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Brains may be ‘wired’ for addiction

JG — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:20:01 +0000

Abnormalities in the brain may make some people more likely to become drug addicts, according to scientists at the University of Cambridge. They found the same differences in the brains of addicts and their non-addicted brothers and sisters. The BBC’s Science Editor David Shukman was given access to the research.

Rethink retirement age, say dentists

JG — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:12:50 +0000

The British Dental Association (BDA) is calling for a proposal to extend dentists’ working lives to the age of 68 to be abandoned by government. The proposal is part of a raft of fundamental reforms government wishes to make to the NHS pension scheme. Health trade unions, including the BDA, are consulting members on the acceptability of those proposals, the current iteration of which was arrived at before Christmas 2011 as the best achievable by negotiation. The BDA call follows a survey of more than 4,000 dentists, which found that a significant majority of practitioners (68%) did not think it was safe for practitioners up to the age of 68 to continue treating patients.

Pa. man gets 1 to 2 years after son pulled teeth

JG — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:59:11 +0000

An eastern Pennsylvania man has been sentenced to one to two years in prison after his teenage son tried to pull out his own teeth because he hadn’t been taken to a dentist. Northampton County Judge Michael Koury Jr. said Friday that he only wished he could sentence 41-year-old Francisco Torres to more prison time. The judge said “Neglecting one’s child is the ultimate betrayal.” Torres pleaded guilty in October to recklessly endangering another person. He apologized in court. Police say the boy tried to pull out his teeth after complaining of pain for several months but broke two teeth and needed emergency surgery.

Amalgam ban “not feasible’ in short term

JG — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:43:25 +0000

nternational professors and the chief dental officer have agreed it would not be feasible for the use of dental amalgam to be banned in the short term but phasing down was the right approach. Speaking to a meeting of MPs and senior stakeholders from the industry at the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Dentistry, CDO Barry Cockcroft said there had already been a reduction in the use of amalgam in the past 20 years with a new approach to restorative techniques and changing patterns of disease.

Jail for Former Dentist Who Pleaded Guilty to Using Paper Clips in Root Canals

JG — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 19:37:35 +0000

According to a news release from the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office, a former Massachusetts dentist who pleaded guilty last week to charges of Medicaid fraud for using paper clips in place of stainless steel posts during patients’ root canals was sentenced to jail Monday.

Some people have chronic illnesses. I have chronic teeth.

JG — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:08:53 +0000

I just got back from root canal #13. Yes, thirteen of my teeth have gone under the knife, so to speak, to have their nerves gutted and killed off with neurotoxin and the ensuing hole filled with gutta percha. I still have one or two more left to go before my dentist is satisfied. I’ve also had countless fillings, a dozen crowns, and two molars completely removed because the tooth structure was so decayed my dentist didn’t think they were worth saving. Out of curiosity, last month I asked my dentist’s practice manager how much I’d spent there. “A little over $16,000 since 2006,” she said. Wow. I have dental insurance. I’ve brushed and flossed diligently most every day of my life. How did it come to this?

Pain reduction after initial archwire placement in orthodontic patients: A randomized clinical trial

JG — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 06:15:09 +0000

There were significant differences in pain perception of chewing function between the placebo group and the chewing-gum group at 24 hours and 7 days, and between the placebo group and the hard-viscoelastic group on the day 7 (P <0.05). Also, there were significant differences between the placebo group and the soft-viscoelastic group, and between the placebo group and the hard-viscoelastic group in pain severity when fitting posterior teeth at 6 hours (P <0.05). At other times and with other functions, no significant differences were recorded. Both chewing gum and viscoelastic bite wafers are effective for pain reduction in orthodontic patients and can be recommended as suitable substitutes for ibuprofen.

Genetic Variation That Raises Risk of Serious Complication Linked to Osteoporosis Drugs Identified

JG — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:11:55 +0000

Researchers at the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine have identified a genetic variation that raises the risk of developing serious necrotic jaw bone lesions in patients who take bisphosphonates, a common class of osteoclastic inhibitors. The discovery paves the way for a genetic screening test to determine who can safely take these drugs. The study appears in the online version of the journal The Oncologist. Oral bisphosphonates are currently taken by some 3 million women in the United States for the prevention or treatment of osteoporosis. In addition, intravenous bisphosphonates are given to thousands of cancer patients each year to control the spread of bone cancer and prevent excess calcium (hypercalcemia) from accumulating in the blood. Bisphosphonates work by binding to calcium in the bone and inhibiting osteoclasts, bone cells that break down the bone’s mineral structure.

Study shows grape seed extract kills head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cells

JG — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 11:06:45 +0000

Nearly 12,000 people will die of head and neck cancer in the United States this year and worldwide cases will exceed half a million. A study published this week in the journal Carcinogenesis shows that in both cell lines and mouse models, grape seed extract (GSE) kills head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cells, while leaving healthy cells unharmed. “It’s a rather dramatic effect,” says Rajesh Agarwal, PhD, investigator at the University of Colorado Cancer Center and professor at the Skaggs School of Pharmaceutical Sciences. It depends in large part, says Agarwal, on a healthy cell’s ability to wait out damage.

Vital and Health Statistics

JG — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:24:21 +0000

Seven percent of American children aged 17 and younger had unmet dental need in 2010 because their families could not afford dental care, the National Center for Health Statistics said in an analysis of data collected by U.S. Census Bureau interviewers and reported in the Vital and Health Statistics series. This includes an estimated 4.3 million children aged 2-17 years and is representative of the civilian noninstitutionalized population of the United States. The measure of unmet dental need is based on the question posed during face-to-face interviews with an adult family respondent and any other adults present at the time, “DURING THE PAST 12 MONTHS, was there any time when (child’s name) needed any of the following but didn’t get it because you couldn’t afford it: Dental care including (check-ups)?”