Two town administrators in Gilbert, AZ, have been placed on leave after officials discovered fluoride has been withheld from part of the town’s water supply for more than a year. Gilbert voters approved fluoridation 12 years ago after a heated debate, and the job of adding the cavity-fighting chemical fell to Public Works Director Lonnie Frost, whose wife had led the opposition against fluoride, according to a story in the
Light consumption of alcohol increases the likelihood of cancer of the mouth, pharynx, esophagus, and breast, and is responsible for 34,000 deaths a year worldwide, according to a new study in Annals of Oncology (August 21, 2012). In the study, researchers from the University of Milan in Italy used observational studies on alcohol consumption from PubMed and Embase articles published before November 2010. They estimated that in one year alone
A New York judge has rejected attempts by the dental chain Small Smiles and its owners and some employees to dismiss lawsuits filed by parents of children who were treated at its clinics. In 2010, Small Smiles, which is owned and operated by Church Street Health Management (formerly Forba Holdings), paid $24 million to settle allegations of Medicaid fraud brought by the U.S. Department of Justice. A total of $3.45
U.S. researchers have created a new type of biosensor that can detect minute concentrations of glucose in saliva, tears, and urine, and might be manufactured at low cost because it does not require many processing steps to produce (Advanced Functional Materials, August 21, 2012, Vol. 22:16, pp. 3399-3405). “It’s an inherently noninvasive way to estimate glucose content in the body,” said Jonathan Claussen, PhD, a former Purdue University doctoral student
DC International is now offering the DCLase, a redesigned version of the company’s Einstein DL dental laser. The diode-laser-based DCLase features an improved colored touchscreen, user-friendly software with extra displayed features, new permanent fiber delivery system with disposable tips, and a laser therapy handpiece, the company noted.
People afflicted with chronic orofacial pain are much more likely to be debilitated by their condition than those with chronic backaches or chronic headaches, according to a study being presented at the 2012 World Congress on Pain in Milan, Italy. The study was conducted in the departments of oral surgery and oral medicine and facial pain at the Eastman Dental Hospital, University College London. It is part of an ongoing
Interleukin Genetics announced that CEO Lewis H. Bender has resigned from his post and as a member of the board of directors, effective August 23, 2012, in order to pursue other business opportunities. The board appointed Kenneth Kornman, DDS, PhD, the company’s founder and current president and chief scientific officer, as CEO and as a member of the board of directors. Dr. Kornman will also continue his duties as president and
A $25,000 Walmart Foundation State Giving Program grant is proving oral care to thousands of children at the North Country Children’s Clinic in Watertown, NY, the Watertown Daily Times reported. In particular, Fort Drum’s Baby Teeth Basics program will see an expansion with the funds provided. Children age 5 and younger are eligible for the program. The grant will extend the programs from the two years’ worth of funding they
G&H Wire has merged with Orthodontic Design & Production (ODP) of Vista, CA, the companies announced. The merger makes the company the only full-line supplier of orthodontic appliances and accessories specifically servicing independent distributorships worldwide, they noted. The combined company’s core product line will expand to include ODP’s orthodontic brackets, bands, and buccal tubes, in addition to the archwires, springs, and elastomerics manufactured by G&H. Manufacturing will continue in the
U.S. scientists have identified the first substance in smokeless tobacco that is a strong oral carcinogen, and are calling upon the federal government to regulate or ban the substance. The researchers, from the University of Minnesota, reported their findings this week at the American Chemical Society (ACS) annual meeting in Philadelphia. “This is the first example of a strong oral cavity carcinogen that’s in smokeless tobacco,” said Stephen Hecht, PhD,
Advocates for dental anesthesiology have embarked on the difficult process of getting it approved as the 10th ADA-recognized specialty. After a May 4 vote by the Council on Dental Education and Licensure (CDEL) supported the American Society of Dentist Anesthesiologists’ (ASDA) request for specialty recognition, the 2012 ADA House of Delegates will decide whether to approve it in October during the ADA Annual Session in San Francisco. “This is something
A mother’s emotional health and education level during her child’s earliest years influence oral health at age 14, according to a new study from the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine (Journal of Dental Research, September 2012, Vol. 91:9, pp.859-864). The researchers started with the oral health of the teens and worked backward to age 3 to find out what factors in their past influenced their oral health
