Originals By Weber has released its Weber Denture Liners kit. The Denture Liner is a flexible, translucent, odorless, tasteless, putty-like compound made to fill the gaps created by the natural shrinkage of periodontal tissue and mandibles after teeth are removed, according to the company. The liners provide support, stability, and retention. They are available as disks and also in preformed shapes with choice of uppers or lowers. The regular kit
Researchers at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have developed an imaging system enclosed in a capsule about the size of a multivitamin that creates detailed, microscopic images of the esophageal wall. The system has several advantages over traditional endoscopy and could be a new way to screen patients for Barrett’s esophagus, a precancerous condition usually caused by chronic exposure to stomach acid. The findings were
The National Education Association and its 3 million members are teaming up with Renaissance Dental through its Read Across America program to deliver this message: 2 x 2 + 20 = good oral health and literacy habits. The organizations are asking children and their parents to brush for two minutes, two times per day plus read for 20 minutes each day, explained Rob Mulligan, president and CEO at Renaissance Dental,
The IdentAlloy/IdentCeram Council fulfilled a record 18.6 million requests in 2012 for the certificates used by restorative material manufacturers to verify the content of their products for labs, dentists, patients, and insurers. The demand for certificates was up 22.2% for the year, according to Charles Yenkner, executive director of the council. Since 2008, certificate orders have increased 63.1%. The rise in orders was attributed, in part, to growth in the
Xlear has donated more than $80,000 in Spry gumball machines and gumballs containing xylitol to National Children’s Oral Health Foundation (NCOHF): America’s ToothFairy. According to the foundation, 74 NCOHF affiliates have received a Spry gumball machine and gumballs to share with their patients. The NCOHF affiliate network consists of community-based nonprofit programs dedicated to providing the best educational, preventive, and restorative services for underserved children in need of care.
Moderate periodontal disease in an animal model exposed to an AIDS-like virus had more viral variants causing infection and greater inflammation, according to researchers at Texas Biomedical Research Institute. Both of these features have potential negative implications in long-term disease progression, including other kinds of infections, the researchers said in a new report published in the Journal of Virology (February 2013, Vol. 87:3, pp. 1750-1758). Researchers from the institute studied
It seems there’s no escaping the need to assess clinical attachment loss (CAL) in at least some teeth of patients undergoing periodontal treatment. A study published in the Journal of the American Dental Association has confirmed that measuring probing depth (PD) alone is unreliable in all but the most severe periodontitis cases for determining whether the disease is progressing or not (February 2013, Vol. 144:2, pp. 171-178). Bryan Michalowicz, DDS,
Marijuana has long been used to help cancer patients better tolerate the side effects of chemotherapy. Now new research at the New York University College of Dentistry (NYUCD) is looking into the positive effects of psilocybin, the hallucinogen found in certain kinds of mushrooms. Improvements in the diagnosis and treatment of cancers in recent years have led to a marked increase in patients’ physical survival rates, according to the university.
Oral health has become an important component of a University of Colorado (CU) physician assistant program, reflecting a growing trend toward interdisciplinary collaboration among health professionals. Physician assistants (PAs) are particularly useful for doing oral exams in children, especially for underserved populations and in rural areas, according to Mark Deutchman, MD, a professor in both the medical and dental schools at CU. Dr. Mark Deutchman introduced an oral health curriculum in
PeriClean has launched a new version of its toothbrush for kids, with 81 rubber bristles designed to bend and not scrape tooth enamel. Brushing too hard with a standard toothbrush, or an electric one, can damage tooth enamel, explained Jack Gruber, DDS. He invented the PeriClean toothbrush for adults who brush their teeth too hard and customized it for children. The PeriClean toothbrush is now available for purchase through the
Although a large majority of head and neck cancers (HNC) have a deregulation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, deregulation of this pathway does not necessarily signify that the tumor is dependent on it for survival and progression, according to a new study in Cancer Research (January 29, 2013). Cancer, particularly HNC, is highly heterogeneous, with a large number of genetic alterations rendering it resistant to specific targeted treatments. Because cancer is
Vita has developed a new category of CAD/CAM material, Vita Enamic, the first hybrid dental ceramic with a dual-network structure that combines the best properties of ceramic and composite materials. The dominant ceramic network structure and the reinforcing polymer network structure of Vita Enamic are fully merged with one another, similar to the way that steel reinforces concrete, according to the company. Materials science testing shows that Vita Enamic offers