Alarming reports of lung-related injuries linked to vaping are raising awareness about the potential risks associated with the use of electronic cigarettes, widely marketed as a healthy alternative to smoking tobacco. But new research also indicates that vaping may impair oral health. 

The U.S. is going through rapid demographic changes with dramatic increases in the number of older adults. The Census Bureau projects that by 2035, there will be 78 million Americans aged 65 years and older, outnumbering people under the age of 18. Chronic illness, disability or institutional living often affect routine oral healthcare among this demographic, which also faces unique oral health risks that could impact quality of life if left unattended.

Dental insurance is available in Arkansas as an additonal cost option under private and group health insurance plans. The state's expanded Medicaid program, Arkansas Works, provides optional access to dental insurance as well, as do Medicare advantage plans. Traditional Medicaid only covers emergency medical oral health. Plus, not all dentists in Arkansas accept Medicaid. And based on national data, a majority of Arkansans on Medicare may go without dental coverage.

The quest for a perfect snow-white smile is being fulfilled for patients by a growing esthetic dental industry. But consumers who purchase esthetic oral care products online or in stories for at-home use should beware, expert say, of certain oral health risks. 

Telehealth technologies have high potential to improve oral health in Arkansas. Teledentistry is now widely used by orthodontists across the state, but not yet by most Arkansas dentists.

Brush, floss and then forget. The odds are, unless teeth are causing pain, we don't think about them much.

But for Dr. Peter Ungar, what he calls "ready-made fossils" in human mouths have a lot to tell us about the past and how to prevent pain in the future.   

Dental hygienists are starting to fill a crital gap in oral health in Arkansas, experts say, given the state has a  shortage of dentists, especially in low-income rural districts.

A critical shortage of brick and mortar dental clinics in certain regions of Arkansas has resulted in more dentists taking their practices on the road. And mobile dentistry is practiced in different ways for different reasons.

Increasingly, businesses around the world are choosing to go green. In Fayetteville, Arkanssas one dentist has long been leading the way towards environmental sustainable dentistry.

More dental practices are reaching out to patients with fear or extreme sensitivity to oral pain to let them know that sedation can be an option to help them cope with dental health care.

“Anything is better than ignoring it,” says Dr. Todd Higginbotham, a dentist in Jonesboro. 

Higginbotham offers a spectrum of sedation options that include anti-anxiety pills, typically benzodiazepine medications such as valium or xanax.  He also can administer nitrous oxide ("laughing gas") to take the edge off procedures and oral conscious sedation, which places patients into a relaxed semi-conscious states.