Oculus signs marketing deal with OroScience

Oculus Innovative Sciences has entered into an agreement with OroScience granting Oroscience exclusive rights to market Microcyn-based oral products in the U.S., Canada, and Europe in exchange for providing Oculus with a significant percentage of those revenues. OroScience will support all regulatory, clinical, sales, and marketing related to the Microcyn-based professional oral care products, with the first product launch anticipated in 2010, according to the companies. “We’ve identified a number

Minnesota electronic billing law takes effect

A 2007 Minnesota law that takes effect this week now requires electronic billing of all healthcare claims, including dental, in the state, according to a Post-Bulletin article. The state will save about $60 million a year in its effort to eliminate paperwork, standardize billing terms, and reduce errors, according to David Haugen, director for the Minnesota Department of Health’s Center for Health Care Purchasing Improvement. The statute encourages voluntary compliance

Case Western research targets oral bacteria that can harm fetus

Yiping Han, Ph.D., an associate professor at the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine, plans to use a five-year, $1.85 million grant to better understand how to stop a common bacterium that’s harmless in a mother’s mouth but can turn deadly when it reaches an unborn child. This is Han’s second National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research RO1 award. She’s published more than 10 papers from previous

Schein inks implant distribution deal with Dentatus

Henry Schein and Dentatus have entered into a five-year agreement that establishes Henry Schein as the exclusive distributor of the Dentatus Atlas narrow body implant system in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. “In this important and growing market, the Dentatus Atlas system stands apart and is distinctly different from other systems, with clear benefits that shorten healing time and increase patient comfort,” said Stanley Bergman, chairman and CEO of

Mass. Dental Society pushes for mandatory kids’ exams

The Massachusetts Dental Society is calling for mandatory dental exams for children entering kindergarten as part of a campaign linking oral health to overall health, according to a story in the Republican. Earlier this year, the society filed a bill, H.444, with the state Legislature that requires that all public school students submit certification that they have received a dental exam within the last year, before entering kindergarten. The bill

Critics blast proposed Colorado sedation rules

Faced with ardent opposition, the Colorado State Board of Dental Examiners (CSBDE) has delayed imposing new sedation rules that would have required 60 hours of training for dentists practicing “minimal sedation.” In other respects, the new standards would have brought Colorado more in line with the guidelines of national organizations such as the ADA. But they would have exceeded the ADA’s recommendation of 16 hours of training for minimal sedation.

AGD panel to discuss perio, heart disease link

The connection between periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease will be the topic of a panel discussion on the growing need for dentists and physicians to collaborate at this week’s Academy of General Dentistry (AGD) annual meeting. Marvin Slepian, M.D., and Neil Gottehrer, D.D.S., will lead an “Oral/Body Inflammation Connection” discussion during the meeting in Baltimore. “It is critical for all dentists and physicians to collaborate in helping patients reduce inflammation,

Ivoclar Vivadent launches new bond and composite products

Ivoclar Vivadent has introduced two new bond and composite products. Monobond Plus is a universal single-component primer for all indirect restorative materials. The combination of three different functional groups — silane methacrylate, phosphoric methacrylate, and sulfide methacrylate — ensures that a strong and durable bond to any dental restorative material will be established, according to the company. As a result, with Monobond Plus, dentists only need one primer for all

Diets bad for teeth are also bad for the body

Dental pain may be a warning that the high-glycemic diet that can cause dental problems in the short term may, in the long term, lead to potentially serious chronic diseases, according to researchers from the University of Washington School of Dentistry. Philippe Hujoel, D.D.S., Ph.D., M.S.D., M.S., a professor of dental public health sciences, reviewed the relationships among diet, dental disease, and chronic systemic illness in a report published July

Flapless implant surgery an effective option

Flapless implant surgery may appeal to dentists who would like to add implants to their practice but hesitate because of the surgical complexity involved. Research has shown that results with this approach can be as good as or better than conventional implants. “With a little common sense and awareness of anatomy, it’s a very safe procedure,” William Becker, D.D.S., M.S.D., an associate professor of periodontology at the University of Southern

Links found between obesity and oral bacteria

A scientific team from the Forsyth Institute says it has discovered new links between certain oral bacteria and obesity. In a recent study, the researchers demonstrated that the salivary bacterial composition of overweight women differs from that of nonoverweight women (Journal of Dental Research, July 8, 2009). This preliminary work may provide clues to interactions between oral bacteria and the pathology of obesity, and may help investigators learn new avenues

Louisiana mobile dentistry bill signed into law

Without fanfare, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has signed into law a bill calling on the state board of dentistry to regulate mobile dentistry. Gov. Jindal issued no statement on a bill that became one of the most hotly contested of the state’s legislative session. As originally sponsored by the Louisiana Dental Association, the bill would have banned nearly all dentistry in schools. After multiple amendments, the bill morphed into a