Congratulations for lunching AT THE ROOT in your January 2017 edition!
The column promises to maintain and enhance Oral Health relevance.
Over the years, the journal has maintained an effective balance between the business and the scientific sides of dentistry. The January 2017 editorial by Drs. Titley and Sigal is a fine example of scientific exposition. Dealing with an important and topical issue, well presented and supported by a relevant bibliography, it was a pleasure to read. It restores much of the credibility that Oral Health lost when it opened and closed a feature article in its November 2016 edition with the author’s Christian views.
Notwithstanding the fact that Canadian religious fabric is changing with Christianity in a steep decline and minority faiths rising with the biggest group, about 25%, having no religious affiliation,1 there is no room for religious perspectives in a journal that has any business and scientific objectives.
If Oral Health editorial board members and contributing consultants would keep that in mind, I and the growing numbers of others like me, will continue to look forward to future editions.
1. Canada’s Changing Religious Landscape. Pew Research Center, Religion & Public Life JUNE 27, 2013
Milan Somborac, DDS, Collingwood, ON
The last few decades in our dental industry have been nicknamed “the golden age” and “the platinum age” of dentistry, for good reason. But take off your clinical hat for a moment and enjoy a few fun facts:
• The earliest known dentist lived in Egypt over 5,000 years ago.
• Everyone’s tongue print and tooth print is unique, like fingerprints.
• Giraffes only have bottom teeth.
• The Blue Whale is the largest mammal on earth, but it has no teeth.
• Tongue is the strongest muscle in the human body.
• A snail’s mouth is no larger than the head of a pin, but it can have over 20,000 teeth located on its tongue.
• Elephant teeth can be a foot across and weigh six pounds.
• At the time of his inauguration, George Washington only had one real tooth. His dentures were not made from wood, but instead gold, hippopotamus tusk, elephant ivory and human teeth.
• Your mouth produces over 25,000 quarts of saliva in a lifetime – that’s enough to fill two swimming pools.
• The average amount of money left by the tooth fairy in 1950 was 25 cents. In 1988 it was $1.00, the going rate now is $2.00.
Janet Hagerman, RDH, BS,
Room to Bloom blog: janethagerman.com
