Aussie university focuses on oral health of mentally ill

La Trobe University in Victoria, Australia has launched a free toothbrush and toothpaste campaign directed toward individuals with mental health issues. The campaign, supported by Colgate, will focus initially on northern Victoria and includes a comprehensive education campaign for the medical and dental professions, the university said in a press release. It follows a year-long investigation into the link between oral and mental health among regional Victorians by La Trobe

Waterless toothbrush launched

United Treatment Centers will launch its Aquafree waterless toothbrush Nov. 29 at the Greater New York Dental Meeting, the company announced. In addition, the company has created a Web site from which customers can directly purchase the brush. The company is touting the brush as more hygienic because there is no risk of spreading pathogens through a shared tube of toothpaste. A bladder in the toothbrush handle contains a liquid

Expert warns flu may burden dental offices

As H1N1 flu spreads, the demands on dental offices are increasing, according to Leslie D. Canham, R.D.A., a certified U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration trainer. “It’s going to be hard for dental offices to meet the new standards,” said Canham, citing federal and state regulations that make treating patients suspected of influenza much more complicated. For example, under new California regulations, dental care workers may only treat someone suspected

California dentists give crowns for charity

Star Refining London and the California Dental Association (CDA) Foundation have joined forces to launch a scrap crown recycling program called Crowns for Kids that provides dental services to children in need throughout California. It is estimated that millions of dollars worth of services would be provided to underserved children statewide if the vast majority of dentists in California participated in the Crowns for Kids program, the CDA Foundation noted

AGD survey finds tooth erosion on the rise

One in three dentists surveyed by the Academy of General Dentistry (AGD) cite aggressive tooth brushing as the most common cause of sensitive teeth, followed by acidic food and beverage consumption. Other factors that can cause tooth erosion and contribute to the oral condition include certain toothpastes and mouthwashes, tooth whitening products, broken or cracked teeth, bulimia, and acid reflux, according to the nationwide member survey conducted by the AGD.

Endodontics: Another use for the Diagnodent?

Think the Diagnodent is only good for helping to confirm the presence of caries or calculus? Think again. A new study in the Journal of Endodontics (October 2009, Vol. 35, pp.1404-1407) has found that laser fluorescence can also enhance the assessment of endodontic infection. Evaluating the microbial status of the root canal system typically involves taking a culture. But the drawback with cultures is that they take time to grow,

Polymer hybrids show promise for next-generation dental materials

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC in Würzburg, Germany, working in collaboration with research partners at Voco, have developed a hybrid material they say can be used for all the components used in root canal treatment. “The basis of this material is provided by ORMOCERs (organically modified ceramics, also developed at Fraunhofer),” said Herbert Wolter, group manager at the ISC, in a press release. “We have combined

Actress campaigns for kids with clefts

Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai Bachan last week signed on as goodwill ambassador for Smile Train, the world’s largest charity for children with cleft lips and palates. As goodwill ambassador, Bachan will help Smile Train provide free cleft surgery to children in 76 developing countries around the world. Smile Train currently has more than 150 partner hospitals in India and has performed more than 200,000 surgeries there. In that country alone,

Green tea a preventive agent for oral cancer?

Green tea extract has shown promise as cancer prevention agent for patients with oral leukoplakia, according to researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. The study, published online in Cancer Prevention Research, is the first to examine green tea as a chemopreventative agent in this high-risk patient population. The researchers found that more than half of the oral leukoplakia patients who took the extract had a

Komet launches zirconia-cutting disk

Komet’s ZR943 diamond disk is designed to cut zirconia. Komet USA this week announced a diamond disk that cuts zirconia at high speeds. Komet’s ZR943 diamond disk is designed to cut off sprues from pressed ceramics and to separate the coping from the HIP zirconia blank. Available in FG shank only, the ZR943 disk is obtainable in three sizes (065, 080, and 100). With a medium grit of 100 µm,

Imagenetix awarded new patent for perio disease drug

Imagenetix has been issued a new U.S. patent (#7,612,111), which provides intellectual property protection for its 1-TDC early stage drug candidate for the prevention and treatment of periodontal disease. Imagenetix’s early stage drug candidate (1-TDC) has been studied at Boston University’s Department of Periodontology and Oral Biology for the treatment of periodontal disease. According to the company, in studies published in the Journal of Periodontology, 1-TDC was shown to stop

AAP Foundation elects board members

The American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) Foundation board of directors elected Donald S. Clem, D.D.S., Myron Nevins, D.D.S., Michael G. Newman, D.D.S., and S. Timothy Rose, D.D.S., M.S., to three-year terms at its annual meeting in Boston last month. As a past president of the AAP Foundation, Dr. Clem has been in practice for 25 years, and serves as an assistant clinical professor at Loma Linda University and as an