Over the last decade, DNA testing has really come into its own. This is largely due (in my opinion, anyway) to TV shows like CSI and the million spinoffs it spawned, all of which put an entertaining focus on forensics. And, I have to admit, it's all pretty cool. Whenever...

I've been away from The Huffington Post for a few months because I've been on an important quest -- to help get rid of bad breath once and for all. And I want to tell you a little about what I found in my journeys.

Actually, my journey was personal,...

Q: Where do you live, Ernie?
A: Lebanon, Ky. About two hours from Lexington, Ky.

Q: Do you see a dentist regularly?
A: Yep, Dr. Poke -- he takes good care of me!

Q: Are you missing any teeth?

Q: How did you get into bull riding?
A: My grandpa raised beef cattle, and I always had horses, so I went to a camp to learn how to do it at age 9.

Q: Bull riding camp... like going to sports...

Q: Do you have any oral piercings?

A: I do not have any piercings at all (believe it or not!), with the exception of my left ear lobe. When it comes to piercings, I am quite the wuss! Even though both industries (tattoo and piercing) revolve around usage of needles,...

Q: During your SEAL missions how did care for your mouth?

A: My primary SEAL missions were:

Special reconnaissance: I was only in the field a few days at a time and would just ignore brushing.

Liaison: I was engaging with foreign commanders and sometimes using different...

Q: How big are you currently?

A: I am 6 foot 5 inches and 330 pounds. When I last competed in the World's Strongest Man competition in 2010 I was 395 pounds.

Q: Do you still lift heavy...

Q: How did you get involved in sword swallowing?

A: I first witnessed sword swallowing as a child at circus sideshows and did not believe it was real. It wasn't until I was working as a Lutheran missionary in India...

Q: Have you ever been hit in the face with a puck?

A: Dental injuries happened quite often during my hockey career. The earliest I remember is when I was around 12 when I took a stick to the mouth....

Q: As a rare and bizarre food enthusiast, is there a special routine you have developed to care for your mouth, taste buds, before and/or after sampling exotic and non-traditional foods?

A: Nope. Ordinary guy with an extraordinary job. I...

I had the honor of interviewing U.S. Astonaut Clayton C. Anderson about his oral hygiene habits while living on the international space station for six months.

Q: Do you avoid certain food or drink the day of a launch or...

Q: How would you describe your flossing routine?
A. Daily
B. Occasionally.
C. Every 6 months by my hygienist.
D. When food is stuck between my teeth after eating (corn on the cob,...

As a NYC Cosmetic Dentist, I get asked a lot about dental floss, and which type is the "best." I have a pretty standard answer for that question, and it goes like this: "Whatever type you will actually use daily." That's easily the most important aspect of floss...

It was somewhat of a mystery at first.

I once had this patient who had chronic/repeated pain in his upper teeth (basically the premolars and molars on his upper right side). He had been to two different dentists, who did an exam and took X-rays, but really couldn't find...

Let's talk today about sleep apnea and the treatments for such. This is on my mind because of a recent report that came out the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (1). The findings basically say that researches have discovered a link between sleep apnea and cancer,...

Okay, let's do one last post in our bad breath series. I know you are all probably tired of bad breath by this point, but as an NYC Cosmetic Dentist, it's a question I get asked about all the time. Now I can point people here, where they...

Let's move forward in our series on bad breath. Once again, I'll mention that I am doing these more or less to illustrate that bad breath (aka halitosis) is far from an "easy" condition to diagnose and treat -- the causes can be varied and complex, and the treatment is...

Let's move forward in our series on bad breath (otherwise known as Halitosis) with a look at what I call "sinus breath," which is bad breath that's a result of sinus problems.

First, a recap: The entire reason I'm doing this series on the different kinds of bad breath...

Ok, let's continue forward in our series about bad breath. Last time, we talked about what I call "lung breath." Today we'll talk about another kind of bad breath -- tonsil breath. Basically, tonsil breath is where bad breath/halitosis originates in the tonsils, and not in other areas like the...

I'm going to do a series of posts regarding the different types of bad breath (or halitosis). I've spoken before about bad breath -- extensively, in fact -- but I've never really broken it down quite this way before.

I want to do this because bad breath is pretty...