When Kathleen Bernardi, RDH, quit her job as a hygienist in a busy dentistry practice near Toronto six years ago, she did it to save her life. She’d been diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma on her face a few months earlier and with ductal carcinoma in situ the year before. Kathleen Bernardi, RDH. Kathleen Bernardi, RDH. “I was physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted, mostly from work. And after a
Dear Hygiene Insider, Few experience dentistry the way Conan Murat has. During the last nine years, he has lived and worked as a dental therapist in a remote area of Alaska located 400 miles northwest of Anchorage. Click here to read about his work, which was also described in a recent issue of Health Affairs. In other news in the Hygiene Community, dentistry has been grappling with shortages of the
NEW YORK – Gordon Christensen, DDS, MSD, PhD, urged dentists to add dental implants to their repertoire at the Greater New York Dental Meeting. “Every person in this room that’s not afraid of blood should be able to place an implant in a healthy person with healthy bone,” he said during a Monday morning session in which he shared his thoughts on techniques and materials for replacing a single tooth.
LED Dental and Burkhart Dental Supply have entered into a nonexclusive partnership for the distribution of LED’s VELscope Vx and product line within the U.S. LED Dental is a wholly owned subsidiary of LED Medical Diagnostics. The soft tissues of the mouth naturally fluoresce under the blue spectrum light of the VELscope Vx handheld device. Trauma or disease, such as neoplastic lesions, chemical irritation, side effects from medication, thermal damage,
The association between poor oral health and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) should make the reduction of sugars such as those in junk food, particularly carbonated sodas, an important health policy target, according to new study (Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, December 2013. Vol. 106:12, pp. 472-473). Poor oral hygiene and excess sugar consumption can lead to periodontal disease in which the supporting bone around the
The ADA Foundation’s Anthony Volpe Research Center (VRC) has received a five-year, $2.2 million grant from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) to develop new resin composite dental fillings. VRC scientists plan to use the money to research and develop new polymers that are free of bisphenol A (BPA) and not susceptible to enzymatic or hydrolytic degradation, according to the ADA. The researchers also want to develop self-healing
Dental hygienist is ranked second in a list of the 12 best healthcare professions of 2013, according to a new report released by CareerCast on the top job opportunities in healthcare. Hygienist earned this position in part because of the growing importance of dentistry. The other 11 professions that made the list include biomedical engineer, occupational therapist, optometrist, physical therapist, chiropractor, speech pathologist, pharmacist, podiatrist, respiratory therapist, medical records technician,
A University of Washington (UW) dental student has won the ADA’s Student Clinician Scholar Award. Third-year dental student Jonathan An was awarded the ADA’s top honor for student researchers with a project titled, “Chemokine Epigenome Modification and Its Association With Bacteria in Periodontitis.” He was honored during the recent ADA annual session in New Orleans, according to the UW School of Dentistry. An took top honors in the basic science
Periodontal health may play an important role in the management of diabetes, according to a new consensus report from the American Academy of Periodontology (AAP) and the European Federation of Periodontology (EFP). The consensus report is based on scientific evidence that suggests periodontal health may be helpful in controlling diabetes. It outlines clinical recommendations for dental professionals to use when treating people with diabetes and emphasizes the importance of annual
Students at the Louisiana State University (LSU) School of Dentistry (LSU) recently hosted an American Student Dental Association (ASDA) volunteer event in conjunction with the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. ASDA representative Angelica Singh said the correlation between oral health and breast cancer is often overlooked, and many women who undergo breast cancer treatment are unaware of the increased risk for oral complications, according to a posting on
Implant Direct Manufacturing, a maker of dental implants, has been sanctioned for destroying evidence in a patent infringement case. Last week, U.S. Magistrate Judge William Gallo ruled that the company destroyed evidence in a patent infringement lawsuit filed by Zest IP Holdings, a California manufacturer of overdenture abutment solutions. The judge said he would warn the jury that Implant Direct did not prevent the destruction of relevant evidence such as
How many times each week do you see children in your practice who probably aren’t brushing enough? According to an article from Mobile Marketer, two of Procter & Gamble’s (P&G) brands, Crest and Oral-B, are taking a novel approach to this widespread problem. Partnering with the ChoreMonster app, for a month the company is offering exclusive content and offers when children watch a video and engage in the “chore,” which
