Ask Dr. Mike: Dental Fillings, Red vs. White Wine Sugar Content & More

Here you'll find the answers to a wealth of health and wellness questions posed by Healthy Talk fans.

Listen in because what you know helps ensure healthy choices you can live with. Today on Healthy Talk, you wanted to know:

What has more sugar content, red or white wine?

This depends on the type of wine and not so much the color. For example, moscato and riesling are sweeter wines which have more sugars than drier wines. Dry reds like pinot noir have .06 grams of sugar, Merlot .74 grams of sugar, cabernet has .75 grams of sugar. Dry white wines like pinot grigio have .6 grams of sugar.

I have a gold cap molar next to a large filling and now have a deep pocket between the capped tooth and the tooth that has the filling. I've been told the filling is too large to replace and the tooth should be capped as well. If I get the tooth capped, should I get the filling removed in the first tooth?

Assuming that the fillings have silver mercury, then yes you should get those removed. They should be replaced with other alternatives or capped.

Will the cap help fix the deep pocket?

Unfortunately no, it won't. The reason why you have this deep pocket is probably due to an infection which caused some inflammation and this pocket. You might want to try oil pulling.

My son had an operation as a newborn for the narrowing of the aorta. Now, he's 28 and coughs a lot in his sleep. Does he need another operation?

The best answer Dr. Mike can give you is to have him see his doctor. He might want to mention a procedure MRA, which is angiogram to see if there's any narrowing issues.

If you have a health question or concern, Dr. Mike encourages you to write him at askdrmikesmith@radiomd.com or call in, toll-free, to the LIVE radio show (1.844.305.7800) so he can provide you with support and helpful advice.