The University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry is hosting an event this month in which area residents can receive free oral cancer screenings at the dental school’s campus in San Francisco. The free screenings, which will take place October 20 and 21, are being offered as part of the school’s participation in the Oral Cancer Foundation’s Campaign to Make Oral Cancer History. The screenings include a
Midmark has announced the details of its 2011 year-end dental sterilizer promotion. Beginning October 1 and continuing through December 31, 2011, dentists purchasing eligible Midmark sterilizers will receive rebates ranging from $300 to $1,000. In addition, Midmark is offering dentists a $200 incentive rebate for donating their old sterilizer to Direct Relief International. During the promotion, dentists will receive a $1,000 rebate when they combine their Midmark M9 or M11
Officials at Allegany College of Maryland (ACM) are opposing the creation of a new dental hygiene program at Hagerstown Community College (HCC), according to a story in the Cumberland Times-News. In a September 1 letter to the Maryland Higher Education Commission, ACM President Cynthia Bambara wrote that a new program at HCC would result in “unreasonable program duplication and demonstrable harm to another institution.” College officials are asking the District
A New Jersey dentist has been sued by the estate of a Somerville firefighter who died last year of oral cancer at the age of 33, according to a story on mycentraljersey.com. The lawsuit accuses Francis Barbieri Jr., DDS, of failing to inform his patient Steven Runyon of a lesion on his tongue and not referring him for biopsy soon enough. Runyon died of metastatic tongue cancer in August 2010.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Cancer of the back of the mouth and throat is on the rise, primarily because of more cases stemming from a viral infection called human papillomavirus (HPV), researchers report in a new study. The number of people who were diagnosed with HPV-related oral cancer in 2004 was triple the number diagnosed in 1988, due largely, researchers suspect, to changes in sexual behavior that have helped
The National Institutes of Health has given $2.25 million to Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine researchers to study how an isolated agent from common oral bacteria may hold the answer to how human beta defensins could be used to help block bacteria from entering epithelial tissue. Aaron Weinberg, DMD, PhD, a professor and the chair of the department of biological sciences at the dental school, will lead
The placing of a titanium dental implant by Per-Ingvar Brånemark into the mouth of a volunteer in Sweden in 1965 was a turning point in restorative dentistry. Over the past 40 years, dental implants have become a preferred means of treatment for missing teeth for many clinicians and patients while growing into a $3 billion market worldwide by 2009. By 1988, some 300,000 implants had been placed throughout the world,
A combination of P16 immunohistochemistry and DNA qPCR to test for viral E6 can accurately determine a form of head and neck cancer (HNC) that is derive from human papillomavirus 16 (HPV16), according to a new study in Clinical Cancer Research (October 1, 2011). The study has clinical applications for clinical trials regarding therapy based on HPV status, according to lead researcher Andrew Schache, DDS, MD, a research fellow and
Does changing occlusal plane angle affect the attractiveness of a smile? Yes, according to researchers from the Eastman Dental Institute at University College London (Angle Orthodontist, September 20, 2011). But it appears to bother dental practitioners more than the patients themselves, the researchers found. To determine the influence of the occlusal plane angle on smile attractiveness as perceived by a group of 66 adult orthodontic patients and 66 dentists, the
A federal court in New York has found in favor of Merck in the Secrest v. Merck case, rejecting the claims of a Florida woman who said she developed osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) and related dental problems after using Fosamax, a bisphosphonate commonly used to treat osteoporosis. The October 3 verdict marks the fourth time a jury has found in Merck’s favor on a plaintiff’s product liability claim involving
The University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine has created a new program that will focus on research to help prevent birth defects of the mouth and face, as well as grow new bones and cartilage to repair facial injuries, according to an article in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Mark Mooney, PhD, chairman of the new graduate program in oral biology, plans to build on the university’s strengths in cleft palate
Many adults with diabetes have poor awareness of oral care and health complications associated with condition, and are receiving limited advice from healthcare professionals, according to a new U.K. study (British Dental Journal, September 23, 2011). And many patients think their dentists should screen for the disease. Researchers at the University of Warwick in Coventry, U.K., wanted to investigate the oral health awareness and oral hygiene of patients with diabetes,