. Now another disease has been linked to poor oral health — inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). IBD is a chronic inflammation of the digestive tract. One example is ulcerative colitis which causes inflammation and sores or ulcers in the …
The Dentist is In
Under the radar
By Dr. Joseph D. Lim During the lockdown, the dental profession was not seen as a most essential part of health care. For this and many other reasons, one being safety for both patients and dentists, many dental clinics closed. Below the radar of news reports, were the thousands of dental staff that many clinics …
Stomach viruses
By Dr. Joseph D. Lim A class of viruses known to cause severe diarrhea can grow in the salivary glands of mice and spread through their saliva. This was discovered by scientists at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). Their findings show that a new route of transmission exists for these common viruses, which …
Pediatric care, pandemic woes
By Dr. Joseph D. Lim What we have known to have happened here in the Philippines has just been confirmed to have occurred in the United States. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Dental Association, the likelihood of a child in the U.S. having a dental visit in 2020 was …
Oral health, mental health
tBy Dr. Joseph D. Lim Patients who have severe mental illness (SMI) are three times more likely to face total edentulism or complete loss of teeth than the general population. This one of the findings of a study led by Dr. Masuma Pervin Mishu of the Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of York …
Habits that could be bad
By Dr. Joseph Lim There’s a dark side to healthy habits like drinking spring water, brushing after you eat, and even exercising: They could be damaging your pearly whites. Or just simply chewing on hard objects. Now, who among us is not guilty of chewing on ice? It seemed fun especially when we were all …
A new take on dementia
By Dr. Joseph Lim Dementia or cognitive decline has long been associated with poor oral health. The link may be obvious. Individuals with dementia are often unable to maintain proper oral hygiene, thus compromising oral health. However, the evidence has been mixed. Other studies have suggested that the risk of dementia increases with cardiovascular disease, …
Special care
By Dr. Joseph D. Lim Maintaining oral health has beneficial effects on the overall well-being. And yet, oral health care for persons with disability (PWD) receives low priority in Southeast Asia, according to a recent study on disability and oral health among member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). And to think …
Odontophobia
By Dr. Joseph D. Lim Here’s a new word: Odontophobia. It’s the fear of dental surgery. Wisdom-tooth extraction, oral cancer, congenital deformation, or injury correction, all these procedures bring out the primal fear of the dental chair. “Many, if not most, if not all, patients are very scared when it comes to these surgeries,” says …
Non-communicable diseases
the By Dr. Joseph D. Lim The World Health Organization (WHO) is determined to implement a roadmap for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases. Non-communicable diseases account for almost two-thirds of all deaths in Southeast Asia. In 2021, nearly half of the deaths from non-communicable diseases occurred prematurely between the ages of 30 and 69 …