UNMC dental student wins research/public health award

A dental student at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) College of Dentistry was awarded first place in the clinical research/public health category in the American Dental Association/Dentsply Student Clinician Research Program at the recent ADA annual meeting in New Orleans. Paul Johnson, a fourth-year dental student, won for his presentation entitled “Alveolar Bone Loss in Subjects with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis.” The study found that patients with rheumatoid

GC America offers education about glass ionomer restoratives

GC America and Dental Product Shopper magazine have teamed up to educate dental professionals about Equia self-adhesive, aesthetic posterior restorative system. Xerostomia in older patients and an increase in decay in younger patients are among the challenging situations for any dentist. One solution to these clinical issues is the use of glass ionomer restoratives, which do not require layering and have relatively little postoperative sensitivity. Dental Product Shopper magazine to

New treatment protocol for TMJ investigated

Investigators from the Baylor College of Dentistry and the University Hospital Bonn in Germany share a new treatment protocol for the application of computer-assisted surgical simulation (CASS) technology in temporomandibular (TMJ) and facial deformity cases requiring reconstruction with patient-fitted total joint prostheses in the December issue of the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (Vol. 71:12, pp. 2123-2129). In an article titled “Protocol for Concomitant Temporomandibular Joint Custom-Fitted Total Joint

Dental hygienists enjoy independent practice in Canada

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

DrBicuspid.com Hygiene Insider

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

Christensen: The time is now to add implants to your practice

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, Burkhart Dental sign VELscope distribution deal

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,

Study: Junk food, poor oral health increase risk of heart disease

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

ADA Foundation gets $2.2M grant to develop new dental fillings

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

Report: Hygienist ranks No. 2 in best healthcare jobs list

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,

UW dental student wins ADA award for periodontitis research

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

AAP report explores link between perio disease and diabetes

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