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A new measuring technique determines the effect of dental care products and helps  them so they polish the rough tooth surfaces until they are perfectly smooth, while preserving the tooth enamel.

The tooth surface wears down and gets uneven – and the problem is that dental plaque adheres particularly well to a rough surface. Dentists therefore offer professional cleaning services, removing plaque and discoloration with abrasive prophylactic pastes.

This renders the tooth surface beautifully smooth, making it difficult for bacteria to gain a foothold. Yet there is a risk that the polishing treatment will also grind away precious tooth enamel and dentin at the exposed necks of teeth. The manufacturers therefore have to find the happy medium when developing their prophylactic pastes: The pastes should be just abrasive enough to remove superficial discoloration and plaque, but preferably not wear down the tooth enamel.

Until now, scientists lacked any realistic objective measuring techniques to assess tooth abrasion caused by chewing and by the effect of toothpastes. A leading manufacturer of dental hygiene products asked the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM in Freiburg, one of whose specialties is the analysis and visualization of surface roughness, to help them develop new prophylactic pastes. The effectiveness of a prophylactic paste has so far been measured by how well the granules that it contains are able to smoothen a rough surface.

The test is performed by first roughening tooth enamel or denture materials such as ceramics and titanium to a precisely defined value with an aggressive grinding material. But this does not truly reflect reality, as chewing wears out different materials at different rates. The new measuring method developed by the IWM researchers, a kind of chewing simulation, takes this factor into account.

Dr. Raimund Jaeger discovered when comparing pastes and subsequently analyzing the surfaces, some pastes polish the surface but also unnecessarily ablate the tooth material, producing slight grooves on the tooth surface. The ideal paste, on the other hand, polishes so lightly that only the roughness is eliminated while the tooth enamel is hardly ground at all.

“Obviously, every case is different,” says Jaeger. “Teeth with particularly heavy plaque or discoloration will need a more abrasive paste.” Normally, however, a gentler prophylactic paste will do the job.

Adapted from materials provided by Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

I found two great articles.

The first deals with how (primary-care) family doctors are not happy with the current bussiness in the U.S.  According to a recent survery “49 percent [of family doctors] said they’d consider leaving medicine. Many said they are overwhelmed with their practices, not because they have too many patients, but because there’s too much red tape generated from insurance companies and government agencies.”

There is expected to be a shortage in the tens of thousands within the next 15-20 years. In addition current medical students are not interested in pimary care and want to enter other alternatives. To read the entire article visit http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/11/17/primary.care.doctors.study/index.html

A current practicing primary care physician named James Hubbard has cited “anxiety and hassel” as the reasons he is currently part time. He publishes his own magazine called Family Doctor Mag. On his website ELIZABETH A. PECTOR, M.D., a family physician has written an excellent article on how to boost your immunity system this upcoming winter.

The key take aways from the article include eating well, avoiding second hand smoke, regular exercise, lack of stress, and vaccinations. I feel that vaccinations should be taken with a cautious approach as I have watched medical TV shows where people have had their lives changed for the worse as a result of a vaccination. Even so understanding how to boost your immunity system is important to prevent colds and the flu.

To read the entire article on boosting immunity go here http://www.familydoctormag.com/medical-index/colds-and-flu/how-to-boost-your-immunity.html

Researchers from Tel Aviv University have found good reasons to think twice about piercing one’s tongue or lip.

Dr. Liran Levin, a dentist from the Department of Oral Rehabilitation, School of Dental Medicine at Tel Aviv University has found that about 15 to 20 percent of teens with oral piercings are at high risk for both tooth fractures and gum disease. Resulting tooth fractures as well as periodontal problems, he says, can lead to anterior (front) tooth loss later in life.

High rates of fractures due to piercings are not found in other age groups, and cases of severe periodontal damage in teens without oral piercings are similarly rare, says Dr. Levin, who conducted the study with partners Dr. Yehuda Zadik and Dr. Tal Becker, both dentists in the Israeli Army.

Their initial study was done on 400 young adults aged 18-19, and the results were published in the well-known peer-reviewed journal Dental Traumatology in 2005. A new review by Drs. Levin and Zadik published in the American Dental Journal in late 2007 is the first and largest of its kind to document the risks and complications of oral piercings, drawing on new research.

Ten percent of all New York teenagers have some kind of oral piercings, compared to about 20 percent in Israel and 3.4 percent in Finland.

“There are short-term complications to piercings in low percentages of teens, and in rare cases a piercing to the oral cavity can cause death,” Dr. Levin says. “Swelling and inflammation of the area can cause edema, which disturbs the respiratory tract.” He warns that the most common concerns ― tooth fracture and periodontal complications ― are long-term.

“There is a repeated trauma to the area of the gum,” says Dr. Levin. “You can see these young men and women playing with the piercing on their tongue or lip. This act prolongs the trauma to the mouth and in many cases is a precursor to anterior tooth loss.”

Bottom line, the best advice for teens is to “try and avoid getting your mouth pierced,” says Dr. Zadik. If your teen is insistent, he says, then it’s essential that piercing tools are disposable, and that all other equipment is cleaned in an on-site autoclave to help reduce infection.

After the procedure, the area should be rinsed regularly with a chloroxidine-based mouthwash for two weeks. Thereafter, avoid playing with the piercing and clean it on a regular basis.  Checkups should be made regularly.

Adapted from materials provided by Tel Aviv University.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death and stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States.

Women who experience migraine with aura appear to be at an increased risk of heart disease and stroke if they have a certain gene.

For the study, researchers followed 25,001 Caucasian women for the occurrence of cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks and ischemic stroke. About 18 percent of the women in the study had a history of migraine while 40 percent of those with active migraine reported migraine with aura. Migraine with aura can be described as neurological symptoms that usually last for about 30 minutes and most often lead to visual disturbances. The women were also tested for a certain gene variant in the methyleneterahydrofolate reductase gene.

During a 12-year follow-up period, 625 cardiovascular disease events occurred.

The study found that women who had both the gene variant and migraine with aura had more than three times the risk of cardiovascular disease, which was driven by four times the risk for stroke compared with women who did not have the gene variant and no history of migraine.

“This gene by itself does not appear to increase the risk for overall and for specific cardiovascular disease, but rather this research suggests a possible connection between the gene variant and migraine with aura. While it is too early to start testing young women with migraine with aura for this gene variant, more focused research will help us to understand these complex links and will help us to potentially develop preventative strategies,” said study author Tobias Kurth, MD, ScD.

“Doctors should try to reduce heart disease risk factors and advise young women who experience migraine with aura not to smoke and to consider birth control pill alternatives as these increase the risk of ischemic vascular problems,” said Kurth.

Adapted from Materials by the American Academy of Neurology.

The tooth protecting sugar substitute xylitol has been incorporated into gummy bears to produce a sweet snack that may prevent dental problems. Giving children four of the xylitol bears three times a day during school hours results in a decrease in the plaque bacteria that cause tooth decay.

Xylitol is a naturally occurring sugar alcohol that is frequently used as a sweetener. It has been shown to reduce levels of the harmful mutans streptococci bacteria  known to cause tooth decay. Xylitol chewing gums are  not considered to be suitable for younger children.

A recent study demonstrates that six weeks of xylitol gummy bear snacking, the levels of harmful MS bacteria in the children’s plaque was significantly reduced.

However, I have seen studies and reports that dogs die from ingesting a small amount of xylitol. Thus I do not think that these xylitol gummy bears will be effective. If you have a dog, you probably should not purchase products with xylitol especially if you have children.

For more information on xylitol poisoning in dogs visit http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/xylitol.asp

Adapted from materials provided by BMC Oral Health