This past week I met with several dental teams and asked them about the “3 Ds” which now characterize their patient caseloads: Do you have diabetic patients? Do you have patients on diuretics? Do you have patients with a dry mouth? In all meetings, there was instant agreement that many patients have one or more … Read more
1 in 5 low-income kids go without needed dental care; Pennsylvania receives a “D” for how it’s addressing this need (worse than 41 other states) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMYXaTZOkTo&list=UUsyy8lzxdKTUwK_CMs3dN7g Philadelphia, PA – Philadelphia Gentle Dental offices and their tooth mascot, Sir Floss A Lot, hit the streets to raise awareness about children’s dental health risks and the importance of … Read more
A recent article in the NY Times talked about weaning older patients off of nightly regimens of sleeping pills. Why “de-prescribe” these medications (benzodiazepines) such as Ativan, Ambien, Halcion, Lunesta and Valium? There are many good reasons but one which pertains to oral health, is the side effect on salivary flow. In 2008, a study … Read more
MADISON, Wis. – Improve your own health while restoring the smile of someone in need: Join the Virtual Race for Smiles, which benefits the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry Charitable Foundation’s (AACDCF) Give Back a Smile (GBAS) program. GBAS restores the smiles and lives of those who have suffered dental injuries from intimate partner, family, … Read more
Researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have recently discovered a way to predict the aggressiveness of oral cancer tumors in mice which is an important step towards doing the same with cancer tumors in humans to guide treatment. “All patients with advanced head and neck cancer get similar treatments,” according … Read more
Scientists examining dental plaques from prehistoric Sudanese skeletons say that purple nutsedge, today considered one of world’s worst weed, was not always a pest. By:Kate AllenScience and Technology reporter, Published on Wed Jul 16 2014. Donatella Usai / Centro Studi Sudanesi and Sub-Sahariani Scientists uncover a skeleton at a prehistoric gravesite in Sudan. Researchers say … Read more
Patients suffering from osteoporosis or bone fractures might benefit from a new discovery of a protein that plays an important role in bone regeneration made by bioengineers at Queen Mary University of London. Normally found in the formation of enamel, which is an important component of teeth, the scientists discovered that a partial segment of … Read more
The Canadian Lung Association reports that 10% of Canadians have lung disease or COPD. Half of these 3 million Canadians have a formal diagnosis, the others simply struggle on with difficulty breathing. A growing number of studies have connected oral health to lung function. But only recently has there been a prospective controlled study to … Read more
The most recent data on the prevalence of Americans for high blood pressure show that about 1 in 3 are hypertensive at mid-life, and over age 60, 2 out of 3 are. A preferred first-line method to manage blood pressure is diuretics. In this context, a recent Japanese study of institutionalized seniors found that the … Read more
Two new studies show that a regular smoke and a coke put you at high risk of dental decay. The more you smoke the more caries over a 4 year period of observation of Finnish adults. The more you drink sugar-sweetened beverages, the more your decay experience over a similar period for Finnish adults. This … Read more
An interesting study and findings regarding a link between headaches and gum chewing has come from Tel Aviv University. The article was published in Pediatric Neurology and looked at 30 patients between 6 and 19 with chronic headache and who were big gum chewers. The patients were told to stop chewing gum. After 1 month, … Read more
A 4-year study of older Japanese men and women living in their homes has connected the number of root caries to systemic inflammation. Refer to Figure 1. This study also found a significant association between root caries and irregular heartbeat, allowing for other confounding variables. So what? What should the dental team do with this … Read more
A few months ago, I spoke with an advisor to the Sjogren’s Society of Canada about Prevora and the remarkable results from our 2 randomized, double blinded, placebo controlled, multi-centred trials which were conducted with FDA protocols. This advisor said she thought green tea was the answer to controlling caries in a Sjogren’s patient. So, … Read more
A common practice after dental surgery or to deal with dental pain, is to do just what the title of this blog says. Extra-strength Tylenol in my medicine cabinet contains 500 mg of acetaminophen per caplet. 6 of these pills means a daily dose of 3,000 mg of acetaminophen. That is close to the new … Read more
The Invisalign® Brand sponsored “Smile Ever After” Survey Also Reveals That 92 Percent Of Brides Rank Their Smile As Their Most Important Wedding-Day Accessor The word “selfie” is hugely popular among teenagers – and it’s now resonating with many new brides. A recent Wakefield Research survey commissioned by the makers of Invisalign® has discovered that … Read more
A recent article in the New York Times titled “The antidepressant generation” talked about the growing use of medication amongst the 18 to 29 year old cohort, to control depression. In 1994, about 9% of American students visiting their college healthcare centre were treated with antidepressants. By 2006, that had grown to 23%. A growing … Read more
We are students from Poland, we are 21, we came up with idea of creating world’s first interactive toothbrush for kids – the FunBrush. Check out our facebook/website for details! We know that children don’t like to brush their teeth. It’s boring and they don’t find it attractive nor important. We came up with an … Read more
Part II of III In my previous writings about the patient experience, I talked about how to “wow” a patient from their perspective, not just the dental offices. We all know that most people don’t want to be getting dental work done, but we forget because we are so wrapped up in what we are … Read more
ONLY Fourteen (14 %) of North American patients report knowledge or awareness of their dental office performing an Oral Cancer Screening. Oral cancer is considered one of the most preventable of all cancers and if detected early has an 80% success rate…! For more information please visit: www.transitionsonline.com.
Partners in Complete Health today announced its film “Say Ahh,” the world’s first documentary on oral health, is now available to the public, including non-dental and non-medical communities. Featuring doctors, patients and a few minor miracles, “Say Ahh” takes an informative, patient-friendly approach to explaining the oral-systemic connection and its impact on the health and … Read more