{"id":45693,"date":"2026-03-09T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=45693"},"modified":"2026-03-05T15:09:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T22:09:51","slug":"dental-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/dental-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Dental Care"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Mirrored flashlight for oral & mechanical work<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

GUM Oral Care Kit<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two incredibly handy tools seldom used for their intended uses are dental mirrors (a.k.a. \u201cinspection\u201d mirrors) and dental picks. The one problem with most inspection mirrors is that when you have to look into awkward electronic or mechanical crevices where you need a mirror, you also need a flashlight for illumination and a spare hand to hold the light. This kit (#832) has a dental mirror with a bright flashlight integrated into the handle and a switch in the grip, freeing up your other hand. The other neat thing is that for less than $10 you get two dental picks \u2014 great for nudging or extracting small inaccessible components from assemblies. Recently, I was upgrading a friend\u2019s computer. The motherboard was mounted in a \u201cbaby ATX\u201d case which was a very tight fit. To locate the CMOS reset jumper or check to see if the memory socket catch was engaged, I needed the use of the lighted mirror to negotiate the dark spots where those components were hidden. In the same manner the picks were handy to snag small cables within the case. \u2014 Stephen A. Kupiec<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Superior dental tool<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Reach Access Flosser<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The civilized way to floss. A tiny, easily replaceable harp on the end of a stick. More hygienic (no fingers in your mouth), more effective at flossing the hard parts, more comfortable, easier to use. Our kids love \u2019em. I floss much more often myself since I started using one. A really cool tool more folks should use. \u2014 KK<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Essential mouth tool<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Dental Mirror<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I got mine \u2014 made of surgical stainless steel \u2014 from a set of used dental tools at a garage sale for 25 cents. It\u2019s incredibly handy for inspecting missing fillings, infections, gum complaints, particularly in kids. And you can look for sharp edges on dental braces. There really is no other way to look deep inside the mouth. The key is to get a proper front-surface mirror, which some drugstore plastic versions don\u2019t have. Otherwise at close range there is a slight double image which confuses the image. \u2014 KK<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Emergency teeth fillings<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Dentemp<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dentemp is a traditional dental combination of zinc oxide and eugenol (clove oil) mixed when needed to make a temporary tooth patch for lost cavity filling, or to re-cement a cap or inlaid on a tooth. It\u2019s strong enough that you\u2019ll need to have a dentist remove it later. Since an emergency Dentemp kit weighs less than an ounce, it should be part of your traveling or backpacking kit. You can get it at almost any drug store. \u2014 KK<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Floss alternative<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Brush Picks<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hate flossing. I hate how the floss cuts into my fingers and lips, and how it gets wet and slimy and impossible to manipulate. I\u2019ve tried those little flossers with handles but they\u2019re not much better than regular floss. I\u2019ve used interdental brushes (they\u2019re like itty-bitty bottle brushes with handles) but they\u2019re not flexible and don\u2019t fit between normally-spaced teeth. After years of ignoring my dentist\u2019s suggestion to just floss the teeth I want to keep, I think BrushPicks are my solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each disposable plastic pick has a pick end and a brush end. The pick end has tiny ridges that help to scrape harder material from between your teeth. But it\u2019s the brush end that\u2019s a real innovation. It looks kind of like a feathery antenna, with a flat row of tiny bristles extending on either side of a thin, flexible pick. This brush end is stiff enough and thin enough to poke easily between your teeth, but flexible enough that it readily bends so that you\u2019re not jabbing painfully into your gums. This flexibility also allows for cleaning behind rear molars. Rotating the brush end as you clean helps to loosen and remove gunk from otherwise impossible-to-reach areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BrushPicks are so effective that they\u2019re actually kind of fun to use\u2013in a \u201clook what I just dug out of my own head\u201d sort of way. I\u2019ve taken to using one every 2 or 3 days and I\u2019m anxious to see if my dental hygienist notices the difference during my next cleaning. \u2014 Rhodora Collins<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Emergency dentistry<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Where there is no dentist<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is very little chance you\u2019ll ever be beyond the reach of a dentist most of your life. However, like its companion Where There is No Doctor, the true audience for this free PDF (and for-sale printed book) is care-givers in the developing world. But this tome also works as a short course in emergency care. Real dental first aid that is useful for anyone to know. \u2014 KK<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Once a week we\u2019ll send out a page from Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities. The tools might be outdated or obsolete, and the links to them may or may not work. We present these vintage recommendations as is because\u00a0the possibilities they inspire are new.\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to get Tools for Possibilities a week early in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tools for Possibilities: issue no. 180<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13684,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[2387],"tags":[2388],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45693"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13684"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45693"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45693\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45700,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45693\/revisions\/45700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}