Lawyer recommends reporting drug-induced xerostomia to FDA

Dentists should report cases of xerostomia caused by medications to the FDA, Edwin Zinman, D.D.S., J.D., told attendees at the World Congress of Minimally Invasive Dentistry (WCMID) annual meeting in San Francisco last week. Dr. Zinman, a San Francisco attorney who specializes in dentistry, said more than 3,000 medications can contribute to medication-induced xerostomia, yet most of the drugs don’t come with adequate warning labels. He called for the WCMID

Hawaii to cut kids’ dental program

Hawaii’s Dental Hygiene Branch, which serves about 40,000 young people per year, is being shut down, with layoffs scheduled for November, according to a story in the Honolulu Star Bulletin. Medicaid dental benefits for adults also were reduced August 10 by the state Department of Human Services to cover only emergency services, according to the Star Bulletin. Hygienists in the Dental Hygiene Branch work one-on-one with children in elementary and

WCMID panel: New periodontal disease approach needed

SAN FRANCISCO – The 39-year-old patient’s gums looked healthy when she came for her first appointment at the office of Gregory Sawyer, D.D.S. No deep pockets, no bleeding. But instead of sending her on her way, Dr. Sawyer took a look under a microscope and found spots in her mouth that were crawling with spirochetes. “Do you have a new boyfriend?” he asked. “Why, yes,” she answered. It turned out

Biolux gets grant for new orthodontic product

Biolux Research will receive $205,000 Canadian ($185,000 U.S.) from the National Research Council Canada’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) over the next 18 months to help accelerate the development and commercialization of a new light treatment device for orthodontics. The new product will be designed to “significantly accelerate tooth movement during orthodontic treatment, and thus radically reduce treatment times and improve the experience for patients,” the company said. The NRC-IRAP

Calif. drops kids from CHIP

California last week announced it would begin dropping children from its Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). In February, when the U.S. Congress expanded the program (previously known as the State Children’s Health Insurance Program [SCHIP]), advocates estimated it might bring oral healthcare to an additional 4 million children who currently lacked coverage. But others noted that the program would depend on full support from state governments, which might not be

Align to pay Ormco $13 million in settlement

Align Technology will pay Ormco, a subsidiary of Danaher, $13 million in cash and 7.6 million shares as part of a settlement agreement related to ongoing patent litigation between the two companies. The deal gives Danaher a 10% ownership stake in Align. In addition, the companies have agreed to collaborate over the next seven years to develop and market an orthodontic product that combines Align Technology’s Invisalign system and Ormco’s

Komet launches new disk/handpiece system

Komet has introduced a new disk/handpiece system designed for cosmetic dentistry and orthodontic procedures for proper interproximal enamel reducing and finishing. Developed in conjunction with Dr. Paul-Georg Jost-Brinkmann of the Berlin Charité Dental Hospital in Germany, the OS (oscillating segment) disk is the first of its kind in the dental industry, according to the company. OS disks are safe and efficient for interproximal enamel reduction and are more effective than

Remedent debuts GlamStrip for GlamSmile veneers

Remedent has introduced GlamStrip, a proprietary, patent-pending device for the placement of its GlamSmile dental veneers. GlamStrip is an evolutionary alternative to the company’s original tray technology by allowing for easier and more accurate placement of less than a full set of dental veneers, according to Remedent. The original tray is marketed worldwide by Remedent and its major distributors and marketing partners, including GlamSmile Australia and GlamSmile China. In the

Remedent Q1 sales drop 41%

Delays in the construction of a new production facility in China are being blamed for a 41% drop in Remedent’s net sales for the first fiscal quarter of 2009. For the period (end-June 30), the company reported net sales of $2.2 million, compared to $3.6 million in the same quarter a year ago. Net loss for the quarter was $549,000, compared to income of $331,000 in the same quarter of

OraPharma offers dental students Arestin training

OraPharma recently expanded its commitment to providing educational support and training to dental and dental hygiene schools by renewing the Arestin Student Access Program and creating a new Professional Affairs Team to provide field support and instructor training for the program, the company announced. The Arestin Student Access Program was implemented a few years ago as the result of discussion and collaboration between OraPharma and the directors of leading dental

New osteoporosis drug may avoid osteonecrosis

Denosumab, an investigational new drug for osteoporosis, increased patients’ bone density without causing osteonecrosis of the jaw in a study published online August 11 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Some research has associated the use of bisphosphonate drugs (such as alendronate sodium, or Fosamax) for osteoporosis with osteonecrosis of the jaw, raising concerns about whether dentists should treat such patients differently. In this study, funded by the drug’s

New compound shows promise for perio disease

A proprietary compound called 1-tetradecanol complex (1-TDC) has been shown to be effective in arresting the progression of periodontal disease, according to a study published in the July issue of the Journal of Periodontology (Vol. 80:7, pp. 1103-1113), according to Imagenetix, the company that developed 1-TDC. In the study, the compound was applied to the gum line using a rabbit periodontitis model developed by Boston University investigators. The study results