Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DQ7uxlVCRe5/If your teeth lose their enamel coating, you’ll experience sensitivity, frank pain, cavities, diminished dental strength, appearance deterioration, and possible infections. Dental enamel cannot conventionally be regrown.  Mild enamel deterioration can be helped by fluoride, hydroxyapatite, or calcium phosphate toothpastes.  Mild or moderate patchy loss requires application or a tooth-colored composite resin or veneer to rebuild worn zones and seal the exposed dentine leads to sensitivity and pain. More extensive enamel loss can only be remedied using porcelain veneers or dental crowns.Enter UK’s University of Nottingham bioengineers who now report in the journal Nature the development of a gel that accomplishes a task once thought impossible; it literally regenerates tooth enamel. The gel mimics the nature process of enamel formation by creating a thin, mineral-rich layer on the tooth surface. This layer binds calcium and phosphate ions from saliva and organiz

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DQ7uIKqFVf8/Halloween is over but Thanksgiving and the winter holidays bring an abundance of chocolate into the home.  Now allergists from Chicago’s Northwestern U and New York’s Northwell Health warn that both authentic “Dubai chocolate” and copycat versions pose serious allergy risks for those with allergies to pistachio, sesame, wheat, milk, and other nuts. These common allergens are present in Dubai chocolate, and the ingredient labels often fail to report this fact. In particular, sesame allergies are on the rise and now represent the 9th most common food allergen for Americans. This agent is often used in the creamy tahini that fill Dubai chocolate candies.With the rising popularity of this candy, emergency physicians nationwide are treating more and more allergy cases linked to mislabeled or homemade versions of the Dubai chocolate.If you or a family member has a nut, sesame, wheat, or milk allergy, best to keep Dubai chocolate goodies out of your home unless its p

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DQ7tUAikdo7/The incidence of child peanut allergy dropped 43% over 8 years following NIH recommendation for feeding babies peanut products at an early age.  A University of Pennsylvania multi-site collaborative study of 124,868 children was just published in the journal Pediatrics. The data for peanuts but also for eggs, nuts, fish and other allergenic foods show that introducing these potential allergens at 4 to 6 months of age prevents later allergy development.  Typically, parents are advised to delay introducing these foods until later infancy or toddler months.  The early introduction trains the child’s immune system to tolerate these food antigens.These results now encourage pediatricians to recommend the early introduction of peanut, egg, nuts, fish and other allergenic foods at 4-6 months as the child becomes ready for solid food. Parents with newborns should discuss this strategy with their baby’s medical team in order not to miss the opportunity for preventing f

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DQ7li8pjM88/One or two steady walks of 10 to 15 minutes a day can reduce the risk of heart disease by up to two-thirds. This finding by University of Sydney and Universidad Europea public health researchers and published in the Annals of Internal Medicine challenges the long-held “10,000 steps a day”rule and suggests that how you walk matters more than how much you walk.The study followed 33,560 adults ages 40 to 79 for nearly eight years. Even walking fewer than 8,000 steps a day but with longer, uninterrupted sessions at a comfortable, consistent pace significantly lowered rates of heart attacks and strokes from about 13% to 4%. For these least active people, risk of death fell from 5% to under 1%.The bottom line: replacing scattered steps with one or two dedicated leisurely but consistent walks each day can bring major benefits particularly for those with a pattern of limited walking.https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/10/251027224829.htmhttps://www.acpjournals.

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DQ7kx-WjUfS/Women contracting CoVid while pregnant are 29% more likely to deliver babies who later develop symptoms and signs of autism spectrum disorder including speech, motor, and cognitive problems. Maternal-fetal medical researchers at Harvard’s Mass. General Hospital studied 18,124 live births at the hospital over a 14 month period and just published their results in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.The risks were higher in boys and when the CoVid infection occurred in women during their third trimester. The researchers believe that  CoVid hyper-activates the pregnant mother’s immune system, a phenomenon that occurs with other infections known to negatively impact fetal brain development. Although the overall risk of autism remains low, this possibility for women contracting CoVid while pregnant should trigger more close surveillance after the child is born.  Having a child with autism is just more reason to avoid a CoVid infection while pregnant. The most ef

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DQ7kB3aF64K/If rejecting a CoVid vaccine that helps you avoid CoVid infection which could land you on a ventilator or in the morgue wasn’t incentive enough to get the jab, oncologists at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and University of Florida report that COVID-19 mRNA vaccines dramatically improve survival for lung cancer and melanoma patients with advanced, metastatic disease. Their study, published in the journal Nature, demonstrates that patients receiving a COVID mRNA vaccine within 100 days of initiating immunotherapy lived significantly longer—in some cases, nearly twice as long—as those who were unvaccinated. These survival curves for lung cancer and for melanoma instantly tell this amazing story.The CoVid mRNA vaccines apparently turbocharge a cancer patient’s immune system in nonspecific way that assists immunotherapy. For lung cancer patients, mean survivals climbed from 20 to 37 months and 3 year survivals jumped from 31% to 56%. For melanom

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DQ7izrDFySQ/As the weather cools, I’m sad to report that a new wave of respiratory syncytial virus, RSV, driven infections is again beginning to sweep across the US. These infections are sending increasing numbers of babies and toddlers to hospitals and to intensive care units. Besides RSV, cases of influenza and CoVid are also rising as we head into the peak respiratory virus season.What can you do to protect yourselves but especially your babies.  Pregnant women should be vaccinated against RSV between 32 and 36 weeks of pregnancy to pass immunity on to their newborns. Only the Pfizer vaccine Abrysvo is approved for pregnant women.As you think about protection against RSV during this respiratory disease season, don’t forget about influenza and CoVid.  If you haven’t had your booster for one or both, arrange to do so as soon as possible. Public health specialists do say that you can have any or all of these vaccinations at the same time for your convenience. That being s

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DQ7h-llESdf/Men with low sperm counts, so-called azoospermia, have problems fathering children.  To correct that problem, researchers at New York’s Columbia University Fertility Center have developed a system to ferret out, capture, and aggregate the rare sperm in a man’s semen sample in order to successfully fertilize an egg.Their procedure, dubbed STAR, short for Sperm Tracking and Recovery, uses high-powered imaging to take more than 8 million pictures of a semen sample in under an hour. Artificial intelligence then pinpoints rare sperm cells, and a robotic system gently isolates them for use in in-vitro fertilization.The Columbia team has just reported in The Lancet journal the successful use of STAR to help a couple that tried to conceive for 18 years plus. The system was able to identify just TWO two viable sperm cells in a 3.5 milliliter sample.  Those were enough to create two embryos and to initiate a pregnancy.Fifteen percent of couples unable to get pregnant du

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DQ7hQTrkc8V/As you likely know from your child’s Halloween bucket, sour candies are all the rage.  In fact, sales of sour treats have surged by 70% over the past decade driven by viral “sour candy challenges” on TikTok and YouTube. Dentists at the renowned Tufts University School of Dental Medicine warn that sour candy can seriously damage your child’s and your teeth due to its high acid content. The citric, malic, tartaric, and fumaric acids found in these candies trigger enamel erosion. This is true for ALL sour candy varieties currently on the market.You and your kids don’t have to swear off eating sour candy, but, if you crave it, you should take precautions. After eating sour candy, rinse the mouth with water, remove any sticky residue with floss or a water flosser, and wait 30 minutes or more before brushing with fluoride toothpaste in order to help rebuild enamel. Drinking milk can also help neutralize acid in the mouth.Your children and you will need teeth for a l

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DQ7fZt_leLr/Once again, a professional association is spreading the truth in order that the American public not be confused or gaslit by information from government sources. The FDA is suddenly recommending that ingestible fluoride products not be given to children under age three—or to any child at low or moderate risk for tooth decay. The American Dental Association, ADA for short, disagrees and states that fluoride tablets and drops remain safe and effective for children whose drinking water lacks fluoride. Fluoride has long been shown to strengthen teeth and prevent cavities, particularly in communities without fluoridated water. The first step is to determine the fluoride content in your child’s drinking water whether it comes from a city or town water system or a home well. You and your dentist can obtain that information directly from your local water authority and/or online.  Here, for example, is a section of the published levels for Massachusetts’ cities and tow

Vidcast: https://www.instagram.com/p/DQsFdBxjUsa/Clostridium botulinum is the bacteria that causes botulism.   Botulism is a  serious illness caused by this bacteria’s toxin which attacks the nervous system and can lead to paralysis and respiratory failure. Affected are Original Marinara Sauce, Tomato & Basil; the Original Traditional Pasta Sauce, Meat Flavored; and the Original Puttanesca Sauce, Mildly Hot & Spicy with a “Use By” date of 09/26.The recalled products were sold in Connecticut and Massachusetts at Big Y and Stop & Shop locations beginning on September 22, 2025. Do not cook with or eat these sauces. Return the products to the place of purchase for a full refund. If you did eat the sauces and are experiencing symptoms such as weakness, dizziness, blurred vision, or difficulty speaking or swallowing, seek immediate medical care. For more information, contact First and Last Bakery, LLC at 1-860-956-5000.https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/first-and-last-ba

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DQsEvwtCW-s/Those with an allergy or severe sensitivity to wheat, a gluten intolerance, or celiac disease could experience a serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume this product. The affected product is packaged in 6-count boxes with batch code LLA519501 and a Best By date of January 31, 2027. These recalled Häagen-Dazs Chocolate Dark Chocolate Mini Bars were sold at Kroger stores in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming,, as well as in Giant Eagle stores in Indiana, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.Do not eat these Häagen-Dazs Chocolate Dark Chocolate Mini Bars if you have a wheat, gluten, or celiac issue. Return the bars to the place of purchase for a full refund. For ore information, c

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DQsEHtEF6rl/This product is uneviscerated and that poses a risk of poisoning with botulism. The recalled fish are in 10- to 12-pound clear plastic packages with an expiration date of May 19, 2025, and UPC code 908172635412.These dangerous Dry Ghoinnya Fish were sold nationwide across the US in retail stores.Do not consume this poisonous fish. Return it to the place of purchase for a full refund. If you did eat it and are experiencing the symptoms of botulism immediately contact your medical team. These symptoms are dizziness, blurred or double vision, difficulty speaking, swallowing, or breathing, weakness of other muscles, abdominal distension, and/or constipation. For additional information, contact New Hoque & Sons Inc. at 1-718-391-0992.https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/new-hoque-sons-inc-issues-alert-uneviscerated-dry-ghoinnya-fish#hoque #Ghoinnya #fish #uneviscerated #botulism #recall

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DQsDfQ2F1my/Listeria causes a severe and sometimes fatal systemic infection in the very young, older frail individuals, and those with weakened immune systems.  Listeria can also trigger miscarriages and stillbirths. The affected lots include 01PCLC, 03PCAF, 106PCLF, 113PCLF.These peaches were sold at retail stores across the US between September 16 and October 29, 2025.Consumers should immediately stop eating the recalled peaches and discard them. Anyone who purchased the affected fruit can contact the company for more information or refund instructions.For questions, consumers can contact Moonlight Companies at 1-855-215-5017.https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/moonlight-companies-voluntarily-recalls-california-grown-conventional-yellow-and-white-peaches#moonlight #peaches #listeria #infection #recall

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DQsCr1rDUTP/Salmonella trigger serious and sometimes fatal gastrointestinal and systemic infections in young children, elderly persons, and others with weakened immune systems. The affected lots: 020123PA3F-T, 020123PA3F-G, 020123PA3F-R, and 020123PA3F-W.This powder was sold at retail stores and via mail order in every state EXCEPT in Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin. All sales occurred between April 2023 and September 2023.Stop using these recalled Monarch Premium Kratom products immediately and contact Vanguard Enterprises at 1-888-347-5088 or via the email at support@bedrockmfg.co to obtain a full refund.https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/vanguard-enterprises-llc-dba-bedrock-mfg-recalls-monarch-premium-kratom-powder-because-possible#monarch #kratom #powder #salmonella #infection #recall

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DQqtsDMDXak/The chair legs break creating fall hazards. This recall applies to chairs with SKU numbers 108-976, 109-100, 109-117, 109-123, 121-287, 436-035, 436-074, 436-096, 436-123, 686-763, 686-774, 387-127, 387-135, 387-141, and 387-166.About 54,930 of these chairs were sold in the US and about 3,160 were  sold in Canada from January 2021 through January 2025.Stop sitting on these recalled chairs right and contact Crate & Barrel at 1-800-451-8217 or by email at recall@crateandbarrel.com to receive a free replacement chair and arrange for the recalled one to be picked up at no charge.https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2026/Crate-and-Barrel-Recalls-Ana-Dining-Chairs-Due-to-Fall-Hazard#crateandbarrel #anachair #legs #falls #recall

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DQqtHH1FIzx/The chain brakes fail to activate leading to serious lacerations or worse. Affected is catalog number 2826-20 with a serial break identified by the letter “A” in the serial number.About 90,860 of these battery-powered chainsaws were sold in the US and about 7,500 in Canada at Home Depot, other home improvement stores, and online from March 2023 through September 2024.Stop using the recalled chainsaws immediately and contact Milwaukee Tool at 1-833-953-2012 to arrange a free repair. You can also register your product at service.milwaukeetool.com/support/eservice to receive a prepaid shipping label for return and repair.https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2026/Milwaukee-Tool-Recalls-M18-FUEL-14-and-12-Top-Handle-Chainsaws-Due-to-Laceration-Hazard#milwaukeetool #chainsaw #brakes #laceration #recall

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DQqsd2WDgSo/These mattresses fail to adequately fit certain playpens permitting a baby’s head to become trapped between the mattress and the sides of the structure. The mattresses are dual-sided, with one side labeled “infant” and the other labeled “toddler.”About 15,000 of these recalled mattresses were sold through Amazon from April 2024 through June 2025.Immediately stop using the recalled mattresses and contact Modera at 1-877-450-0320 or via the email recall@moderababy.com for a full refund. You can use these same contact routes for more information.https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2026/Modera-Recalls-Modera-Pack-N-Play-Mattresses-Due-to-Risk-of-Serious-Injury-or-Death-from-Entrapment-Violates-Mandatory-Standard-for-Crib-Mattresses#modera #cribpad #strangulation #babies #recall

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DQqrnLKFaFO/An improperly routed alternator cable becomes damaged and contacts the negative battery post creating an electrical short with possible fires and burns. About 5,130 of these off-road vehicles were sold in the US, and another 460 were sold in Canada from March 2025 through August 2025. Immediately stop riding these recalled vehicles and visit polaris.com/recalls to check if your VIN is affected. If so, Polaris will provide you with instructions on how to safely continue operating the vehicle until a free repair can be completed at an authorized Polaris dealer. For more information, call 1-800-765-2747 or email Owner.Connections@polaris.com.https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2026/Polaris-Industries-Recalls-Model-Year-2025-2026-Ranger-XP-1000-NorthStar-and-Ranger-Crew-XP-1000-NorthStar-Recreational-Off-Road-Vehicles-ROVs-Due-to-Risk-of-Serious-Injury-from-Fire-Hazard#polaris ##offroad #electrical #fires #burns #recall

Vidcast:  https://www.instagram.com/p/DQqq_HGgBzc/The hood drawstring catches on objects creating a strangulation hazard that could result in serious injury or death for children.About 8,850 jackets were sold in the US and about 730 were sold in Canada at Bass Pro Shops and other outdoor retailers and online at grundens.com from August 2015 through August 2025.To return the jacket and receive a full refund, call Grundens at 1-800-323-7327 or email the company at recall@Grundens.com.  If you want to keep the jacket, don’t allow your children to wear it until you have removed the dangerous drawstrings. If you choose this option, you can email a photo to the company to receive a 20% discount code for future purchases.https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2026/Grundens-Recalls-Youth-Jackets-with-Drawstrings-Due-to-Strangulation-Hazard-Risk-of-Serious-Injury-or-Death#grundens #jackets #drawstrign #strangulation #children #recall