Delta Dental of Minnesota is pleased to announce the opening of the Delta Dental Oral Health Center at Hennepin Healthcare. The oral health center – which occupies the fourth floor of the new six-story, 377,000 square-foot Hennepin Healthcare Clinic & Specialty Center – was made possible through a $4.6 million grant from the Delta Dental of Minnesota Foundation.

Aging is inevitable, and our teeth and gums age right along with us. There’s a common misconception that as you get older you lose teeth and need dentures, but teeth well-taken care-of can last your whole life.

Celebrate with us this International Women’s Day as we recognize some of the groundbreaking women in American dentistry! There are far too many women who have made significant impacts on dentistry in America for us to list here, but we’ve tried to touch on some of the earliest pioneers.

Did you know an estimated 85 percent of Americans have varying degrees of gum disease? That’s 274 million people whose gums need some TLC!

The holidays are over, and for a lot of us that means back to the grind – and the caffeine.

Our mouths are breeding grounds for hundreds of types of bacteria. Plaque that forms on our teeth and in our mouths contain this bacteria which also live on our gums, tongue, and other soft tissues. When we eat food, the bacteria that is in our mouth eat the food too – specifically, sugar – and produce acid. This acid begins to break down the tooth surface, and will eventually cause a hole in the tooth, referred to as dental caries, or dental decay.

What do hockey pucks and hard candy have in common? They’re both culprits when it comes to chipping teeth. If you lose a chunk of an incisor, don’t feel bad. Dentists see chipped teeth all the time—especially during hockey season!—and they can often fix you up quickly.

Your mouth – and your teeth and gums inside of it – are used to being at your body temperature. When you open your mouth and breathe in that frigid air, it can cause painful “zingers” across your teeth. If you do it often, it can even cause your teeth to expand and contract, damaging them.

Did you know that your teeth are as unique as your fingerprints? Not only can your teeth be used to identify you as an individual, but the characteristics of your teeth can tell a lot about you to anyone trained to see.