Stress Leads to Teeth Grinding

Evidence suggests that people who are stressed by daily occurrences, work problems, relationship problems, etc. are  more likely to grind their teeth at night. The research is present in the  journal Head and Face Medicine. They  studied the causes of ‘sleep bruxism’,which is grinding teeth during the night, and found it to be more common in those with are dealing with stressful situations. In one study there were 69 people, of whom 48 were ‘bruxers’. Maria Giraka who worked with the researchers said “Bruxing can lead to abrasive tooth wear, looseness and sensitivity of teeth, and growth and pain in the muscles responsible for chewing. Its causes are still relatively unknown, but stress has been implicated. We aimed to investigate whether different stress-factors, and different coping strategies, were more or less associated with these bruxism symptoms.” Thin plates  were placed … Read more

Growing Teeth Formula

Researchers at the  Institute of Biotechnology of the University of Helsinki developed a computer model reproducing population-level variation in  teeth. This has implications for growing correctly shaped teeth. With more than 15 years of work, Jukka Jernvall and his team have compiled data on the evolutionary development of mammal teeth and the main aspects of a formula for making teeth emerging. According to a mathematical computer model, a rather simple basic formula seems to be behind the complex gene puzzle resulting in tooth formations. The jungle of gene networks has a ‘patterning kernel’ which regulates the variation of teeth among individuals. It is possible that human teeth from the incisors to the molar teeth may result from a single factor which regulates cell division. The researchers have investigated their model on seal teeth. The Ladoga ringed seal collection  at the … Read more

Stone Disabled After Wisdom Teeth Removal

I found a nice update piece on Austin Stone who was disabled due to a  faulty medical gas line during the extraction of his wisdom teeth. To see what I have reported earlier about Stone on this blog visit http://blog.teethremoval.com/stone-left-blind-after-wisdom-teeth-removal/. The new update piece on Stone talks about how he continues to push forward. He now walks with a cane and his also aided by tow full time paraprofessionals. He is attending Kansas State School for the Blind. Unable to run as he did on the track team in high school he is now taking up music as a release. Stone’s story will also soon be shown on Cable TV.

Physicians for A National Health Program

While I have linked to the Physicians for a National Health Program before I don’t think I have discussed their website and ideals in any significant way. For those not familiar Physicians for a National Health Program abbreviated PNHP says they are at the “forefront of research and action for a single-payer national health program.” This is for the United States. The website features articles of interest that are updated daily. For example a recent article posted is titled “Forum probes health care.” In the article there is a quote by Nick Egnatz, an activitist, “There’s something wrong with a system that doesn’t take care of everyone.” PNHP also features a blog that is also updated quite frequently with posts of interest. Much of the site that is updated daily is managed by PNHP’s Senior Health Policy Fellow Don McCanne, … Read more

Brain Scan and Wisdom Teeth Pain

For those that are not familiar, Function MRI commonly called fMRI can help show an area in the brain that is under pain. Tara Renton of King’s College London has recently done a study using fMRI scans and arterial spin labeling in order to measure how much oxygenated blood flows through certain areas in the brain. She applied this study to determine how oxygenated blood correlated with the intensity of pain in 16 young men shorty after having their wisdom teeth removed. In the future this could be used to better understand how much pain one feels as a result of wisdom teeth removal and how it may differ amongst individuals. PopSci has stated that “some critics believe that the study’s emphasis on short-term, localized agony oversimplifies the concept of pain to the point of uselessness. Since pain involves the … Read more