Evident Dental Lab releases Evident Lite for small labs

Evident Dental Lab has released Evident Lite, a new lab management software that specifically addressed the needs of small dental laboratories. Priced at $39 per month for a single user and $79 per month for unlimited users, Evident Lite schedules cases; prints/emails tickets, invoices, and statements; and records can be exported to QuickBooks. Hardware costs can be further minimized by adding tablets and smartphones to the mix rather than just

International dental conference to be held in Dubai in April

OMICS Group Conferences, an international scientific event organizer, has announced that it will hold the second annual International Conference on Dental and Oral Health from April 21-23 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The three-day event will focus on methods and strategies related to management and quality improvement of dental clinics, as well as explore new ideas and concepts on a global scale. Topics to be covered at the conference include

NC dental board to change sedation rules

The North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners is planning changes to its rules on training, emergency response, and sedation following the deaths of two patients linked to conscious sedation. The deaths have spurred the board to ask dental professionals and the public to speak out on possible changes to its rules and protocols for sedation and dentistry in general, according to a newsobserver.com story. Last December, the board suspended

Hop leaves could fight dental diseases

Hop leaves that are discarded in the beer brewing process have antioxidant polyphenols that could protect against dental diseases, according to a new study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (February 18, 2014). Hops, which give beer its bitterness and aroma, contain healthful antioxidants that could be used to battle caries and periodontal disease, according to the researchers from Japan. Earlier research found that antioxidant polyphenols in hop

U.K. study: Areas with fluoridation have lower extraction rate

Extending water fluoridation to U.K. areas with high levels of tooth decay could save millions and reduce the number of extractions in young people, according to a new report in the British Dental Journal (March 7, 2014). Researchers compared the oral health of the population in North West England, where fluoride is not normally added to mains water, to the oral health in the West Midlands, where fluoride is added.

Lawsuit challenges FDA on dental amalgam

A new lawsuit claims that despite evidence of harm caused by dental amalgam, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has delayed protecting the public’s health against mercury tooth fillings. Plaintiffs in the suit, which was filed March 5 by Tulsa, OK, attorney James M. Love, include the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology, according to a sott.net story. The largest user of dental amalgam is the U.S. government,

Mother’s saliva predicts kids’ early childhood caries

Dentistry is sounding the alarm about early childhood caries (ECC) as data roll in about its long-term impact on oral health. Now a new study has the potential to give dentists another tool to help parents understand how their own oral health affects that of their very young children. The researchers have shed more light on the relationship between the oral health of mothers and their children in a study

Genetic techniques may have role in dental care

A visit to the dentist could one day require a detailed look at how genes in a patient’s body are being switched on or off, according to a new study in the Australian Dental Journal (February 24, 2014). Researchers from the University of Adelaide School of Dentistry have written about the current and future use of the field of epigenetics as it relates to oral health, according to a press

Report: U.S. dental materials market to hit $1.5B by 2020

The U.S. dental materials market is expected to grow to nearly $1.5 billion by 2020, according to a new report from Research and Markets. Entitled “US Market for Dental Materials,” the report contains information on companies such as 3M ESPE, Carestream, Dentsply, Kerr, and many more. The report covers from 2010 to 2020, and the authors expect the dental materials market to grow substantially to nearly $1.5 billion by 2020, up

Are dental offices a source of cocaine adulterants?

Injectable local anesthetics, especially lidocaine and benzocaine, are among the most common medications administered in the dental office, and there is a real potential for their diversion to illegal drug producers, according to the authors of a new article in the Journal of the American Dental Association (March 2014, Vol. 145:3, pp. 256-259). Drug adulterants not only dilute illicit drugs for profit increase, but also give drug users the illusion

Md. surgeons remove baby’s brain tumor that contained teeth

Surgeons at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore have removed a rare brain tumor containing several teeth from a 4-month-old baby boy. The tumor was an adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma, a slow-growing mass that can press up against the pituitary gland and optic nerve and cause pressure in the brain. It is mostly found in young children. Only five other cases in medical literature found teeth in these types of tumors, Edward Ahn,

Supreme Court will hear NC teeth-whitening case

The U.S. Supreme Court will examine the North Carolina dental board’s claim that teeth-whitening should only be done by dentists. The justices on March 3 agreed to hear the North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners’ challenge to a lower court ruling and an order by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), according to an Associated Press story. The FTC’s original complaint against the dental board was issued in 2010, pertaining to