Veritas – If it seems too good to be true, it most likely is.

All I want is the truth, just gimme some truth – John Lennon (1940 – 1980) Endodontics is once again careening towards technologic revisionism – and the marketing by the companies veers as always towards corporate hegemony and their advocates as always are out in solipsistic full force; the question is, does technology improve the … Read more

Oral-systemic health and your dental team

From RDH – by Karen Davis – karen@karendavis.net Front office administrators, dental assistants, dentists, and dental hygienists have one thing in common: Patients will approach any of them to ask about something they just read or heard on TV regarding how the oral cavity impacts the rest of the body. They don’t discriminate. We’re all … Read more

Study IDs root cause of local anesthetic-related NSDs

From Dr. Bicuspid May 5, 2011 — The root cause of local anesthetic-related neurosensory disturbances (NSDs) in dentistry has been unclear. But now a group of Danish researchers say it is neurotoxicity related to high-concentration formulations of anesthetics — particularly articaine — not needle penetration (Journal of the American Dental Association, May 2011, Vol. 142:5,pp. 531-540). … Read more

The Hidden Cause of Sinusitis in Seniors

From Worldental.org Dental Health Magazine Chronic sinusitis is a condition currently affecting approximately 13% of the Americans. On a yearly basis, there are $6 billion spent and 13 million visits made to the doctor because of this complaint. Some patients get relief from treatment with antibiotics, while others simply have to accept it as a way … Read more

Dentistry advanced by science – not market??? Hmmmm

Science gets partial answers slowly – Margaret Scarlett – April 18, 2011 from Medscape Connect In these changing times with technology always changing, I’m reminded of a saying from a colleague at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). When faced with new scientific data on prevention of disease, this scientific expert said something … Read more

Industry sponsored research may report more favourable outcomes – ya think?

Evidence-Based Dentistry (2011) 12, 5-6. Question: Are scientific articles which are exclusively or partially funded by implants companies more likely to report lower annual implant failure rates compared to articles with non-industry associated sponsorship? Data sources   Medline and the Cochrane Database of systematic reviews between January 1993 and December 2008. Hand search of 12 different dental … Read more

Guidelines Issued for Antibiotic Prophylaxis With Implanted Heart Devices

Laird Harrison February 17, 2011 — Dental patients should not take prophylactic antibiotics simply because they have pacemakers or implanted defibrillators, according to a new statement from the American Heart Association (AHA). Although 2007 guidelines already exclude these patients from the list of those who need prophylactic antibiotics to prevent endocarditis,the AHA wanted to emphasize … Read more

Endodontic Parousia; Nullius in Verba

Lorraine Daston and Katharine Park; two eminent historians who write on the subject of scientific claims note that in the days prior to enlightenment, “the hallmark of the narrow-minded and suspicious peasant, trapped in the bubble of his limited experience” was a comment directed at those who challenged “eye-witness” testimony or as we know it … Read more

Up in the air junior birdsmen………and eCards for free – do you not love social networking….let’s take over Nathan Phillips Square and demand a recount on Rob Ford

If I said Dental Air Force to you, you’d assume I was referring to the dental division of the Canadian Air Force, you know, the one still using bi-planes and F-18’s with wings that fall off…  however, www.dentalairforce.com is an interesting site showcasing an interesting device developed by Dr. Piero  Image via Wikipedia – I … Read more

50 reasons to oppose fluoridation

Dr. Paul Connet, Ph.D. of St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY offers 50 reasons to oppose fluoridation as listed below and the statements are slightly edited. 1, Humans don’t need fluoride to have good teeth; 2, Fluoridation is unnecessary. Most Western European countries are not fluoridated and they have experienced the same decline in dental decay … Read more

Does Fluoride Really Fight Cavities by ‘the Skin of the Teeth?’

ScienceDaily (Dec. 15, 2010) — In a study that the authors describe as lending credence to the idiom, “by the skin of your teeth,” scientists are reporting that the protective shield fluoride forms on teeth is up to 100 times thinner than previously believed. It raises questions about how this renowned cavity-fighter really works and … Read more

Time to move to Alberta – “Four strong winds that blow insanely”

Calgary residents want fluoridation stopped……….yee haw, or is that hee haw…….plan is to prevent tooth decay by brushing with tar sands………….in the immortal words of Pogo, “we have met the enemy and he is us………..” Did everyone elect Rob Ford clones to run their governments.  I know where the 13K dentists registering to practice in … Read more

The horror, the horror

My vision for this blog in addition to sharing the important changes in all aspects of our profession is to provide the opportunity to share clinical cases and learn online and in time perhaps develop an Oral Health treatment planning and execution discussion forum.  The reasons why are below……The intent is not to demean or … Read more

WOW!!

In the sixties, it was Benjamin Braddock being advised that his future lay in “plastics”.  Today, it’s a website and very much worth your time and trouble. http://www.helainesmithdmd.com/blog/ http://twitter.com/helainesmithdmd Nothing more need be said…

ADA and evidence based dentistry

Dental research doesn’t do any good if it doesn’t reach the clinician. That’s why the ADA created the Center for Evidence-Based Dentistry (EBD) to connect the latest research findings with the daily practice of dentistry. The EBD Web site provides on-demand access to systematic reviews, summaries and clinical recommendations that translate the latest scholarly findings … Read more