Foundation gives $204K for Mont. kids’ dental care

A $240,000 New Year’s Eve grant from the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation will underwrite three years of dental screenings for low-income children in Montana, according to a story in the Missoulian. The grant to the Montana Primary Care Association builds on a 2008 donation that provided 2,700 children with dental care and referrals. The money was used in community health centers in Missoula, Billings, Butte, Bozeman, Kalispell, Cut Bank,

Periodontal therapy does not improve preterm or low birth weight rates

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Periodontal therapy of pregnant women does not reduce the rates of preterm or low birth weight (LBW) infants, a new meta-analysis shows. “Clearly, periodontal disease is an important oral infection that must be always treated when diagnosed in order to promote oral health, but we cannot recommend it for pregnant women with the goal of reducing preterm births and low birth weight,” Dr. Mariana Fampa

Jones Foundation supports orthodontic program

The Walter S. and Evan C. Jones Foundation has joined Smiles Change Lives (SCL), a national nonprofit organization, to help low-income Kansas children get orthodontic work. Youths ages 11 to 18 in Coffey, Lyon, and Osage Counties in Kansas are being sought for its affordable orthodontic program, the organization announced. The Jones Foundation has provided financial support to children in these counties who cannot afford braces. SCL is now the

Many physicians still resist doing oral health assessments

It’s been 10 years since the U.S. surgeon general’s report on oral health in America, which among other things advocated interdisciplinary training between medical and dental providers. But current research shows that primary medical care providers are still not comfortable performing basic oral health assessments, and many consider oral health outside their realm of practice. “The time has arrived for each profession to recognize the benefit of coordinated treatment plans

Calif. dentist denied parole in fatal anesthesia case

A Costa Mesa, CA, dentist convicted of killing three patients by giving them fatal doses of anesthesia has been denied parole, according to an article in the Daily Pilot. Tony Protopappas, 65, administered fatal doses of a general anesthetic to three patients, ages 13, 23, and 31, from 1983 through early 1984. He was convicted for three murders and has spent more than 25 years in prison. At the time

Study: Pomegranate mouth rinse effective against plaque

Pomegranate mouth rinse should be explored as a long-term antiplaque rinse with prophylactic benefits, according to a new study in Quintessence International (January 2011, Vol. 42:1, pp. 29-36). The study authors divided 30 periodontally healthy volunteers into three groups and randomly assigned three different mouth rinses: pomegranate, chlorhexidine, or distilled water (placebo) twice daily. The subjects’ plaque index (PI) was assessed at days 0 and 5. Pomegranate extract was tested

Sleep apnea implant device in clinical trials

Inspire Medical Systems, a developer of neurostimulation therapies for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), recently received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin a clinical trial of its STAR (stimulation therapy for apnea reduction) implant system. The STAR II implantable sleep apnea device. Image courtesy of Inspire Medical Systems. The STAR trial is a multicenter study designed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of

$50K grant supports Ariz. school-based dental clinic

The Human Services Campus has received a $50,000 grant from CVS Caremark Charitable Trust to be used for free dental services for children in the Murphy Elementary School District, the first onsite community-based, comprehensive preventative and restorative school-based dental clinic in Arizona. The Central Arizona Services (CASS) Dental Clinic for Children in the Murphy Elementary School District opened on June 1, 2010, to provide full dental care including x-rays, oral

Researchers find link between toothpaste and weather

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab are developing a toothpaste dispenser that selects what flavor to dispense based on the weather forecast. The lab’s “Tastes Like Rain” project has yielded a prototype that will dispense one of three flavors that reflects the current conditions outside, according to a story on CNET. Mint means it’s colder than yesterday, cinnamon means it’s hotter, and blue stripes indicate rain. The

Surgeons use rib to reconstruct tumor patient’s jaw

Pediatric plastic surgeon Rohit Khosla, MD, had never seen a case like it: The 12-year-old boy’s face ballooned with a rare, aggressive bone tumor. Although it was noncancerous, the tumor was destroying the patient’s mandible. Dr. Khosla knew he would need an innovative approach to save the boy’s ability to chew. “The situation was pretty complicated,” said Dr. Khosla, who practices at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto, CA,

Are AMSA nerve blocks more effective than IONBs?

Is an anterior middle superior alveolar (AMSA) nerve block more effective than an infraorbital nerve block (IONB) in achieving pulpal anesthesia in the anterior maxilla? Researchers from Newcastle University recently conducted a small clinical trial to investigate (Journal of the American Dental Association, December 2010, Vol. 141:12, pp. 1442-1448). In two separate visits, 28 healthy adult volunteers received 1.0 mL of 2% lidocaine with 1:80,000 epinephrine as an AMSA nerve

Disposable bib prevents cross-infection from scrubs

A dental hygienist has developed a new product that aims to reduce cross-infection from blood and saliva that is splashed back onto the dental team’s scrubs during dental procedures. Medi-Mates is a paper bib that fastens to the tunic and can be thrown away after each patient has been treated. It was developed by Jenny Dudley-Ford, a dental hygienist in the U.K. “Originally, I was using a tissue tucked into