I just had some teeth removed and now am wearing a denture. It hurts when I eat. Do you have any suggestions on what I can eat?

It is normal for patients wearing dentures placed immediately after extractions to have some discomfort when they eat. My advice is to innitially eat soft bland foods that do not require much chewing, like pasta, soups, chicken and fish. Gradually you should be able to chew food more comfortably. If your pain on chewing doesn't improve within one week, you should return to your dentist to check for sore spots or for him to check your healing of the extraction site(s). Often, healing at an extraction site can be delayed because a tiny boney spicule( a splinter of bone) is trying to work its way out of the extraction socket. It can act like a splinter, causing pain and inflammation.

Is there anything I should not be doing or eating while bleaching my teeth?

This is a question that is almost always asked by patients who have just had their teeth bleached and by those actively bleaching their teeth. During the time when a patient is bleaching and for about two weeks afterwards, it seems that the teeth are more porous and can more easily absorb stains internally. I once had a patient who drank a gallon of some ice tea right before he came in for his third week bleaching observation and his teeth had apparently got darker. I asked him to refrain from drinking tea and he was easily able to re bleach his teeth to his desired shade, but in my mind it confirmed the idea that the teeth are more porous during the bleaching process and patients should refrain from consuming things that might stain teeth. I tell patients that if it would stain the insides of a white porcelain cup don't drink it. Try to avoid Red Wine, Black Coffee, Coca Cola, black teas, pomegranate juice, etc. Do drink things like sprite, green tea,and white wines. Fruits with srtong colors like strawberies, pomgranate, and cherries should be avoided. Patients frequently ask if they can have coffee and I answer that one or two cups a day is ok if they have it with cream. You do not have to stop smoking to bleach your teeth. Smoker's can bleach their teeth, but it may possibly take them longer to get the same results as a non smoker. Two weeks after the completion it is ok to eat what ever one wants and if your teeth slowly darken then re bleach for one to three days.

Is Oral Sex Safe?

Although one can't get pregnant from oral sex, there is plenty of evidence that you can get herpes, gonorrhea, chlamydia, human papillomaviruses(HPV),and HIV. The incidence of Oral Pharyngeal Cancer has been increasing for people in their 40s and it is thought to be correlated to HPV. A study published in the New England of Medicine in 2007 reported a strong correlation between HPV and pharyngeal cancers.
The study also found that the risk for this cancer seems to increase with the total number of sexual partners a subject had. So It would seem that "unprotected oral sex" is not completely without risk.