A piece of tooth helped a Florida man discover the type of shark that bit him more than two decades ago. Scientists ran a DNA test on the shark tooth, which the man retrieved from his foot. Jeff Weakley was surfing off the coast of Northern Florida in 1994 when he was bitten by a shark he couldn’t identify. Almost 25 years later, he opened a blister-like bulge on his
Pediatric dentists who accepted at least one new Medicaid-insured child each month showed greater willingness to advocate for community water fluoridation programs in a recent study. Though these fluoridation programs aim to close the tooth decay disparity gap between those with low and high social and economic backgrounds, misinformation from opponents of fluoridating public water sources threatens initiatives. Researchers from Philadelphia used an online survey to determine if a link
In this case, a 52-year-old male patient presented to the dental practice for a standard examination. During his oral evaluation, an old and fractured porcelain-fused-to-zirconia crown on tooth #15 was revealed. Preoperative image of tooth #15. All images courtesy of Dr. Timothy Anderson. Clinical objective An atraumatic removal of the crown on tooth #15 was completed efficiently using the Solea dental laser (Convergent Dental) for treatment. The clinical objective for the
As cone-beam CT (CBCT) use increases in pediatric patients, understanding the amount of radiation received in dental and maxillofacial exams is crucial. Researchers measured dose in 22 areas and found that the salivary glands and oral mucosa had the highest measured radiation levels. Multiple studies have shown there is a large variability in the radiation dose values of CBCT scans, especially for children. The researchers from Belgium wanted to measure
Is an erbium, chromium-doped yttrium, scandium, gallium, and garnet (Er,Cr:YSGG) laser effective for treating peri-implantitis? A new in vitro study showed that this laser eliminated two different colonies of bacteria on dental implants. When treating patients with peri-implantitis, it is crucial to avoid damaging the surface of the implant and increasing bacterial resistance, as some existing decontaminants do. Researchers wanted to see if an Er,Cr:YSGG laser (Waterlase iPlus, Biolase) was
Some common oral surgery procedures are not profitable, according to a study published in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Without sedation, oral and maxillofacial surgeons can lose hundreds of dollars for popular procedures, including routine and surgical extractions. Researchers from the University of Texas (UT) Health Science Center at San Antonio analyzed the cost and reimbursement rates of six of the most common outpatient procedures. They found that
It’s no secret that many celebrities from both the movie and music industries as well as sports stars have gotten work done on their teeth. These include big names such as Morgan Freeman, Celine Dion, Mike Tyson, Jim Carrey, Catherine Zeta Jones, Demi Moore, Ben Affleck, Victoria Beckham, George Clooney, Cher Lloyd, Keith Urban, Gary Busey, Miley Cyrus, 50 Cent, Louis Walsh, Snooki, Nicolas Cage, Hilary Duff, Zac Efron, Cheryl
Did you break your weakened teeth but not to the point that you’ll need a crown to protect it? Are there small holes all over your teeth due to dental caries? If any of those scenarios is the case, then you should look into getting tooth fillings on those cavities to save your tooth or teeth from further harm and degradation. The main things that make composite resin the default
Many preschool-age children develop new caries regardless of fluoride varnish treatments, according to a new study. The researchers concluded that further cost-savings analysis is needed to determine if this treatment should be abandoned. Both U.S. and European pediatric dentistry associations widely recommend the application of fluoride varnishes for their assumed anticavity benefits in children, though many children get fluoride from water supplies and toothpaste. Co-author Ana Paula Pires dos Santos,
DMG America has added an etching gel refill system to the company’s line of caries infiltration products. The Icon-Etch refill etching gel system contains three 0.45-mL syringes and 15 smooth surface tips for application. It is part of the Icon Smooth Surface product line, which offers immediate correction of initial lesions and no need for anesthesia or drilling to treat the patient.
The antimicrobial activity of endodontic sealers can be important to the outcome of root canal treatment, but the amount of information on their antimicrobial abilities varies. To learn more, investigators evaluated four sealers using two in vitro testing methods. They assessed the antimicrobial activity of four sealers — Roeko GuttaFlow 2 (Coltene), AH Plus (Dentsply Maillefer), ProRoot MTA (Dentsply Sirona), and RealSeal (Kerr Endodontics) — against Enterococcus faecalis, Escherichia coli,
Dear DrBicuspid Member, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released new data this week that included approximately 117,200 reports of injuries associated with dental implants. The vast majority of these injuries were due to problems with osseointegration. Associate Editor Theresa Pablos spent this week pouring through hundreds of thousands lines of previously undisclosed data from the FDA. It’s the kind of reporting you won’t find at any other dental