Month: January 2014

Is Public Health and the First Amendment At Odds with Each Other

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An interesting article appears in the vol. 2 and 3. edition of the American Journal of Law and Medicine in 2013 titled “The First Amendment and Public Health, at Odds,” by Seth Mermin and Samantha Graff. The article talks about how the interpretation of freedom of speech in the First Amendment has, in recent years, been altered to benefit corporations. Usually when one thinks of the First Amendment they think of protecting individual’s rights to express their opinions and thoughts. The authors essentially state that with recent changes in the interpretation of the law now companies can push products without much regard to their effect on the health of their customers. The authors state “There has been nothing comparable to an uproar over the Supreme Court’s granting…in the infamous Citizens United versus Federal Election Commission. It is time – well … Read more

Should you Consider a Lasik procedure: Is it worth the cost?

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Many people wear glasses or contacts regularly. Some think glasses make them look bad or nerdy. Others may try contacts for a while and then stop wearing them because they take time and can be a pain. The following infographic gives some useful information on the LASIK procedure for those who are tired of the hassle of contacts and glasses. Over time, having a LASIK procedure can save you money and time when compared to contacts or glasses. Via: King Lasik

New Website For Oral Surgeons Group: MyOMS.org

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A new website was launched last month by the Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS), a U.S. based oral and maxillofacial surgeons group, MyOMS.org. The press release for the website launch is located over at http://myoms.org/assets/uploads/documents/myoms.org_website_news_release.pdf and titled Web site Gives Patients New Insight into Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. It was known several months ago that a new website was coming, see the post Upcoming Changes to JOMS and AAOMS in 2014. The website is described in the press release as easy to navigate and designed to allow the public access to vital information on conditions of the face, mouth, and jaw. The press release also describes how videos and illustrations explain many of the procedures offered. Furthermore, a Find a Surgeon feature allows patients to find oral surgeons near where they live or work. Reviewing the website, the design … Read more

Wisdom Teeth: Perspectives from the Military

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In previous discussions on this blog such as Third Molar Morbidity Among Troops Deployed and elsewhere, a discussion has been made about whether or not wisdom teeth should be extracted in those involved in the armed forces. A new article from Hurlbert Field titled “Wisdom teeth: Should they stay or go” provides a perspective by Staff Sgt. Jeff Andrejcik, was written on December 3, 2013, and is located over at http://www2.hurlburt.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123372876. The article is written by a special operations dentist who performs wisdom teeth extractions. He says he has removed over 300 wisdom teeth and once removed 8 in one patient. He says in the article that most people don’t have room for wisdom teeth and they grow in sideways and are not cleansable. Larkin discusses how pericoronitis can occur in patients who have wisdom teeth that erupt but not fully leaving … Read more

Osteonecrosis of the Jaw As a Complication After Wisdom Teeth Removal

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Removing wisdom teeth or a wisdom tooth has risks and in some instances complications can occur. I have discussed numerous complications of wisdom teeth over at http://www.teethremoval.com/complications.html. One of the complications discussed is Bisphosphonate Related Osteonecrosis of the Jaw (BRONJ). What happens is that when a patient is on bisphosphonates and has a tooth extracted (any tooth a wisdom tooth or not) bone that is exposed can fail to heal. A case of this occurring is described at the Daily Mail titled “Grandmother in agony for FOUR YEARS after dentist removed wisdom tooth without checking her medical records,” by Steve Robinson, published on March 19, 2013. In this case a 72 year old woman had a problem where she kept catching her teeth with her cheek and noticed blood. She went to her general practitioner who performed a biopsy and … Read more