Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections are gaining popularity for a variety of conditions, from sports injuries to hair loss. The treatment uses a patient’s own blood cells to accelerate healing in a specific area.

Your sleep has a direct impact on your health, well-being, and overall quality of life. When the quality of your sleep is poor because of things like snoring and obstructive sleep apnea, you can become irritable, distracted, and face an increased risk of severe health problems. Left untreated, sleep apnea can lead to high blood pressure, stroke, a-fib, coronary artery disease, altered glucose metabolism, cancer, depression, anxiety, and memory issues.

Sleep apnea, TMD, and headaches — can your dentist treat these disorders? Believe it or not, dentists may be the most important part of screening and treating these disorders. Dentists have the greatest access to evaluate new patients for sleep apnea, TMD, and headaches, as well as evaluating existing patients at recall exams.

Dr. Allen is a proud alumnus of the K College football program, and each year our team looks forward to providing mouth guards to the Kalamazoo College football team. Drs. Allen and Harris, assistants Sarah, Amy, and Karna, and Dr. Allen’s rugby players Manny and Ivan all helped take impressions and make custom mouth guards for Kalamazoo College players.

Babies are born with a suckling reflex, or a natural desire to suck. Sucking is associated with nourishment and security and causes the release of endorphins in the brain. As a result, babies often turn to the thumb or finger to get the pleasurable feeling associated with sucking. As they grow, some children continue to suck their thumb as a way to self-soothe or to fall asleep. The longer it goes on, the more of a habit it comes. Older children may suck purely out of habit or boredom.

Is there such thing as an Emergency Dentist in Kalamazoo? The short answer is “not technically,” at least not in the same way as there is an emergency room for medical emergencies. But dental emergencies certainly arise and can call for immediate attention.

Dental x-rays are images that dentists use to evaluate your oral health. Most people are familiar with cavity-detecting x-rays, but many people do not realize that x-rays also give us a lot of information about the health of the bone supporting the teeth as well. X-rays are essential in the diagnosis of many oral conditions.

Nearly 53,000 Americans are diagnosed with oral cancer each year.  Only slightly more than half of them will be alive 5 years after diagnosis. The death rate is so high because it is often not discovered until late in its development. This is why early detection is so important! As dentists, we are not just looking for cavities when we do an oral exam. Each and every time we look in your mouth, we are doing an oral cancer screening.

Canker sores — also called aphthous ulcers — are one of the most common oral conditions. They are small, round, painful, yellowish sores that often first appear in adolescence. They affect the soft tissue in your mouth, such as the tongue, soft palate, cheeks, and lips.