There has been an outpouring of outrage and support in the wake of this week’s unanticipated announcement that Allcare Dental & Dentures had closed all of its U.S. offices. According to the New York Attorney General’s (AG) Office, a year ago Allcare had 52 locations and employed 772 people in 15 states, including Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. But closings and consolidations since then
The Georgia Board of Dentistry is proposing a rule change that would require indirect supervision of hygienists who provide basic preventive dental services in schools, community health centers, and prisons. But the state hygienists’ association and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) oppose the change, saying it would limit access to care, especially for children in rural and low-income communities. Currently, hygienists are permitted to work at dental facilities regulated by
Pulpdent has developed a catalyst that successfully synthesizes PMGDM, a material essential for formulating certain dental adhesives. The chemical reaction that synthesizes the PMGDM molecule requires a special catalyst, and that catalyst suddenly became unavailable last summer, the company explained in a press release. This resulted in a worldwide stoppage of the production of the PMGDM used to manufacture these dental adhesives. After months of research, Pulpdent was able to
Water Street Healthcare Partners, a strategic private equity firm focused exclusively on healthcare, has acquired OraPharma from Johnson & Johnson, saying it plans to build OraPharma into a leading specialty pharmaceutical company focused on dental and oral healthcare. While terms of the deal were not disclosed, Water Street has committed more than $100 million in equity financing to accelerate OraPharma’s growth, Kelly Zitlow, vice president of Water Street, told HuangshanDental.com.
A 13-year-old girl from Elyria, OH, died January 3, two weeks after having two teeth extracted by an oral surgeon. Marissa Kingery was undergoing oral surgery by Henry Mazorow, DDS, on December 21 when she was rushed by ambulance to Mercy Regional Medical Center in Lorain and placed on life support, according to a story in the Chronicle-Telegram. The girl was later taken to Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in
Enox Biopharma, which specializes in solutions for infections associated with medical devices, has granted Ortho Dental Solutions (ODS) an exclusive royalty bearing license and rights to a patent application and know-how for use in developing novel therapies for dental and periodontal diseases. Under the terms of the agreement, ODS will use Enox Biopharma technologies to develop an innovative treatment for periodontal disease. Enox claims that its formulation has proved to
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is urging the Georgia Board of Dentistry to reject a proposal that would prohibit dental hygienists from providing basic preventive dental services in approved public health settings except under the indirect supervision of a dentist. There is no evidence that such supervision is necessary to prevent harm to dental patients, and the proposed rule amendments likely would raise the cost of dental services in Georgia
Finite element analysis combined with 3D modeling can yield a clinical orthodontic tool for planning tooth movement, according to a study in the American Journal of Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopedics (January 2011, Vol. 139:1, pp. e59-e71). Researchers from West Virginia University used anatomically accurate 3D models reconstructed from cone-beam CT scans to simulate the retraction of a single-rooted mandibular canine with a miniscrew placed as skeletal anchorage. Detailed stress distributions
Twenty years of research has consistently shown that oscillating-rotating toothbrushes are safe compared with manual toothbrushes, but a systematic review of all clinical and laboratory investigations comparing the safety of these toothbrushes with manual toothbrushes has not been published. This prompted an international group of researchers to examine the literature concerning the relative soft and/or hard tissue safety outcomes with the use of oscillating-rotating toothbrushes compared with manual toothbrushes (Journal
CHICAGO (Reuters) – People with obstructive sleep apnea were less sleepy after three weeks of treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) compared with patients using a sham therapy, U.S. researchers said on Saturday. The findings show that regular use of CPAP really does make a difference for these individuals in terms of fatigue, the researchers say. “These results are important as they highlight that patients who comply with CPAP
Estrogen may increase the movement of precancerous cells in the mouth and thus promote the spread of the disease within the oral cavity, according to a new study in Cancer Prevention Research (January 2011, Vol. 4:1, pp. 107-115). The findings could lead to the development of novel chemoprevention strategies, according to researchers from the Fox Chase Cancer Center. Margie Clapper, PhD, co-leader of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at
Administering ibuprofen before and after separator placement more effectively reduced postplacement pain compared with other analgesics and a placebo, according to a new study in the American Journal of Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopedics (January 2011, Vol. 139:1, pp. e53-e58). In the University of Florida study, 24 subjects were given three of four treatments — ibuprofen, naproxen sodium, acetaminophen, or placebo — in random order at monthly intervals. The dosing times
