Health Tip: Give Your Kitchen a Daily Cleaning

(HealthDay News) -- Any kitchen can be a breeding ground for germs, so it's important to give yours a thorough cleaning every day.

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics offers this advice:

Using hot, soapy water, thoroughly clean the counter and other work surfaces each day to clean spills and food particles.Keep non-food items such as mail, lunch bags and purses away from the kitchen counter.Thoroughly wash the counter before preparing food.Make sure all dishes and cookware are thoroughly cleaned in hot, soapy water and rinsed well.Frequently swap dish towels and rags for clean ones. Wash these items in the hot cycle of your washing machine and thoroughly dry them.Wash sponges in a water/bleach solution or throw them away.Regularly clean appliances, including the inside of the microwave.

-- Diana Kohnle
Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

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Tune Into Brain Games Tonight, Chemical-Free Spring Cleaning and More!

National Geographic Channel's new show Brain Games shows you how to "hack your brain" so you can figure out how your mind works. Way more fun than a biology lesson, right? Check it out tonight at 9 p.m. ET. [CNN]

We're always looking for non-toxic ways to get our place sparkling for spring. Here, 27 chemical-free, DIY cleaning products. [Greatist]

The top 40 Vine Film Festival finalists pack a lot of talent into six seconds. Which one's your favorite? [All Twitter]

Our May cover girl Kelly Osbourne doesn't only look good, she does good too. Kelly and her mom, Sharon, have signed on to be the faces of Fashion Targets Breast Cancer 2013, which raises money for the disease via fashion sales. [The Drum]

Next week, your Twitter feed will be bringing the laughs. Starting April 29th, Comedy Central is hosting #Comedyfest, a five-day Twitter festival with jokes, routines, and even a panel discussion with Judd Apatow. [Rolling Stone]

Image Credit: Getty Images

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Annual Dental Cleaning May Be Enough for Some: Study

But people at risk of gum disease need more frequent appointments, researcher says

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, June 10 (HealthDay News) -- For many people, once-a-year dental cleaning may be enough to prevent gum disease that leads to tooth loss, according to a new study.

"Twice-yearly cleanings have been recommended for over 50 years without supporting evidence," study author William Giannobile, a professor of dentistry and biomedical engineering at the University of Michigan, said in a university news release.

But the results of this study "showed that one yearly cleaning is likely to be enough for patients with no risk factors," he said. "Patients with one or more risk factors, which represent over half of the population, should visit at least twice a year and likely more in some cases."

For the study, which was published online June 10 in the Journal of Dental Research, Giannobile and colleagues looked at data from more than 5,100 adults who visited the dentist regularly for 16 straight years, had no history of gum disease and received one or two cleanings each year.

The researchers examined the link between the frequency of teeth cleanings and long-term tooth loss in the participants, as well as three key gum disease risk factors: smoking, diabetes and genetics.

Two dental cleanings a year provided significant benefits to people with one or more of the three risk factors, while people with two or three of the risk factors may require more than two cleanings a year. But one cleaning per year appears sufficient for people with none of the risk factors, according to the study.

"The future of health care is personalized medicine," Giannobile said. "This study represents an important step toward making it a reality, and in a disease that is widespread, costly and preventable."

"We have long known that some individuals are at greater risk of [gum] disease, but tools haven't been available to adequately identify those at increased risk and prevent disease progression," he said.

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