Teeth

?It was just full of chaos up here. Now they are teaching them values, respect.? Rose Ellison on Edison Schools? management of Montebello Elementary, where six of her grandchildren have been taught Article, PG 1B Up Next Tomorrow Teen's 'teeth' goes abroad A Towson High School senior's photograph, "Stars Have Teeth," will be featured alongside works from 18 other students from countries around the world at the Tate Modern museum in London. in TODAY Thursday Disney movie milestone Disney recently unveiled information about its next animated film in production, called The Frog Princess, scheduled for release in 2009.

The closest thing China has to a tooth fairy might be Dwayne Arola, an engineering professor from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County who has a thing for Asian choppers. Not long ago, Arola returned from a trip to Shanghai with a plastic lunch box containing a dozen prime specimens from Chinese dental patients - large, cavity-free wisdom teeth - destined to endure a regimen of abuse that he once reserved for aircraft parts. How the Chinese molars hold up under Arola's stress tests may explain why Chinese teeth are more brittle than American teeth.

And to think that Shawn Hatosy was thinking of getting his teeth bonded.Hatosy, the Silver Spring-born star of "Outside Providence," which opens Sept. 1, was auditioning for the role of Timothy "Dunph" Dunphy two years ago when the movie's director, Michael Corrente, asked him to open wide."Michael was like, `Show me your teeth,' " Hatosy recalled the other day during a telephone interview. "And I showed him, and he kind of had this look like, `Eeeuww!' He was like, `Yeah, they're pretty bad, but not for Dunphy.

Dr. Kyrle W. Preis Sr., a highly respected Baltimore orthodontist whose research in the 1940s concluded that thumb-sucking by children resulted in distortion of teeth and facial features, died Sunday of congestive heart failure at Franklin Square Hospital Center. He was 92.Since last year, Dr. Preis had lived at Oak Crest Village retirement community in Carney.Beginning in 1948, Dr. Preis began a six-year study that compiled graphic evidence that showed children who sucked their thumbs after age 2 risked malformed teeth.

Fluoride, flossing and better brushing techniques have emptied dentists' chairs. But Americans' quest for a whiter, more perfect smile is filling them up again.People are spending large amounts of money on better-looking, but not necessarily healthier teeth. The most sought-after procedure by far is bleaching; dentists are also bonding ultra-thin veneers to teeth to hide stains and chips, replacing silver amalgam fillings with white porcelain ones, and installing porcelain crowns that look more real -- and more perfect -- than the teeth they cover.

Cheesesteaks. The Liberty Bell. Soft pretzels. A Ben Franklin look-alike. Snow cones. Phillies baseball.These are a few of Philadelphia's summertime favorites. Here's a sampling of other hidden treasures in the area.* The Insectarium: Why do bees dance? What makes a firefly light up?Since January 1995, Steve Kanya has tackled those queries from busloads of school children, Scouts and thousands of teachers and visitors at the Insectarium. Inside, the two-story museum is crawling with 100,000 live roaches in a model kitchen and bathroom.

When a bleary-eyed Alison Mueller used to get ready for bed at night, she'd brush her teeth but skip the floss.Sure, her dentist wanted her to take care of her pearly whites, but who has the energy?Then an idea struck the 11-year-old. "A lot of people don't floss their teeth," said Alison, a fifth-grader from St. Louis. "If people have a way that's quicker and easier, they might do it more."Inspired, Alison got busy on her first invention: the Teeth Flosser. She thread dental floss through a plastic mouth guard, leaving spaces for her teeth.

Leaning far back in the long, narrow chair, bright light in your eyes, the feeling is unmistakable: This is the dentist's office.But there is no drill in sight.Instead, a box powerful enough to vaporize cavities with light waves sits at your feet. On your right, a computer screen displays 14 inches of X-rays of your teeth, all organized by Windows 95.On your left, a wand topped by a miniature camera can go inside your mouth, illuminating pink gums and yellowish teeth on a television."This is the way dentistry is today," said Dr. Lori A. Cardellino, whose Bel Air office is loaded with the latest technology -- tools that promise less pain, fewer needles and shorter stints in the chair.

You have probably heard of people who shave or brush their teeth while driving, but what about motorists who argue with their dogs, accidentally set themselves on fire with matches or debate puppets in their cars?According to a new survey by Pennzoil, those are a few of the strange behaviors reported by American drivers.Other findings:Southerners are the most likely to floss their teeth on the road.Motorists in the Pacific Northwest are the most inclined to talk to themselves or argue with other passengers.

NEW YORK -- If people paid for documents they download from the Internet, Hugh Gallagher would have been a best-selling writer long ago.For almost a decade now, his best-known work has been a short essay enclosed with his application to New York University. "The Wonder Years" -- better known as "The Mother of All Application Essays" -- has been published in Harper's, read on National Public Radio and acclaimed as an Internet classic. The Essay is still so vivid in people's memories that the New York Times included an excerpt in a recent front-page article on college applications.

Sometimes faith is not enough. Last Sunday in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI stood in the warm Basilica of St. Paul and announced that scientists had conducted carbon-dating tests on bone fragments found in what has long been believed to be the sarcophagus of the Apostle Paul. According to Pope Benedict, "This seems to confirm the unanimous and uncontested tradition that they are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul." Thank God. I feel better already. Why do we insist on this stuff? If it's "unanimous and uncontested," what's the point?

More than 140,000 people in the U.S. die each year from stroke, making it the country's second leading cause of death for women, and the third for men. About 795,000 strokes occur each year. At least one-quarter occur in people younger than 65 years, making it a health subject important to all age groups. Dr. Marian LaMonte, neurology chief at St. Agnes Hospital, presents a free talk on strokes at 6 p.m. May 12 at the hospital. She offers these tips: 1 Know the warning signs of stroke.

Dental student Andrew Swiatowicz stood next to the extra-large set of model teeth positioned in a corner of the National Museum of Dentistry and asked young onlookers how many times a day they should brush. Two or three, belted out the kindergartners from George Washington Elementary School in Southwest Baltimore. It seems like an obvious question, but museum officials say not every kid from the poorer parts of Baltimore and Maryland - those who rarely or never see a dentist - know the answer.

theater 'I Am My Own Wife': Actor Bruce Nelson portrays 35 characters in this one-man show about Berlin's controversial Tranny Granny, or Charlotte von Mahlsdorf, who navigated two homophobic regimes in a housecoat and high heels. I Am My Own Wife runs through Feb. 22 at Everyman Theatre, 1727 N. Charles St. Showtimes vary. Tickets are $24-$38. Call 410-752-2208 or go to everymantheatre.org. Mary Carole McCauley art School 33 exhibit: Politics, conformity and assimilation are themes in the work of Eun Woo Cho and Liz Ensz, the artists featured in a Two Person Juried Exhibition that runs through Feb. 7 at School 33 Art Center, 1427 Light St. Andrea Pollan, head of the Curator's Office gallery in Washington, served as the juror for the exhibit, part of School 33's Open Call to Artists.

Describe the transition from guard to center for you. You have a lot of responsibilities, like knowing the defenses and making the offensive line calls. On top of that, it's twice as hard having to learn a new offense under [offensive coordinator] Cam Cameron. He has a very in-depth playbook. What is one of the more challenging aspects of your role? At tackle [which Brown played during his freshman year at North Carolina], the defensive lineman is several feet away from you. At center, he's about 5 inches away from you. They can crowd the ball, and that makes a big difference because you're at the point of attack, and everything happens very quickly at the center position.

About 12 years ago, Carrie Lemon started losing teeth. One by one, to curb pain, Lemon had most of her teeth extracted. Today, at 72, she has only six left. Eating has become a daily chore, and Lemon wants desperately to be fitted for a set of dentures. "I've just been going from one dentist to another, but all of them tell me that our medical system doesn't cover it," Lemon said. "I don't have the money to get them." With the number of Americans over age 60 expected to increase by 70 percent by 2025, experts say dental care for seniors is a major issue - one that will only become more acute as the population ages.

The closest thing China has to a tooth fairy might be Dwayne Arola, an engineering professor from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County who has a thing for Asian choppers. Not long ago, Arola returned from a trip to Shanghai with a plastic lunch box containing a dozen prime specimens from Chinese dental patients - large, cavity-free wisdom teeth - destined to endure a regimen of abuse that he once reserved for aircraft parts. How the Chinese molars hold up under Arola's stress tests may explain why Chinese teeth are more brittle than American teeth.

"Show me your smile," the dentist, wielding a flashlight, said to the slightly apprehensive 3-year-old girl standing before her. "You brought your teeth with you?" At that, the little girl grinned. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad after all. The dentist, Dr. Patricia L. Bell-McDuffie, director of oral health services for the Baltimore City Health Department, was one of several medical professionals who gathered this morning at an East Baltimore community center to inspect the mouths of about 300 children ages 3 and 4 and enrolled in Head Start programs.

An adverse reaction to a vaccine sent Erin MacPherson crashing face-first onto the floor, cutting her neck, fracturing her jaw and cracking six teeth - two months before her Miss Teen America competition. For two weeks in April, MacPherson, the current Miss Teen Maryland, couldn't talk because a compression bandage wound tightly around her chin clamped her jaws shut. The Bel Air teen swallowed pureed bananas and chicken-vegetable mush, and drank lots of milkshakes. She scribbled on a whiteboard to communicate with her friends.

Harley Garbani excused himself, ducked out of the room and returned with a savage set of 6-inch teeth and claws. "Take a look," he said, displaying the finer, if sharper points of a Tyrannosaurus rex. "If he picks you up with these, you can kiss your butt goodbye." That fate seems unlikely these days even if Garbani's home is more appropriate to, say, Jurassic Park than the trailer park in Hemet, Calif., where he lives. Moving from room to room is a journey of a few feet spanning millions of years.