Oral Health America’s (OHA) fourth annual Fall for Smiles campaign, which encourages maintaining good oral health by brushing and flossing, getting regular dental visits, eating a healthy diet, and avoiding tobacco, will focus on seniors. Almost half of older adults with a household income of $35,000 or less have not been to the dentist in the past two years, according to a survey commissioned by the OHA. Additionally, 35% of
There are several ways to treat caries, but the primary concern of most patients is cost, while practitioners are concerned more with effectiveness. With that in mind, researchers from the Clinic for Conservative Dentistry and Periodontology at Christian-Albrechts-University and other German researchers set out to compare the cost-effectiveness of one- and two-step incomplete excavations and complete excavation over the long term (Journal of Dental Research, August 14, 2013). The researchers
Head and neck cancer (HNC) patients receiving radiation as part of their treatment are less likely to suffer unwanted side effects when they comply with a set of prescribed swallowing exercises, according to a new study in Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery (August 27, 2013). The five-year study, conducted at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, was designed to evaluate the swallow preservation protocol
After having a third of her tongue removed and enduring six weeks of daily radiation to her head and neck to treat her stage IV oral squamous cell carcinoma, Eva Grayzel had had enough. The vivacious 31-year-old mother of two young children could only eat a spoonful of food a day because it was too painful to swallow. She developed painful blisters in her mouth and throat that would open
The National Association of Dental Laboratories (NADL) has launched two new social media outlets that promote transparency in dentistry and the value of a competently trained dental technician. The sites are designed to provide comprehensive information for the dental consumer, dentists, and the dental laboratory community, according to a press release from NADL. The goal is to encourage interested parties to include these Web references on their own social media
People with dental amalgam have significantly higher levels of urinary mercury, according to a new study in the Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology (August 29, 2013). Canadian researchers analyzed the relationship between the number of dental amalgam surfaces and urinary mercury levels using data from a large philanthropic chronic disease prevention program in Calgary, Alberta. The study group included 2,137 people who agreed to have a urinary analysis to
Harold Katz, DDS, founder of the California Breath Clinics and creator of TheraBreath, has pledged $10,000 to fund the new American Dental Education Association (ADEA) TheraBreath student research fellowships. Four fellowships in the amount of $2,500 will be awarded in 2014 to dental or dental hygiene students pursuing research the areas of xerostomia and/or halitosis. Each ADEA/TheraBreath student research fellowship stipend will be paid to the student’s dental or dental
More parents are reporting healthy toothbrushing habits since the Ad Council launched the Children’s Oral Health Campaign. On the one-year anniversary of their Kids’ Healthy Mouths campaign, the Ad Council and the Partnership for Healthy Mouths, Healthy Lives said a new survey demonstrates substantial progress in the effort to improve children’s oral health habits. The survey was commissioned by the Ad Council and conducted by Cayenne Global Research. All respondents
An increasing gap between the incidence of thyroid cancer and deaths from the disease suggests that low-risk cancers are being overdiagnosed and overtreated, according to researchers from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN (BMJ, August 27, 2013). Imaging modalities such as ultrasound, CT, and MRI can detect very small thyroid nodules, many of which are slow-growing papillary thyroid cancers, according to lead author Juan Pablo Brito, MBBS, an endocrine fellow
Students and dental professionals interested in pursuing the latest advances in the specialty of endodontics are being invited to apply for the new Advanced Education Program in Endodontology offered by University of the Pacific, Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry. The postgraduate program will start in July 2014. The 27-month program is designed to provide in-depth clinical training built on a solid foundation of biomedical science, the university noted in
Vita has released two new products for its In-Ceram restorative materials: Vita In-Ceram YZ Disc Color and Vita In-Ceram YZ Disc HT (high translucent). Available in precolored, monochromatic shades, Vita YZ Disc Color utilizes a controlled coloring process, producing a uniform quality of shades and eliminating the need for manual coloring, the company explained in a press release. Three shade variations are available: light, medium, and intense. If needed, additional
Transoral robotic surgery (TORS) may be an effective treatment for sufferers of obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS), according to a recent study in Laryngoscope (July 2013, Vol. 123:7, pp. 1811-1816). Ho-Sheng Lin, MD, from Wayne State University School of Medicine, and colleagues reported promising results for treating sleep apnea using TORS, which has recently been established in terms of safety and tolerability for removing cancerous tumors in the back of
